Village Flowers and Female Scholars

Xie Yan brought his younger brother out of the dealership, turned around and walked towards Cai Chu's house.

Being able to separate from the Cao family, Cai Chu has contributed a lot. If we want to build a house in the future and live a stable life in Shangyan Village, his help must be indispensable. Therefore, we must pay attention to the contacts with the Cai family. .

When I went there, the Cai family had just finished their meal. Cai Chu saw Xie Yan leading his younger brother to the door, and now he had a good impression of her, so he greeted her from a distance and asked her if she needed help.

Mrs. Gao is also there, and everyone in the village will know about the building of the house, and Xie Yan doesn't shy away from her.

"Uncle, thanks to your help with the separation of the family two days ago, I went up the mountain to pick up wild goods and saved some money. I hope you don't dislike this little thing."

After speaking, he took out a bunch of money from his pocket and put it on the table.

In the past, if there was something in the village that asked Cai Chu to help, it would cost him a few ten dollars for his hard work. Xie Yan didn't have it before, and Cai Chu knew their situation and didn't take it seriously. It is still a bit of a surprise to put money on the table.

"Where did Miss Jin earn the money? The separation of the family is my job. You don't even have a place to live now. How can I collect your money?"

Although he didn't plan to ask for money, Cai Chu felt relieved that this girl had such a heart, and he didn't help a white-eyed wolf.

Seeing her knowing how to repay her kindness, Mrs. Gao was also very happy in her heart: "Girl, what kind of money do you take? Your uncle's family does not lack this. Hurry up and put it away, take it back and buy something for the family."

"Uncle, aunt, it's just your family's kindness. If it's someone else, I don't want to say it. When I was in Xie's house, my father taught me how to read. I can read a few words now. My uncle He is a barefoot doctor. When I was very young, I secretly read a few of his medical books, and I also got to know some herbs. After my mother was driven back, the Cao family watched us go to work in the field every day, and I didn’t Tell them this ability, now that they are finally separated, they can go up the mountain to dig some herbs to sell."

Xie Yan continued: "A few days ago when I was in the valley farm, because my uncle said a few words for me, I was able to go up the mountain for several days to dig herbs for Gu'er's treatment, secretly took some to buy in the town, and saved some money , This is also the reason why I asked you to help me buy the homestead before. Now that I have divided it, I also have time to go up the mountain and walk around. I was lucky enough to find a small Ganoderma lucidum this morning and sold it for a few taels of silver. This is not respectful at all. , Uncle, don’t hold it against me.”

After hearing Xie Yan's words, Cai Chu and his wife were very surprised. Who would have thought that this ragged little girl who was just kicked out yesterday and slept in a simple straw shed at night would be a capable woman today. Someone who has a few taels of silver.

The annual harvest of ordinary people is only one or two taels of silver. How many days is this?

Thinking of this, the two looked at each other, and both could see the surprise in the other's eyes and the appreciation for the little girl, not to mention whether she was lucky enough to meet such a ganoderma, combined with her previous separation From her performance, it can be seen that this little girl is not ordinary, given time, maybe she can really shine.

"Jin Niang, you can take this money back. Even if you find Ganoderma lucidum in exchange for silver today, the Cao family will give you two liang, and the money from the homestead will also be given to the dealer. You don't have to be polite, uncle." , the folks in the village, the matter of household registration is his job, why are you being polite to him." Gao Shi also persuaded from the side.

"There are still many things to rely on uncle's side in the future. If you don't accept me, I will not dare to ask you for help in the future."

When the couple saw what she said, they stopped refusing. Cai Chu asked: "If there is anything else that needs uncle's help, just tell me."

"It's just that I have sold herbal medicines these few times. Excluding the two taels of Cao's family, there are still three taels now. Now the family has no place to live. I can't live in a straw shed every day. I just wonder if uncle can help me find some places to meet. The person who built the house simply helped me complete three or four houses, so that there would be no place to shelter from the rain when it was windy and rainy."

After Xie Yan finished speaking, she spread out her palm, and a small piece of broken silver, about two taels like this, suddenly appeared in the palm of her hand.

If it was empty talk, Cai Chu still didn’t quite believe it, but now seeing that she came prepared, he also believed her half to eighty percent, and he had the bottom line in his heart. He pondered, “Whether the house can be built or not, it’s only a matter of three taels of silver. You can't build a good house."

"I know. To build a few earth houses, you can build a thatched house first, as long as it can accommodate people, and you can save money after two or three years before building a bigger house."

Before Xie Yan came here, he did not need to buy all the materials for the thatched house with mud walls, the walls built with mud, and the thatch cutting up the mountain. Just paying labor costs, three taels of silver should be enough.

When the couple heard Xie Yan's words, they couldn't help but looked at each other again. You must know that to build a red brick and blue tile house in the village, including the hall, bedroom and kitchen, the simplest three rooms need to lay the foundation and buy bricks and tiles. It costs at least 15 taels of silver to engage in carpentry. The peasants in Shangyan Village can earn only three or four taels a year. They are orphans, widows, mothers, and landless. This little girl in front of her dares to be bold It is said that after two or three years to rebuild a big house, how much money can she earn a year.

But whether they believe it or not, it is a fact that the little girl in front of her has earned a few taels of silver in a day.

"Sure, it's all on me. The busy farming season is over now, and many farmers have nothing to do. They just build a few simple houses. People are still easy to find."

After Cai Chu finished speaking, he smiled and said, "It happens that Uncle has nothing to do, so he will also go to your house to earn a few days' wages. You won't refuse, right?"

Xie Yan hurriedly said: "Then I can't wait for it. My mother and I don't know much about this house. If you help me keep an eye on me, I won't have any worries."

After saying this, everything was said, and the two began to discuss the specific matter of building a house.

After discussing for a while, it was decided that the house is surrounded by earthen walls, and a simple foundation is enough. The square hall is folded on both sides to form two small rooms at right angles, forming a notch. The row at the door can also be directly reinforced with mud. Come around and open a small door.

There are two bedrooms on the left side of the main room, one for each of the siblings, and one bedroom for Mrs. Cao on the right, and it would be enough to build a simple small room for a kitchen.

In fact, the main task of this project is to build walls. Before Xie Yan came here, some old houses in the village were also made of earthen walls, and even their unique architectural style has become a major feature of the local area, which is listed as an intangible cultural heritage item. , this earthen wall is not bad at all.

She has seen people building walls in her hometown, probably by smashing the soil and adding water to stir it. In order to prevent cracking and make the wall stronger, some straw or hay will be added to fully mix it. You can add glutinous rice soup, which is quite a kind of adhesive. During the mixing process, the workers will keep stepping on it until the soil is completely mixed and becomes sticky. The big mold is directly erected on the foundation, and the mixed soil is poured into the mold, and then it is compacted with a big wooden hammer, and the mold is built up one mold after another, as high as you want to build.

Nowadays, there is high-quality soil that is almost red soil at the foot of the west mountain on the homestead, and there is no owner on the mountain. Whoever wants it can dig it. There are not many new houses built in the village now, and no one has been digging for a few years.

In this way, the material of the wall is easy to solve. As for the roof, the money can’t afford tiles. It is still a thatched roof. The main thing is to do a good job of pillars, stringers and keels. After the grid is constructed, the thatch can be laid on it. up.

There is a lot of thatch on the mountain, and the mud that is cut and mixed with the wall can be spread layer by layer.

In this way, the required soil, wood and thatch can be obtained locally without purchasing, and only need to pay labor costs.

After analyzing these structures, Cai Chu said: "The house builder in our village is the old man at the entrance of the village. He will be invited to be the chief engineer later. The rest are all manual work, and the requirements don't need to be too high."

"If that's the case, then please Uncle Cai take the trouble to contact me."

Cai Chu nodded and said: "Everyone is idle after the busy farming season. If you want to earn money, you can get the help of the river embankment in the town to unload the goods for thirty yuan a day, or go to the deep mountains to carry wood. After working hard for a day, you have to rest for a few days to recover. If there is something to do near home and the work is not so tiring, everyone is willing to come."

"Then how many people do we need?"

"You don't have high requirements for this house. The foundation can be shallower. Two people can dig the foundation in one day. Lao Zhangtou specializes in building houses. There is a mold for the walls at home. You don't need to make new ones yourself. You can rent them and use them. The most important thing is to pick up the soil and mix the mud. This requires three or four people. The hall and three bedrooms plus a small kitchen add up to five houses. Three people build one room a day, and ten people are required. From the foundation to the wall, it can be completed in five or six days. After two or three days, the wall can be fixed and the roof can be added. It can be done in one day when you go to the mountains to cut wood and cut thatch, and then you can directly build the roof and spread thatch in another day. It's done."

After Cai Chu finished speaking, he summed up and said: "Ten people are invited, not counting the days when the mud wall is fixed in the middle. From ten to twenty-five Wen, how do you see the arrangement?"

"It's too troublesome to pack meals. It's just included in the wages. They are all in the same village. They go back to eat at noon and come back, or they can bring their own meals and heat them locally."

"Well, if you pay an extra five cents a day, you don't have to worry so much."

Xie Yan did some calculations and said: "By the way, I don't have any tools in my house now, so let the masters bring their own tools to the door. I count thirty cash a day, ten people are three hundred cash a day, and nine days are two taels. , this salary is within the budget, so I can still accept it.” (Note: One renminbi is equal to one hundred wen)

Cai Chu was surprised when he saw that Xie Yan calculated the total amount of money in a blink of an eye. You must know that others count the wages of ten people for a day, but this little girl in front of her is digging food in the ground every day. How can the total price be calculated so quickly.

How did he know that Xie Yan used the nine-nine multiplication table!

Thinking of this, he even started to make friends, he nodded: "In the past, it cost [-] cents a day for others to build a house, and there were also people who did it, but everyone couldn't help but say that the owner was stingy. According to your situation, it is actually [-] cents a day. Wen Qian’s family also comes, but since you don’t include meals and you have to bring your own tools to the door, thirty is also suitable, and most people will do it.”

Cai Chu said again: "The simple tool master can bring it himself. The mold for building the wall and the big hammer including the rammed earth are used exclusively by Lao Zhangtou for building a house. You have to pay a rent, usually one hundred yuan at a time."

In this way, Xie Yan became clear about the whole process of building the house, and said gratefully to Cai Chu: "Your uncle helped me plan, I don't have to worry about anything now, but the soil for building the house can be dug and used casually, but There may be a few more logs to be cut for the roof, and it would be too troublesome to climb a few hills, if it is cut down nearby, who should I apply for?"

"Since the nearby hills are unowned, they are all managed by the yamen. If you are farther away, you can take it at will, and if you are closer, you have to pay. On weekdays, some small trees are not cared about. If you want to cut down a few nearby A big tree, I can help you go to the Yamen to talk about it, and it’s enough to spend two or three hundred yuan on this house.”

Xie Yan nodded after hearing the solution: "In this case, let's cut it closer. It's too far away, tiring and delaying things. I have to ask Uncle to help me run."

"What are you being polite to uncle, I just took advantage of today to handle the household registration of your mother-in-law, and I also talked about the wooden things."

"Will the money for the wood be paid to you now or after the completion of the work?"

"After the house is built, the yamen will send someone to count the total cuts, and then we can settle the payment together."

Xie Yan calculated again and said: "Just now I calculated the labor cost of two taels and seven dollars, the mold costs one money, and the wood costs three dollars, so the total is three taels and one money. Don't pay one more money than I planned, it's almost the same .”

"Well, but the old Zhang is the chief foreman, his salary is five or six cents more than others, and it doesn't add up to much, just pay attention when the time comes."

"Understood, thank you uncle for reminding, Uncle Cai, after you help me, your salary and Lao Zhang's money will be counted as [-] Wen a day, so please take care of me." Xie Yan smiled. Sincere.

The couple's affection for Xie Yan was also rising at this moment, Gao refused in his mouth: "My child, why are you being polite to your uncle and aunt? What a big deal."

"That's it. I'm going back first. I have to build a small shed with my mother later. It will take a few days to build the house. I always have to live."

I just gave Cai Chu a hundred Wen, and there is a total of five taels left. At that time, I will pay the Cao family two taels, and the house will be built, plus the extra ten Wen a day from Lao Zhangtou and Cai Chu.

So during the period of building the house, the family had to continue to go up the mountain to find wild goods, and at least three hundred cash would be enough to pay for the house, and that didn't count other things that the family might have to buy one after another.

But according to the experience of the past few days, looking for wild goods every day can cost about [-] yuan. There are still a few mountains around Shangyan Village, and it will take at least another seven or eight days to find them.

It was still within the controllable range. After Xie Yan made a calculation, he felt that it was not a big problem.

Seeing Xie Yan and her younger brother happily turn around and go out, Gao poked her husband's hand with her arm and said: "This little girl is not easy, but fortunately you were able to say a few words for her two days ago. Afterwards, I see that she is very capable, and I can get some credit if I get close to her."

Cai Chu did not refute his daughter-in-law's words, nodded and said: "The Cao family's vision is really short-sighted. They buried such a good golden phoenix like a pheasant. I'm afraid they will regret it in the future."

The author has something to say: A few friends also mentioned in the comments that there are too few scholars. The main reason is that when I write about getting rich, I can't stop the car, and the more I write, the more excited I get.

However, the friends who came with me from the previous few books all know that I am not a vegetarian author. Not to mention Qiu Mingshan's car god, driving a Wuling Hongguang is also a bang bang bang bang.