Chapter 212 Land Reclamation in Progress: Craftsmen, Miscellaneous Items, Speculation…
Cher acted quickly, bringing the craftsmen back that very afternoon.
In the past, the craftsmen who worked with the Victor family to renovate the villas charged very high fees.
This is an old rule in the artisan world: for nobles, they would choose building materials with inflated prices, which would be very unfriendly to the owner's wallet.
So he chose another construction contractor who offered better value for money.
The villa's architectural blueprints are kept in a bookcase on the third floor, and he has a spare key. The craftsman only needs to glance at the blueprints and then go to the roof to know how many tiles are needed.
They didn't need to worry about the roof tiles; the accompanying apprentice would go back and have the shop send over a sufficient quantity.
As for the glass, you can tell by looking at the store manager carefully carrying several large pieces of transparent glass in the car.
The villa has more than twenty windows inside and out, and replacing the completely broken and cracked glass is a major undertaking.
In the past, minor noble families like the Victor family would have servants who could perform simple repairs and replace glass, and they would also buy large panes of glass to keep as spares.
Alternatively, shops in town might pre-cut the glass to the dimensions provided by the homeowner and then deliver it.
However, the villa project in the estate was enormous, and the shopkeeper had long since discarded those records.
It would be faster to just buy good quality glass and have them cut and install it on-site.
The donkey cart was filled with various odds and ends, and the glass shop owner and his young apprentice sat on top of it.
On this trip, the shopkeeper not only earned money from selling glass, but also received a few silver coins as payment.
For their small shop, it was a good deal.
Following the donkey cart were roof repairmen who had their own horse-drawn carts to transport tools and tiles. This also served as a means of arranging work for Viktoria, a family living further away.
At lunchtime, Lai's meals showed a significant improvement.
Karma baked him fresh bread with nuts. It tasted exceptionally good, much better than Ray's baking skills.
After the meal, Lai handed a basket of seasonal fruit he had selected to Kama, allowing everyone to share it.
He still had plenty of fruit, so he didn't have to worry about lacking vitamins for a while.
Kama was delighted and had already planned to bake a fruit pie for Lei as dessert tonight.
Not long after the meal, Cher returned in his donkey cart.
Vincent helped carry several pieces of glass to the long dining table on the first floor, using a cloth as a mat.
After the shop manager and his apprentice bowed to Ray, they, led by Vincent, went from the first floor to the attic, measuring and recording every broken pane of glass.
After informing Ray, Cher took out the villa's design plans from the study.
Karma and Diana were carrying the odds and ends that Cher had bought.
There were two large basins, two washboards, a big bag of soap powder, and some rags and other household necessities.
The whole family was busy, except for Lai, who was the only one with nothing to do.
This atmosphere made him feel uneasy. The way these people treated him was very different from how they treated others. There was a hint of distance between their respect and his attitude, which made Ray feel a little uncomfortable with this change in status.
He never imagined it would turn out like this.
Lai walked out, leaving the villa to the busy crowd.
The greenhouse behind the villa is only about 40 square meters. It is built of white stone and wood, and its entire body is clean white. The stone pillars are carved with beautiful patterns.
The greenhouse door was tightly closed, and nothing was growing inside; it was rather stuffy.
This continent currently has no plastic, but it may produce it in the future; however, these are not things that Ray is concerned about.
Without plastic and acrylic panels, he was curious about how the greenhouse got sunlight.
He went closer to take a look, and sure enough, the transparent material was just common glass, but it was quite thick, probably for safety reasons.
Sixty to seventy percent of the greenhouse is covered by these thick glass panels, providing ample natural light to the house.
"Master Victor, you're here!"
Ray recognized the child as Vincent's youngest son, the lively one.
"You are Ross"
"It's me!"
The boy answered with a smile.
"I came out to look for you because I saw you weren't at the villa."
"Hmm. Ross, let me ask you a question. Do you know how many gold coins it would cost to build a greenhouse like this?"
"I don't know." The boy shook his head. "This kind of glass is very expensive, it costs a lot of gold coins. Grandpa doesn't let us come here, afraid that we'll break it."
"All right."
Ray led Ross away from the greenhouse and to the stables on the other side of the garden.
The interior is also empty, but it is very spacious, with six separate stables. Upon entering, there is a large space for storing hay and various tools.
Do you know how many gold coins a horse costs?
“I know that!” Ross’s eyes lit up.
"A foal costs eight gold coins, a mare costs more, requiring twelve gold coins, and an adult stallion costs ten gold coins."
"But these are only of ordinary quality, young master. If you want to buy ones in better condition, it's hard to say how many gold coins it will cost."
The boy spoke about these things in great detail and with great confidence.
Horses are more expensive here than in Rosen, but when Lai set off, he was in a hurry and bought a ready-made carriage and various horse tack from someone else, which naturally cost him a lot of money.
The price Ross quoted was within his expectations.
The manor was located in a rather remote area, and it took him more than half an hour to travel by carriage from the city center to the villa.
Whether for the sake of future travel convenience or for the convenience of transporting vegetables, it is very necessary for him to buy two horses.
To make growing vegetables easier in the future, he should actually buy a cow, but the oxcart is too slow.
Lai and his friends then went to the open space behind the garden.
The grass there is already quite tall, and from a distance it looks lush and green, but as you get closer you'll find that the lawn is covered with a mess of weeds, losing its original beauty.
Lai was somewhat troubled about how to remove the weeds before cultivating the land. They would seriously affect the vegetables' absorption of nutrients from the soil.
“Sometimes small trees grow on the grass. When my dad sees them, he cuts them down and digs out the roots to prevent them from taking root.”
Ross wanted to use this incident to tell Rye that Vincent was a gardener who maintained the lawn and was worth hiring.
"He did a great job."
Leigh praised Vincent's work.
It's still springtime, a good time for planting, so it's not too late to start preparing for clearing land and planting now.
But before that, there was one more thing that Lei needed to deal with.
"Ross, do you know where this is?"
Ray handed Ross the address that read Edmund Hilton's house.
"No. 69, Rue Montmartre..."
Ross read aloud as he looked at the document.
He and his brother attended a nearby church school for a few years, where they learned Common Tongue and some arithmetic.
Although the main courses at the church school are theology and history, there are only four classes per week.
But all of these are free!
For them, this is a rare opportunity.
"I've heard of this place, young master!"
Ross said excitedly.
"This is where the nobles live! These are properties allocated to each family by the king, but the nobles only have the right to use them."
Is it far from the city center?
"It's farther away, but a little closer to the manor. It shouldn't take long to walk there from the side path. Young master, are you going there? My brother should know the way."
"Yes, I'm going to see an old friend."
Lei stopped talking and brought up the topic.
How many farm tools are there on the estate?
"Forehead……"
This question was a bit difficult for Ross.
“Master Vic, the farm tools are all in the warehouse. We can go and take a look.”
"good."
Led by Ross, Ray went down to the manor's large warehouse, which had a large double wooden door, big enough to fit an entire carriage.
Upon entering, you can see various tools neatly hung on the wall.
In addition, there are two open wooden shelves with nothing on them, and a single wooden bed is placed against the wall.
"My grandfather told me that this place used to be used to store firewood. To keep the villa warm, a lot of wood would be used throughout the winter."
In those autumns, tenant farmers and landowners who rented land on the estate would bring cartloads of timber, filling the entire warehouse.
As Ross spoke, he had many fantasies about the scene at that time.
"That was a spectacular scene."
"That's right, I've seen it at other manors! They all go around from the back of the manor, to avoid damaging the nobles' lawns with their wagons."
Ray chuckled; he had indeed never seen such a scene before.
There were indeed some farm tools in the warehouse, but it didn't seem to be enough. Even with the ones in his pendant, it was still a bit short.
"Alright, let's go back."
"Um!"
Lei returned to the villa.
The glass shop owner was cutting a large piece of glass with a glass cutter, making a series of scratching sounds that were not harsh.
His young apprentice then carefully arranged each cut piece of glass separately using a cloth.
"Young Master, you're back."
Old butler Cher greeted Ray warmly.
"Yeah, I just went out for a walk with Ross."
"The craftsman is waiting for you in the reception room on the second floor. There are some things he needs to discuss with you."
"good."
Cher followed Ray to the second floor, where two craftsmen were sitting and bowed politely to Ray.
Nothing serious, it's mainly about roof repairs.
There were more broken roof tiles than it appeared, and in addition, they found a piece of wood that was rotten.
This significantly increased the expected repair costs.
Unable to make a decision, Cher decided to let Rye make the decision.
This wasn't a big deal, and Rye decided on the spot to renovate the roof.
After receiving the deposit from the old steward, the craftsmen immediately sent someone back to fetch tiles and more tools. They expected to complete all the work in five days, but they would have to stay at the manor temporarily.
The villa had many rooms, and Ray entrusted all of them to Cher for arrangement.
Only Ray and Cher remained in the room; Ray had specifically asked him to stay.
"Chel, how many gold coins did it cost to build the greenhouse behind the villa?"
Cher thought for a moment and gave a somewhat uncertain answer.
“That greenhouse was built before the master was born, and it cost about twenty-five gold coins. It’s been too long, I need to look through the ledgers to give an exact amount.”
"It's alright. Now, how much of a greenhouse like this would we need?"
Lei continued to press for answers.
"Hmm... this should be enough for less than twenty gold coins. Since the dwarf master discovered the new forging method, the price of glass is not as high as it used to be."
Lei nodded.
"I want to cultivate the grassland behind the house, so I need to buy an ox and a plow. Also, could you keep an eye out for suitable horses and a carriage? I need two horses for daily travel."
"yes."
Ray gave Cher another fifty gold coins before letting him leave the drawing room.
The glass greenhouse cost significantly more to manufacture than Rye had anticipated.
That tiny room was enough for him to buy half a mountain in the small village.
The prices in the royal city were indeed beyond the reach of ordinary families, and the "start-up capital" provided by Saiya was a great help.
Lei once again expressed his gratitude to Seya in his heart.
"Whose address is that?"
"I've heard of it," Ryan asked.
The musty smell in the bedroom lingered, and Ryan, feeling somewhat disgusted, chose to stay by Lai's side.
"An old friend, perhaps we can get some information from him."
Something different flashed in Ray's eyes.
More than a month after Neil went missing, he recalled the unusual things Danny had told him about Neil.
Ray recounted a series of events from Neil's past life and his memories of his childhood.
As far as I can remember, even though Ray was still young at the time, he had never heard of his mother Jennifer being pregnant.
They had left the small mountain village for a period of time because of their grandmother's death.
Then, Ray's younger brother, Neil, was brought back by them.
They told Ray that Neil was his younger brother.
Young Rae had no doubts, and so the family of four lived happily together.
Then, Victor and his wife passed away, leaving only the two brothers in the family...
In addition, Leigh also made some bold guesses about his father's old friend who had once made a surprise visit.
He may know exactly what happened when Neil was born.
Moreover, the way he looked at Neil was not as simple as looking at his old friend's youngest son.
Ray didn't intend to beat around the bush and wanted to find an opportunity to ask him directly. Even if Edmund didn't intend to tell him, he would continue to investigate along this lead.
Lei has made up his mind.
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