At the military's group wedding, my best friend and I swapped husbands.

Chapter 42 Working with great enthusiasm

As the sun climbed higher, waves of heat swept across the Gobi Desert. The clothes of the few people working in the yard were already soaked through and clung tightly to their bodies.

The pit was already more than a meter deep. Zhao Dayong stood at the bottom of the pit, shirtless, his bronze skin covered in sweat that glistened in the sunlight.

He threw soil up the hill one shovelful at a time, and Bai Rongbei caught it from above. The two worked together seamlessly, without exchanging a single word.

Beside them, Bai Si'an and Liu Aiguo were also laying bricks at a fast pace.

The bottom of the pit has been leveled with cement mortar, and now we're starting to build the surrounding walls.

The red bricks were soaked in water and then stacked one by one, with the mortar applied evenly and the joints between the bricks aligned perfectly.

Bai Si'an knelt on one knee, his right leg trembling slightly due to the awkward posture.

He gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his forehead from his glasses and onto the brick surface, where it was quickly evaporated by the heat.

Lin Weiwei brought over a basket of bricks and placed it next to him: "Is this enough? If not, I'll go get more."

"That's enough." Bai Si'an didn't even look up. He picked up a brick, applied mortar, and steadily laid it on. "Take a break. Don't move it anymore, it's heavy."

"It's not heavy!" Lin Weiwei wiped her sweat, her face covered in dust, making her look like a cat. "I'm very strong!"

As she spoke, she ran off to help Chen Jianjun mix the mortar.

This time, with experience, the ratio of cement to sand was accurate, and the amount of water added was just right.

The mortar was mixed to the perfect consistency, neither too thin nor too thick. Chen Jianjun nodded in approval, "Good job, sister-in-law! You've mastered it!"

On the other side, Su Wanwan was learning from Liu Aiguo how to use a trowel to scrape the grout lines between bricks.

Her hands were small, and she didn't hold the trowel very steadily, so the mortar she scraped was uneven, sometimes thick and sometimes thin.

"Use your wrist to gently scrape it," Liu Aiguo patiently instructed. "Yes, just like that... Be a little light, don't scrape away all the mortar in the brick joints."

Su Wanwan nodded, held her breath, and carefully scraped.

The sun was so hot that the back of her neck felt hot, and stray hairs stuck to her skin, making it itchy.

Bai Rongbei climbed out of the pit, picked up the water bottle and took several big gulps, then walked to Su Wanwan's side and looked at the grout lines she had scraped.

"Not bad," he commented simply, then picked up the trowel and demonstrated, "Make the angle a little flatter."

His large hand gripped the trowel handle, and with a gentle twist of his wrist, the excess mortar was scraped off, leaving the brick joints clean and neat.

Su Wanwan looked at it and whispered, "I'm slow, I learn slowly..."

"Not slow." Bai Rongbei handed the trowel back to her. "You'll get it after a few more practices."

After he finished speaking, he jumped back into the pit and continued digging.

Su Wanwan held the trowel, still warm from his hand, and her heart stirred. She lowered her head and continued practicing.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was lively and bustling.

Zhao Dayong shouted from the bottom of the pit, "Commander Bai, dig down another half meter!"

"Okay!" Bai Rongbei responded, swinging the pickaxe even harder.

Chen Jianjun mixed a batch of mortar and shouted to Bai Si'an, "Technician Bai, the mortar is ready!"

"Here I am." Bai Si'an stood up, but his right leg suddenly gave way. He quickly grabbed the pile of bricks next to him to keep from falling.

Lin Weiwei saw this and ran over to support his arm: "What's wrong? Does your leg hurt?"

"It's nothing." Bai Si'an shook his head and pushed her hand away. "I've been squatting for too long, my arm is numb."

He limped over, scooped up the mortar with a mortar bucket, and then limped back.

With each step, his right leg seemed to be putting extra strain on him.

Lin Weiwei followed behind him, watching his slightly limping back, and felt a little uncomfortable.

But she didn't say anything more, she just silently handed him the brick.

Around noon, the pit was dug, two meters deep, and perfectly square.

A one-meter-high brick wall was built around the bottom of the pit and plastered with cement, making it smooth.

"Take a break, time for lunch!" Chen Jianjun straightened up, rubbing his lower back. "My god, that was tough work!"

Everyone put down their tools and sat down in the shady spot in the yard.

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan had already prepared lunch. The dishes included steamed buns, pickled vegetables, and a pot of cabbage soup, all brought back from the cafeteria.

The soup was made by them in the morning; although it was bland, it was piping hot.

"Thank you all for your hard work." Lin Weiwei distributed the steamed buns to everyone. "Please make do with these. Commander Bai will treat everyone to a restaurant tonight!"

Zhao Dayong took the steamed bun, grinning, "Sister-in-law, you're too kind! We're all family, helping out with this is nothing!"

Liu Aiguo pushed up his glasses: "Now that the toilet is fixed, we'll come and benefit from it too."

"Welcome, welcome!" Lin Weiwei said generously, "Come anytime!"

Bai Rongbei didn't say anything, and buried his head in eating his steamed bun.

He eats quickly, but his table manners are not rude; every bite is substantial.

Su Wanwan sipped her soup, stealing glances at him.

His military uniform was open, and the white undershirt underneath was soaked with sweat, clinging to his chest and revealing the clear outline of his muscles.

Her face flushed, and she quickly lowered her head.

Bai Si'an sat next to Lin Weiwei, only eating half of a steamed bun before putting it down.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Lin Weiwei asked.

"I'm full," said Bai Si'an, picking up the water bottle to drink.

Lin Weiwei noticed that his face was a little pale and his forehead was covered in cold sweat, so she asked softly, "Are you suffering from heatstroke? Why don't you come inside and rest for a while?"

"No need," Bai Si'an shook his head. "We still have to build the wall this afternoon."

After resting for about half an hour, everyone got back to work.

The afternoon's work involves laying the bricks above ground.

According to the blueprints, the toilet should be built to a height of two meters, with a wooden frame on top and covered with tar paper.

Bai Si'an and Liu Aiguo continued building the wall, Bai Rongbei and Zhao Dayong started assembling the wooden frame, Chen Jianjun was in charge of cutting the tar paper, and Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan helped by handing over materials and doing odd jobs.

The sun was blazing, and the courtyard was as hot as a steamer.

Bai Si'an stood on a stool to build the wall. The higher position made the burden on his right leg less, but it put more strain on his shoulders and arms.

He had to hold a brick in one hand and a trowel in the other while maintaining his balance.

Sweat stung my eyes as it got in.

He took off his glasses, wiped them with the corner of his shirt, and put them back on.

Lin Weiwei handed him bricks from below; each one was soaked in water and felt heavy.

"Slow down," she looked up at him, "no rush."

"Hmm." Bai Si'an responded, took the brick, applied mortar, and laid it on.

His movements remained steady, but Lin Weiwei noticed that he was laying bricks slower than in the morning, and his shoulders would unconsciously tense up every time he raised his hand.

"Technician Bai, mortar!" Liu Aiguo shouted from the other side.

Bai Si'an bent down to scoop mortar, and the stool suddenly wobbled.

"Watch out!" Lin Weiwei quickly grabbed the stool.

Bai Si'an steadied himself and shook his head: "I'm fine."

But when he got off the stool, his right leg buckled again, and he swayed.