When Zhang Fangyuan was returning home after buying some livestock, he saw Liu Xianglan walking back on the ridge carrying a black carp. He guessed that she had been home.
Without chasing after her and saying anything, he went home on his own, looked at an old hen in the yard, and laughed.
"The sun is rising from the west, and my mother-in-law actually sends me gifts."
Xu He was washing rice and glanced at the man: "He can't stand the slightest loss, and he took the fish again."
"It's okay. We caught a lot of fish in the river." He had eaten a lot in the past two days, so there was still a lot in the jar. Xu He had already planned to take it to the tea stall to sell it. You can cook or sell it alive, the price of fish is low and not very valuable.
"Can you find someone suitable?"
"Yes. Everyone in the neighborhood knows that I do this business. It's much easier to find me than before. When I enter the village, someone will greet me."
But he sighed again.
"Chen Si found me yesterday and said he wanted to learn this skill."
Xu He frowned when he heard this, he knew that this rainstorm had accelerated the harvest, and no household was spared. The Chen family had a field of crops by the river that was flooded, and with so many people in the family, after paying the land tax, they might not have enough food to eat this year.
In fact, it’s not just their family, many villagers are worried about this.
He went out to pick vegetables and met some villagers. The women and husbands pulled him aside and said that he was lucky to marry into a good family.
Pregnant men these days buy old hens everywhere and provide them with good food and drink at home. People like them have to work in the fields during pregnancy for six months, let alone have a good meal. Now we have been hit by a natural disaster. It’s like adding insult to injury and it rains all night. Our lives are extremely miserable.
As he said this he began to cry.
Xu He knew that farmers had a hard life, but dragging him to mourn made it seem as if their misfortune was his fault.
He knew what these people were thinking. They just felt that he was like a gray wall before, useless and even worse than them. There is always someone at the bottom of everything. Now that he has emerged and surpassed them, he feels even more unhappy.
When encountering a disaster, instead of thinking about how to remedy the situation, they blame everything on heaven and earth. This only makes them feel more upset, without solving any problem at all.
"It's a good thing that the Chen family wants to find more ways out." At least they are not like other families. They can do nothing but complain about their fate. Sometimes they say they are unlucky, and sometimes they curse those rich people.
Zhang Fangyuan squatted under the stove and lit the fire, throwing firewood into the hearth: "I think it's okay to teach him the skills. After all, he is someone I know well. That kid has been with me since he was a child, so I know what kind of person he is."
The craftsmanship was Zhang Fangyuan's, so Xu He couldn't make the decision for him, but he still said sincerely: "By selling pork, we can earn five or six taels a month at most, and at least three taels. That's also because there is only one butcher in the village. If there were more people, they would definitely share some of the business."
"Have you thought it through?"
Zhang Fangyuan certainly knew this truth. In fact, the money he earned from selling pork at a stall was already the highest among the villagers. He made some money every month, and it was stable if he continued doing this for a long time, and he could live a very down-to-earth life. Furthermore, the tea stall business, although it has only been open for a short time, still brings in two to three taels of revenue a month. The two together are already quite lucrative.
But we can’t just count the income, we also have to count the expenses.
This time the heavy rain caused rain to leak everywhere. Although their house was not soaked too badly, several pieces of grass on the roof were lifted off. At first, he looked at the miserable condition of the Chen family. Compared with the two families, his own family was much better off.
But two days ago, he passed by the landlord's house in the east of the village. The blue brick and tile house was leaking, but not a single tile had fallen off, and there were servants sweeping the yard. For the first time, he felt that his home was too poor.
Thinking about how his house in his previous life leaked like a waterfall, he thought over and over again and decided that he should build a blue brick and tile house.
If we had built a slightly smaller house, the money we had on hand would have been enough, but building this house would have cost us all. If I want to earn that much money again, relying on the income from my two small businesses at home, I don’t know when I will be able to save that much money again.
He told Xu He about his thoughts.
Xu He dared not even think about building a blue brick and tile house. Only the landlords in the village had such houses. Even the village chief's family could not build one. In fact, when Zhang Fangyuan proposed this idea, he was quite tempted: "Just pay it out and earn more. Although the money on hand is gone now, a real house can be built."
Zhang Fangyuan said: "If we want to repair it, we have to repair a big one at the same time."
"Since we have the idea of building a blue brick house, there is no such thing as a small one. The smallest blue brick house has five or six rooms. Isn't it enough for the four of us to live in?"
Zhang Fangyuan immediately shouted, "How can there be only four!"
Xu He laughed and forgot that there was another baby in his stomach.
"Even if you and I share one room, Second Aunt and Xiao'e share another, we still need to leave at least two rooms for the children to live in. In addition to the living room, we also need a warehouse, a central hall, a utility room..." Zhang Fangyuan counted carefully, "How can we have less than ten rooms?"
Xu He frowned and curled the corners of his mouth secretly. It turned out that he wanted at least two children.
"Even if it's just ten houses, the money should be enough. When the time comes, we can buy bricks and tiles from the kiln factory, hire workers from the village, and buy wood from the village. The cost will be much lower."
"There won't be much left. When the child grows up, he will have to go to school, which costs a lot of money. When he grows up, he will have to marry and have children, which costs even more."
Xu He frowned slightly: "You are only a little older now, it's a bit too far-fetched to think about these things."
“Parents who love their children plan for them in the long run.”
Xu He was quite happy to hear Zhang Fangyuan's plan. He saw that he wanted to send the child to school and learn etiquette, instead of expecting the child to grow up and do labor, so he felt that the child had hope. However, "You are only thinking about getting married and having children. What if it is a boy or a girl?"
"She has to get married, so she needs to prepare more dowry so that she can hold her head high in her husband's family." Zhang Fangyuan said, "And the girl and the boy need to be taken care of, not raised casually like a son."
Xu He chuckled: "So you mean you want to save the money for repairing the house for your children to use in the future?"
Ever since he learned that he was going to have a child, Zhang Fangyuan had been thinking about the future all night long. Perhaps many men in the world have experienced the joy of being a father for the first time, but the surprise in his heart is not something that ordinary people can understand. In the past, I had a small family and died alone. Now that I have come back to this world, I pay special attention to these things.
"I thought about it over and over again. Although I want a house, it is still habitable. I'd better be safe. I will use the money to start a business and earn more. Then I will have enough money to repair the house. I will have some money left over, and my children won't have to live a hard life in the village in the future."
Xu He was moved: "I will listen to you, but do you have any ideas?"
Zhang Fangyuan said, "I plan to take Chen Si with me to teach him the craft for a while, and then I will let him take care of the shop in the city, so that I can have some free time to do other things."
"Of course, even if we are close, it's not free."
There is no salary during the initial period of learning the craft. After becoming a master, the shop will be transferred to Chen Si, and he will get 30% of the profit from the shop every month.
Although it seems like he is making money for free, the road ahead has been paved by him, and he will not do business at a loss.
Xu He listened to his arrangement and nodded: "That's good."
After talking to his wife, Zhang Fangyuan went to the Chen family.
Chen Si was very happy to hear what he meant: "Okay, that's all!"
Zhang Fangyuan said, "Don't agree so readily. You should think about it carefully and tell your family."
However, Chen Si sighed and begged Zhang Fangyuan to go out of the house, saying that he wanted to take a walk outside, but in reality it was inconvenient to talk at home.
"If it wasn't difficult, I wouldn't have asked you to help me. I know He Ge'er is pregnant, so you must be very busy." Chen Si put his hands on his waist, his brows furrowed. "Before I got married, my eldest sister-in-law complained to my brother that she wanted to split the family. My eldest sister-in-law's family is good and she gets some subsidies, so it's reasonable for her to want to split the family."
"The family is in a bad state this year. My brother got married a few months before me, and I came later. All the money in the family was used up. My parents persuaded my eldest sister-in-law that the taxes had been paid and we should wait for the autumn harvest to make some money. Then we could arrange for the division of the family. But who knew it would rain again."
"I'm seeing that life is difficult at home, and my eldest sister-in-law is quarreling again. She doesn't do any work every day and only knows how to bully Brother Lin. My brother is also confused. To be honest, I also want to split up the family, but there is no money at home, and I have no money on hand. If we split up the family, we will have no place to live."
Zhang Fangyuan also knew that the Chen family was not harmonious, and having too many brothers and sisters would inevitably cause trouble. Mrs. Chen has a gentle temper and is not the type to bully or make things difficult for her daughter-in-law. However, she was unlucky enough to have a fierce daughter-in-law, and the family was in chaos.
He and Xu He had been living at home these days, and they often heard noises coming from the Chen family's yard at night, the loudest of which could be heard from this end. Chen Si and his wife ran out crying several times, and the couple wandered outside for a long time before returning home.
"If I have a job, I can build a mud house quickly, just like your tea shed. If nothing else, at least Brother Lin won't be so bullied after the family is divided."
Chen Si knew that his sister-in-law could bully Lin Ge'er at will because he didn't earn much money. In a family, apart from being tough by nature, one must have money in pocket to stand up straight.
I have learned a skill from Zhang Fangyuan, so I can earn some money at least. It is reasonable for people to make demands. Students have to pay homage to their teacher and pay homage to him.
"It's good that you think this way." It's a good thing to find a way out for the family, not to mention it's for the sake of your wife to have a good life, so you will be more responsible.
Zhang Fangyuan wanted to help him, and to put it bluntly, they both cared about their own families. He patted Chen Si on the shoulder and said, "Come with me to Zaojiao Village to slaughter the pigs tomorrow morning, and then go directly to the city."
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