"A small courtyard with two sections?"
Chen An gasped. He had worked as a laborer for a construction crew before and knew what a two-courtyard house looked like.
He had thought Cheng Yue planned to build five or six brick houses, but it turned out she wanted to build a small courtyard with two sections. It seemed he had been too conservative.
Cheng Yue nodded and explained her plans for the house: "We have a large family, so a bigger house is better for us to live in."
After Xiaolin gets married and has children, the population will increase, and it's hard to say what will happen to the two sisters, so the house must be kept.
Besides, once this house is built, it will become our ancestral home. Even after we're gone, it can be passed down through generations.
As he spoke, he took the fire poker and gestured on the ground, "This is what I think: two courtyards, with a row of back rooms at the main gate, and this is the outer courtyard."
Entering through the second gate leads to the inner courtyard, directly opposite the main hall and main house, with two side rooms on either side of the main house.
There are at least three side rooms on each side of the inner courtyard. The kitchen is located on one side of the side room. We'll see about the outhouse later.
"The cowshed, pigsty, chicken coop, and vegetable garden will all be moved to the back of the main house, which is the backyard; we'll just fence them off then."
As a modern person, she had seen quite a few architectural drawings.
Even without blueprints, I've visited many famous people's former residences and watched a lot of TV shows, so I know exactly what a two-courtyard house looks like.
But since it's in the countryside, you still need to make some slight modifications based on your own lifestyle to find what suits you best.
Putting aside everything else, we have to take things like vegetable gardens and livestock into account, but that definitely won't work in the inner courtyard. It's not only dirty, but it also doesn't taste good.
Finally, there's the issue of the outhouse; we need to think about that carefully.
Chen Lin was completely confused. "How big is that...?"
He didn't understand what she meant by outer courtyard, inner courtyard, and reverse-facing rooms; all he knew was that Cheng Yue had been talking for a long time, so there must be quite a few houses.
Chen Tong and Chen Ning were also completely confused; they didn't understand, they really didn't understand...
Only Chen An had seen two courtyards before, so he could follow Cheng Yue's train of thought. After Cheng Yue finished speaking, Chen An said:
"I have helped build houses like this before, but I don't know much about it. I've just heard them say that if it's a house this big, the cost of bricks and tiles alone would probably be eighty or ninety taels of silver, not including labor."
In fact, people in the village help each other build houses, but the help they can provide is usually just a few ordinary mud-brick houses.
For a small courtyard like this with two courtyards, the project is large, time-consuming, and complicated, so it's probably difficult for villagers to help.
Not to mention that it takes too long, most people don't know how to build. They'd be lucky to do odd jobs like digging foundations and carrying bricks. If they really wanted to build something, they'd have to find a professional construction team.
Chen Lin and his sister stared in shock, "Eighty or ninety taels?! Not even counting labor costs? How much silver will it cost to build that?"
Building a house is no simple task. Besides buying bricks and tiles and paying for labor, you also need to make furniture after the house is built. The more you calculate, the more alarmed you become.
Cheng Yue wasn't entirely sure how much money it would cost, since she had never built a house before, but Chen An's words gave her a general idea.
"It will probably cost more than a hundred taels. I still need to find someone to inquire when I have time. But this house can't be built just like that. It has to wait until after the busy farming season."
There are still several months left, and we're not just spending without earning; we'll definitely have enough money.
With the current income of six taels of braised food per day, that's one hundred and eighty taels a month. In a couple of days, Da Shun Zhai will also be supplying goods, bringing the total to around four hundred and fifty taels.
Even after deducting Madam Chen's two-tenths share of the profits, she would still receive 360 taels a month.
Cheng Yue had thought about the profit-sharing issue repeatedly. Since Madam Chen had invested in the shop, all the income generated by the shop should be included in the profit-sharing.
Even if Madam Chen said no, she couldn't really refuse to give it to her. It was her business if she didn't need the money; she didn't want to take advantage of her for nothing.
The main point is that you shouldn't let yourself be looked down upon because of a little bit of benefit; that will only narrow your path further.
All things considered, the monthly income would be more than enough to build a two-courtyard house.
Cheng Yue laid out her thoughts, and the three children instantly felt more confident. They also helped out at the shop and knew exactly how much they earned.
The shock I felt just now was simply because I was terrified of being poor. The moment I heard that several tens of taels of silver were too expensive, I couldn't help but think they were too expensive and didn't even bother to do the math.
The three siblings instantly relaxed their shoulders, and Chen An smiled, saying:
"No need to worry about furniture. By then my leg will be fully healed, and I can do the work myself, which will save a lot of money."
With so many rooms, the cost of doors and windows alone would be a huge expense, not to mention tables, chairs, beds, cabinets, and the like. If you really hired someone to do it, it would cost at least thirty taels of silver.
Save money where you can, anyway, you can do it yourself, it's your own business, no one else cares as much as he does.
Cheng Yue smiled and teased, "You certainly know how to manage a household, but with so much stuff, it'll take you forever to finish it all by yourself."
After Cheng Yue said that, Chen An laughed sheepishly, "I didn't think it through. We should still allocate a portion of it."
"There's no need to split it up. You can find two people to form a carpentry team. They can not only do our own work, but also take on other people's jobs in the future."
Cheng Yue knew that Chen An liked carpentry, so she directly expressed her thoughts.
Chen An's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but then he hesitated and said, "A-Yue, you have so much to do in your business, I should help you share the burden. If I do something else, it will be too hard on you."
Cheng Yue felt a warmth in her heart and looked at Chen An and the three children, saying, "Although we are a family, we don't have to be bound together in everything."
I have my own things to do, and you should have yours too. As for the three siblings, if they want to do anything in the future, they should do it according to their own wishes.
As long as our family works together towards the same goal, it doesn't matter what we do.
And only by doing what you love and are good at can you do it better, and then our family will get better and better.
Chen An was deeply moved upon hearing this. He did indeed like carpenters, but he always had many concerns.
He thought Cheng Yue didn't understand him, but he didn't expect her to think and say such things, encouraging him to do what he liked so sincerely.
Chen Lin grinned and said, "I don't know what I like to do, as long as I follow my mother, that's good enough."
"Father, I'll help Mother with the shop's affairs from now on, so you don't need to worry."
Chen An patted Chen Lin on the shoulder with a sense of satisfaction, and looked at Cheng Yue with emotion, saying, "A Yue, I'll listen to you."
Even if you're a carpenter, you have to make a name for yourself so that you don't let Ah Yue down, so that you can stand with Ah Yue better and take better responsibility for this family.
Cheng Yue smiled and nodded. Chen An was capable, and she would help him out when the time came. It would definitely be more than the sum of its parts.
Chen Lin is reliable and steady. If you can't think of anything you like, doing business with her for the time being is a good option.
They are two sisters. What do they like?
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