Chapter 95
The delighted partner Gu drafted the investment agreement that night and gave it to Pei Liuniang for review.
Pei Liu naturally said that it was no problem and quickly signed his name on the spot: Pei Xilan.
Pei Liu actually still remembered his name before joining the No. 1 Thief, but during training, he was forced to abandon his original name and identity. In the end, according to the organization's convention, he was given the incongruous name of Wei Shier.
He endured humiliation for seven or eight years, and although many things were cruelly erased, he still tried hard to remember his surname, the only thing that could prove his identity.
But right now, it’s not the time to use your real name.
Perhaps, it will never be used again.
It was the first time that Gu Ran knew the real name of Pei Jia Liuniang. She looked at the name and thought: This name is quite nice!
Then he signed his name on two copies and handed one of the signed copies to Pei Liu.
This was the first time Pei Liu heard of Gu Erniang's name. He looked at it silently for a few more seconds, and then solemnly put the deed away.
After getting the money, Gu Ran went straight to see Uncle Wu the next day.
When I was building the windmill tower, I was not familiar with the people in the village and didn’t know that Uncle Wu was a bricklayer. Now that I know, I can naturally hire someone without bothering Village Chief Wu.
When Uncle Wu heard that Gu Ran asked him to build a house on Dunzi Island, he thought he had misheard.
"What did you say? Go to Dunzi Island, that deserted island, and build a house?" Is Gu Er Niang joking?
"Yes, it's Dunzi Island."
"Are you sure?" Uncle Wu watched Gu Ran nod vigorously, suspicious. "Who would live in a house on a deserted island? Who would want to live on such a deserted island?"
"As for me, I'm reclaiming land on Dunzi Island. I'm thinking of doing some kind of business to make a living in the future, so I have to build a place to live." Gu Ran urged him, "The house doesn't need to be too big. The small house I live in in the village now is fine. In addition, I have to build a simple warehouse." Later, when the time comes, it will be used to store the harvested oranges, so the necessary buildings must be thought of.
"I'm planning to build a house made of a mixture of stone and wood, without bricks or tiles. The materials are readily available on the island. Uncle Wu, all you need to do is bring the people and tools."
"It's hard to say. If we really want to build a house, I have to go there in person to see if the stones are enough and whether the wood can be used as beams or something." Uncle Wu said this, making sure that Gu Ran was serious.
"Okay, we still have to go to Dunzi Island a few more times anyway, so we can just ask you to come along when the time comes."
"No, you're building a house on Dunzi Island. Does my sister know about this?" Uncle Wu San asked finally, "Dunzi Island is supposed to be an unowned island, right? How could you possibly build a house there?"
Uncle Wu Sanbo’s sister is Village Chief Wu.
"Yes, you can ask the village chief."
Gu Ran was not afraid that the news that he had bought Dunzi Island would spread in the village.
Since Uncle Wu San wanted to help her build a house, he would definitely have to look for idle farmers in the village to help, and it would be known sooner or later.
Uncle Wu watched Gu Ran leave and immediately went to the Lin family to find Village Chief Wu.
So Village Chief Wu also knew that Gu Ran went to Dunzi Island to build a house.
"It's not surprising. Gu Erniang bought that Dunzi Island. I guess she wants to build a private courtyard on the island!"
"She... the second mother of the Gu family!" Uncle Wu said with a sigh.
Last year I saved enough money to build the windmill, and this year I saved enough money to buy the island.
"What does she do to make so much money?" That deserted island would probably cost several hundred taels of silver, right?
"Which family in Xiaxi Village could be as capable as she is?" Uncle Wu couldn't help but feel envious. "She even said she wanted to use that island to make a living. How is she so smart? Is it because of the wife of the Marquis' Mansion in the capital? She knows more than the rest of us?"
"She must have some skills to make a living," said Village Chief Wu. "We don't even dare to enter the miasma forest, but she comes and goes freely. As for Dunzi Island, do you think others wouldn't want to buy it? But there are poisonous insects, snakes, scorpions, and miasma inside. Who wouldn't be afraid?"
"Gu Erniang is not afraid."
"Yes, look at that windmill. She knows how to deal with the miasma. She deserves the credit for buying Dunzi Island."
"She wants me to go to Dunzi Island and build a house. Is this job acceptable?"
"Yes."
"But what about the miasma?"
"It's winter now, the time when miasma is at its lowest. Second Lady Gu dared to ask you to go because she thought you wouldn't be afraid of miasma at this time of year. Even if there was, wouldn't she have ways to deal with it?"
Village Chief Wu nodded and said, "It's time to take over. You can take my son Erlang with you. It's the off-season now, and there's nothing else to do. It would be good for him to come with you to earn some extra money to get through the winter. His wife..."
Just as they were talking about Yang Ersao, they heard the painful howls of Lin Ersao from inside the house. Their faces changed, and they turned around to see Yang Jinling rushing out from the wing room with a panicked look on her face: "Village, village chief, it's bad, my second sister-in-law is bleeding."
This was initiated by my own wife.
Village Chief Wu immediately went in to wait on his wife, and at the same time ordered: "Go back and quickly ask your mother to come and help with the delivery. Second brother, please go to the fields and call Erlang back."
"Hey, I asked my wife to come over and help!"
Soon, Aunt Yang, who was helping with the delivery, came hurriedly with her daughter. Lin Erlang and several women from the Wu family also came to help. Village chief Wu's house suddenly became noisy.
Village chief Wu himself had three sons and one daughter, so he was quite experienced in childbirth. When he saw Aunt Yang and Yang Jinling coming over, he hurried to prepare hot water towels.
Aunt Yang was the midwife. She had calculated the due date of Mrs. Lin Ersao and was ready to deliver the baby. This was also the reason why Village Chief Wu asked Yang Jinling to help take care of his second daughter-in-law.
However, although she had been prepared, it was not easy for Mrs. Lin to give birth to this baby.
The date is advanced, premature birth.
Moreover, from the beginning until that night, the fetus was not born.
Seeing that things were not going well, Lin Erlang immediately went to the Shen family to ask for help - the wife of Shen's eldest son also gave birth to a baby this year, and they did not go elsewhere to find a doctor. They brought the court doctor with them when the Shen family moved to Xiaxi Village.
The palace doctor was a nun who specialized in gynecology. She was Aunt Xia, whom Mr. Shen had hired early on at a high price because he saw that his daughter-in-law was pregnant. Usually, whenever anyone in the Shen family had any illness, unless it was a serious one, they would go to Aunt Xia for treatment.
Now I can solve the urgent problem.
After Aunt Xia came to see Lin Ersao, she found out that the baby in Lin Ersao's belly was lying sideways, which was an abnormal fetal position. She immediately gave her an acupuncture to stop the bleeding, and then prescribed medicine and looked for herbs. If the Lin family didn't have them, she quickly went to the Shen family to ask. After gathering all the herbs, she boiled them and fed them to Lin Ersao, which stabilized her condition.
By dinner time, the news of Lin Ersao's difficult labor had reached the small house.
She usually interacts with Lin Ersao a lot. It can be said that in Xiaxi Village, she is the person closest to Gu Ran. Gu Ran was worried, so after dinner, he packed a basket of dried meat and food and went to Lin's house.
Although it was in the village, it was far away. Seeing Gu Ran walking alone at night, Pei Liu was worried, so he went with him.
When we arrived at the Lin family, we found that many people had come to the Lin family's big house. Half of the families in the village called their wives over. These were mothers with childbirth experience. They had the same idea as Gu Ran and wanted to see if they could help.
While waiting in the courtyard at the second floor, the cries and wails of Mrs. Lin Er could be heard from the room which had been temporarily turned into a delivery room, which made people feel anxious and sad.
Village chief Wu, Aunt Yang, Aunt Xia and others were all in the delivery room, while Lin Erlang and other relatives of the Wu family were outside taking care of things. Gu Ran had already found out the reason why Lin Ersao had a difficult delivery, and he couldn't help feeling a little panicked.
Even in the first life, childbirth was a big event for women and extremely dangerous, let alone in this prosperous dynasty.
Medical expertise is lacking, and delivery techniques are rudimentary. Even if a normal birth is possible, it's still a life-threatening situation. And now there's the issue of an abnormal fetal position...
Judging from the expressions of the people waiting in the courtyard, they were all anxious and uneasy. They all knew in their hearts that this matter was difficult to handle.
In the delivery room, Mrs. Lin's wailing gradually subsided. It was obvious that she had been running around all day and had no strength left.
Fortunately, Village Chief Wu and Lin Erlang brought food to Lin Ersao from time to time, and also asked the Shen family for ginseng slices to replenish Lin Ersao's energy.
That night, around midnight, the fetus was finally born safely.
Gu Ran heard a soft whimper outside, and then he no longer heard the baby crying.
It was Aunt Yang who came out and said to the people they were waiting for, "It's born, it's a boy."
Everyone waiting in the courtyard breathed a sigh of relief, and many of them gathered at the door of the delivery room to see the newly born grandson of the Lin family.
Gu Ran also took a look.
Probably because it stayed in A'niang's belly for too long, the baby's face looked bad, and it was very small, only a tiny bit big when held in the hand. Looking at Lin Ersao, she was lying on the thick quilt, looking weak and with a very bad face.
The anxiety in my heart did not decrease at all, but instead increased.
Village chief Wu and Lin Erlang came out to thank everyone. The women from various families who had gathered said good things about them and then left and went back to their homes.
Gu Ran also went back to the cottage with Pei Liu.
Just as they were about to leave the Lin family's main house, several voices began to whisper in the darkness: "Xixi is so small, I'm afraid it will be difficult to raise her!"
"Hey, the same thing goes for Lin Er's wife. She was lucky enough to survive."
"She looked fine during the pregnancy, so why did she have a difficult birth?"
“Tsk tsk!”
Gu Ran listened and felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
Pei Liu held the lantern, lighting the way back to the village house, without saying a word.
After they walked away and the voices could no longer be heard, Gu Ran breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around and glanced at Pei Liu. In the dim light, he was tense and his brows were furrowed.
Liu Niang is still young. Could she be scared by what happened just now?
"Sixth Lady?"
Pei Liu also turned his head and glanced at Gu Ran: "Hmm?"
"Are you scared?"
“…” Pei Liu thought for a moment and said, “Don’t be afraid!” It’s not his child.
"That's good." Gu Ran forced a smile. "Not every woman's childbirth is so dangerous. Look at the Shen family's daughter-in-law the other day. She gave birth safely. It depends on the person."
Pei Liu nodded.
"So when you get pregnant in the future, don't be afraid, look at Daju..." Before Gu Ran finished speaking, Pei Liu stopped.
Because the lamp was in Pei Liu's hand, if he didn't move, the road ahead would be dark and unclear. Gu Ran had no choice but to stop and looked back at Pei Liu's face. It was hard to tell what the expression was, but it was very complicated.
Gu Ran guessed that she might be wondering what was going on when she was pregnant?
"Sixth Lady?"
Pei Liu looked embarrassed. What was he afraid of?
Glancing at Gu Ran, he asked, "Then you, Second Mother, won't you be afraid when you get pregnant in the future?"
Gu Ran thought about it and said honestly, "I'm afraid." Then he chuckled, "But it's better to worry about such a long-term matter later."
"If you're afraid, you don't have to give birth." Pei Liu said seriously.
"Yeah, of course. Whether to have a baby or not is definitely my own decision." Gu Ran also replied seriously, "Although I'm afraid, the baby is still very cute. If possible, I would at least like to give birth to one myself and give it a try!"
The next day, the whole village knew that Lin Ersao had given birth to a baby.
But the baby's condition is not good, and Mrs. Lin's health is not optimistic either.
After this day, Aunt Xia has been helping the Lin family take care of the children and helping to take care of Lin Ersao's health.
Thanks to Village Chief Wu's rich experience in raising children, and Aunt Xia's real talent, with the careful care of many people, they finally managed to keep the child that was hard-earned.
After Lin Ersao finished her confinement, she stayed at home to recuperate for a long time. It was not until after the Chinese New Year that she finally recovered.
Not long after Mrs. Lin gave birth to Lin's son, Gu Ran took Uncle Wu, Uncle Yang, and Li Ji to Dunzi Island on Liu the boat again.
Since they were all going to Dunzi Island, Gu Ran paid money to hire Uncle Wu and Uncle Yang to work for her.
The price was the same as before when they entered the miasma forest to open up wasteland, forty cents a day, and Uncle Wu San and Uncle Yang gladly accepted it.
This time, Gu Ran asked Liu the boatman to row the boat all the way to the north of Dunzi Island and land at the place where she had chosen to build a ferry in the future.
"Uncle Liu, please come here to pick us up in four days, around noon."
"Okay!"
Since they had been there before, Gu Ran led them all the way to the valley and they soon arrived.
Seeing the patch of woodland with only tree stumps left in front of the valley, Uncle Wu San and Uncle Yang were both stunned.
"Gu Erniang, are you here to open up wasteland on this island?"
"What do you want to plant?"
Gu Ran smiled and said nothing. He asked Gu Ran and Li Ji to lead Uncle Yang to the back of the valley. He then took Uncle Wu to the front of the valley and pointed on the ground, drawing a circle. "Uncle Wu, I plan to build the house here, and then build another large warehouse on this side of the valley."
"How old?"
Gu Ran calculated how many employees he would need and the money he had, and asked, "Uncle Wu San, if I build a three-room, two-story house, how much money would it cost?"
"Then we need to see if the wood and stones you mentioned for building the house can be found on this island. If they can, then we can forgo the materials. Three rooms and two bedrooms..." Uncle Wu calculated, "Only the tiles and other auxiliary materials will cost extra. I estimate that it can be built with about 20 taels of silver."
So cheap?
Gu Ran was amused. "Then, what about building another windmill tower? No, two?"
It is said that miasma is rampant on Dunzi Island. We don’t notice it now in winter, but when spring comes, we will have to consider how to dispel the miasma.
Just in case, we need to build one in front of and behind the valley.
"As for the windmill tower, we won't cover the work you asked Master Huang to do. If we can find stone and wood on the island, we'll charge you two taels of silver for your work." Uncle Wu looked around and said, "When I came over here just now, I saw a lot of fir trees that could be used for beams. There are also beech trees that can be used."
As an expert hired by Gu Ran to build a house, as soon as he arrived on the island, he used his expertise as a professional bricklayer to observe the surrounding wood.
"But what about the stones?"
Wood is used as pillars, main beams, frames, etc., but the exterior walls still have to be built with stones.
"That's easy. Uncle Wu, please follow me."
Gu Ran immediately took Uncle Wu San around the valley, passed through a large forest behind the valley, crossed the river, and brought him to the rocky grassland.
"Hey, this is good!" Uncle Wu walked around the rocky ground, picked up a few large rocks at random, squatted down and felt them, "There are quite a lot of stones of this size here. If I use them to build a wall with the soil, it will definitely be solid."
"Yeah, yeah, I think so too." Gu Ran said with a smile.
"Also, on our way here, didn't we pass by a nanmu forest?"
"That's right. Can the nanmu tree also be used as the main beam?"
Uncle Wu nodded vigorously, "Hey, Gu Erniang, I think you made the right decision by buying this island."
"I also think I made the right purchase." Gu Ran said, pulling out two blueprints of a large house he had drawn from his backpack and handing them to Uncle Wu. "Uncle, please take a look at them. If there's anything wrong, tell me and I can make some changes."
"Okay, I'll take a look."
The two of them looked at the rocky area for a while before crossing the river and going back.
When entering the nanmu forest, Uncle Wu San stopped deliberately, picked up a few nanmu trees in the forest and began to think about what to do with them. When he returned to the other side of the valley, Pei Liu and Li Ji had already cleared the last acre of forest land, while Uncle Yang was holding a hoe and digging the stumps that had been cut down some time ago.
Gu Ran looked at the land that was almost cleared, thought for a moment, and then said to Pei Liu and Li Ji, "Now that there are more of us, we have to stay on the island for four days. Besides, we have to build houses in the valley ahead, so half an acre of land will definitely be used. How about clearing an extra acre ahead?"
"Okay." Pei Liu nodded.
"It would be fine if we could clear a few more acres." Li Ji looked at Uncle Wu, who had also picked up his hoe and started working. "Won't you have to hire people to build the house later? You'll definitely have to come more often. Then you can build the house while you cut down the land and clear it. Once it's cleared, you can plant something anytime."
"That's right." Gu Ran nodded.
"There's no rush for that work. We need to first clear and level the land in front of the valley where we're going to build the house."
While it's not too cold yet, we have to hurry and build houses for people to live in.
Otherwise, there would be no place to stay overnight, and it would be difficult to ask people to come to the island to work when the weather gets cold.
Gu Ran made new plans and started to light a fire and prepare dinner before it got dark.
There were five people this time, all of them were strong men, so in addition to bringing iron tools for reclaiming the land, each of them was asked to bring some food. Considering that there were so many people, they also brought an extra pot.
There is no need to worry about firewood. The grass and branches I collected earlier can be piled aside to dry for a few days. I don’t need to collect them intentionally and can burn them directly.
While Li Ji and others were helping to light a fire and cook, Gu Ran walked to the cave that he and Pei Liu had chosen last time. He was about to put away the things inside and make room for his backpack when Pei Liu also came in.
"Second mother!"
"Uh-huh, what's up?"
"The firewood we left behind last time is much less," Pei Liu said to Gu Ran in a low voice. "And the mat and pot over there at Li Ji's place show signs of having been used."
Gu Ran was stunned.
"Besides us, is there anyone else on this island?"
"That old madman." Pei Liu reminded.
Gu Ran suddenly became alert: "Is he still on the island?"
"Probably." Pei Liu nodded. "After checking with Li Ji, we concluded that the old lunatic is probably nearby. However, with so many of us, he wouldn't dare show up easily."
"Can you find someone?"
After all, there is a person of unknown origin on the island, and I always feel uneasy.
"If you don't work, go find someone?"
Gu Ran thought for a moment and said, "Let's work first. If he comes out, you and Li Ji will find a way to catch him and ask him about his background."
Uncle Wu San and Uncle Yang now receive a daily wage of forty cents, and they don't have to pay for the boat fare, and their meals are included. Li Ji, on the other hand, receives a hundred cents a day, and the extra money they receive is naturally used to help him catch people with his skills.
"good."
Pei Liu got out.
Because there were more people, we built another bonfire, and there was enough firewood anyway.
The branches were just cut and dried not long ago. Some of them were withered and burned very well. Some of them were not completely dried yet and gave off incomplete smoke. Fortunately, the smell was not strong and was acceptable.
Gu Ran even felt that this smoke was a waste. If it was burned in the stove, it could be used to make smoked meat to the perfect temperature.
Since there are so many people, the food they naturally bring more is dry food: steamed buns, flatbreads and steamed buns.
Anyway, the weather is getting cold, so you can keep them. Bring some with or without fillings.
Everyone was busy working today and had no time to dig out rabbit nests or look for wild animals, so the soup was made by Gu Ran who brought a few pieces of dried meat, mixed them with dried vegetables, and threw in some ginger.
After the hot soup is cooked, tear the dry steamed bun into pieces and dip it in sugar water to drink. This will warm up the steamed bun and soften it, making it taste good.
Except for Gu Ran and Pei Liu, no, including Pei Liu, everyone present had a big appetite. Even though each of them brought a lot of prepared food, after such a dinner, they ate much less.
So Gu Ran had to start worrying again. If Uncle Wu San brought people to build a house, he would probably have to use a small boat to carry some food over, and perhaps he would have to find a cook who could cook for the workers.
Uncle Wu also discussed the house construction matters with Gu Ran while eating:
First of all, helpers are indispensable. It takes an ordinary family about a month to build a large house with three rooms and two courtyards, and generally there are about ten helpers.
Secondly, the tools and auxiliary materials have to be moved to the island by boat.
Next, the valley is quite far from the rocky area, and it takes a lot of manpower to transport the rocks back and forth. If donkey carts and mule carts cannot transport them to the island, then at least a cart must be considered to transport the stones.
But, "There's also that river. No matter whether it's a donkey cart or a cart, it can't cross the river. What should we do then?"
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