Mao thought that since the family didn't have much money, they could just build a few adobe houses.
Wen Xi's idea was to build a brick and tile house.
After much discussion, the mother and daughter finally decided to build two brick houses and the rest would be adobe houses. Of course, the additional condition was that the house design must be handed over to Wenxi, and Mao's condition was that the total cost must not exceed 40 taels of silver.
After the negotiation, Wen Xi was sweating, while Xiang Ye and Gu Shengmo had already finished a bowl of melon seeds.
He took out a piece of paper for his younger brother to practice calligraphy that he had bought for him at the market last time, then pulled out a small branch from the clay stove and began to design his own house.
If I had enough money, I would definitely design a courtyard house.
However, due to the tight budget, Wen Xi decided to design a compact luxury house. As the name suggests, it is a brick and tile house that does not require too much investment.
The structure that naturally comes to mind is the house where my grandmother lived when I was a child. Although I have lived almost entirely in the south in modern times, I am actually a native northerner.
I go back to my grandma's house almost every winter and summer vacation, so I am quite familiar with the various living habits of northerners!
My grandmother's house was one of those houses with only a front door and a back door. The front door led to the main room, which also served as the kitchen. All the stoves were located there, and the doors to each room opened into the main room, not out into the yard.
Each stove is almost always connected to the kang (fired bed) in the room. Of course, some families with many rooms don't need so many stoves, so they only need to leave a stove opening.
I thought Fang Qiang's friend would be a young man around his age, but he turned out to be a middle-aged man. People called him Yuanzi.
Houses throughout Northern Xinjiang were essentially the same layout, so Yuanzi hadn't even asked the owner about it. Instead, Wen Xi approached him with the blueprints.
"Little girl, are you going to build a house based on this?"
"Yeah, that's right! Ahem, my drawing skills aren't very good. Haha, if you don't understand, I can analyze it for you again."
Yuanzi waved his hand:
"No, no, it's very carefully drawn. I'm just curious why you like this kind of house?"
Wen Xi smiled mysteriously:
"You'll soon discover the beauty of this house."
Yuanzi just listened and didn't take it seriously, but he was a little interested in the kang in the picture.
Wen Xi analyzed the drawings thoroughly for him.
When Yuanzi learned that this kang had such wonderful benefits, she showed great desire for it.
Wen Xi wasn't entirely sure about the kang, though; she only had a general understanding of its principles. Also, when she was a child living with her grandmother, there were always more people and children around during the Lunar New Year. In the dead of winter, she couldn't play outside, so she had to play on the kang.
As a result, a bunch of children jumped around and made the already unstable kang collapse. In an instant, they all became extremely obedient.
Grandpa had no choice but to call a few uncles to start rebuilding the kang. Fortunately, at that time, every household knew how to build their own kang, otherwise it would be very troublesome to hire someone to do it during the New Year.
It was then that Wen Xi saw the workings of a kang. It wasn't just a pile of bricks, as it appeared from the outside, but rather required numerous chimneys to ensure even heating. However, that was only what she had seen; she had never actually experienced it, so she wasn't sure if she could replicate the effects of her past life.
After hearing this, Yuanzi felt that he should have some confidence and could give it a try.
The big and the small discussed the matter and settled it.
Yuanzi brought a group of people from his village, about ten in total, who came every morning and left in the evening. Mao provided lunch. The wages were fifteen wen per person per day, no more, no less, according to the market price.
As for the materials, they were all provided by Yuanzi. He has his own channels for getting the materials, so it would be much cheaper than buying them by yourself.
After Mao paid a twenty-liang deposit, she stopped caring about anything else. Seeing that Wen Xi had basically finished explaining everything she needed to, she went home, packed up some things, and took her away, preparing to send her to Madam Ye in the county. She herself had to buy some food and prepare meals for the workers.
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