It was June 14th when Yan Dashan came back. This time he brought two ox carts again, but this time the carts were full. Yan Dashan said that he was lucky and the search was relatively smooth. He bought 180 kilograms of each item. Together with the last time, he had 280 kilograms of each item at home, which was enough for about eight months.
Yan Dashan said the herbal medicine dealer was leaving and asked if they should stock up on more. Chun Xia shook her head and said, "We've already stocked up for eight months. If it really gets cheaper later like my second brother said, we'll be at a huge loss. Let's just stock up on these."
The two of them were already exhausted after running to the county town twice in a row, so Chunxiao asked Tian to prepare clothes for them to take a bath, and asked them to go to sleep after taking a bath. Tian's clothes were already prepared, and the two of them were covered in sweat and stinking, which she herself felt a little disgusted with.
Yan Bingfa was keeping watch there at night. Daha came back and told them that the house was half finished.
After a good night's sleep, Yan Dashan rose early the next morning to help out in the village. Dahe continued to deliver the goods, but since Yan Bangfa was on night watch, the job of collecting the meat fell to Zhou and Chunxiao. The walk was easy for the two of them, but the return, each carrying over 70 pounds, was incredibly strenuous.
Now that the weather is getting hotter, we can't keep too much meat. We have to braise it when we get back. Now is not the hottest time yet. If it gets hotter, the braised meat will go bad if left overnight. If people get sick from eating the spoiled meat, then they can't do business anymore. This matter must be prevented in advance.
When she came back she went to look for his father.
Yan Bingfa agreed with her words. Butchers usually slaughter pigs at 11 or 12 o'clock in the evening, and then start to clean the bones and cut the meat. They go to bed only after finishing all these. They will sell the pigs to the butcher shop at 11 o'clock the next day.
He decided to contact the butchers first. In the summer evenings, they would kill the animals and take them away, then come back to clean and braise them. Chunxiao now had two stoves, which could braise four pots at a time. Two round trips would be enough, and two round trips would take about four and a half hours. He could talk to the restaurant owner about delaying the time by half an hour, as this was to ensure the quality of the meat, and he would probably agree. Washing the intestines would also be convenient; the well water was readily available, so all it would take was a few changes of water.
After discussing this, Chunxiao took a look at the house under construction. She used to think her father and eldest brother were stingy, but now it seems that they weren't stingy at all. It's clear that they were too stingy to spend their money. Now that they have money, look at how much they are willing to spend. There are fifteen houses in a row, a rare sight in town. Although the workers chatted, they kept working, sweating profusely. Outdoor work is always the hardest.
The fence was gone now, and many villagers gathered to look in, sighing as they watched. Some lamented that they had learned the news too late to start work. With so much work to do at home, she didn't dare to stay idle. After saying this, she headed back to the end of the village.
Dahe's land was bought. It was in the back half of the village, right between Dashan's family and Chunxiao's. They had chosen the location themselves. If they had been asked to buy land in the past, they would definitely not have chosen this one. But now, it was different. He thought this was the best, and so did Zhang. They bought two acres of land for the foundation, spending seven and a half taels of silver. Zhang had been having some free time these days, so she was thinking about drawing up blueprints for the house. Whenever she saw Chunxiao was free, she would go to ask for advice. It was a good thing.
Shuwen and the others had already learned quite a few characters by now, studying with Yanqi. Even Dongsheng, who worked around the house, had learned quite a few. Whenever they wrote in the dirt outside the yard, Dongsheng would join in and learn as long as he had a moment.
Shuwen and Yanqi are also happy to teach.
Chunxiao's cotton fields had already reached the flowering and boll-forming stage, but the insects were numerous, and she had no pesticides to use, so she had to lead her men out to catch them daily. After the houses were built, the adults stopped coming, but the children from the village still frequently came to catch insects to feed the chickens, as they were so infested. Even Erniu, who was somewhat afraid of Chunxiao, came. Naturally, she was pleased to see this happen.
On July 2nd, the eldest brother's house in the village was completed. It had three main rooms and was supposed to be completed around the 20th of the month. However, Tian suddenly wanted to add a courtyard wall. There was no choice but to buy bricks to build the wall. The entire construction took 35 days, which was considered very fast. On the day of completion, everyone gathered together to inspect the house. Although there was only a front yard in Dashan, it was larger than before after being tidied and walled, and it was considered very spacious.
There were no bricks in the front yard, but there were bricks at the door and inside the house. Because of the experience from the first time, there were naturally no mistakes this time, and Yan Dashan paid the wages readily.
Before Master Zhong left, Yan Bingfa pulled him back in, explaining they had another house to build. Master Zhong was completely stunned. Just how many houses did this family want? He was bewildered, but there was no reason to turn down a business call, especially from such a forthright customer. Yan Bingfa explained that the next house wouldn't be built until a month later, as the autumn harvest was approaching, and besides their family, the workers would also be busy working in the fields.
Master Zhong agreed and, knowing it was a new location, said he would come over in advance.
Yan Dashan's new house cost a total of 89 taels of silver, which for a villager would be enough to last a lifetime. Despite the expense, the couple didn't feel the pinch at all, as the house was incredibly satisfying. Shuwen, Shufeng, and Yan Qi were all overjoyed.
The next day, they began to move their things back. This time, Dashan had divided up their respective living quarters. In the main hall, the bedroom on the left was for Zhou and his wife, and the bedroom on the right was for him and his wife.
The main hall in the middle has Shuwen and Yanqi's living quarters on the left, and Shufeng's on the right. Once the beds are built, Shuwen and Yanqi will each have their own room and bed. The third main hall will be occupied temporarily by my second brother's family, as it will take a while for Fanzhen and his family to finish building their house.
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