In the blink of an eye, it was November, and Fan Gaocen's house was completed, with the paint already applied.

After settling the final payment with Fan Gaocen, this was the last time Su Luo would pay the villagers their wages.

Zhang Xiujuan stood beside Chen Yan with a hint of reluctance: "Mrs. Chen, you don't need to come to the village entrance to cook tomorrow. I'm really not used to it."

"Look at what you're saying. Su Luo and the others have finished building their houses. We should be happy for them."

"I'm so happy. Their courtyard is so big. There's no one in the whole Yongle County who can compare to it. We watched it being built little by little, and it gives us a sense of accomplishment."

"Aunties, you've worked hard these past few months, but you'll probably still have to keep cooking."

Su Luo sat down at the village office to collect her wages. She had already discussed it with Fan Gaocen, who was going back to Beijing to take on another project.

However, he could keep half of the bricklayers he had on hand to help Su Luo.

"Su Luo, the house is all set up, and you still want us to keep cooking? Where are we supposed to cook?"

Liu Fangfang said, holding Chen Xiaoxiao's hand.

She enjoys cooking here. This year, her family has plenty of food and silver, which hasn't been touched yet, so they won't have to go hungry next year.

"Auntie, I still have a hundred acres of fertile land. I want to build a main road in my land, a road that can be crossed by horse-drawn carriages."

They'll also build a house and a cowshed there, so you'll have to cook there too. You'll have to move to Shuiqing Village to cook.

After receiving her wages, Su Luo went directly to the bricklayer and showed him the blueprints she had drawn earlier.

"Lady Su, this is the first time I've seen a design like this."

The drawing is certainly not as good as Fan Gaocen's, but the area calculation is very accurate.

The thatched houses in Shuiqingzhuang are no longer habitable, so Su Luo wants to build a house for her farm workers.

"Young master, this kind of house is more concise and practical. Although the first floor is in the form of a suite, she has converted all the interior rooms into single rooms."

The second floor should remain as I drew it: a corridor in the middle of the house, with suites on both sides, one unit per door, two bedrooms and a living room, four units in total.

Two rooms on the first floor can be used as a kitchen, and if it's a family, they can live on the second floor with their children.

The cowshed was also made of blue bricks. For a hundred acres of land, one cow could plow about one to two acres a day, so at least ten cows had to be purchased.

"Madam Su, this is no problem, leave it to us."

There's no need to buy precious Phoebe zhennan wood; Su Luo has already bought the materials himself. Just pay them according to their wages, plus the cost of the cowshed, and the budget is three hundred taels.

Without further ado, Liu Fangfang and the others went to Shuiqingzhuang to check out the location so they could fetch water for washing dishes and such. Chen Ping'an and thirty strong men also went to help the bricklayers move some things.

We also need to build stoves for a few women, as it looks like it might rain in the next few days.

The village chief told everyone to build the thatched hut first, to create a place where they could cook.

"Uncle, there are still a few dilapidated thatched huts over there. If we repair them, we can still cook a meal there."

Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded: "Uncle understands, you don't need to worry."

Standing in front of the courtyard gate, Zhao Ruyun was filled with emotion. Their new house was built, and they had a new place to live.

Looking at the two characters 'Chen Mansion' written on the plaque above the door, she didn't recognize them, but Su Luo told her that it was the Chen Mansion, the Chen family's Chen.

"Su Luo, Zhao Shi, the room has been cleaned. Please go in and take a look."

Zhao Ruyun led Yan Chuan and Yi Huan ahead, with Su Luo and the village chief following behind them.

After climbing three steps, you enter the house, where you are greeted by a rockery. On either side of the entrance, there are two long corridors surrounding the courtyard.

It encircles the entire main courtyard and also provides access to the east and west back courtyards.

The five people entered through the main gate, passed the artificial hill, and walked through the courtyard paved with bluestone until they reached the fish pond. They crossed the wooden bridge, where there was a bowl of unfinished fish food.

The fish were all carp, both red and green. As soon as Yan Chuan and Yi Huan threw in the fish feed, more than twenty fish rushed over to grab it.

The main courtyard is the largest of the three courtyards and has a place to receive guests. The second floor of the main building is Su Luo's bedroom.

There are also four side rooms on both sides of the first floor, so there's no worry about not having a place for guests to stay.

Su Luo oversaw the planting of all the greenery in the yard, and she was very satisfied.

"Su Luo, when are you moving here? Have you chosen a date yet?" the village chief asked Su Luo and Zhao Ruyun.

"No, is there anyone in the village who knows how to calculate dates?"

Su Luo wasn't superstitious about these things, and she hadn't even considered choosing a date.

“Wang Tiezhu’s grandfather can do math, and he charges three coins for each calculation,” Zhao Ruyun told Su Luo.

"In that case, let's go find Grandpa Wang to calculate the auspicious date now."

The group went to Wang Tiezhu's house together. Grandpa Wang was holding an almanac in his hand, leaning against the door, squinting his eyes, using the sunlight outside to illuminate them.

After searching through several places and counting on his fingers, Grandpa Wang finally spoke after a long while.

“Mrs. Chen, if you want to have a wedding banquet, three days from now would be a good day. But if you think that’s too soon, then eleven days from now is also a good day. These two days are suitable for holding the banquet.”

If it's three days later, Zhao Ruyun is a little worried that it won't be enough time: "Luo Luo, how about we move down in eleven days?"

The weather was hot and humid, and it would rain soon. Su Luo still wanted to move her house before the rain came.

"No, we'll have the housewarming party in three days. I'll take care of it, Mother-in-law, you don't need to worry."

Su Luo wanted to resolve the matter quickly. Her family had almost no relatives, only people from the village and a few of Su Luo's friends.

"Grandma, you decide who you want to invite. We'll move the things from the kiln tomorrow."

"Okay, Luo Luo, we'll do whatever you say."

That evening, Su Luo began writing invitations to Nangong Qing and Du Xiuyuan, and also to Magistrate Jiang, wondering if he would come.

Write it down and give it to Li Niu, and also a letter to Nangong Qing.

Su Luo ordered the main store of Fu Man Lou to close for two days and had all the kitchen staff come to help her. The cost of the vegetables and meat purchased would be deducted from Su Luo's share of the profits.

"Uncle Li, please make more tofu tomorrow. I'll need about fifty catties for my banquet."

Li Niu placed the letter Su Luo gave him on the clothes he would wear the next day, so as not to forget it.

"Yan Chuan's mother, don't worry about leaving it to me. Also, congratulations, the new house is finally finished."

"Thanks!"

Aunt Li is currently very sleepy, so Su Luo doesn't want to disturb her.

She still needs to go to the kiln to sort out some usable items, and she'll move them down tomorrow.

"Grandma, pack up the cotton and its seeds. We'll also move the new bedding tomorrow."

"I'll keep all my boxes, even if they're still new."

Seeing Zhao Ruyun's reluctant expression, Su Luo wondered if the wooden box was part of her dowry. In this era, it was considered very good for a woman to have a box as part of her dowry.

"It's your stuff, you decide what to do with it."

"Um!"

"Chuan Chuan, Huan Huan, keep an eye on the fire, don't let it spread to the grass outside."

Su Luo spoke to the two children outside the kiln.

"Mother, we will keep a close eye on the fire."

Yan Chuan and Yi Huan each held their own writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, standing guard by the fire where Su Luo was burning unwanted items.

Zhao Ruyun didn't have much stuff, so she could just pack it up. They could collect the bedding tomorrow.

"Luo Luo, you keep this for now, I'm going out to make dinner."

"good!"

Su Luo picked up the small wooden box under the bed. It was covered in dust and very old; it could have been burned.

However, Su Luo still habitually opened it to see if there was anything inside.

By the light of the oil lamp, when the small box was opened, there was indeed something inside: a very old and yellowed piece of paper.