klisemfg Chapter 148: Isn't that a slap in my face?
Chapter 148: Isn't that a slap in my face?
Village chief Zhang was surprised that they were going to build a house again, but on second thought, it was understandable. After all, every few days, a series of horse-drawn carriages from the Tianxianglou came to the end of the village, and each time they carried hundreds of taels of goods.
Moreover, the Zhang family’s house is still a mud house. Now that they have money, they will have to rebuild the house sooner or later.
"Okay, Uncle Zhang, let's get a ruler and measure the land next to your house. Once the land is measured, I'll go get you a land deed tomorrow."
"Okay, then I'll trouble the village chief. By the way, how much is one acre of land?"
"Uncle Zhang, the land is slightly more expensive than the wasteland. It costs five taels of silver per mu."
Grandpa Zhang nodded.
"Okay, Uncle Zhang, I'll go get the tools first, and then we'll go to the end of the village to measure the land."
After saying that, Village Chief Zhang walked towards the main hall, took the ruler for measuring the land, and went to the end of the village with Grandpa Zhang.
Village Chief Zhang and Grandpa Zhang measured the scope of the land that Grandpa Zhang wanted next to the old Zhang’s house, which was a total of three and a half acres.
Grandpa Zhang: "Village Chief, let's go to my house first. I'll give you the money. I'll trouble you to help me get the land deed tomorrow."
"Okay, let's go. But there's no need to be polite. We are all from the same village. Besides, Uncle Zhang, we are still passed down from the same ancestor."
Grandpa Zhang brought Village Chief Zhang to sit in the main room, and called Grandma Zhang, who was sitting at the door doing needlework.
"Old woman, take out twenty-five taels, measure the land next to it, and give the money to the village chief. He will help you go to the town to apply for the land deed tomorrow."
"Okay, you guys sit down first, I'll go get the silver."
Grandpa Zhang poured a cup of tea for Village Chief Zhang: "Come, Village Chief, have a cup of tea."
"Okay, thank you Uncle Zhang."
Village Chief Zhang took the tea and took a sip: "Well, Uncle Zhang, this tea is good."
"Hey, this is what the boss brought back for my birthday a few days ago. It tastes good. I'll pour you some more."
"No, Uncle Zhang, just this one cup is enough. I'm not very thirsty. By the way, Uncle Zhang, do you also want to demolish this old house and rebuild it together with the land next to it?"
"No, the old house will remain, and the vegetables will still be grown in the backyard. The chickens and horses will still be kept here, and the chickens will not be kept over there to avoid the smell. Besides, it's still a bit cold at night. If this is demolished, there will be no place to live."
"Yeah, that's fine too. There's plenty of land over there, and we can put things here and pile them up. It's also closer and more convenient to plant vegetables."
"Yes, we thought so too. It's right next door anyway, so we can't walk far."
Grandma Zhang came out from the inner room and handed the silver to Grandpa Zhang.
"Village chief, this is the money for buying the land foundation. In addition, you need to go to the town to get the land deed and you need to do some other things. When the time comes, you can keep the extra money to buy some wine."
"Uncle Zhang, you don't need that. Just give me nineteen and a half taels. The foundation is seventeen and a half taels, and the maintenance is only two taels."
"Here, just take it. I'll have to trouble you again if you have more in the future."
Seeing Grandpa Zhang like this, Village Chief Zhang could only take a step back and said, "Uncle Zhang, how about this? Just give me 20 taels and I'll take back 5 taels. You're giving me so much, isn't that a slap in my face?"
Grandpa Zhang also knew the character of the village chief, and he was not one who would take advantage of small gains: "Okay, then I'll trouble you, village chief." So he gave the village chief Zhang twenty taels.
"It's okay, Uncle Zhang. I'll go to the county government office in town to apply for the land deed tomorrow morning, and I'll give it to you when I come back."
"Okay, that's troublesome."
After saying this, Village Chief Zhang took the silver and Grandpa Zhang’s household registration and left.
Two days later.
Grandpa Zhang: "Second brother, the village chief has already brought back the land deed yesterday. After you finish breakfast, why don't you go to the town and ask your eldest brother if they know where to find a good team of masons who specialize in building houses.
If you can find it right away, ask someone to calculate which day is a good day to start construction. If not, ask your eldest brother to ask around in town first, and let the family know when you have news. "
Zhang Cheng nodded: "Okay, I understand, Dad."
After breakfast.
Zhang Cheng harnessed the carriage and headed for the town.
Arrived at the food store in town.
Zhang Cheng tied the carriage in front of the store and went in.
At this time, someone was ordering food and Zhang's father was collecting money at the counter.
Zhang Cheng waited until his father had finished receiving the guests before he stepped forward.
"Big brother."
"Hey, second brother, why did you come to town today? Do you have something to deal with, or do you want to buy something?" asked Zhang's father.
Zhang Cheng stood next to the counter so as not to block Zhang's father from paying the bill, and said directly to Zhang's father: "Brother, my family bought three or four acres of land next to us yesterday and are planning to rebuild the house."
When Zhang's father heard what Zhang Cheng said, he stopped calculating the accounts, immediately turned his head to look at Zhang Cheng, and asked in confusion: "Do you want to renovate the house?"
"Well, Dad was thinking a few days ago that our family has a lot of money coming in every month, so he wanted to buy some land so that he could pass it on to his children. Then, he mentioned that he wanted to tear down the house and rebuild it with blue bricks and tiles.
Yueyue suggested building a three-courtyard house, but our own land was not big enough, so we finally decided to buy the land next door to build the house, and then leave the old house alone. We could then raise chickens and grow vegetables.
Just yesterday, the village chief sent back the deed to the land next to ours. Today, my father asked me to come to the town to ask you if you know any good bricklayer to repair the yard.
Yueyue drew the blueprints for the house she wanted to renovate, but she didn’t have enough experience just looking for someone in the village, so she came to town to ask you.”
"Oh, let me think about it." Father Zhang thought for a while and thought of a person: "Hey, I thought of a customer who often comes to eat noodles with me. Because he comes often, we can chat for a while. He mentioned that he seems to be repairing houses for wealthy families. He is also a foreman and has many people under him. We can ask him."
"That's good. If I know him, it would save me some trouble. Otherwise, I have to look for him in the town, and it would be hard for me to find him. Brother, do you know where he lives? We can't wait for him to come to the food store to eat noodles. What if he doesn't come during this period of time?"
"I know where he lives. He mentioned it when we were chatting before. He told me where he lives and what his last name is. Hmm, let me recall." Father Zhang thought for a while and said, "Oh, I remember now. His last name is Luo. He lives in Huaihua Lane. I think he is the third house after entering Huaihua Lane."
"Okay, I know. I won't bother you here for now, brother. I'll go to Huaihua Lane to see if anyone is there. If he is, I'll talk to him. By the way, I brought all the drawings that Yueyue drew. Brother, take a look. Yueyue's drawings are really beautiful."
After saying that, he took out the blueprint of the house drawn by Zhang Yunyue from his arms and unfolded it for Zhang's father to see.