A young man said dejectedly, “With things like this, why bother avoiding the rain? Let’s just tough it out.”

There was plastic sheeting at the construction site, and everyone huddled underneath it for shelter.

Black people are naturally optimistic. One of them asked, “Why do you think clouds are white most of the time, but turn black when it rains?”

“Because black clouds are the rain gods, they’re in charge of the rain.”

“Don’t say silly things, God is the only god.”

Samuel Young tried not to laugh and said, “Actually, black clouds and white clouds are essentially the same. They’re both made up of very tiny raindrops and ice crystals. When they cluster together and float in the air, sunlight causes diffuse reflection, so they look white. When it rains, the amount of cloud increases and the layers get thicker, so the sunlight is completely blocked. Without sunlight reflecting, they look black.”

“What’s he talking about?” “No idea, can’t understand.” The four workers looked at him strangely.

Old Young once again felt a wave of indescribable frustration.

The heavy rain poured down like a faucet turned on full blast. After more than forty minutes, the clouds cleared and the sky was bright again.

The engineer was optimistic. He said, “Let’s go, back to work.”

Now Samuel Young knew where the water for mixing fine aggregate concrete came from. The inside of the tractor’s large bed was sealed with plastic sheeting, so all the rainwater was collected—enough to mix the concrete.

The engineer laid the fine aggregate concrete according to the elevation control points, then used an aluminum screed to level it. Other workers used wooden floats to rub and compact it, pressing it three times in a row before it was finished.

David Young stepped on it to test—there were footprints, but very faint, and they didn’t sink in. Seeing this, he nodded and said, “Very good.”

The engineer smiled and was about to speak, but Old Young knew what he was going to say: “Of course, you’re professionals.”

“We are professionals. The first pass of floating and leveling is to make the surface even and dense. The second pass is to flatten and compact the surface, smooth out dead spots, corners, and sand holes. The third pass is to make the surface even denser,” the engineer explained.

This job lasted until five thirty. When the time came, the four workers took their pay and were ready to leave.

Samuel Young asked, “What are you doing?”

“Work’s over, going home to rest.”

“Don’t you get off at six?”

“It takes half an hour to drive home.”

Old Young gave a thumbs up: Respect.

To build a fifty-square-meter prefab steel house, the four workers took three and a half days—even with Samuel Young urging them every day and giving tips daily.

When it was finally finished, the engineer specially took photos as a memento, saying this was their most efficient job ever.

Samuel Young asked, “How long would it normally take?”

The engineer still wore a confident smile: “About ten days.”

“Damn!”

Chinese workers could finish it in a day!

Still, the prefab house was built pretty well—at least everything was straight and level.

After the workers left, Samuel Young sat on the roof to enjoy the view, but it was so hot it burned his butt. He sat down and had to climb back down after just two seconds.

The elephant grass that Mason helped him order was also delivered that afternoon—a whole pickup truck full, way more than Samuel Young could use.

The workers who delivered the grass did a rough job. The elephant grass came with roots and soil, dug straight from the ground without any cleaning up.

Samuel Young sighed, “Why bother digging up the roots? Wouldn’t it be easier to just cut it off at the base?”

The worker, happily counting his money, replied casually, “I didn’t dig it up. Someone wanted to clear the land for a farm, so they used machines to dig up the grass with the roots. I just deliver it.”

Samuel Young understood—this was a middleman, making money from both ends.

So who says black brothers aren’t smart? They’re sharp as hell.

Of course, you can’t put the elephant grass with all that soil on the prefab house. Samuel Young planned to buy a machete—to chop off the roots and also for self-defense.

This elephant grass grew amazingly tall, even higher than the Tree of Life.

Realizing this, Samuel Young suddenly thought of another use for the elephant grass: it could hide the Tree of Life. If he planted elephant grass around the tree, then when the Tree of Life grew taller than the grass, he’d have accumulated enough magic to cast a transformation spell on the tree—at that point, he could turn it into a eucalyptus.

Besides, elephant grass is great stuff. When mature, it can be used to extract alcohol for fuel. When it’s still tender, it can feed herbivores. It reproduces and grows quickly, and the same area of elephant grass can support four to five times as many wild herbivores as regular pasture.

The reason this grass hasn’t been used in animal husbandry is that it only grows in tropical Africa, which isn’t suitable for livestock farming.

Chapter 14: Cold-blooded Danny

Act as soon as you think of it.

It was just evening, the weather was cool, so Samuel Young went to borrow a hoe from Mason, then started digging holes around the Tree of Life.

Nate straddled a branch, watching him work with curiosity, holding his forehead and swinging his hips as if he was worried about something.

Noticing this, Samuel Young said, “What’s with that look on your face?”

Nate said gloomily, “Lord, do you not like me? Why won’t you let me dig holes?”