Two days later, the first floor of the house on the ridge was completed, and the walls were basically finished. Master Fang brought over several truckloads of stone slabs and wood to replace the floor slabs and lay a single-story house. After laying the floor slabs, a layer of cement was poured on top. This would ensure the stability of the house structure and prevent it from leaking air, rain, or collapsing. The floor inside the house had been filled with soil and leveled, and then compacted, making it exceptionally flat. Three partitions were built inside, making it look less empty. The staircase was built in one corner of the house. Once the cement walls and floor were paved with cement, they would complement each other.
After making inquiries over the past few days, Jiang Shuya learned that the two young men inside were the sons of the two factory workers. They had not continued their studies and had come out to work and make a living with their families at a young age. Looking at her younger brother Shuhuai, Jiang Shuya admired him quite a bit. After all, one has to have a strong will to continue studying. If one cannot learn and does not have a desire to learn, one will drift aimlessly and will not go far. She herself was the one with a weak will, and she was prone to giving up after being hit a few times.
Over the next few days, the weather was sunny and the temperature rose. Some people's early-ripening grapes were on the market. The construction of houses in Dageng was in full swing, and they were striving to complete them by mid-July. Jiang Shuting's "Jiangdao Vineyard" website was already built. Last time, her younger sister thought that "Grape Fairy" was not a good name and that it would be better to choose a more representative name. Jiang Shuting's own grape varieties were not complete. Only by uploading more varieties would the website get more views and more popularity, which would lead to more orders.
Jiang Shuya heard from her sister that she could find it on Taobao using her phone, but she didn't open it herself. She heard that Jiang Shuya's phone number was set up on it, and that she would be responsible for all inquiries and purchases. By this time, some people's early-ripening grapes had already hit the market, so she had to carry her phone with her at all times, while her sister handled all the after-sales service.
In order to speed up the construction, when her mother-in-law wasn't busy, Shuya put on gloves and worked as a laborer with Shuhuai, handing buckets of cement that Shuhuai had mixed to the master bricklayers on the second floor.
It rained heavily for two more days during this period. Fortunately, the sun came out as soon as the rain stopped, so Master Fang and his team did not delay the project. When it was not raining, they would go to the ridge and continue building the unfinished house.
Sometimes, Liu Zi, the sister-in-law, would stand by the river with a mop, looking around, shaking her head and sighing as she flung the mop into the water. Her expression betrayed her secret mockery of Jiang Shuya.
Another week passed, and the overall structure of the second floor was completed. Just like downstairs, it was divided into three rooms. The height and dimensions were measured, the floor was laid, and the cement floor was installed. Then the roof beam could be raised and the roof sealed. Master Fang brought another truckload of timber for the roof beam. According to local custom, before the roof is sealed, red ribbons are hung, firecrackers are set off, and candy, or coins and cigarettes are scattered, which means good weather and continuous progress.
Jiang Shuya, of course, could not go against these customs. As long as they were good customs, they should be supported. She gave Master Fang the cigarettes, coins, and candy that she had prepared in advance. Firecrackers went off in unison, and some women and children standing below searched for candy and coins. Some men only stared at the cigarettes and looked for them. It was quite a lively scene.
The roof of the house was sealed with cement the next day. Originally, I thought I could just cover it with a thick sheet of iron and fix it in place, which would save money and effort.
Unexpectedly, some problems arose. The sheet metal that had been ordered was all bought up by the boss of a construction site. At that time, there were many construction sites, and a large number of thick sheet metal was needed for the construction of temporary housing in the construction site's living area. This became a hot commodity. However, the construction could not wait. Master Fang and his father Jiang Donglai went to the second-hand market and bought two truckloads of roof tiles, more than a dozen aluminum alloy doors and windows, as well as some paint and white lime for painting the walls.
For the next three days, the two master craftsmen laid tiles on the roof, Jiang Donglai and the old man worked on the cement walls, and Shuhuai and Shuya continued to do odd jobs. After working as odd jobs for several days in a row, Jiang Shuya felt that she had peeled off a layer of skin. Looking at her younger brother, he was only a little tanned and did not feel tired at all. This was truly the difference between men and women, a divine power bestowed by heaven. This was really not an exaggeration.
Looking at his own old man, after working for several days in a row, his fighting spirit was actually activated. He kept asking Master Fang if he wanted to build a wall around the front yard where they currently lived and build two houses there.
Master Fang smiled and suggested that building a courtyard wall would be simple, and that building two houses would be something the family could do themselves, without needing to hire anyone. They could just buy some materials. His meaning was clear: Jiang Donglai was capable of doing major work, and the old man was also a bricklayer, so they were equally skilled. As for the minor work, anyone in the family could do it.
The old man looked at Shuya, opened his mouth as if to say something, but Jiang Shuya understood immediately: now that they had the man, they needed to buy the materials! The house on the ridge had just been built, so there weren't many spare materials; they had all been contracted to Master Fang, and they were buying them on a tight budget. But he had worked for a few days, and Shuya didn't want to spoil his mood, so she told him that it was already mid-July, and the grapes at home would be on the market in a few days, so there wasn't enough time. She said that once the grapes were sold, they would have money to buy materials and free up manpower to build the house.
The old man shook his head, sighed, and helplessly pursed his lips: "That's all we can do."
On the last day of construction, July 17th, the same day the cement walls were plastered, the doors and windows that had been purchased could only be installed after the walls were completely dry. Jiang Donglai would come and install them in a few days.
At this moment, Master Fang took out the account book for the past few days and showed it to Shuya. It recorded the number of stone bricks, the price of timber, cement, floor slabs, paint, tiles, doors and windows, wood panels, yellow sand, pebbles, and all these prices were added together.
Jiang Shuya glanced at the materials. The bricks were sold by the piece, 1.5 yuan each, and about 30,000 bricks were used. The cement was sold by the bag, 20 yuan a bag. The yellow sand and gravel were sold by the ton, 1500 yuan a ton. All of these, plus transportation costs, added up to the total. This was just the cost of materials. The labor costs were 200 yuan a day for skilled workers and 150 yuan a day for unskilled workers. The actual construction took 23 days. Subtracting three days of rain, the labor costs were calculated for 20 days. The total cost was the sum of the material costs and the labor costs.
Master Fang's labor costs included his father and younger brother's share. Jiang Donglai repeatedly waved his hand, wanting to remove their share. Master Fang smiled and agreed, reducing it by 7,000. Jiang Shuya then gave Master Fang 93,000, with the extra amount being for drinks. Master Fang initially refused to accept it, but Jiang Donglai then explained that his brother had worked hard, and the material costs were all honestly priced, with no markup. The extra 300 or so was for loading, unloading, and handling fees, which was only a wage payment based on their years of brotherhood.
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