This was her second time visiting the county government office, but the treatment she received this time was vastly different from the last.
As soon as the two approached the county government office, the yamen runners at the gate immediately came out to greet them, cupping their hands in a salute to Huang Youcai and saying with a smile, "Manager Huang, what brings you here today? Should I go in and announce your arrival?"
Ruyi looked at the person in front of her. What a coincidence! He was one of the constables who had stopped them that day. However, his attitude was completely different. He could only be described as a lackey now, without a trace of the arrogance he had shown that day.
Manager Huang was very kind and approachable, without the slightest airs. "Haha, isn't this Chief Jiang? Long time no see! How have you been lately?"
It turned out that this person was actually a constable, who was in charge of maintaining order in the county and catching thieves. He was considered a minor official in the county.
The two exchanged a few polite words, and then Jiang, the head constable, led them to the registrar.
With Manager Huang present, the entire process went very smoothly. The registrar didn't ask any questions, simply stamped the record book, and had Ruyi pay the land tax for the transfer, thus completing the formalities.
As Ruyi walked out of the government office, she held the land deed in her hand, feeling a sense of unreality... She was now considered a small landowner with mountains and land!
"Congratulations, Madam Cheng, you've finally bought the place you've been looking for!"
"Thank you so much, Manager Huang. I owe this all to your help. Otherwise, I don't know how long I would have had to struggle on my own, and I would have suffered a huge loss!"
Huang Youcai raised an eyebrow, noticing the change in Cheng Ruyi's attitude, and smiled even more sincerely, "Madam Cheng, you're too kind. I was just a middleman, I didn't do anything."
"Don't worry, Manager Huang, I'm not the kind of person who doesn't know what's good for me. I will remember your and my employer's kindness and will definitely repay you if I have the chance in the future!"
Cheng Ruyi was serious. Since the Zhou family had offered her a branch, wouldn't it be foolish not to climb it? This was the highest-ranking person she had ever met.
In times of peace and prosperity, she might choose to climb the ladder step by step on her own. But in times of chaos, there are too many unstable factors. She must seize the time to earn more and more money to cope with future uncertainties.
She has creative ideas for the information explosion era and the golden touch of the system, but what she lacks is a powerful backer or a trustworthy partner. As things stand, the Zhou family is a more reliable choice.
Since they've shown sincerity, she needs to demonstrate her own value in return.
Although the land purchase issue has been resolved, the house is still nowhere to be seen. If she wants to move into her new house in the new year, she must design it as soon as possible.
Including Cheng Mande, who is still a baby, the Cheng family has a total of eight people. In fact, she thought the size and shape of the three-courtyard house were quite suitable before. However, now she has a full ten acres of wasteland to use. If all ten acres are used to build a house, there will be much more room for development.
Without delay, Cheng Ruyi found the most famous old craftsman in the city at the address provided by Huang Youcai. It was said that many wealthy families had their houses designed by him.
She had complete faith in the Zhou family's recommendation, so for several days in a row she bothered them every day and even took them to Lishan Village to scout out the location several times. Fortunately, the old man had a good temper and was very interested in the design of the house, so he was not impatient with Cheng Ruyi.
After several field surveys, they discovered that Lishan is actually composed of three interconnected mountains running north-south. For the convenience of future discussions, they decided to call the western side of Lishan, which faces the official road, the front mountain, and the eastern side facing Lishan Village the back mountain.
Ruyi plans to use that piece of wasteland on the front mountain to open a shop. After all, it's rare to find such a place right next to the official road, and it would be a waste not to do some business there. But this is not urgent for now; it's a plan for the next few phases.
As for the back mountain, that's where the main buildings of the Cheng family residence are located.
Time was of the essence, so Ruyi planned to build a five-courtyard house on the wasteland behind the mountain, covering an area of more than 3,000 square meters, or about five acres.
The layout of the five courtyards is basically no different from that of an ordinary house.
The first courtyard mainly consists of the main gate, screen wall, moon gate, and a row of rear-facing rooms. These rear-facing rooms were intended to be used for storing miscellaneous items or for employing workers to live in in the future.
The second courtyard is where guests are received. There is a main room with a side room on each side. The two east wing rooms are planned to be turned into a carpentry workshop where Cheng Yan and Yun Ping can work on weekdays. The two west wing rooms will be used as a storeroom and kitchen. It would be best to dig a well here.
The three main rooms in the third courtyard are all Cheng Yan's rooms: a bedroom, a living room, and a studio, which is just right. The two rooms in the east wing are for Cheng Yunping's family of three. The west wing is currently planned to be used as a main hall and dining room. As for the future, it can be left for Cheng Mande to grow up or for other children in the future.
All of the above belong to the front courtyard. From the fourth courtyard onwards, it becomes the area for the female relatives in the back courtyard.
The fourth main house is Ruyi's own room. The three main houses have a bedroom on the left, a reception room in the middle, and a small study on the right. The two rooms in the east wing are just right for each of her two daughters, the one room in the west wing is for Xu Cui, and the remaining room connected to the side room can be used as a small kitchen and a public toilet and bathroom for the women.
The fifth section doesn't need to be built particularly large; it mainly consists of the backyard and rear building, which will be used as a warehouse or workers' quarters in the future.
In addition to the five courtyards, Ruyi also plans to build a "back garden and breeding farm" behind the house, where she intends to build a chicken farm, a rabbit farm, a lotus pond and fish pond, and some experimental land.
The entire back garden is currently planned to occupy about five acres, which means that half of the twenty acres of wasteland has been used. Ruyi actually wants to reclaim the remaining half, but it doesn't need to be paddy fields; dry land will suffice, which can be used to grow crops such as soybeans.
The specific design of the house's exterior was not Cheng Ruyi's forte. After stating her requirements, she left everything to the old craftsman, since she really didn't want the house to be too special in appearance, as that would not be in line with her principle of being low-key.
Therefore, all her unique modifications were carried out only inside the house. For example, the main house and side rooms in the third and fourth courtyards needed to be separated into spaces of about ten square meters to build an independent toilet and bathroom. The toilet didn't need to be very big, just a small independent room of five square meters. The bathroom was actually just a small cubicle for placing a bath tub, without a door, just separated by a screen.
A public toilet was built in each of the first, second, and fifth courtyards.
Although such a modification request was a bit strange, it was nothing in the eyes of the old craftsman who had seen a lot of things. After all, rich people always have a lot of strange hobbies and interests that they don't want to talk about. He had encountered even more shocking requests before. However, the structural principle of the toilet that Cheng Ruyi mentioned was somewhat interesting and worth his time to study.
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