stingy landlady

Chapter 55 Preparing to build a house

Old Zhou said respectfully, "Third Miss's idea is very thoughtful! It should be fenced off like a vegetable garden!"

It was still early, so the group went for a walk around the eastern fields. Looking at the vast expanse of fields that had been burned, Dazhu smiled, but his heart was filled with emotion.

People say that a scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation! How long has it been! I've become a small landowner!

Once the big brick house is built, he'll be a respected figure in the village!

Not to mention how Dazhu and the old man asked people to look at the feng shui and choose auspicious dates, how the feng shui master asked for birth dates and how he calculated them!

When Lin Xiaoyun arrived at Xiangmanlou with his delivery cart, he ran into Zhao Shi and Da Bao. They exchanged a glance, and Guizhi and Guihong, sitting in the carriage, gave a brief greeting before passing by.

Zhao snorted coldly and said to Da Bao:

"Hmph! What's with the arrogance! We just beat them to it! The restaurant said whoever delivers first gets their food! I wonder if yesterday's dishes have gone bad! Da Bao! We'll get up early again tomorrow to deliver!"

Da Bao didn't care about anything else and shouted:

"Mom! I'm hungry! Take me to eat something delicious! You promised me yesterday that we'd have wontons today! I want three bowls!"

Li Cai came out to receive the vegetables, and seeing the fresh greens on the carriage, he couldn't help but ask:

"Guihong! Guizhi! Where did you go to sell your vegetables? Why don't you put them down and weigh them together? That way you won't have to run around hawking them!"

Gui Hong smiled insincerely and said:

"Uncle Li! You can't touch this food! It was pre-ordered!"

Li, the purchasing agent, chuckled awkwardly: "Oh! It's an order from someone else! I won't touch it!"

When the carriage arrived at the gate of Xing'an Academy, servants from the Zheng and Liu families came over.

"Our young master has gone to the county town! Did he bring all the dishes we ordered yesterday?" The servant of Young Master Zheng asked first.

Gui Hong quickly replied, "Yes, yes! The dishes ordered by the two young masters will definitely be reserved for them!"

Gui Zhi and Lin Xiaoyun unloaded a jar of pickled wild garlic from the carriage, and also took down some greens and fresh wild garlic. Gui Hong counted out forty boxes of celery dumplings.

“They’re all here!” Gui Hong said, looking at the two servants.

"As for how to divide it, you can divide it yourselves!"

The two servants exchanged glances. The servant from Young Master Liu's household said to Gui Hong, "The masters aren't here, but they did instruct each of us to split it in half! Please give us our share!"

Gui Hong didn't mind the trouble and divided all the vegetables into two piles. But she was stumped by this jar of wild garlic!

Gui Zhi explained, "Young men! This jar of pickled garlic was brought by Young Master Liu!"

The servant boy from the Liu family hurriedly said, "Young master instructed us before he left that this jar of pickled garlic is all ours!"

Turning to the servant boy from the Zheng family, he said, "Brother Yulin! My young master has arranged for some to be sent to your master to whet his appetite! We don't have any tools right now, but we'll definitely send some over when we get back to the manor!"

Zheng Chang'an smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Brother Chang'an, please do as you arrange, young master!"

The group settled their bills, as their masters were not present and the servants did not want to be extravagant. They each paid their own bills and agreed to come to the academy gate each day to collect vegetables.

Guizhi casually asked, "Did the two young masters go to participate in the imperial examination?"

While arranging the vegetables and food boxes, Zheng Yulin replied, "Yes! Recently, many people from the academy have gone to the county town early! Our young master is considered late! But we have a house there, so we don't need to worry about food and lodging!"

Guizhi asked curiously, "Aren't you coming along?"

"Oh! Someone must be following you! How can the young master be left unattended!"

Guizhi smiled and said, "We don't know anything about the affairs of wealthy families. I was just asking casually!"

Zheng Yulin said nonchalantly, "It's alright, it's alright! Young lady, feel free to ask if you want! It's not a secret! Young masters and ladies from wealthy families are always served when they go out!"

After several days of hard work, the dam was completed, and the ditches were dug neatly. Dazhu looked at the fruits of his labor and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Five villagers who were repairing the dike signed long-term contracts.

After settling wages with those who hadn't signed contracts, Zhou Mingzhi then took several of his farmhands to weed the wheat field.

Dazhu and the old man invited someone to look at the feng shui and chose the place closest to the village to build the house. They also found an auspicious day for breaking ground and holding a sacrificial ceremony.

Worshipping the Earth God is a traditional custom, but different regions may have different methods and customs.

The main pillar begins the sacrificial ceremony at a designated location. Offerings such as fruits, pastries, incense, and candles are prepared and neatly arranged on the offering table.

Light incense and candles, hold the incense sticks with both hands, bow to the Earth God, and offer incense. Then pour three cups of wine to show respect to the Earth God.

Dazhu muttered to himself, expressing his wishes and prayers. He then bowed and kowtowed. He burned paper money to express his respect and gratitude.

After the sacrificial ceremony, Dazhu took a shovel and dug a few holes in the area where the house was to be built, indicating that it was time to start construction! The rest was left to the construction team.

The construction team was found in town. Dazhu discussed the style and layout of the house with the team. He wanted the house to have enough rooms and a spacious yard.

The foreman of the construction team took out the blueprints and showed them several different design options. Dazhu carefully studied each blueprint, considering both practicality and aesthetics.

Ultimately, he chose a traditional courtyard house design, with a main house, east and west wing rooms, and a south-facing room. A small flower bed was built in the middle of the courtyard, where some flowers and plants were planted.

Dazhu imagined his family living in such a house, happy and harmonious, and felt a surge of joy in his heart. He couldn't wait for the house to be completed.

Once the layout of the house and courtyard was determined, materials such as bricks, sand, gravel, and firewood needed to be prepared. The contractor was very experienced in this, and he took Dazhu to buy them himself, saving Dazhu the trouble of asking around.

Grandma Yang's two nephews are also hard-working. Some tasks they even do on their own without being asked!

Since Dazhu's place was temporarily unavailable, the two of them continued to stay at Grandma Yang's place. However, they ate their meals with Grandpa Zhou's family every day.

Madam Zhou was also astonished and said to Madam Li, "Madam! No wonder Old Madam Yang said she couldn't afford to feed them. These two people eat almost as much as our whole family!"

Madam Zhou informed Madam Li of the situation beforehand.

"Madam! There are two more people this time, so we'll be using up more food quickly. We need to buy it in advance! It's best to buy more! We've also hired a few more farmhands. Master said they should all eat in the east wing!"

The Li family only had a few girls, and the only one with a big appetite was Dazhu. She said, "I've heard of boys eating their fathers out of house and home. But I've never really noticed that. Even Lin Xiaoyun doesn't eat much."

"Yang Liu! As the saying goes, food is as essential as iron, and you'll get hungry if you skip a meal! We've already taken you in and you've done the work for us, so how can we not let you eat your fill!"

Li thought for a moment and then said:

"Besides, I'm not a heartless person. Before we separated our households, we often worked a lot but ate very little, and we were always hungry. Those days, sigh! I don't even know how we got through them!"