Chapter 94: Building a New House (Part 2) [VIP]
After nightfall, the villagers who came to help and lived nearby all went back home.
Only Hong Lu and his two apprentices had to stay overnight at the Shen family, which resulted in Chen Yao and Yang Wenying having to follow her mother to stay at her aunt's house.
Outside the fence gate, Yang Jizong and Shen Qingshan waved goodbye to the three people reluctantly.
"Why are you sighing? Won't you be able to see A Yao tomorrow morning?" Shen Qingshan turned and walked into the empty courtyard, and found his wooden basin and towel from under the bed.
His daughter-in-law, daughter, and Wenying were not at home, so he planned to take a shower directly in the yard.
Yang Jizong followed suit and took off his short shirt, revealing his muscular arms. He waited until Shen Qingshan finished scooping water from the jar before he walked over.
"Ayao originally wanted to lie down in the yard with all of us, talk, watch the stars and the moon, and fall asleep. He even bought a mosquito net."
"..." Shen Qingshan poured a bucket of water on his shoulders, listened to Yang Jizong's words, and looked up at the moon in the sky. What's so interesting about this moon?
Wow—wow—wow
The water that had been exposed to the sun for a day was splashed on their shoulders. The temperature was just right. The two grown men couldn't help but sigh. It was really comfortable to take a good shower after a hard day's work.
After taking a bath, they lit some mugwort in the yard to fumigate mosquitoes. The two of them looked at the bed and felt a little embarrassed.
There are three wooden beds in the house. Hong Lu has to sleep on one by himself as a guest, and his two apprentices can sleep together. But the remaining bed is not for just the two of them.
"Master Hong is back. Is the water from Yanhe River comfortable to wash in?" Shen Qingshan broke the awkwardness and walked over to ask the three people who had returned.
Hong Lu hung the washed clothes on the line to dry. "It's comfortable, but there are so many people here, it's like dumpling dumpling. I think I'll sleep on this bed."
"Oh, yes, this is it." Shen Qingshan nodded as he stood aside and watched him lie down to rest.
The two disciples beside him also immediately packed up and lay down.
I'm tired. So tired.
"Aren't you sleeping yet? You'll be busy starting tomorrow." Hong Lu turned over and closed his eyes. Soon, the snoring of the three masters and apprentices was heard.
Shen Qingshan and Yang Jizong looked at each other, and the last one of them lay down straight on the side.
"I will go to the city to find a carpenter tomorrow. You should help him at home. You need to be careful and attentive, okay?" Shen Qingshan put Madam Zhu between them.
Yang Jizong turned over and looked up at the moon in the sky and responded in a low voice. He didn't know whether A Yao had rested at this time.
Chen Yao and Yang Wenying haven't rested yet.
It was hot, and Huang Dongsheng lived in the city and only came back occasionally. His house had been unoccupied for a long time, so it needed to be cleaned.
Chen Yao and Yang Wenying tidied up simply and wiped the reed mat they brought with them. Instead, they were no longer sleepy.
Since they couldn't sleep, the two of them simply used the moonlight outside to take out the tools and silk threads for making velvet flowers from the wooden box, and sat cross-legged on the bed to make velvet flowers.
"Ayao, after the house is built, do we have to sleep separately?"
Chen Yao put down the scissors in her hand and picked up the palm-leaf fan to fan herself: "Why, you can't bear to sleep apart from me?"
"No, I mean, if we sleep separately, do you and my brother have to live together?"
"Wenying, didn't your brother tell you that he would leave after the autumn harvest next year?"
Yang Wenying's eyes widened, her mouth opened wide, and her brows furrowed. "My brother never told me about this, but I think since he decided to leave, he must have been absolutely sure. But in this case, you..."
Will the relationship that Chen Yao and her brother have cultivated with great difficulty fade away like this?
Seeing that she was still worried about herself, Chen Yao couldn't help but raise her hand and knock on her forehead: "Wenying, you still have the mind to worry about us, what about yourself, don't you plan to leave with your brother?"
"Why should I leave? Are you trying to chase me away?" Compared to her brother's departure next year, Yang Wenying is more worried about her own position in the Shen family.
Before Chen Yao could speak, the little girl held her hand and said, "You can't chase me away. If I leave, who will help you dye silk and make velvet flowers? Who will help you clear the land and sow seeds? And the chickens at home, I raised them all. I'm very capable now."
This is her home, but she is too embarrassed to say it
"Wenying..."
"Can't I just pay to stay here?" The little girl's eyes were already filled with tears.
"Wenying, no one wants to drive you away, and no one wants your money. You two siblings depend on each other for survival. Are you willing to be separated from your brother?"
Yang Wenying was silent for a moment, and the scales in her heart slowly began to tilt.
Chen Yao thought that the velvet flower could not be made, so she shouldn't bring it up. "It's late, let's go to bed. It's still a long way to go before next autumn harvest."
Yang Wenying lay on the reed mat with her eyes closed, but she had not slept all night.
Early in the morning, Huang Xing took everyone home to make breakfast. After eating,
Yang Wenying was packing up, and before she could say anything, the villagers who came to help arrived one after another.
Since Shen Qingshan was not at home, he issued today's instructions. People were divided into two groups, one group carried bricks and mortar, and the other group laid bricks and built walls.
Laying bricks and building walls also requires some skills. He will let his two apprentices teach him well and will also personally inspect it.
This job must be done well, and the bricks must be laid tightly together, otherwise it would be a shame for the meat I ate yesterday, and even more so for the Shen family's trust.
If anyone does not do his job well and damages his reputation, he will lose his job. Not to mention staying to eat meat, he will not even be able to do this job.
Dading works hard.
Yang Jizong was carrying bricks and tiles in the front yard and had no time to talk to his sister. He just said they could talk in the evening if there was anything.
Seeing so many people in the yard, Yang Wenying had no choice but to put it aside. She took the farm tools and followed Chen Yao to open up the wasteland behind the house.
Behind the house, Chen Yao began to cut grass and plow the land one meter away from the homestead, intending to divide the remaining wasteland into four parts.
One area is used to grow vegetables, one area is used to grow plants for dyeing silk threads, one area is used to build a greenhouse in winter, and the other area is used as her experimental field.
"Ayao, why don't you wait for Uncle Chen to come back from the city with the ox cart? It would be much faster if we used oxen to plow the fields!" Yang Wenying used a sickle, wearing a bamboo hat and protective sleeves, to cut off the plants that were as tall as a person.
Chen Yao, who was also equipped, spoke up from the front: "I don't know when my father will be back, let's do it first. I'll take a look at the soil in the backyard."
The two of them were exhausted just from mowing the grass in the morning, but luckily Brother Baolai came back with a mule cart to collect food to help.
Even so, it took a whole morning to finish the half acre of wasteland.
The sun was strong at noon, so everyone took a nap at home after lunch and continued working after the sun went down a little.
Seeing the already built wall casting a shadow in the sun, Chen Yao became more motivated to sow seeds in the afternoon.
She took out the crop seeds that Sister Baozhu had sent back and scattered them in the experimental field. There was one or two ridges for each crop, and a wooden stick was inserted in front of each ridge with a mark on it.
The three of them were exhausted and sweating, but looking at the neatly planned land, they felt a sense of accomplishment.
"Sister, there's a letter." Huang Dongsheng couldn't wait for his uncle to stop the ox cart, and hurried into the house holding the letter.
Huang Mei, who was picking vegetables in the yard, heard about the letter and ran forward in a panic to ask, "Is it from Baozhu?"
Huang Dongsheng stopped and shook his head. "It's a letter from Shopkeeper Lu of the Tow Building in Baihe Town. It's for my cousin."
Hearing this, Huang Mei sat back on the stool with a sense of loss and picked vegetables absent-mindedly.
Huang Xing and Miao saw this and couldn't help but raise their hands to signal Huang Dongsheng to leave quickly.
"Sister, Baozhu's letter might be on the way."
"Yes, don't worry, we can make some mung bean soup tonight."
Shen Qingshan tied up the ox cart and welcomed Carpenter Li into the yard to introduce him to everyone. Carpenter Li also brought two apprentices with him. When they saw Hong Lu, they immediately came forward to greet him.
"Why are you here too? What a coincidence."
"Do you two know each other?"
"We're old acquaintances. We've worked together countless times. Don't worry, we promise to make your house a good one."
"Then I'll leave it to you two." Shen Qingshan bowed and thanked him.
Masters Hong and Li discussed with the blueprint how much margin should be left for the positions of the doors and windows.
After the two had discussed it, Carpenter Li took his apprentice to select wood, plan the wood and start making doors and windows.
The four children read the letter together. In the letter, Lu Xiufang promised Chen Yao that she would share the profit of the velvet flower business with her in a 4:6 ratio, but she had to send a batch of goods to Xiulou in the middle of the month. As for how to set the price for selling them, Chen Yao was not allowed to interfere, and the price would be set by Qianlou.
"Cousin, what if Manager Lu cooks the books to fool us? I think we still need our own people to handle this business." Huang Dongsheng felt something was wrong after reading the letter.
"In the previous raw silk business, Manager Lu believed without hesitation that we could deliver the goods as promised and signed a contract with us. Naturally, I also trust her for this velvet flower. If a business partner doesn't even have this little bit of trust, then this business won't last long." Chen Yao put the letter in her arms.
Huang Dongsheng seemed to be lost in thought, keeping his cousin's words in mind, and then slapped his forehead: "Cousin, I almost forgot to tell you that our noodles are almost sold out. Are you still going to make them?"
"Yes, of course." Why not make money? Most of the savings have been used to build a new house. Now that it's selling well, I have to continue.
"Ayao, we are supposed to send you velvet flowers in the middle of the month. Will we be able to make it in time? The letter said that we have to send you thirty flowers of different styles first." Yang Wenying was a little worried. No matter how familiar she was with it, she couldn't think of so many styles in a short time.
Tian Baolai, who was standing by, suddenly said, "Ayao, I can accompany you to deliver the velvet flowers in the middle of the month."
"Look, my cousin said he would give it to me, so why not? We still have ten sticks left, right? I'll let Zi'an draw the pattern tonight, but you'll have to work with me." Chen Yao was confident.
As for the pancakes, she decided to make more at a time this time.
Yang Jizong was washing his hands in the yard when he heard Chen Yao mention him. He walked towards them and asked, "What do you need me for?"
"I want you to help me draw a velvet flower tonight. Can I describe it and you draw it?"
Yes, of course.
Everyone is busy these days, and Yang Jizon is eager to be alone with Shen Yao, but he is afraid that it will not work if he paints patterns in this yard.
So Yang Jizong and Chen Yao suggested going to the school, where there was a breeze and it was cooler at night.
How could Chen Yao not know what he was thinking? Just as she nodded in agreement, she saw Wen Ying leaning forward and saying, "I'll go too."
"What are you going to do?"
Yang Wenying looked resentful: "Brother, did you forget to tell me something important?"
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