The meal was ready quickly.
Because of the incident with Niu Dali, Gu Lili didn't do anything complicated.
I just casually made a wild vegetable porridge, but I added the leftover half bowl of pork cracklings from the other day.
This distressed Gu Erniu greatly, but then he remembered that his family now had an extra five taels of silver, and he quickly calmed down.
Ten taels of silver should be a lot of money, otherwise how could he have heard Aunt Gu crying and making a fuss?
The situation on the second wife's side must be quite dire, otherwise how could the news have reached them from across half the village?
Listening to the faint screams coming from the second branch of the Gu family, the four siblings enjoyed their breakfast.
Gu Lili never expected that Gu Shuwen would be such a helpful ally.
However, she felt no gratitude towards Gu Shuwen.
Even if he studied at a private school in Yangjiagou for many years, did he really not know what his parents were doing?
In Gu Lili's opinion, Gu Shuwen was probably more afraid that things would escalate and affect his future.
After finishing their meal, Gu Erniu washed the dishes, and Gu Lili headed towards the village head's house.
Just then, the village head and his family were having breakfast. "Lili, come and eat!"
Upon seeing Gu Lili arrive, the whole family warmly invited her to eat.
Gu Lili quickly waved her hand and said, "Grandpa Village Head, please eat. I came here to ask about the house construction."
When the village head heard that Gu Lili's family was going to build a house, he quickly finished what was in his bowl, left the kitchen, and planned to carefully discuss the matter with Gu Lili.
Gu Lili's family is building a house; this is a joyous occasion.
With ten taels of silver in the hands of several teenagers, it was inevitable that someone would covet it.
If we build a house there, then we won't be afraid of anything.
The village head asked, "Lili, how big do you want to build?"
Gu Lili thought for a moment and said, "I want each person to have a room, then a main room, and a place to cook. Grandpa Village Head, please help me calculate how much it will cost to build it."
After listening, the village head picked up a twig and started calculating on the ground.
Uncle Dazhu had also finished eating and squatted down to watch Grandpa Village Head do the accounts.
Grandpa Zheng was quite a capable man. If his family hadn't been short of money to send him to a private school, he might have become an official.
He was the only scholar in the entire Gu Village, or rather, now only one of two, since Gu Shuwen is also studying.
After some writing and drawing, he quickly figured it out.
“One house requires about two thousand adobe bricks, so five houses would require ten thousand adobe bricks. If it were just you and your siblings, who knows when you would be able to gather enough adobe bricks.” The village head stroked his goatee while staring at the words he had drawn on the ground.
Gu Lili knew that what the village head was saying was true. In their family, he and Erniu were the only ones who were a little older, but they still couldn't do this kind of work.
Gu Lili asked with a smile, "Then what if we outsource all of this?"
The village headman started calculating again, “The wages for building our house is fifteen cash a day. If seven or eight people come to build it, it will take about one or two months, which will cost more than twenty taels of silver. This does not include the price of the blue tiles. If everything is included, it will probably cost about thirty taels.”
Gu Lili felt more confident now; it seemed building this house wouldn't be easy.
If you go out and find wild produce to sell, it's not a problem.
Forget it, I'll wait a few more days.
Let's wait until the wheat sprouts, then take Erniu to town to take a look.
"Grandpa Village Head, I think I understand now. I'll build it when I have the money!" Gu Lili said with a smile.
The village head originally wanted Gu Lili to build a thatched hut, but building a thatched hut would cost three or four taels of silver, and it wouldn't last more than a year or two.
The village head tentatively asked, "Lili, why don't you build a mud house to live in first?"
He had calculated for Gu Lili that a mud house would cost less than ten taels of silver, and they would even have some left over.
Gu Lili shook her head and said, "Grandpa Village Head, as you know, my Erniu is growing up, and it's not good for us siblings to always sleep in one room. So, let's wait and see."
The village head nodded and said, "That's true."
In a few more years, Gu Erniu will be looking for a wife, and one room really won't be enough for everyone.
Gu Lili had a general idea of what was going on, so she got up and went home.
Before I even got home, Uncle Dazhu caught up with me again.
"Lili, wait a minute."
Gu Lili turned around and saw that Uncle Dazhu was holding a black dog on a leash.
"Uncle Dazhu, what's wrong?" Lili asked, puzzled.
Uncle Dazhu chuckled and said, “My dad said that it’s still not safe for you to have money in your hands. Since there’s no way to build a house now, he asked me to bring the dog to you so that you’ll know if there’s any noise at night.”
Gu Lili quickly declined, "That won't do, how can I take your dog?"
Gu Lili knew that dogs cost quite a bit of money these days.
Besides, if I give it to myself, won't there be no one to guard the house then?
"It's alright, it's alright, just take it and raise it. Consider it saving my family some food," Uncle Dazhu said with a smile.
Gu Lili reached out to pet the dog, which wagged its tail and enjoyed her touch.
Uncle Dazhu handed the dog to Gu Lili, then said he had something to do at home and left.
Seeing that she couldn't refuse, Gu Lili had no choice but to accept it.
However, Gu Lili kept this kindness in her heart and would definitely repay the village head when she found a suitable opportunity.
Back home, Gu Erniu and Gu Sigou both gathered around to look at the dog.
"Sister, isn't this Dahei from the village head's house? Why did you bring it here?" Gu Sigou asked.
He had seen this dog at the village head's house before. There were quite a few families in the village that kept dogs, but only the village head's dog was completely black, so it was easy to recognize.
Gu Lili smiled and said, "Grandpa Village Head said that it should be brought here to help us guard the house, so you all have to treat it well."
The two brothers nodded repeatedly, and Gu Lili handed Dahei to Gu Erniu to tie it up.
Gu Erniu and Gu Sigou carefully tied up Dahei and even found some tree branches to build a nest for it.
Seeing the two brothers busy at work, Gu Lili smiled and went back inside.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw Gu Huanhuan sewing the fabric she had cut the day before with a needle and thread.
Upon closer inspection, I was quite surprised.
Gu Huanhuan not only didn't sew wrong, but her stitches were also exceptionally good.
"Wow, Huanhuan, you're amazing!" Gu Lili couldn't help but exclaim.
Gu Huanhuan smiled a little shyly, "I just saw you and Mother doing needlework on weekdays, and I wanted to try it myself."
This made Gu Lili want to cry. She was already so good just from looking at it. If she practiced diligently, she would be even more amazing.
The stitches are almost as good as mine; I only achieved this effect through hard practice in my past life.
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