The next morning, Shi Zhen went to Fang Changming's house first.

The roof of the house is now completely finished, and they are currently doing work such as tiling the exterior walls.

This job isn't difficult, but you need to practice applying it quickly.

After teaching Shi Daniu and the others how to put up the plaster, Shi Zhen let them do it slowly. As for himself... he found someone to help him with the plumbing and electrical work on the house.

Whether a house is comfortable to use actually has a lot to do with things like how many electrical outlets there are and how well the switches are laid out.

Nowadays, many houses in rural areas have very few electrical outlets, and the switches are also very inconvenient to use.

Shi Zhen had built many houses for people in the past, so he had some knowledge of water and electricity. It would be a bit troublesome for him to do everything himself, but he knew where the switches were best placed.

For example, in the bedroom, placing switches and sockets on both sides of the bed makes it convenient to use.

There should be plenty of electrical outlets in the kitchen, and the dining room shouldn't be without them either...

The electrician had never taken on such a complicated job before and was almost bewildered by Shi Zhen. Today was the day for the water and electricity inspection.

Shi Zhen specially called Fang Changming over to explain the situation of each switch to him.

With so many wires on the wall, if it were an ordinary household, they might suspect that Shi Zhen was deliberately overcharging them. Fortunately, Fang Changming was a wealthy man, and after listening to Shi Zhen's explanation, his eyes lit up: "It is indeed more convenient to use this way!"

Shi Zhenlian even arranged the socket for the air conditioner for him, that's really great!

Shi Zhen then explained how to renovate the kitchen.

Custom-made cabinets are difficult to make now, but you can build some low walls with bricks, tile them, lay down countertops, and then install wooden doors on the outside.

This not only saves money, but it's also easy to use.

Fang Changming naturally had no objection to this, and even became very interested in his still unfinished kitchen after Shi Zhen's description.

Shi Zhen also noticed that Fang Changming preferred something more luxurious.

That's true. People have all suffered in those times, so who wouldn't like a more luxurious house? In that case, things like the ceiling should be arranged.

After the water and electricity were inspected, Fang Changming gave him another portion of the money.

He gave the money very readily, mainly because his brother spent significantly more than Shi Zhen had received from him.

This shows that Shi Zhen did not swindle much money from him.

As long as Shi Zhen finishes building the house, he doesn't mind letting Shi Zhen earn more.

Fang Changming left quickly. After Fang Changming left, Shi Zhenxian ate with Shi Daniu and the others, and then rode his bicycle to the town's bus station to pick up Guan Baiyu.

Guan Baiyu usually takes the bus back.

As for why he rode a bicycle... to be honest, it's the most convenient thing to do.

His bicycle has very large wheels, so if you pedal hard, the speed is very fast.

When Shi Zhen arrived at the bus station, he didn't have to wait long before Guan Baiyu got off the bus.

He drove Guan Baiyu to see the dilapidated house he had just bought.

He thought Guan Baiyu would be disappointed when he saw the house, but to his surprise, he wasn't. As soon as Guan Baiyu saw the house, he said, "Brother, this location is great! It's perfect for opening a shop!"

Guan Baiyu looked around the house and said, "There's an open space in front of the house, so we can put a lot of things outside."

“Yes,” Shi Zhen laughed, “I plan to buy a truckload of bricks this afternoon and start repairing the house tonight.”

Guan Baiyu said, "Brother, let me help you!"

Shi Zhen agreed: "Okay."

Shi Zhen bought a tractor, went to the brick factory to buy a truckload of red bricks, and transported them to the house he had just bought, carrying the bricks inside.

In rural areas, people buy bricks and simply pile them up in front of their own doors, since everyone knows their neighbors and no one would steal them.

But this is in town, so it's safer to keep the bricks inside the house.

When Shi Zhen was moving bricks, Guan Baiyu followed along and handed bricks from the tractor to Shi Zhen.

While the two were working, many neighbors came over to watch and ask what they were doing.

Shi Zhen didn't hide anything: "We bought this house and wanted to renovate it."

“Do you really need so many bricks to fix this? You’re not planning to rebuild it and make it taller, are you? That won’t do, it’ll block our light!” an old man said.

Shi Zhen smiled good-naturedly: "We're just making some repairs, we won't build it taller. If we don't repair this house, we can't live in it."

The old man looked at Shi Zhen suspiciously, but ultimately didn't say anything more.

When Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu carried the bricks into the house, they saw a large group of elementary school students passing by them after school.

This is indeed a nice place.

After moving the bricks, Shi Zhen drove to pick up Shi Daniu and the others. After dinner, Shi Zhen took them to town and dug a ditch on the outside of the original house wall.

Shi Zhen plans to rebuild the walls outside the original walls of this house, and then put on the roof... The dilapidated house in the middle will be demolished after he finishes building the outer walls.

He could easily run into trouble by demolishing the house and rebuilding it, such as needing approvals. By saying that he was just adding a wall for reinforcement, he could fool people for a while.

That evening, Shi Zhen simply laid the foundation and then gradually built the walls on top of it.

The house he built was actually a little bigger than the original house, but no one around noticed anything wrong with it.

The house was so small that the exterior walls were almost finished in just three nights.

Shi Zhen demolished the house inside, and even dug up all the stone slabs and bricks that were paving the ground.

At that time, the only bricks available for building houses in rural areas were red bricks. These red bricks were bright red, and many people felt that they were better than the old blue bricks.

In reality, the blue bricks used in old buildings were of much better quality than the red bricks used today.

The house was originally built with blue bricks, but Shi Zhen kept all of them.

He didn't buy many red bricks. The house could be raised a little higher with blue bricks, and some things inside could also be built with these blue bricks.

The house built by Shi Zhengai is a little taller than the original house, but not by much, so the surrounding neighbors didn't have much of an opinion.

He himself was very satisfied with this house, which was essentially a new building.

The house has a ceiling height of three meters, and there is a small attic at the top with a ceiling height of more than two meters. Of course, because the roof is sloping, the small attic is only two and a half meters high in the middle, and the two sides are actually very low.

But this place can hold quite a lot of things.

Then Shi Zhen started painting the floor and walls...

When Guan Baiyu returned from his next grand prayer, the small house had already been completely rebuilt and looked brand new.

However, it needs to be aired out for ten days to half a month before people can live in it.

The house was bought by Shi Zhen, but the money for buying bricks and repairing the house was paid by Shi Dalin. Because the labor was free and some bricks and tiles were salvaged, the house was completely renovated and the water and electricity were done, which only cost about a thousand yuan.

At this moment, the house had large doors on both sides, but no windows. In a corner inside, there was a small stove with a small water tap, so that Shi Dalin and his family could cook at home when they opened their shop here in the future.

As for using the toilet, there's a newly built public toilet nearby that you can use—this house is too small, there's really no room to squeeze in.

The house is already taken care of; the next step is to buy a counter and stock up on goods.

This money also needs to be paid by Shi Dalin.

Evening, Shijiazhuang.

Shi Dalin lit another pipe and counted the money in his hand while smoking.

His savings might not be enough to purchase the goods.

"Your brother and sister-in-law's fried food stall is doing really well lately. Everyone goes there to buy their grilled pork tenderloin. The Wang family doesn't know where they get their tenderloin, so they can't sell it and have to avoid your brother and sister-in-law... That's great." Zhao Meiyun said with a smile as she came in from outside.

She went out for a walk and saw that Shi Dashan's fried food stall was surrounded by a lot of people.

After learning that Shi Zhen had bought a house for them to open a shop, Zhao Meiyun's health improved quickly.

Zhao Meiyun went to see the house after she had fully recovered. By then, Shi Zhen had already finished building the house. She was not disappointed at all with the house.

Even after watching it, I remained in a good mood.

Seeing that Wang Zugen's parents couldn't get away with it from Shi Dashan and his wife today made her even happier.

That family is despicable; now they've finally gotten what they deserved!

"Hmm." Shi Dalin was also in a good mood. Wang Zugen and the others had to buy things to set up their stalls, and they also had to pay people to set up the stalls. The initial costs were quite high. Now, they should be able to make money in a day, but they definitely wouldn't earn as much as he used to!

Zhao Meiyun added, "I never expected a fried food stall to be so lively. If I had known, we could have done it again..."

“If it were us, it wouldn’t work. Our brothers are quick-witted,” Shi Dalin said.

Seeing how well Shi Dashan and his group's stall was doing, Shi Dalin was a little envious. However, after thinking about it carefully, he realized he couldn't do it himself, so he gave up.

Zhao Meiyun always felt that she was not as good as Chen Xiaofen. In the past, whenever she had something to do, she would often ask Chen Xiaofen for advice... She nodded in deep agreement.

Of course, the main reason she approves of these things is because Zhao Dongjuan isn't nagging her anymore.

Since no one constantly brings up the issue of favoritism, she stops thinking about it.

If Shi Zhen doesn't sell his stall, he won't be able to afford a house!

Compared to setting up a street stall, having a shop is definitely more respectable.

Zhao Meiyun then brought up the matter of opening a shop with Shi Dalin.

Shi Dalin thought of something and said, "This shop belongs to A-Zhen. He will also let us use his tricycle and freezer... We can't just use his things for free. We should give him money when we make money in the future."

Zhao Meiyun quickly replied, "Yes, yes, we'll give it to you!" Her Qiu Juan earned money but didn't give much to her family, not to mention Dong Juan.

As for Shi Zhen, he was the one who gave her the stall in the first place, he paid for her medical treatment after she broke her leg, and he was the one who made the shop. It's only right that she repays Shi Zhen when she makes money in the future.

Shi Dalin added, "I don't have enough money to buy the goods. Go ask Qiu Juan if you can borrow some from her. Also, do you have the money she paid for her meals? We can use it for now and pay her back later."

Shi Dalin had Zhao Meiyun keep the food expenses paid by Zhao Qiujuan, intending to use them as Zhao Qiujuan's dowry when she got married.

“The money is with me! And Qiu Juan, she’ll definitely be willing to lend me the money.” Zhao Meiyun readily agreed.

It's just a loan; Qiu Juan couldn't possibly be unhappy about it.

When Zhao Qiujuan heard that Shi Dalin wanted to borrow money, she was not at all unhappy and even took out her savings book to show Shi Dalin.

She used to be reluctant to tell others how much money she made, for fear of being targeted by Zhao Dongjuan, but things are different now.

Neither Shi Dalin nor Shi Zhen would covet her money.

Zhao Qiujuan earns about 1,000 yuan a month. She has been running her stall for more than ten months and has earned a total of nearly 10,000 yuan.

Zhao Dongjuan received a dowry of 6,000 yuan when she got married, thinking she was incredibly capable and looking down on her stingy older sister. But in reality... Zhao Qiujuan had already earned more money than her dowry!

However, Zhao Qiujuan would send 100 yuan home for food every month, and occasionally buy some things for the family, plus clothes and such...

She currently has only about seven thousand in savings.

Shi Dalin was shocked when he saw the bankbook Zhao Qiujuan took out. He really didn't expect that his quiet stepdaughter had earned so much money.

In comparison, he spent a lot on things like color TVs, and there were many other miscellaneous expenses at home, so he didn't have much savings.

Zhao Qiujuan, holding the passbook, said, "Dad, I'll go to the bank with you to withdraw the money tomorrow. You can keep this money and use it; there's no need to rush to pay me back."

If it weren't for Shi Zhen, where would she have earned the money? Besides, she wasn't even married yet. In her opinion, even if Shi Dalin made her hand over all her money, it would be the right thing to do.

Of course, if that were the case, she would definitely save some money on her own.

“I don’t need that much for my purchases,” Shi Dalin said. “You can lend me five thousand, and with the rest… go buy a bicycle and some nice clothes. Girls need to dress up too.”

Zhao Qiujuan didn't buy herself any clothes that year, and she was mostly covered in dust and dirt.

Zhao Qiujuan hadn't been in the mood for it, but after Shi Dalin mentioned it, she actually started thinking about buying a bicycle.

Buy one of those pretty women's bicycles.