armyinform Chapter 28 Buying Land and Building a House
Chapter 28 Buying Land and Building a House
Thinking about buying the land from the village chief's house as soon as possible, Song Jiaojiao finished her meal in no time, urging Wang Hefan to hurry up. That's the bad thing about ancient times: a woman follows her husband after marriage, and if her husband dies, she follows her son. It's really troublesome.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Song Jiaojiao, carrying the portioned pastries, reminded Wang Hefan to bring a torch, as he probably wouldn't be able to see anything when he came back, since it was the beginning of the month and even the moon wasn't bright.
The village chief, Wang Laisheng, and his family had just finished their meal and were about to rest before going to bed when they heard a series of knocks on the door outside their yard.
"Grandpa Village Chief, are you asleep?" Li Sufang asked in confusion. It's so late, who could it be? The village has been peaceful lately, and she hadn't heard of any major incidents happening in any household.
"Zhu Zi, go open the door and see who it is," Wang Laisheng said to his youngest grandson. Zhu Zi responded and ran off.
Seeing Song Jiaojiao and Wang Hefan standing outside the door, he opened the gate and called into the house, "Grandpa, it's Aunt Song and Brother Hefan."
As Song Jiaojiao and Wang Hefan entered the courtyard, she quickly said, "Uncle Village Chief, we came to see you so late. Did we disturb your rest?"
Song Jiaojiao carried a basket and went into the house, where she saw the village chief resting.
"It's Jiaojiao! Come on, Meihua, quickly pour two bowls of water." Li Sufang saw Song Jiaojiao come in and quickly got up to greet her.
"Aunt Li, no need to bother. These are some pastries I bought in town today. I brought them for you to try," Song Jiaojiao said, handing over the basket. Li Sufang quickly declined, as the pastries were quite expensive; a pound of them could buy several pounds of meat.
"Oh dear, this won't do! Take it back for Daya and Erya to eat." Li Sufang absolutely refused to accept it, and the two of them struggled with each other like that.
“I still have some at home, Auntie. This is just a small token of my appreciation. If it weren’t for Uncle Wang and your help, I don’t know if my two girls would still be alive.”
"What are you saying? We're all from the same village, and we even share the same surname. How can we stand by and watch outsiders bully our own village? If it weren't for the busy farming season today, they wouldn't even have a chance to come into the village," Li Sufang said seriously, looking indignant.
"That's true, but without Uncle Wang and everyone's help, I, a woman, wouldn't have been able to stop them at all. So, you absolutely must accept these pastries, otherwise I won't feel at ease," Song Jiaojiao said, her eyes red and her voice choked with emotion, but with a firm tone.
"Alright, old woman, since it's Wang Chi's wife's kind gesture, don't refuse anymore. But, it's so late, what brings you here?" Village Chief Wang Laisheng quickly spoke up when he saw them at an impasse. Besides, if it was just to express their gratitude, couldn't they have come during the day?
"Alright then, I'll shamelessly accept it. If you have any problems, just tell your Uncle Wang, and I'll have him take care of things for you." Seeing that her husband had spoken, Li Sufang stopped refusing.
"Hey, Uncle Wang, it's so late tonight and the client has something to ask of you." After seeing Li Sufang accept the gifts, Song Jiaojiao spoke up about her request for the day.
"Wang Chi's wife, what is it? Tell me." Although the village chief didn't understand why she had to talk about it so late at night, he could only find out by waiting for her to speak.
"It's like this, I had some good luck these past few days when I went into the mountains and dug up some medicinal herbs. Today I took them to Huichuntang to sell and made some money. But I was thinking that it's not good for us to still be living in the house provided by the village."
In addition, He Fan is getting older, and it will be difficult for him to get married without his own house, so he wants to buy the house we are currently living in and the two acres of wasteland around it.” Song Jiaojiao first explained the source of the money, and then told her about wanting to buy land and build a house.
"You want to buy that house?" The village chief was so shocked by Song Jiaojiao's words that he sat up. She had just broken off her marriage not long ago and already had money to buy a house and land?
“Wang Chi’s wife, at the time, I saw that you really had nowhere to go, and that was the best-preserved empty house in the village. However, that place was still a bit far from the village and at the foot of the mountain. Although I haven’t heard of any wild animals coming down the mountain to harm people or crops in recent years, it was still not as safe as living in the village.”
There are a few plots of land in the village, not large, but since neighbors live close by, a simple call can be heard by everyone, providing mutual support.
The village chief looked at Song Jiaojiao and thought of Wang Chi, that boy he had watched grow up. He was humble, hardworking, and very smart. What a pity...
"Uncle Wang, I know you mean well. You don't need to worry about us. I plan to finish building the house before winter after buying the land. I'll still need your help then. I don't know as much as you do about who has the best skills in the village and which supplier in town offers the cheapest materials."
What I'm thinking is that I'll pay the wages, and I'll provide lunch. Uncle Wang, you can find some people to help us finish building the house as soon as possible. The wages will be the same as in town, twenty copper coins a day.”
"How much did you say? Twenty coins a day? And a meal included?" the village chief said incredulously. He thought that finding work in town would only cost twenty coins, and after a long day of hard work, he would have to take care of his own lunch. At most, he would earn eighteen or seventeen coins a day, and that was still more than enough.
"Yes, we need to find more people. I want them to move in as soon as possible. I promise there will be one meat dish and one vegetable dish for lunch, and plenty of steamed buns," Song Jiaojiao said again, looking at the village chief who was flushed with excitement.
"There's meat too? That's easy to say. During this lean season, most people are thinking of going to town to find some work. Jiaojiao, tomorrow we'll go and get the paperwork done, and while we're at it, we'll order the wood and bricks. We'll try to start construction the day after tomorrow, and you can move into your new house in a month." Hearing this, the village chief didn't care about anything else. He couldn't wait for construction to start tomorrow so that the villagers could have some income.
"Hey, you old man, you're making decisions so quickly! You haven't even explained the land and house prices to Jiaojiao yet. You have to take things one step at a time. What's the rush?" Li Sufang said quickly, looking at the excited old man. What did he mean by forgetting the most important thing?
"Jiaojiao, don't mind him. Your Uncle Wang is just too happy. He's been worried about what will happen to the villagers these past few days. This year's harvest isn't as good as in previous years, and he's afraid that many people in the village won't make it to the next autumn harvest."
"Perfect timing! Your suggestion to build a house is a huge help to him."
"I can't help at all. It will all depend on Aunt Li and Uncle Wang. There are so many mouths to feed, so Aunt Li will have to find a few other women to help out. The wages will be 15 coins a day. Aunt Li will supervise the work and will get 5 coins more than the others."
Song Jiaojiao thought that with so few people in her family, there was simply not enough time to cook, and since she wasn't familiar with the villagers, she would have to trouble Aunt Li to find someone to help her.