The village chief felt he was too old to bear witnessing such a touching scene.
"Qingyun, go to your room and get a piece of paper. Ergou, help your mother find some charcoal sticks in the stove."
Jiang Yue wanted to build a house, but not the kind of house that you can see everywhere in the village. She wanted to build a house similar to a courtyard house, but of course, it couldn't be as big as a courtyard house, that would be too conspicuous!
However, the layout is roughly a replica of a traditional courtyard house. On the east side are her and Cao'er's two rooms, and around the corner is a bathroom with a washbasin and a squat toilet...
The room on the west side is Da Niu's room. We'll leave one room in case Da Niu has a child with his future eldest daughter-in-law.
The room on the south side is Er Gou's room, and another room will be reserved for his future grandchildren.
Leave a room for Qingyun in the north. This child will still have to take the imperial examination in the future. Wu Family Village can't hold him back!
Similarly, space was reserved at each corner for a bathroom and washbasin, and a squat toilet with flushing.
She couldn't fix the toilet, but the principle of a squat toilet is very simple: just install the pipes and flush!
Er Gou obeyed, and Qing Yun had nothing to say. The two followed their mother's instructions and went to get what she needed.
A short while later, Jiang Yue drew a simple sketch of the house according to her own ideas.
The village chief squinted, looked at it for a long time, and asked questions when he didn't understand. After adding annotations, he roughly understood what the house Jiang had mentioned was like.
After estimating for a moment, the village chief asked directly:
"Mr. Jiang, what materials do you intend to use to build this house?"
“Uncle Village Chief, we’re just an ordinary family. If we can’t afford blue bricks, we’ll use red bricks. As for tiles, we’ll use ordinary mud tiles. But I’m just a woman, how would I know where there are brick factories? I’ll have to trouble you to keep an eye out for me.”
As for the workers, I'll have to trouble you to help me choose. You can name your price; I just want to get the house finished before it gets too hot, and then save up some money in the second half of the year to find wives for Da Niu and Er Gou.”
Jiang's words were smooth and her tone gentle; her trust in the village chief was self-evident.
The village chief, who is deeply trusted, would naturally not have any ulterior motives in such matters; otherwise, he wouldn't be as highly respected as he is now!
The matter was settled, and the village chief helped find people and some materials during this period.
Things like roof beams and furniture, Jiang Yue would have to figure out herself.
Of course, what could she, a woman, possibly do?
The village chief was advising her to seek help from the people at the old house...
Building a house is a lifelong endeavor, and family, relatives, and friends will all lend a helping hand!
After seeing the village chief and his grandson off, Jiang Yue asked Da Niu and Er Gou to cook, while she stayed behind to have a heart-to-heart talk with Qing Yun and Cao'er.
"Qingyun, your mother plans to use the pension money left by your father to build a house. You just heard about the layout of the house. Your mother kept you here to explain it to you."
You are destined to take the imperial examination route in the future, unlike your eldest and second brothers. Wu Family Village is too small, and you are destined to leave.
Your mother is only leaving you one room, so that you will always know what to expect. No matter how successful you become in the future, there will always be a room in Wujia Village that belongs only to you!
"Cao'er, when you grow up and get married, I promise I'll save you a room. If your in-laws ever mistreat you, you can always come back to your parents' home. Your eldest brother, second brother, and third brother will all support you!"
After saying all this, Jiang Yue thought to herself that she had tried her best to treat the children fairly.
Sigh, having so many children is exhausting!
It's so hard to keep everyone fair!
"Yes, yes, I understand, Mother. Don't worry, I will be filial to you when I grow up."
Children from poor families mature early. Although Wu Xiaocao is young, she is more mature than other children her age.
She had never heard of a married girl in the village being able to return to her parents' home for a long time!
There aren't even any rooms available; they've already been taken by my younger siblings...
Wu Qingyun lowered his head and remained silent, replying in a muffled voice—
"Okay, son will listen to his mother."
For the first time, he felt ashamed of his selfishness.
His mother didn't say it, but he knew it all too well. The money she spent on his education, books, and writing materials was the largest among all his brothers...
He once dreamed of passing the imperial examination and becoming a scholar, so he could finally hold his head high, leave his mother and brothers behind...
He once wanted to be successful, and he didn't want to be pitied, laughed at, or disliked by others, so he studied hard...
That's all in the past. From now on, he's a member of the family. He must study hard and bring honor to his mother in the future! He must strive to become a noblewoman!
I also want my brothers and sisters to have enough to eat and wear and to be respected by others!
Jiang Yue had no idea that after her transmigration, her words and actions had subtly and unconsciously altered the life trajectories of the characters in the book...
Over the next few days, Jiang Yue stayed home with peace of mind, collecting, weighing, paying for, and processing the flowers into dried flowers.
The four families went from initial skepticism to picking flowers regularly and being overjoyed when they received the money...
Similarly, the fifth household, consisting of the Zhou family (mother and daughter-in-law, and several grandchildren), also joined in this good deed of picking flowers to sell for money.
By the eighth day, everyone had submitted their orders, and Jiang Yue breathed a sigh of relief. Once this batch of fireworks was finished, it would be delivered to Huichuntang tomorrow!
“You’ve both worked hard during this time. I’ll keep one hundred copper coins in the public treasury, and the other one hundred will be split equally between your two households.”
Old Mrs. Zhou was sitting at home, calling her two daughters-in-law over to count and divide the money with her.
The Wu family's rule was that before the family split up, each branch of the household would hand over half of its earnings to the common treasury, and the other half would be disposed of by each branch as they saw fit.
When the eldest and youngest Zhou families first entered the family, they readily agreed to this reasonable rule.
In their family home, and even in the entire Wu family village and the surrounding villages, you can't find another family with such understanding parents-in-law!
Old Mrs. Zhou and her husband didn't want their children and grandchildren to suffer the same hardships and losses they had endured. They believed in family harmony and that the Wu family's traditions would be passed down through generations...
Having tasted the sweetness of success, after dividing the copper coins, the younger Zhou woman couldn't wait to ask:
"Mother, is my third sister-in-law still accepting flowers?"
"I'm not sure, it seems like that's all they've collected. I'll ask the third brother's family another day."
Old Zhou was quite satisfied with this collaboration.
The four families in the village all praised her for her kindness and good upbringing when they saw her!
It's unbelievable that the third daughter-in-law, who used to be so unreasonable and troublesome, has now transformed herself into someone respected and praised by the villagers. It's truly remarkable!
"Mother, you should ask quickly. I saw other people in the village asking about my third brother's wife collecting flowers."
Little Zhou said nervously, "If it weren't for my pride, I would have gone to ask right now!"
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