Chapter 168 Building a House
"Mr. Su!" In the morning, just after the Su family had finished breakfast, dozens of strong men came.
"So early!" Su Bucheng invited everyone in.
"No need, let's start now!" Wang Sanlang and Zheng Silang led the team and started working outside the yard.
Su Bucheng didn't think much about it, just choosing a location nearby so as not to affect the children's classes.
But I saw that the foundation painted by several people with ropes and lime was so big that it looked like two courtyards?
"Why build a school building so big? There are only forty or fifty children in the village at most. Two or three classrooms for boys and girls will be enough." Su Bucheng couldn't help but speak.
"Haha!" The villagers laughed mysteriously, "It's better to build a bigger one!"
"It's such a big school, but there aren't that many students. It would be a waste to leave it empty! What a pity!" Su Bucheng disagreed.
This place is not as good as the town. Building a few more houses can attract children from various villages. There are only 32 households in Huanggou Village.
"How can it be empty? This is the house where you live! This row is the school building." Wang Sanlang pointed to the foundation drawn on the ground.
"We live here?" Su Bucheng asked in surprise, waving his hands repeatedly, "No, no! How can you use public power for personal gain!"
"Mr. Su, this is a unanimous decision of the entire village! You have helped us so much. We can now have enough food to eat and a steady stream of income. Our lives are getting better and better, and our children can go to school.
We have nothing to repay you for, so we have this little bit of energy left, so we thought we'd build a school and maybe your house as well." Old Man Yang arrived with the village elders and children.
"Thank you Mr. Su, Aying, and all the young gentlemen for your help!" The village elders saluted respectfully to the Su family.
"Students would like to thank Mr. Su, Mr. Aying, and all the gentlemen!" The children also saluted.
"No, no!" Su Bucheng hurriedly lifted up the village elders, and the Su family members hurriedly moved aside to avoid the elders' greetings.
"Mr. Su, don't refuse. This is something the villagers have already discussed!
At that time, everyone was in a difficult situation and could not afford the tuition, so I thought of finding an opportunity to repair the school building and build a house for you.
Don't worry about the wood for the beams, the village has it all, we've saved it all ourselves over the years." Old Man Yang took Su Bucheng's hand and patted it.
I have been holding this in for a long time and finally said it today.
Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teachers. Whenever the villagers see the young men of the Su family teaching the children meticulously and seriously without asking for any reward, their hearts are filled with gratitude.
"This, this!" Su Bucheng's eyes were moist.
"I, Su, would like to thank all my fellow villagers for their generous support! My family will take care of your lunch and dinner these days, and I will pay you fifteen cents a day."
"Hey! Mr. Su, I said I would provide you with food and wages, why do you also need to provide meals and wages?" Old man Yang said unhappily.
How could Old Man Yang not know the situation of each family in the village?
Although life is better, the wages are fifteen cents per person, and forty people that's six hundred cents. This house will take at least twenty or thirty days, so how much does it cost?
How could the Su family afford it? They also had to buy rice and vegetables!
"Village chief, it's a favor for everyone to help, and it's our duty not to help. This is not a job that can be done in a day or two. Su can't keep taking advantage of us!
"Everyone's working hard, so how can we just hire people out for free? If I start this, will everyone in the village stop paying for their work?" Su Bucheng said.
"Where does your family get the money to pay? This is the rent paid by the whole village as a thank you to the Su family. Can it be the same?" said old man Yang.
"Mr. Su, the Su family deserves the great kindness they have shown the village! Putting aside other things, just beekeeping alone is enough for your family. Just by placing the beehives anywhere, you can make a fortune in a year.
I won’t go into the other stuff, like vermicelli noodles, paddy field farming… The villagers only owe you! You don’t owe the village anything! Let’s just repay this favor, or we’ll feel bad!”
"That's right! Mr. Su!" Wang Sanlang and others said in unison.
"In that case, thank you all, my neighbors. I will shamelessly not pay you, but I must provide you with food!" Su Bucheng compromised.
Old Man Yang was about to refuse, but Su Ying smiled and said, "Village Chief, you can't always express your affection, we have to express ours too.
Stop pushing it back and forth, it’s settled, my family will provide the meals!”
"In that case, then okay!" Old man Yang felt that what Su Ying said made sense.
"Haha, Aying, what are you having for lunch today?" Wang Sanlang asked with a smile.
Everyone knows that Su Ying is an excellent cook. Several big pot meals for the whole village were prepared under Su Ying's command.
Food cooked in a big iron pot tastes delicious, so many families are saving money to make an iron pot.
"Well, I'm in a hurry today, so I can only make something simple! How about vermicelli and cabbage rice?" Su Ying asked.
"Great!" The villagers started drooling when they heard about the braised rice.
The flavorful vermicelli, the crispy rice, and a little bit of soy sauce, it’s so delicious!
Su Laosan was at home greeting Wang Sanlang and other villagers who were building houses.
Su Bucheng and Su Laoer led the road construction team, carrying water and tools, to build the road outside the village.
Wang Yan, the recorder and military officer, returned to the provincial capital a few days ago. There are many things to do at the end of the year, such as assessments, which involve the promotion of officials and cannot be neglected.
Wang Sanlang and his family wanted a simple house, with five main rooms and three east and west wing rooms, which should be enough to accommodate the three branches of the Su family.
The school building is outside the Su family's new house. It has five separate rooms, two of which are connected and are used for large classes and village meetings.
The open space in front of the school building has been compacted to serve as a place for children to play and do activities during breaks.
After the base line was drawn, Su Lao San represented the Su family, Su Boyan and Yang Lao Han represented the school, each of them dug the first hoe, and then officially broke ground.
There are no firecrackers, but the sense of ceremony is full!
The children sat on the stones in the Su family's yard, holding noodle sieves and listening to the class attentively.
The construction site was a hundred steps away from here, and the noise was very loud, which inevitably had some impact, but the children were listening attentively, with light in everyone's eyes.
If I persist for a few more days, I will be able to attend classes in the school building. How great is that!
"Aying!" Yang Chunhua, Zheng Niangzi and other widows came to help, each carrying vegetables picked from their own fields.
"Oh, that's great. The sisters really helped me solve my urgent problem!" Su Ying said happily.
Including my family, there are nearly sixty people at a meal, and the vegetables in my own vegetable garden are not enough.
"Use it first. If it's not enough, I have more in my fields." Madam Zheng said generously.
"That's right, Aying, you're welcome, there's plenty of it in the fields!" the widows said in unison.
Last time, the Su family helped with plowing the land, which made their lives a lot easier. Now that the Su family is building a house, after finishing their own work, they agreed to send some vegetables and help out at the same time.
Mrs. Du and Mrs. Wei also joined in, and they gathered together to cook and chat.
Today it was Yang Chunhua who was teaching the class. She was lecturing the girls on the other side. Her voice was soft and gentle, which was inexplicably attractive.
The soft and gentle voice can be imagined to be from a beautiful woman.
In fact, Yang Chunhua was indeed a pretty and gentle aristocratic lady. After twenty years of wind and sun, her face was still charming. It was just that her miserable life made her seldom look up, and she was ignored.
Now that her life is better, teaching girls has helped her find confidence and spiritual sustenance. Her whole mental outlook has changed dramatically, and she is full of vitality.
When Old Man Yang and Mrs. Gao saw their daughter on the road, they discovered that her face was no longer sad and was filled with smiles.
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