vrcanaries Chapter 406 Work begins
Chapter 406 Work begins
Soon, the old man came out with a few pheasants. Seeing Zhou Guo also carrying rabbits and pheasants, he said, "It seems that we have to change the mountain next time. The big guys are gone."
Zhou Guo said: "Master, rabbits and pheasants are good enough. How can you be so lucky to always get deer, roe deer, wild boars, etc.? That would be too easy to get rich."
If you have no money, you can just go into the mountains and earn a few coins. Why bother farming or doing business?
The old man smiled and said, "You are just thinking about getting rich. I was thinking it would be best to kill a big one when building the house so that we don't have to buy meat."
Zhou Guo had already thought about it. "It's okay. We only need one meal anyway, one meat dish, one vegetable dish and one soup. If that doesn't work, we can use eggs as meat dishes. Otherwise, we can use less meat and only give each person one or two slices. It would be embarrassing for the people who come to work if we prepare so much. Besides, there are other families building the house together. If our food is too good, people will hate us. It's not advisable to make it too good."
Seeing that she had a plan, the old man stopped talking.
The wood that was dried last year has dried and the bark has been peeled off.
The old man picked up one with great effort and walked away first, "I'll wait for you in front."
Zhou Guo tried carrying one piece of wood on her shoulders. It seemed okay, so she added another one. Well... although she could carry it, her shoulders were too weak to bear it. She had to pick up two pieces of wood, one on each side, and drag them along. This way, her shoulders wouldn't suffer, and she could balance the two pieces of wood with some effort.
It was just too long and difficult to go down the mountain, so she could only throw them down one by one, then walk down and pick them up one by one and throw them down again. It was quite fast this way.
The old man was carrying the wood and heard the rumbling and banging sounds behind him. Without even turning his head, he quickened his pace and ran forward quickly.
He ran just in time. As soon as he took a step, the wood rolled down.
Zhou Guo was shocked when he saw this from behind, and shouted from a distance, "Master, go ahead and wait for me at the foot of the mountain!"
The old man ran even faster when he heard this. Why did this girl act like she was blind when doing things?
Zhou Guo was very embarrassed. She had controlled the strength when she threw it, but when the thing rolled down the mountain, it would encounter rocks, trees and other things, and it would change direction. She couldn't control this either.
After the two pieces of wood had rolled down the mountain, Zhou Guo ran down, placed the two pieces of wood in place, and dragged them with each hand, as if he was dragging two branches. It looked effortless at all.
The old man stopped to rest in an open space in front. He turned around and saw her dragging a big thing in one hand and walking towards him with her head down. He sighed, "Don't you know to drag one less? This thing is so big, even if it is dried, it is not light. Besides, why are you in such a hurry? The house will take so many days to build, and this thing can only be put up at the end."
Zhou Guo threw two pieces of wood onto the ground with a clang, wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "I know. I was thinking that I could just do two pieces in one trip and it would only take a few trips. Wouldn't that save a lot of trips?"
The old man shook his head and said, "You are so strong at such a young age. I don't know if this is good or bad. Okay, you can only drag them one by one. There are only five in total. The two of us carried them out in a day and a half. Why are you saving effort?"
"Yes, I will drag them one by one." Zhou Guo nodded obediently. The master had given the order, so he could just drag them one by one, but he had already dragged this one here, so he absolutely could not give up halfway.
The old man was helpless. Of course, the ones behind him were one by one. There were only two left on the mountain. Even if he wanted to drag two at a time, there were no more.
In the afternoon, the two of them had their meal before slowly going into the mountains. The old man carried the things and walked away, while Zhou Guo could even run while dragging them. One stick was much easier than two.
The next morning, as the sound of firecrackers rang out, construction of the Zhou family's house began.
The things inside had been cleared out long ago, and they built two temporary sheds outside the yard. Because the house they were building this time was larger, the foundation had to be remeasured, and they paid an additional few hundred coins for the foundation.
When the villagers saw that they had measured such a wide homestead, they couldn't help but ask, "How big a house are you going to build? Why are you measuring such a wide foundation?"
Zhou Gu said: "We have a large family, so we need to build seven or eight rooms including the kitchen."
When they heard that so many rooms were to be built, everyone was amazed. How many bricks, tiles and wood would be needed and how much would it cost?
But then he thought, the bigger they build, the more work it will take, and the longer the days, the longer they have to work, so naturally they will earn more money.
No one spoke.
Zhou Guo looked at it and felt that it was a good thing that she persuaded her mother to pay the money. It was a good deal to spend a few hundred coins to make the villagers shut up and stop gossiping. Otherwise, it would be a troublesome matter if there was a dispute over this in the future.
The new roof that was built last autumn has been dismantled, the beams have been taken down, and the walls have been built. The most regrettable thing is the newly built kangs.
Zhou Gu said distressedly, "If I had known earlier, I would have made do with it last year and not built a kang. I spent several strings of cash, but before I had slept on it for a year, I broke it. This money is really not worth it!"
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Brother, the kang in the old house is already in bad condition. It might collapse one day while we are sleeping on it. If we don't build a new one, we will have to spend a lot of money on medical treatment and medicine if we fall and get hurt. This money is not wasted."
At most, it was too much. It was destined to be two. In winter, the whole family slept on two kangs, one for men and one for women. There was no discomfort.
There were a total of eighteen people working at home, including a bricklayer who specialized in building houses, and he brought two apprentices with him, making a total of twenty-one people. Together with their own family members, there were quite a few people eating lunch.
Even so, Li didn't hire anyone to help with cooking. After so many days, they would have to pay someone for cooking, so it would be better for them to do it themselves.
Zhou Guo originally wanted to go to work, but seeing this, he had to come and cook.
Li said, "Why are you joining in the fun? Mother hired so many people just to build the house. Why would she need your help?"
Zhou Xing said, "Yes, Second Aunt spent a lot of money this time. She hired so many people at once, but she didn't let the family members do anything. Even your eldest brother was only allowed to help out and do some easy tasks."
However, Zhou Guo felt that cooking for so many people was no easier than building a house. Just kneading the dough was exhausting. If it weren't for her, there was no telling how long it would take the two of them to finish kneading the dough. They might even break their hands.
As for cooking, for so many people, I have to stir-fry half a pot of food. It’s not easy to stir-fry so much.
At noon that day, they had rabbit and pheasant stewed with pine mushrooms. There was a rabbit and a pheasant in it. There was not much meat, but Zhou Guo chopped it into small pieces. Each person could scoop up a few pieces, and that was enough!