The next day, Wang Xingren took Zhang Hulan to see the place he liked, which was not far from the land Zhang Hulan bought later.
That piece of land was government farmland, more than a thousand acres in size, and he planned to buy it all.
Wang Xingren pointed to the area and said, "I plan to build a house in the middle, with good farmland on both sides, where I can grow crops.
We also dug a few fish ponds in front of the house so that my grandfather could go fishing when he had nothing to do.
I also want to plant some fruit trees next to the fish pond. That’s basically it. Auntie, please help me plan the details.”
Zhang Hulan nodded, "Okay, I'll help you then."
Wang Xingren then went to the county government office to buy the land, and then Zhang Hulan came forward to find Zhao Guoliang and asked him to be responsible for building the house.
There is not much work at the moment, and there is not much work for Zhang Hulan to do. Only Zhou is helping Zhang Hulan feed the chickens and ducks.
Zhang Hulan found work for Zhao Guoliang and Zhao Cheng on the farm.
But Zhao Guoliang said that there were enough people on the farm and that he and Zhao Cheng were not needed at all, so both father and son refused to go to work on Zhang Hulan's farm.
However, Zhang Hubing's family was building a house, so both father and son went to work and earned some money in two months.
Zhao Cheng's wife, Jiang, is now pregnant, and the Zhao family is very happy.
Seeing Zhang Hulan coming over, Jiang quickly moved a stool for her. "Come and sit down, Hulan. Why do you have time to come to my house? Are you here to see my father-in-law?"
Zhang Hulan smiled and nodded, "Yes, I have something to ask Uncle Lizheng. How is Sister Jiang's health?"
"I'm in good health now. Unlike before, I would feel out of breath if I moved a little more. Now I can even run without any problem."
Jiang was also very grateful to Zhang Hulan. "It's all thanks to you. If you hadn't lent us the money, I don't know how my body would be, let alone conceiving a child."
Jiang gently stroked her belly. She had not been pregnant for long and her belly was not even noticeable yet.
The Zhao family attached great importance to the child in Jiang's belly. They had been looking forward to it for many years, so Zhou and Zhao Guoliang did not let Jiang work and just asked her to stay at home and take good care of the baby.
Zhang Hulan smiled and said, "After all, you and this child are destined to be together.
Your family are all good people, and good people will naturally be blessed."
After chatting for a few minutes, Zhao Guoliang came out.
Zhang Hulan said directly to Zhao Guoliang: "Uncle Lizheng, I have something to trouble you again."
"What's the matter? Why are you being so polite to me?"
Zhang Hulan said: "It's not that I have a problem, it's that Master Wang bought a piece of land outside the village, and he wants to build a yard here too.
You are familiar with building houses, so please help me with the arrangements. The salary is one tael of silver per month."
Zhao Guoliang asked curiously, "Isn't Mr. Wang's family from the capital? Why does he want to build a house here?"
Only the Zhang family knew Wang Xingren's family background, and everyone in the village only knew that Wang Xingren was from Beijing.
Zhang Hulan said, "From what he said, he might move in with us in the future."
Zhao Guoliang shook his head and laughed, "That's true. Some people want to move to the city, but some people want to move from the city to the countryside."
Then Zhao Guoliang asked, "What kind of house does Mr. Wang want to build?"
Zhang Hulan said: "We have to wait for the craftsmen hired by Master Wang to arrive. He has invited skilled craftsmen from other places to do the work.
At that time, some high-demand jobs will be done by the craftsmen hired by Mr. Wang, and some simple jobs will be done by the craftsmen here. You can help find some assistants later.
The yard that Master Wang wants to build is not small, and it requires a lot of people. It will probably take more than a year to complete the whole project."
"It'll take a year?" Zhao Guoliang asked in surprise, "How big a yard does Mr. Wang want to build?"
"Uncle Lizheng, it took nearly half a year to build my house. Master Wang wants to build a three-story courtyard with a garden and a pond. The requirements are very high."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to scare you. Mr. Wang has spent 10,000 taels of silver to build this house. How big do you want it to be?"
"Ten thousand taels of silver?" Zhao Guoliang was indeed frightened.
Zhao Guoliang hurriedly said: "Hu Lan, I don't think I can do this job.
I would just build an ordinary yard. For something like Mr. Wang, the requirements would definitely be high, and I’m afraid I can’t do it.”
"Uncle Village Chief, don't worry about that. There are special craftsmen to build houses, and you are mainly responsible for some manpower matters.
Also, if you need to buy something, you are familiar with the place.
You don't have to worry about building a house, and you just need to take care of other trivial matters.
Mr. Wang also wants to dig fish ponds on both sides of his house and plant fruit trees.
As for the food and lodging of the craftsmen, you will be responsible for these matters."
Zhao Guoliang felt relieved. If it were just these things, he would have no problem.
Zhao Guoliang asked: "When will the construction start?"
Zhang Hulan said: "I will show you the place later, and you can find someone to start the work now.
The stones for the foundation can be piled up first and transported over.
The foundation can wait until the craftsmen hired by Master Wang arrive."
Zhao Guoliang nodded, "Okay, I'll go get someone this afternoon."
During this period, the nearby stonemasons made a lot of money.
After Zhang Hulan's house was built, Zhang Hubing's house was built next. After Zhang Hubing's house had finished getting the stones, they moved on to Zhang Hujun's house. Now there is work to do again. Business is really good.
After the matter was settled, Zhao Guoliang immediately went to find the stonemason. Zhang Hulan also pointed out the place to Zhao Guoliang.
The craftsmen invited by Wang Xingren arrived half a month later, with ten stonemasons and ten carpenters.
Zhang Dahua was in charge of taking care of these craftsmen, so Zhang Hulan had nothing to do with them. She just needed to go and take a look when she had time.
…
Time flies and it’s already August.
After more than two months, even the foundation of Wang Xingren's house was not completely completed.
The place was too wide, with both a garden and a pool, so the craftsmen spent a long time on the overall planning.
Zhang Hujun's house has been built.
A banquet was held when we moved, and all the villagers came.
His future father-in-law was moving to a new house, so Wang Xingren, as his son-in-law, couldn't come empty-handed.
I bought more than a dozen large and small vases, as well as a number of large and small screens, ornaments, etc.
There are also various flowers, orchids, peonies, camellias, etc.
Wang Xingren also bought paintings with calligraphy, although Zhang Hujun and others could not understand the words on them and could not appreciate the paintings.
But looking at those calligraphy and paintings, Zhang Hujun was still very happy.
Xiang Chunhua even said in a deliberately jealous tone: "Tsk tsk tsk, my father-in-law and mother-in-law are really different. They sent so many gifts. Sigh... I, as an aunt, feel so jealous..."
Xiang Chunhua touched her belly and said, "I hope it's a girl. Then I will find a rich husband for my daughter."
Wang Xingren smiled and said, "Aunt, if you really give birth to a daughter, I will be a matchmaker for my little sister and choose a husband for her in the capital."
Xiang Chunhua's eyes lit up immediately, "Xingren, this is what you said! If I give birth to a daughter, then I will leave her lifelong affairs to you, my brother-in-law."
"No problem, leave it to me."
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