Chapter 157 Homestead
If you want to build a house, you have to tell the village chief and the neighborhood head. Because the place chosen by Lao Zhou is right next to his home and it is not farmland, he doesn't even have to pay any money.
When they learned that the Zhou family was going to build seven stone houses at once, the others were happy, but Zhou Dayuan's family, who lived some distance away from Manbao's family, were unhappy.
Because there was a large piece of land between the two houses, which was wasteland. No one had looked down on it over the years, so naturally no one would grow anything on it, so it was overgrown with weeds and many stones. But if the Zhou family built seven symmetrical houses, they would inevitably occupy most of the land, and the distance between the two houses would be even shorter.
Zhou Dayuan's wife, Zhang, was the first to raise objections. She disagreed with granting the land to the Zhou family, and her reason was clear: "They occupy such a large piece of land. What will happen if I want to build a house in the future?"
The village chief asked, "Isn't there some open space above your house?"
"The feng shui up there is not good for our family, so we'll build downwards if we have to."
This time Zhou Dayuan didn't say anything.
The village chief frowned and said, "You only have one son, Dalu. Why do you want to build a house?"
"I'm not happy about what you said. I only have one son, but that doesn't mean I only have one grandson. If Dalu's wife gives birth to more children, won't they have to build houses when they grow up?"
The village chief knew she was being unreasonable and simply couldn't stand seeing others doing well, so he turned to Old Zhou and said, "Then your family should pay the money. Measure out how much land you want to occupy and follow the rules."
Then he said to Zhang, "The Zhou family is willing to pay for it. If you want to enclose the land now, measure it and pay the money."
Zhang immediately stopped talking.
Zhou Dayuan quickly said, "My children are still young, so there's no rush to build a house."
The village chief snorted, then looked at the villagers and asked, "Is there anyone else in the village who wants to buy this land?"
Zhou Dagu laughed and said, "Our house is not there, so who would build a house there? If Uncle Jin wants to buy it, just buy it all."
Zhou Jin is not stupid. After buying the land, he connected it with Zhou Dayuan's family. Humph, he must leave a piece of land empty to avoid their family.
In Qili Village, anyone can build a house on any piece of vacant land as long as they get approval from all families in the village.
Because there is a lot of vacant land and no crops are grown on it, it is covered with weeds or gravel, so anyone with money can build on it.
But there are exceptions, because everyone in the village lives together. Although there is vacant land on both sides, there are also neighbors on both sides. If your family wants to build a house on this vacant land and my family also wants it, then we can only buy it.
The money is handed over to the village, and in the future, it can be used to build roads, water conservancy projects, or to help the weak and widowed from the village’s public account.
Of course, the money was not a lot. Based on the area, Old Zhoutou calculated that the maximum he could get for the land he had enclosed was about three hundred coins.
This amount of money is insignificant compared to the cost of building seven stone houses, but it is still heartbreaking for ordinary villagers.
Usually, in order to avoid spending the money, they would rather choose another place than buy it.
Anyway, there is plenty of open space inside and outside the village.
Old Zhou decided to pay, and Zhou Dayuan's family certainly wouldn't compete with him for it, so the matter was settled.
He simply asked the village chief to choose a good day for him, and immediately notified the people he wanted to invite to come to help build the house on that day.
Everyone who was invited said it was no problem.
Now that the weather is getting cold, there is no work in the fields. Old Zhou's family wants to build a house, so this is a good opportunity for them to earn some income, so everyone who was invited is very happy.
As soon as he got home, Lao Zhou took his family to the open space next to him and started mowing the grass and clearing away stones and various debris.
When Manbao finished his homework and ran back home from Bai's house, the weeds in the field had been cut, and everyone was picking up stones and putting them into bamboo baskets. A big circle was made on the ground with wood ash, and there were many square shapes in the circle.
Manbao, carrying his small bookcase, jumped over to the largest figure and excitedly asked Zhou Silang, who was slacking off, "Fourth Brother, why are you drawing on the ground?"
"What are you drawing? You're standing in a yard, and these are the houses you drew."
Manbao looked around and found it hard to imagine that they were actually the floor of the room and the yard. She scratched her head and asked, "Why are you drawing them?"
"Only by drawing it can you tell me how much land to buy. See? From here to there, it costs three hundred and twenty coins."
Zhou Dalang frowned and said, "If you ask me, there's no need to make it so big. The yard is big, and the room is big too."
"It's not too big at all. I think it's just right. Both my parents agree." Zhou Silang looked at the shape in the middle and said, "See? That's my room. I've planned it all out. It's such a big room, I'll divide it into two rooms when the time comes. Just like my parents' room, I'll put a bamboo screen to separate them. I'll put a bed in the inside and a table, chairs and benches outside. I can use it to entertain guests occasionally. When I have sons, I'll let them live outside."
Zhou Dalang thought about it and nodded, "That's a good idea. Okay, let's make it bigger."
Manbao asked excitedly, "What about my room?"
Zhou Silang waved his hand and said bluntly: "Choose any one you want, this one, this one is fine..."
Old Zhou happened to hear him bragging and slapped him on the head, scolding him, "You're the laziest one today! Your brother and sister-in-law have already mowed the grass, and you haven't even picked up a basket of stones. What are you bragging about?"
Manbao immediately slipped away. She ran to find Zhou Dalang and asked, "Brother, where is my room?"
Zhou Dalang pointed to the west-facing room in the main house and said with a smile, "Look, mother said you need a room facing the sun when you study, so this one is for you. We'll build a window for you on the west side and put the desk under it so you don't hurt your eyes when you read."
Manbao was delighted. He jumped over to take a look and said, "I like this place. It's right next to my parents' room. That way I can lean on the wall and talk to them at night."
Zhou Dalang: ...I’m afraid his parents won’t be happy.
Manbao turned around excitedly, wanting to plan her own room, but the ground here was uneven, and she really couldn't imagine what it would look like as a room, so she turned around for a long time and found that she had no plan at all, and couldn't even figure out where to put the bed.
Seeing her spinning around aimlessly, Koko reminded her, "Host, didn't your parents say they didn't have enough money? I don't think they'll buy you much, so why don't you consider making more money and getting more for yourself?"
Manbao nodded seriously, "You're right. When Fifth Brother comes back from the county, I'll save the money and never spend it recklessly again."
This chapter is dedicated to my book friend Hongyanzui Rat Baby
(End of this chapter)
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