But when he arrived at the place, he realized that the brick and tile house that Brother Gu had mentioned was not the ordinary kind.
Among them, the houses built by Madam Qin and the He family are probably no less impressive than those of the wealthy families in town! East and west side rooms have been added!
The Wang brothers were both quite excited at that moment. In that case, the service fee would be even more expensive, and they wouldn't be able to get it for less than ten taels of silver!
Although Old Man Wang was poor, he wasn't greedy and wouldn't overcharge. In the end, he quoted one tael of silver per room, with the east and west side rooms counted as one room, while the oxcart shed and the backyard were not included.
Everyone quickly did the math in their heads.
Qin San Niang's house has three main rooms, two side rooms, and east and west wing rooms, which cost six taels of silver.
He Xiucai's side paid five taels of silver, while Gu Qingshan and Wu Chunhua's families only needed three taels of silver each, totaling fourteen taels of silver! That was truly a fair price!
Some of the money should be given to the two apprentices; they can't work for nothing. Old Man Wang has always been generous despite his poverty, and he's determined not to skimp on his nephews' pay, making sure they're treated equally with his own son.
Seeing that no one reacted, Old Man Wang assumed they thought the price was too high. He sighed and said, "Young men, my price isn't cheap, but it's not expensive either. However, to be honest, building a house is a laborious and demanding job. Since I've taken on your work, I will naturally build it beautifully for you! I won't cut corners or use inferior materials!"
Nowadays, many contractors offer low prices but cut corners on building materials, resulting in poor quality houses and homeowners spending more money than necessary.
Old Wang is a man of integrity and doesn't want to ruin things for a little money. If people move in and then find fault with this or that, wouldn't that damage the relationship? It might seem like he'd make money in the short term, but he'd actually lose his reputation and potential customers—it's not worth it!
"Not at all, Uncle is a very honest man. I'm just thinking it would be best to build a wall around the perimeter, about two people high. Do you have any suggestions, Uncle? And how should I charge for it?" Qin San Niang asked, genuinely wanting the wall built; after all, having grown accustomed to living in a concrete box, a sense of security was crucial!
According to Qin San Niang's plan, the gates of all four households would face outwards, and the two adjacent houses would be surrounded by walls, essentially forming a small fortress. This way, even in an emergency, the walls would provide time for the families to escape. Since there was a mountain behind them, walls were unnecessary; she could then buy the mountain and block off the access route, making it even safer!
"A courtyard wall that is two people high can be made of mud bricks, blue bricks, or stones. In terms of sturdiness, mud bricks are probably the least sturdy. Blue bricks and stones are about the same hardness and are equally sturdy once built. However, stones are more than half the price of blue bricks!"
Old Wang pondered, thinking about the behavior of Qin Sanniang and the others. They didn't seem like ordinary peasants. They were probably wealthy and wanted to build a high wall to avoid being robbed by bandits. That wasn't surprising!
If he had a few hundred taels of silver in his own home, he wouldn't care if it were two people tall or even three people tall!
"However, this will increase the cost of materials! I wonder what materials Madam Qin plans to use?" Old Man Wang asked Madam Qin.
He could tell that the woman in these families held a rather high position! Of course, the scholar was also a man of his own mind, but the issue of the courtyard wall was raised by Qin San Niang, which was why Old Man Wang questioned her! Otherwise, given his patriarchal mindset, he certainly wouldn't have done it this way.
"Then let's use stones!" Qin Sanniang said softly. "What does Brother He think?"
Their two families lived on the outskirts, so the courtyard wall naturally rose around them.
In terms of sturdiness, blue bricks are more durable and neat, but they are too conspicuous! If bandits come, would they still rob someone else's house? Your blue brick house alone will attract most of the bandits' attention. On the contrary, stone walls are much more discreet and can even conceal the layout of the houses inside, making you feel much safer, right?
He Yingyuan understood these points after a little thought and nodded, "Of course, using stones is fine!"
“Alright! We’ll use a stone wall. We need to buy the stones, otherwise we won’t have enough time and we don’t have enough ready-made stones. In that case, I won’t charge you for the stone wall! You’ll need to find more people to build it.”
Nowadays, there are specialized stonemasons who quarry stones and make them into ordinary shapes similar to bricks, selling them to families who can't afford blue bricks but still want sturdy bricks, emphasizing cost-effectiveness!
Qin San Niang, however, was unwilling to take advantage of him. She held up one finger and said, "Building a wall isn't so easy. I'll give you one tael of silver, and I'll trouble you to keep an eye on things when the time comes. Otherwise, I won't feel confident."
Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Old Wang could only accept with a smile. Now he couldn't wait to work through the night to finish building the house!
When they returned home, Liu heard what Gu Qingshan had said and knew that Old Man Wang's family was probably struggling financially.
So, after discussing it with his eldest daughter, they gave him twenty jin of rice, twenty jin of flour, and a piece of cured meat. However, they explained that these were not included in his wages, so he didn't need to worry. After all, he needed to be well-fed to have the energy to work, right?
Old Wang accepted the gifts with reddened eyes. He knew his family's situation; his wife and daughter-in-law were probably thinking about borrowing grain. They had already received so much kindness, so he might as well accept it generously.
"I'll check the almanac tonight when I get back and see when it's a good time for us to start construction." Old Wang was decisive. Seeing that Qin San Niang and the others were all straightforward people, he couldn't hold them back. He wanted to finish building the house for them as soon as possible so they wouldn't have to pay rent here!
"Uncle, do we need to prepare incense and candles when we start construction?" Gu Qingshan asked. In his hometown in the north, they would need to prepare incense and candles, as well as food and meat.
"Oh, of course we need to prepare. Besides that, we also need to prepare pastries and fruits. Of course, there probably won't be many fruits this season, so just prepare some rice cakes or something for the New Year!" Old Wang looked at Gu Qingshan, knowing that their northern customs were probably different from those here.
"These are all just meanings. No matter what they are, as long as you make sincere offerings, the gods and ancestors will receive them."
"What Uncle is saying is true..."
next day
Wang Tieniu sent a message saying that eight days from now would be an auspicious day, and his father said he planned to start construction before noon.
Eight days later,
Liu and the others got up early in the morning to prepare pastries, oranges, fried fish, and braised meat.
Old Wang was very satisfied with the abundant offerings; it was a good omen, and the house would surely be built smoothly. He lit three incense sticks, muttered some incantations, then set off firecrackers. Each head of the household then dug a shovelful of earth—this marked the start of the groundbreaking ceremony!
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