Lin Shanfu had gone into the mountains with Lin Xiazhu once. After learning that she no longer went deep into the mountains but instead wandered around the hills near Linjia Village to collect mountain products, and even cut bamboo and dug up medicinal roots to sell, he stopped following her.
He could do these things himself. If it weren't for Grandma Lin's repeated mentions that her niece could dig up wild ginseng and lingzhi, he wouldn't have been tempted to go into the mountains with her. However, he quickly came to his senses.
Ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum are not easy to dig up. Apart from his eldest niece, no one in Linjia Village has ever dug up ginseng in the past few decades or even hundreds of years. These things are rare and depend entirely on luck and fate.
To put it bluntly, once this thing is dug up, it's gone. Don't even dream about it.
After cutting bamboo for several days, I made a total of about two hundred yuan, which is a pretty good income. However, Lin Xiazhu's experience with cutting bamboo is a bit of a headache.
That's how she got her name. On the day she was born, Lin Shanlai had just brought back two bundles of bamboo. It was summer, so her father named her Lin Xiazhu.
Literally, the name sounds quite poetic and cultured, but the truth is that her father cut down bamboo in the summer, hence the name "Summer Bamboo".
The names of the three younger sisters sound even more perfunctory.
When Lin Chacha was born, the camellias were in full bloom; the winter that Lin Xiaoxue was born was a rare snowfall; and when Lin Taozi was born, the peaches were ripe.
Therefore, people must read more books, otherwise they will have a headache when choosing names for their children in the future. In a few years, a large number of Mary Sue heroines or heroines will appear in society, and they will all sound very nice.
It's no longer names like Zhaodi, Zhaolian, Zhaoxiu, Xiucai, Chunying, Fulan, but rather names like Xinyi, Shihan, Yuyan, Yuze, Yuxuan, Yufeng.
The latter were all chosen based on the cast list on TV. Lin Xiazhu thought that reading more books would give her more choices, and if she really liked Mary Sue characters, that was fine too.
"Cha Cha, here's fifty yuan. Hide it well, don't lose it." Ever since that time when Lin Cha Cha asked Lin Xia Zhu for thirty yuan while selling mountain products, every time she made money from me, she would give Lin Cha Cha fifty yuan.
This girl has a secret. She said she wants to save money for something big. Lin Xiazhu couldn't figure out what big thing she wanted to do. Since she wanted to save money, she would give it to her. Lin Chacha always put in a lot of effort.
However, every time Lin Xiazhu gave her money, she would remind her not to spend it recklessly. She should tell her that if she decided to do something, she should make achievements. She should never tell her that the so-called important thing was to squander money on snacks.
"It won't get lost, don't worry, sis, I know what I'm doing." Lin Chacha was a little smug. Last time, Lin Xiaoxue tried to steal her spare change, but she couldn't find it even after turning the room upside down. Her money wasn't just for buying snacks; she was really planning something big.
Because of land development in the town and the fact that some people have gone out to work and earned money, more and more people are starting to build new houses. Lin Shanfu has some foresight, so he started working on the construction site, just like in his previous life.
He started by laying bricks, and once he became skilled, he began to take on contract work. He didn't do very large projects, but he was one of the wealthiest people in Shanhe Town.
Since he's just starting out, there aren't many people hiring him. Right now, he can only help people build pigsties, fences, and low houses, and he can't earn much money for the time being.
However, Lin Shanfu is meticulous and conscientious in his work. In his previous life, he completed his apprenticeship after only a few months of study, ensuring the quality of his work. Therefore, a few months later, Lin Xiazhu approached Lin Shanfu and offered to have him build the house.
"Didn't we already find a mentor? Wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to step in halfway through?" Although he really wanted to take the job, he hesitated for a moment.
"That bricklayer is taking on several jobs at the same time. He's busy here today and there tomorrow. It's been several months and he hasn't even finished laying half a floor of bricks."
Not only does it waste time, but it also leads to shoddy workmanship. Sometimes the laborers, who are the bricklayers' lovers, don't blow the sand when mixing cement mortar, or they use too much sand and too little cement, and they're not afraid that the bricks will fall off later.
At that time, the rural laborers were not very professional; they had only learned a little bit and then started working on their own. If they were conscientious and responsible, it was fine, but if they were unskilled and liked to steal materials, it would be troublesome.
A while ago, Lin Xiazhu would occasionally go to the construction site to check on things and discovered that the workers who were building her house were secretly rigging things. She settled their wages that day and told them not to come back the next day.
At the time, both the master craftsman and the apprentice were happy to agree, and they even had an argument with her.
"You're getting a good deal but still acting innocent. Who would hire you if you cut corners? I saw it with my own eyes... This half-floor isn't even up to standard. I'll have it torn down and rebuilt. You should be grateful you haven't lost money, yet you still dare to argue."
In short, Lin Xiazhu was in the right. The master knew she was strong and had high fighting ability, and if they started fighting, who knew who would suffer. So after arguing for a few words, he took the money and left.
Having learned the whole story, Lin Shanfu no longer refused. "Alright, I'll take care of this. You can rest assured." He assured him that the quality would be absolutely guaranteed and that there would be no cutting corners.
"Uncle, don't worry about the wages, I will settle them on time. There's just something I need your help with." Wages are usually settled one floor at a time after completion, but if you're really short of money, you can settle a portion in advance.
Lin Shanfu was taken aback, then smiled. He believed his niece's words; both the child and Chacha were capable, managing to secure two strong laborers for other families at such a young age.
"Just tell me if you need anything, and I'll definitely help if I can."
"Zhang Yu and his brothers want to learn bricklaying. Could you mentor them?" Lin Xiazhu brought this up for Zhang Yu. These young men, who were only teenagers, had no other income besides collecting scrap. Some of them had a lot of complaints about collecting scrap, but they didn't have any other skills.
Zhang Yu asked Lin Xiazhu to think of a solution. Actually, this matter had nothing to do with Lin Xiazhu, but Zhang Yu thought she was smart and had many ideas, so he went to her several times to ask her for help.
So Lin Xiazhu decided to give them a chance, to take those immature teenagers to the construction site and beat them up, so they wouldn't bother her again in the future.
Lin Shanfu thought for a moment and quickly agreed, "No problem, we have more laborers, so the work will be done faster. Let them come."
Learning bricklaying definitely requires starting as a laborer. Nowadays, everything relies on manual labor. Bricks have to be carried in baskets, as do water, sand, and cement. Construction work is heavy and tiring, unlike in later generations when there are mixers and cranes to operate.
Having a few more helpers is necessary, but I'm worried that some of them might not be used to the job.
After arranging the house construction, Zhang Yu brought several of his underlings to work the next day. He thought they would quit quickly, but they actually persisted.
According to Lin Shanfu, after a week, these people became skilled at bricklaying, except for the first few days when they were clumsy. Zhang Yu and Zhang Shengli had already started learning how to lay bricks and were learning quite quickly, but their bricklaying was a bit crooked and Lin Shanfu had to redo it.
"With a little more practice, they'll get the hang of it quickly. Then, the three of us can lay bricks much faster on the second floor." Lin Shanfu felt a great sense of accomplishment. He not only had an apprentice, but the apprentice would also be graduating in two months, which made him very happy.
Lin Xiazhu was a little surprised, but felt it was also expected. Speaking of which, she deserves a lot of credit for Zhang Yu and the others being able to persevere, mainly because she paid the laborers daily.
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