Chapter 53 Big Buttocks Can Give Birth to Sons
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye realized, "No wonder. It turns out that Young Master Zhao is the son of the prefect. No wonder Master Qin fawns over him so much. Master Sun, Master Qin, and that Young Master Li all seem to be from Xiancheng. Perhaps they will meet again in the future."
It's hard to say whether meeting her will be a blessing or a curse. She has offended both Miss Qin and Madam Sun. If they see her, they'll definitely bite her!
She took out the land deed from her bosom and handed it to Bai Zilin: "Brother Bai, this is your land deed. It was given to you by Village Chief Wu's son. Please keep it safe."
Bai Zilin took it and glanced at it, then handed the land deed to Liu Ye: "You keep it for me, I have nowhere to hide it, it's easy to lose it."
Liu Ye agreed, took the money, stuffed it into her bosom, and put it into her spatial storage. She also put the silver on the kang back into the bag, stuffed it into her bosom, and put it into her spatial storage as well. "Brother Bai, the mountain land doesn't grow crops. We should plant fruit trees, like chestnut trees and apple trees. They'll fetch a higher price, and if done well, they'll be more profitable than selling grain."
Bai Zilin thought for a moment and said, "I know that crops don't grow in the mountains, but we don't have that many saplings either. Even if we go to the mountains to find wild apple trees and wild chestnut trees, we don't have that many. Ten acres of land would require quite a few saplings. We would have to go to a specialized orchard to buy them. I don't know if they sell them in town."
Liu Ye thought to herself, "Whether they have them in town or not, I don't plan to buy them anyway." She said, "Brother Bai, don't worry about the saplings. We can't plant fruit trees until after the New Year. Our most important thing right now is to build the house."
When the topic of building a house came up, Bai Zilin remembered: "Look, I forgot to mention that I've already made an appointment to build a house and paid the deposit. Liu the bricklayer will bring people over tomorrow to see the site. After he sees the site, he will bring people over to build the house for us."
Liu Ye pressed on, still worried, "Is Liu the tile maker reliable? Where is he from? What if he takes the deposit and runs away?"
Bai Zilin said with a smile, "Liu the tile setter is from Sandaohe Village. Our village is right below Sandaohe Village. I asked around and found out that Liu the tile setter is a good man. He leads a group of more than 20 people and builds houses for people all year round."
Liu Ye was relieved after hearing this: "Has the price been agreed upon?"
Bai Zilin shook his head and said, "No, Liu the bricklayer needs to inspect the site before making a decision. I gave him two taels of silver as a deposit."
Liu Ye smiled and said, "Brother Bai, you rest. I'll go cook. We'll stew pheasant for lunch."
Bai Zilin followed Liu Ye to the kitchen and helped her start the fire. Before they knew it, it was the next day. Liu the bricklayer drove his oxcart to Erdaogou Village. After asking around among the villagers, he successfully found Bai Zilin's house. The news that Bai Zilin's family was going to build a house spread throughout Erdaogou Village, causing quite a stir. Everyone guessed that he must have sold a lot of money, otherwise he wouldn't be able to start building a house so quickly.
Bai Zilin showed Liu the bricklayer his house, and then took him to see Liu Ye's house: "Bricklayer Liu, both of our houses need to be rebuilt. The courtyard walls need to be made of blue bricks, the passageways in the courtyards need to be paved with blue bricks, and we also need to build cowsheds and pigsties. All of this will be included in the contract. Please estimate the price."
"Willow Leaf, is there anything else you'd like to mention?"
Liu Ye thought for a moment and said, "No, Brother Bai, you can arrange it as you see fit."
Liu the bricklayer counted on his fingers: "According to what you said, both families need to build five large brick and tile houses, build courtyard walls, build pigsties, and add windows, doors, and other odds and ends. Each house will cost 18 taels of silver, and two houses will cost 36 taels of silver. You need to pay me for one house first. I received a deposit of two taels of silver from you yesterday, so you need to give me another 16 taels of silver."
Liu Ye took out a money bag from her bosom and handed it to Bai Zilin. Bai Zilin paid Liu the bricklayer 16 taels of silver and agreed that construction would begin tomorrow. Liu the bricklayer would bring people to dig the foundation and clear the front and back yards. Bai Zilin's house would be built first, and then Liu Ye's house would be built.
Bai Zilin originally wanted to build Liu Ye's house first, but Liu Ye disagreed. Bai Zilin earned all the money, so how could he build her house first? The order was also wrong. Bai Zilin's house was scheduled before hers. After building his house, he could build hers. Besides, she wasn't in a hurry.
After Liu the bricklayer left, Bai Zilin had just returned home when his neighbors, Old Man Wang and his wife, came to his door. Bai Zilin politely invited them in: "I'm sorry, Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang, we don't even have a bowl for drinking water. I'm afraid you'll have to make do. Uncle Wang, is there something you need from me?"
Old Wang chuckled and said, "Hehehe, it's not a big deal, but it's good news. You'll be happy to hear it. Let your Aunt Wang tell you."
Aunt Wang picked up the conversation, and with a smile, she looked at Bai Zilin and said, "Then Aunt Wang will be frank with you. My daughter, Da Ni, has taken a liking to you and asked us to come and propose marriage to you. Oh dear, daughters really do grow up and leave home. My Da Ni is 17, which is about the same age as you. Your uncle and aunt are very satisfied with you."
"Auntie knows you're all alone and don't have any elders, so let's keep the wedding simple. The betrothal gifts will follow local customs—whatever amount other villagers give when they get married, that's what you'll give us. We value you as a person, and Auntie will never ask for an exorbitant amount. We're not selling our daughter, are we?"
Bai Zilin wondered what a good thing this was. He didn't know whether to nod or shake his head. He hadn't expected that the Wang couple had come to propose marriage. Their daughter, Wang Dani, wasn't even as pretty as Liu Ye's toes. Of course, even if she were pretty, he wouldn't be interested. In his heart, no one but Liu Ye could catch his eye.
“I appreciate Aunt Wang’s kindness, but I suppose you two don’t know. It’s not your fault; I’m already engaged. My fiancée is Liu Ye from next door. We’ll get married after I finish building my house.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Laopi and his wife exclaimed, "What?! He's engaged to Liu Ye!" Aunt Wang pressed on, unwilling to give up, "You're engaged to Liu Ye? Is it true? Don't try to fool me! I only came to propose because I think you're a really good young man. Don't misunderstand me and think I have any ulterior motives. I'm not that kind of person..."
Bai Zilin thought to himself, "You know whether you have ulterior motives or not." "Liu Ye really is my fiancée. Otherwise, why do you think we're together? I don't even cook in this house. I eat next door every day. You've probably seen that, haven't you?"
Aunt Wang nodded with an awkward smile. She had indeed seen it, but she hadn't expected them to have that kind of relationship. That Liu Ye always had disheveled hair and was dirty, with freckles all over his face, making him unrecognizable. Who knew he had such a heavy taste...
"Yes, Auntie did see it. But Zilin, Auntie Wang has to give you some advice. Getting married is a major life event, and you can't be careless. It's not that Auntie is trying to discredit Liuye, but look at Liuye, she's so dirty, always disheveled, and she doesn't even wash her face. She's not as good as our Dani. Our Dani has a big face and a round bottom, which means she's good at bearing children. A big bottom means she can give birth to a son."
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