Xia Qingqing checked her savings and found that after buying the house, she only had less than 1,000 yuan left.
Renovating the house will cost money, and she wants to move in next semester, so it's best to renovate the house in advance and let it air out for a while before moving in.
"Sigh," she sighed, "this money really goes by in no time."
Thinking of the watch in the system's inventory, Xia Qingqing hesitated for a moment but decided not to go to the black market to sell it herself.
She was completely unfamiliar with Beijing, and if something happened, it would be too late to regret it.
She roughly estimated that renovating the house should be done for under five or six hundred yuan, and the remaining money would be enough for her to use for the time being. When she went back to her hometown for summer vacation, she would bring a batch of watches to Xiao Hui. When doing business, it is better to do what you know than what you don't.
Song Ze knew that Xia Qingqing was looking forward to the new house, so he took the matter very seriously. He thought of everyone around him and finally remembered that the uncle of one of his high school classmates was building a house.
Taking advantage of the school holiday, Song Ze went directly to that classmate's house.
Wei Xin was surprised to see Song Ze suddenly appear at his door: "Brother Ze, what brings you here? Is there something you need?"
He didn't think Song Ze would come looking for him on purpose. He sat in front of Song Ze in high school. The two weren't particularly close, just people who could exchange a few words.
Song Ze comes from a good family and is rather arrogant, but the good thing is that he never bullies others, so Wei Xin has a pretty good impression of him.
Later, when he heard that Song Ze had gone to the countryside, he found it unbelievable. With Song Ze's family background, finding a job should have been an easy thing for him, so why did he become an educated youth in the countryside?
"Long time no see, I've come to ask you something," Song Ze said, handing Wei Xin a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes.
Wei Xin was a little flustered, unsure whether to accept it or not, but Song Ze simply shoved it into his hand.
He looked at Song Ze somewhat nervously: "Brother Ze, what do you want to ask? I'll definitely help if I can."
Seeing his nervous look, Song Ze couldn't help but laugh: "Don't be nervous, I'm not going to eat you. I heard your uncle can build houses, right?"
“That’s right. My uncle occasionally comes to the city to take on some jobs. Brother Ze, are you thinking about the house?” Wei Xin asked hesitantly.
“I have a yard here that needs renovation. Can your uncle do it?”
Upon hearing this, Wei Xin nodded quickly and said happily, "Yes, yes, I'll go and talk to my uncle in the countryside about it later."
The Wei family originally came from the countryside near Beijing. Later, Wei Xin's father found a job in the city through his wife's family connections, which can be considered a meteoric rise in their fortunes.
However, apart from their branch of the Wei family, the rest of the family still lived in the countryside.
When he was young, Uncle Wei learned the craft of building houses from someone. When he wasn't busy, he would come to the city to do odd jobs and earn some extra money to supplement his family's income.
Song Ze said, "Okay, have your uncle find a few more reliable people. Let's calculate the wages at 1 yuan a day, without meals included."
Song Ze gave Wei Xin the address of Xia Qingqing's house, arranged a time, and then left.
......
Mr. Wei glared at his son as he looked at the Daqianmen cigarettes on the table: "You're pretty impressive now, kid, even smoking Daqianmen. I wouldn't even dare to smoke such expensive cigarettes."
He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and kicked Wei Xin.
Wei Xin nimbly dodged, pleading, "Dad, Dad, wait a minute, let me explain first."
“I didn’t buy these cigarettes. They were a gift from a former classmate who said he wanted my uncle to help renovate his house.”
Upon hearing this, Mr. Wei stopped kicking the man: "Tell me what happened in detail."
Wei Xin then explained the whole story of why Song Ze had come to see him: "That's how it is. Song Ze asked my uncle to find a few more people to work together. The wages are one yuan a day, but meals are not included."
Mr. Wei nodded with a stern face: "Alright, take some time tomorrow to talk to your uncle."
After saying that, he casually stuffed the cigarette into his pocket: "I'll take this cigarette, you don't mind, do you?"
Wei Xin looked at the empty dining table, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. The cigarettes were originally meant for his father; otherwise, he wouldn't have just left them on the table.
The next morning, Wei Xin rode his bicycle to his uncle's house in the countryside and told him about it.
It just so happened that the fields weren't busy at the time, and Uncle Wei was very happy to hear that someone wanted him to renovate his house. When he heard that the payment was 1 yuan a day, his smile became even wider.
"Uncle, my classmate comes from a very wealthy family. You must find someone reliable," Wei Xin instructed with some unease. It wouldn't be worth offending Song Ze if things didn't go well.
Uncle Wei patted his chest and assured him, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this."
Since it's just renovating a house, which is much simpler than building a house, he doesn't plan to hire too many people, because if there are too many people, everyone will earn less.
He only needs to bring his eldest son and his two closest brothers.
——
The house that Xia Qingqing bought was structurally intact and only needed to be re-plastered. Several rooms were leaking because they hadn't been lived in for a long time, so some new tiles needed to be bought. The bathroom and toilet were also renovated according to Xia Qingqing's requirements.
The bathroom and toilet were the most difficult to work on, and it took about half a month before the house was finally finished.
During this period, Xia Qingqing came to visit twice. The rest of the time, she handed over the money and keys to Song Ze and let him handle them.
Xia Qingqing came over on the day the house was completed and nodded in satisfaction when she saw the brand-new house.
She hadn't expected that these workers would even take care of the cleaning at the same time, wiping the cabinets in the room spotless. They were quite dedicated, which saved Xia Qingqing a lot of trouble.
So when settling wages, Xia Qingqing specially gave everyone an extra red envelope, as a way to share in the good fortune.
Uncle Wei was pleasantly surprised to see the extra red envelope and thanked Xia Qingqing repeatedly.
On the contrary, his eldest son was more shrewd. Seeing that Xia Qingqing was generous, he put on a smiling face and tried to build a relationship with her, implying that she could introduce them to similar jobs in the future.
Xia Qingqing readily agreed. These people were indeed quite skilled, and if she opened a shop in the future, she could continue to entrust them with the decoration work.
After Uncle Wei and the others left, Xia Qingqing took Song Ze on a tour of each room to plan out the layout of the house.
Xia Qingqing plans to live in the main house by herself, and her parents and Gou Dan can stay in the west wing when they come to Beijing.
To be honest, she was a little scared to live alone in such a big courtyard, so she planned to persuade Zhang Hongyan and the others to come over as soon as possible.
Leaving their hometown, where they had lived since childhood, was a considerable challenge for them. Xia Qingqing didn't expect to persuade them easily and was prepared for a long-term battle.
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