The guard quietly accepted the money. Seeing that the young lady was pretty, sweet-spoken, and had no problems with her household registration, he whispered, "The natural disaster has spread far and wide. We're worried that refugees might sneak into the city and endanger the safety of the people, so we have to check household registration when entering or leaving the city. You just said you were going to buy grain, so you better hurry. Only those with household registration in this prefecture can buy grain now, and there's not much you can buy."
Jiang Yue understood that this was the purchase restriction. As expected, it was safer in the capital city because it was well managed.
After they got the news, they went into the city so as not to block the way of those behind them.
When I returned to my new house, it was already dark. It was probably the beginning of the Xu hour (7pm).
Aside from brothels and restaurants where people drank and enjoyed themselves, no other shops were open on the streets. A desolate scene began to take hold.
Jiang Yue chose a clean house. The previous owner had cleaned out everything, saving her the trouble.
He took out the old dirty blanket from the thatched hut and spread it on the ground.
Well, she broke her promise and brought the dirty blanket into the new house anyway.
The two of them lit a candle, sat cross-legged on the ground, and ate steamed buns and meat and vegetables. It was indeed relaxing to have ready-made food.
Jiang Nian didn't know if he learned how to take care of people from her, but he picked up a piece of meat and handed it to her mouth.
She lowered her head to eat, looking at the flickering candlelight, and thought to herself, this is the first candlelight dinner in my two lives, and it’s going to be so shabby?
The next morning, the rain stopped. Jiang Yue came to the tile kiln and bought two large carts of ordinary tiles. Then he took the drawings and ordered several thousand nailed tiles from the owner of the tile kiln.
He raised an eyebrow and said, "Young lady, it's not easy to nail these tiles. You have to pay an extra penny for each tile."
He was not trying to bluff. The nails on the tiles were long and sharp, difficult to make and could easily hurt people.
Jiang Yue nodded, "Okay."
Then he went to the next door to buy bricks to raise the courtyard wall and the floor. The craftsman came from the north and also knew how to make kangs. Making kangs is not difficult, but it's not common in Shuntian City, a place at the junction of north and south.
The boss went to see the size of their factory and asked if they would leave all the work to their craftsmen.
There's a lot of work here, so the money is definitely in. At a time like this, if you can earn money, you can buy more food!
Jiang Yue said that it was no problem, but she had one request: no asking questions, just do what she told you to do, and no gossip with the neighbors.
The boss had worked in a wealthy family and knew the rules. Those strange people were even more difficult to talk to than the young lady in front of him. He immediately patted his chest and said that he would keep his craftsmen in good control and make them keep their mouths shut and work!
So Jiang Yue handed over the project to them.
Originally, this house was a large tiled house made of stone bricks, and the tiles and bricks used were all good quality, so it was simple to just build on top.
The courtyard wall was raised from three meters to five meters, with pointed tiles on the roof. Kangs were installed in the three main rooms, and a second stove was added to the kitchen's original two. A toilet and a barn were added. All the roof tiles were inspected and any damaged ones replaced. The eaves were widened by half a meter, with two wooden sticks added across them, and a stone slab was added to the walkway below. The threshold was raised by one foot, and two drainage ditches were added to the courtyard.
A group of craftsmen were hammering and banging away, working furiously. They started by building the courtyard wall higher, adding strange-looking sharp nails. People from both the front and back streets came over to watch curiously.
If you want to get some information, all the people working there keep their mouths shut and don't say a word, which makes everyone feel itchy.
These craftsmen were indeed quick and did a good job. After the boss supervised the work and inspected it, Jiang Yue readily paid them fifteen taels of silver. Twenty taels of silver for the materials had already been paid.
This is because Jiang Yue placed an expedited order, so the labor cost was a bit higher.
After waiting for a long time for the new neighbor to go out, I found that it was a young lady I didn't recognize and a handsome man. I didn't see any other elders.
The neighbors came over and saw that she looked young, so they wanted to ask her some questions, but she just smiled and said nothing.
"What if such a sharp nail falls and hits someone? Wouldn't it be fatal?" A gentle voice came from it.
Jiang Yue turned around and saw a middle-aged woman with neat clothes and a gentle face. She was holding the arm of a young woman in her twenties. Judging from her tied hair, she must be a married woman.
Someone nearby also echoed, "We're fine, but Mr. Wang's family lives nearby, so don't get hit on the head by accident."
"Yes, yes, it's a big deal if the scholar is injured."
The middle-aged woman frowned, seeming to be even more anxious, and said in a gentle voice, "Why don't you take it down, young lady?"
Jiang Yue nodded, "Okay, will you pay?"
Although her clothes were of new style, the fabric was the same as the old cloth she bought for exchange. She had no ornaments on her head or hands, so she must have been just looking good.
The other person was speechless, biting her lip lightly, with a tender look in her eyes that seemed to be filled with tears. If the young woman next to her made such an expression, it would still be quite pitiful, but a middle-aged woman was really not her type.
But since it was someone else's cup of tea, someone immediately spoke up for her.
A middle-aged man spoke up, "Hey, how can you talk like that, young lady? Why are you asking others to pay for your own things?"
The woman the middle-aged woman was holding also spoke up, "It's not that I blame you, but this thing of yours is too dangerous. If I don't take it apart, what should I do if it hits my husband?"
Jiang Yue tilted her head and looked at her, a little curious. "Our two houses are separated by two walls, and the alley is five meters wide. Could it be that your husband likes to read and walk under the walls of other people's houses?"
"How dare you ruin the reputation of my scholar husband like this!"
He keeps calling me "scholar" all the time. It's really disgusting. Just how great is this scholar's reputation?
Jiang Yue was impatient. "First of all, I spent a lot of money to buy this tile, and you also said it's my family's property. You don't want to pay for it, but you want me to remove it and pay for it. How can this be justified? Secondly, the boss has assured me that there will be no safety issues with this tile."
She looked at the boss, luckily he hadn't left yet.
The boss wouldn't tolerate anyone questioning his craftsmanship. He shouted in a loud voice, "Don't worry, everyone! Our bricklaying skills are famous in the city! I, Wang Laowu, can guarantee that if any of them fall off, I will immediately smash my own sign!"
The craftsmen nearby also said something, each one of them ensuring that their work was done well!
The neighbors looked at each other in surprise. The Wang family's craftsmanship was indeed famous, and many wealthy families asked them to build their houses.
Even though their new neighbor was being rude, they had no reason to argue. It was unreasonable to ask someone to pay for something.
Finally, someone who was outspoken said directly to the two women of Mr. Wang's family, "As long as Mr. Wang's family doesn't go under someone else's roof, everything will be fine!"
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