Chapter 69: Building a New House

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Building a New House

The next morning, Widow Xie and Hu Liang set off for the county town.

Before they left, Ji Huan gave Hu Liang some instructions. The two silver ingots were top-grade patterned silver, and she told him to be extremely careful when exchanging them so he wouldn’t get cheated and bring back lower-quality silver.

After all, even at the same weight, the lower-quality silver was worth less than half of the patterned silver.

Hu Liang actually hadn’t known that.

However, he was heading to the largest Money Shop in the county town. He’d heard it had a great reputation and even employed special money customers to appraise the silver, so they probably wouldn’t cheat their clients.

Widow Xie wanted Ji Huan to go with them, but Ji Huan had other things to attend to, so she didn’t go.

"Aunt Wang, are you home?"

Aunt Wang was in the courtyard mixing bran feed for the chickens. Hearing someone call, she wiped her hands on her apron and went to open the door.

She was a little surprised to see Ji Huan standing outside.

Back when Ji Huan had hired a few women from the Gao and Lu families to help, Aunt Wang hadn’t thought much of it. But then she’d vaguely heard they were being paid wages—and a good amount, too—which left her feeling a bit put out.

She felt she had spoken up for Ji Huan many times—even if it was mostly just to get a dig in at Granny Kang. For Ji Huan to spend money hiring help and not ask her, well, it just didn’t sit right.

But it wasn’t long before Ji Huan came to her door with a personal invitation. Even Sixth Sister-in-law Feng, a good friend of hers, was included. That little bit of unhappiness in her heart vanished, and she actually started to feel a bit closer to Ji Huan.

"Wuan, what brings you here? Have you eaten? I’ve got some food left in the pot. Want me to get you a bowl?" She welcomed the girl inside with a wide smile.

"Don’t go to any trouble, Aunt Wang. I came because I wanted to ask for Uncle Wang Min’s help with something."

Aunt Wang was very direct. "Just spit it out! He’s got no special talents, but he can handle a bit of heavy lifting and hard labor."

So, Ji Huan briefly explained her plans to build a house.

In fact, she had wanted to get started on building a house as soon as the military began purchasing her dehydrated vegetables. The twenty taels of silver she had left would cover the initial costs, and once she sold the rest of her goods, the subsequent funds would be ready.

However, due to various considerations, she had moved the baking step to her dilapidated shack, and the air-drying and packaging were done there as well. Because of this, her plans to build the house had to be postponed.

But now, she couldn’t put it off any longer.

The weather this year was a little strange. It hadn’t snowed yet, but there was no telling when it would start. They had to hurry.

During the agricultural off-season, Uncle Wang Min worked in construction. He was familiar with the trade, knew plenty of people, and had a good reputation in the village. She felt she could trust him with the job.

"Ha! Is that all? I’ll tell him when he gets back for lunch. He’s not earning much hauling logs all day anyway—just suffering for nothing!"

With the cold weather setting in, fewer people were building houses, so work was hard to find, and the pay was less than half of what it was during the busy season.

But their son had reached marriageable age, which meant they needed money for everything, so he couldn’t bear to just sit around at home.

Ji Huan thanked her and then brought up the matter of wages.

"Twenty cents a day, but meals won’t be included. Does that sound alright?"

’Alright? It’s more than alright!’

Among country folk, whenever a family built a new house, all the familiar neighbors would come over to lend a hand. Usually, a meal was all the payment required; there were no wages. It was just a matter of neighborly give-and-take.

Ji Huan might not be providing meals, but the daily wage was twenty cents!

The most her husband had ever earned in a day, running between villages and towns for work, was only fifteen cents.

"Wuan, this... this is too much. We’re all neighbors here, there’s no need to pay..."

’After the initial excitement, she felt a pang of guilt. Ji Huan had just given them one opportunity to earn money; would it be right to take payment for helping her build a house?’

"There’s no need to be so formal, Aunt Wang. The weather is cold now, and this kind of work is much harder than in the warmer months. It’s just payment for their trouble. Besides, I’m hoping Uncle Wang Min will put in some extra effort to speed things along. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll have nowhere to live when the snow comes."

Aunt Wang stopped with the pleasantries and agreed wholeheartedly. "You can rest completely assured! Leave it to him, and I guarantee he’ll get the job done right for you!"

At noon, when Aunt Wang’s husband rushed home for lunch, she told him the news.

Wang Min was stunned—it was like a meat pie had fallen from the sky. ’With twenty cents a day, who would want to go suffer hauling logs on the back mountain!’

He didn’t even bother to finish his meal. He ran out and had a crew assembled in less than half a day.

They were all masons from the village who usually worked together. Now that he had a good gig, he couldn’t very well forget them.

The group of men went to the dilapidated shack, which had already been cleared out.

Ji Huan didn’t have many belongings to begin with. With Dacheng and Ximei helping, they moved everything in just a few trips.

While the house was being built, she would stay with the Hu Family. Dabao didn’t want to sleep on the same heated bed with Hu Liang and Dacheng, so Ji Huan decided to make a pallet on the floor in Widow Xie’s room. She had thick quilts now, so she wasn’t afraid of the cold.

Building a new house was a major undertaking, and the first order of business was the budget.

The Northern Pass couldn’t compare to the wealth of the Capital City or the Southern regions. Even in Yeyang County, a fully-equipped house with a storefront, courtyard, living room, and study would cost less than two hundred taels in total. And in Juyong Town, a residence with a two-room-wide storefront and four sections deep could be acquired for about one hundred taels.

A rural place like Dafeng Village naturally couldn’t compare to the towns and county seats, especially for a self-built home.

Ji Huan currently had eighty-five taels of silver in total.

The land for the house was relatively cheap. For only five taels, the village chief had generously marked out the entire plot for her. The village had plenty of empty land, after all, and no one was living in that spot.

The main expense would be the building materials.

She planned to use only brick, tile, wood, and stone. As for mud-brick and thatch, she wouldn’t feel safe living in a house made of them, so she wouldn’t even consider it, no matter how cheap it was.

Finally, adding the costs of building the heated bed, making furniture, and paying the workers’ wages, fifty to sixty taels of silver should be enough to cover everything.

The remaining twenty-odd taels would be more than enough for her and Dabao to live on. When spring came and the flowers bloomed next year, she would simply find another way to make a living.

As for the house itself, Ji Huan wanted a simple courtyard-style design.

It would face south, with the main house on the northern side containing three rooms. The east and west wings would each have two rooms, and she would also build a two-room reverse-facing gatehouse.

However, considering she might have other needs in the future, she also planned to divide the plot into front and back courtyards.

The cellar would be located in the back courtyard, which would also have two wing rooms on the east and west sides. Then she’d add a corner gate, with the outhouse built just outside of it.

Widow Xie also suggested she build a pigsty and a chicken coop. In the future, she could raise a few piglets and a few dozen chickens and ducks; at least it would be another source of income.

The mere thought of a courtyard full of OINK OINK OINK and QUACK QUACK QUACK gave Ji Huan a headache. She didn’t think she was cut out for raising pigs and ducks, so she decided against it.

Anyone who has ever gone through a renovation knows how crucial it is to communicate with the construction crew. So, Ji Huan made sure to explain every detail that needed attention beforehand. She was afraid that if there were any communication breakdowns and the house wasn’t built to her satisfaction, fixing it later would be a massive headache, not just a simple hassle.

Worried there might be discrepancies in verbal instructions and understanding, she handed Uncle Wang Min a simple diagram she had drawn in advance. The general outline of the house and the rough interior layout were all presented with perfect clarity.

Uncle Wang Min had been building houses for people for years, relying entirely on experience and the owner’s general description. When had he ever seen something like this? Even the design for the outhouse was unlike anything he’d seen before—it was unique and novel.

’This diagram would make things so much easier! It was straightforward and detailed. They could just build according to it, and the job would be done!’

However, when they heard that Ji Huan wanted to build a brick-and-tile house—and that even the outhouse was to be made of brick and tile—they couldn’t help but be flabbergasted.

’Her plot of land wasn’t small. The courtyard walls alone would require a ton of bricks, to say nothing of the wing rooms in both the front and back courtyards... But then again, she was doing business with the army now. She probably wasn’t short on money.’

They were being paid for the job, so whether it was Uncle Wang Min or the others, they were all extremely patient with her numerous questions and requests. They promised again and again that they would follow her... what-did-she-call-it... design plan.

Ji Huan had no objections to the helpers Uncle Wang Min had found, but she wanted to add one more person to the crew: Shi Yong, also known as Second Uncle Shi.

It was thanks to him that Dabao had been helped when he was injured. When Ji Huan had returned from town, she’d brought him some pastries as a thank-you gift. That was when she learned that he and his chronically ill, widowed mother were crammed into a tiny thatched hut, living a very difficult life.

Building a house was manual labor that most country men knew how to do. Since they needed to rush the job, the more hands, the better. Uncle Wang Min had no reason to disagree.

With everyone in agreement, Ji Huan didn’t bother having them pick an auspicious day. She announced that construction would begin immediately.