81 House
After the foundation was drawn, the village chief pointed at the house and said to everyone, “There’s no front or back in this row. Those who are willing to live next door to siblings, relatives, and friends, can just pick one. What do you think?”
“Alright, Village Chief, that’s a good idea. If those who are willing to live next door can draw lots!”
Li Mei looked at Li Yu and Zhou Jia and smiled. “Yu’er, Mr. Zhou, our families will be next door!” The two of them nodded happily. “Okay.”
“Sister Li, I’ll stay next door to you!” Madam Qian expressed that she wanted to stay near Li Yu and the others.
“Alright, next door!” Li Mei replied with a smile.
The village chief smiled at Li Qing. “Ah Qing, you’re the youngest household owner. I’ll let you choose first.”
Li Qing looked at Li Yu. Li Yu smiled and pushed him. “Just go!”
After Li Qing walked up to the village chief and bowed, he took out a bamboo piece from the village chief’s hand and handed it to him. After the village chief took it and looked at it, he said, “Ah Qing drew the first one at the east end of the village. Everyone can continue after drawing the three foundations next to each other.” After everyone drew the foundations next to the three houses, they began to draw straws again.
Li Yu smiled at Li Qing and Zhou Jia. “What kind of renovation do you want?”
Li Qing looked at Li Yu happily. “Sister, you can renovate whichever style you want.”
Li Yu smiled and knocked on Li Qing. “Brat, it’s the same as not saying anything.”
“That’s not right.” Li Qing touched his head and looked at Zhou Jia aggrievedly. “Sir, what do you think I should build?”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Qing and smiled before turning to look at Li Yu. “I’ll renovate whatever style you want.”
When everyone heard this, they laughed. Chen Yaohui said with a smile, “Mr. Zhou, you can’t do this. Your wife will end up wearing the pants in the relationship.”‘
Zhou Jia smiled and waved his hand. “It’s fine. As long as Xiaoyu likes it.” Everyone laughed even louder.
Li Yu secretly pinched him. The village chief looked at Li Yu with a smile. “Xiaoyu, what kind of house do you want to build?”
Li Yu looked at everyone and thought for a moment. “I want to build a two-storey house. The lower floor is built with stones, and the upper floor is made of wood. This way, even if it rains, the food can be dried on the wooden building. I won’t be afraid of mold.”
After everyone heard this, they asked Carpenter Chen, “Old Chen, you’re a carpenter. Do you think this wooden building that Xiaoyu mentioned can be built?”
Carpenter Chen nodded. “Why can’t it be built? It can be built.”
The village chief thought about it and felt that it was good. “Xiaoyu, draw a blueprint with Mr. Zhou. After dinner, we’ll go to town to buy materials from the craftsmen.”
After everyone dispersed, Chen Gui, his brother, and the other families found Li Yu’s shed. Chen Gui looked at Li Yu with a red face and stammered, “Xiaoyu, we’re shamelessly asking you for a favor.”
“Uncle Chen Gui, what is it?” Li Yu said with a smile.
The Chen brothers bowed to Li Yu. “Our total assets are only two taels. We want to talk to you and Mr. Zhou about borrowing some money from him to repair the house. After we get the title deed tomorrow, we’ll mortgage it to him. What do you think?”
Li Yu felt that these brothers were all honest people. She smiled and nodded. “Sure. I’ll tell him. How much silver do you want to borrow.”
“We don’t know how much money it will take to repair the house. We’ll wait for the craftsmen to estimate it before we work out the exact amount. Is that okay?”
“That’s good. I’ll talk to him about it later. Then you can tell him how much to borrow. Will that work?”
“Alright, thank you, Xiaoyu. Thank you!” Chen Gui and the others bowed gratefully to Li Yu.
After sending off Chen Gui and his brother, Li Yu told Zhou Jia about Chen Gui and his brother wanting to borrow money to repair the house. Zhou Jia smiled and nodded. “Just ask them to look for me when the time comes.”
An hour later, Zhou Jia, the village chief, and more than ten villagers went to town to hire craftsmen to start building houses.
There were 20 families that wanted to repair their houses at the foot of Phoenix Mountain. The craftsmen of Phoenix Town gathered at the foot of Phoenix Mountain to sell stone materials and wood. There were also bricks and tiles. The foot of Phoenix Cry Mountain was as lively as a construction materials market.
The craftsmen hired by Zhou Jia were brothers with the surname Xu. The elder brother was Xu Chun and the younger brother was Xu Dong.
Zhou Jia showed the two of them the blueprint that he had drawn with Li Yu. He pointed at the blueprint and said to them, “There are two floors in the house that are made of stone. A wooden floor is built on the top. There are five east and west rooms and three other rooms. The ground of the house has to be covered with stone slabs. A row of livestock sheds has to be built against the courtyard wall in the backyard. There are two pig pens in the livestock sheds and a chicken pen. The pig pens have to be covered with stone slabs. This is the drainage entrance.
There has to be a well in the front and back courtyards. After the dark ditch where the dirty water is discharged in the front and rear courtyards is dug through, it has to be connected to the septic tank outside the backyard. Then, in the courtyard, there has to be a space three to four feet wide against the courtyard wall to make a flowerbed. The rest has to be paved with stone slabs.”
Xu Chun pointed at the room beside the room. “Mr. Zhou, what’s the use of this room?”
Zhou Jia took a look. “These two are bathrooms. These two are potholes. We have to dig out a sewage ditch at the bottom. The ditch has to reach the manure pit outside the backyard wall.”
The Xu brothers understood when they heard Zhou Jia’s words. “We understand. Then what kind of wood do you use for the wooden floor? What kind of wood do you use for the doors and windows?”
Zhou Jia looked at the two of them. “What wood do you have? Tell me.”
“The usual ones are made of yellow and white pine, cypress wood… and rose pear wood…” Xu Chun recited the name of a long string of wood like a dish.
Zhou Jia smiled at Li Yu. “Xiaoyu, what kind of wood do you want to use?” Li Yu smiled and shook her head. “I’m not versed in such things. You can decide.”
Zhou Jia nodded and looked at the Xu brothers. “If the wooden floor uses yellow pine wood, we’ll use pear wood for the window. Estimate how much silver it will cost for two similar houses. How long will it take?”
“Mr. Zhou, allow me and my brother to look at the blueprint and estimate it. I’ll answer you.” Xu Chun smiled.
“Might as well. See if there’s anything you don’t understand before you ask me.”
The Xu brothers looked at the blueprint for a long time and asked twice. After calculating for a long time, they said to Zhou Jia, “Mr. Zhou, the cost of repairing a house is about 60 taels of silver. The construction period is about two months.”
Zhou Jia nodded. “Let’s make a contract and I’ll hand the house over to you to build. If there are any problems in the future, we’ll solve them according to the agreement in the contract. What do you think?”
“Mr. Zhou, don’t worry. No one has ever said anything bad about the residence built by us brothers.” Xu Chun patted his chest and promised.
Zhou Jia looked at the Xu brothers. “It’s best if you have a good reputation, but I can only comment on how well you’ve repaired my residence.”
“Yes, that’s what I should do. In the end, you have to be satisfied.” Xu Chun smiled and replied.
After Zhou Jia and the Xu brothers signed the contract and paid a little in advance, the brothers rushed back to call the other craftsmen.
The materials used for Li Mei’s house were cheap and could be built in about 30 taels. The Qian family only needed 20 taels and borrowed 10 taels from Li Yu. The two families also started work the next day.
Chen Gui and the others each borrowed 20 taels of silver from Zhou Jia. After writing the loan agreement and waiting for the scribe to settle the title deed, they mortgaged it to Zhou Jia.
After everything was arranged, Zhou Jia handed the repair of the house to Uncle Zhou and brought Li Yu and Li Qing to town to look for a shop to do business.
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