Chapter Ten: Selecting Materials

  Arrived at the old house, Second Uncle and others were busy cleaning up. Seeing Fifth Uncle coming, they all greeted him and asked how he was doing. Fifth Uncle first carefully looked around the old house, thought for a moment, and estimated how much cement, lime and other materials would be needed. Chu Jiaqiang took the opportunity to express his own requirements, and Fifth Uncle nodded in agreement.

  "Sheng Yi, you go and bring back the materials in a bit, I've checked the calendar, today and tomorrow are both fine, so we can also rebuild the stove. Let's try to finish it within these two days, but it's not suitable to start work on the day after tomorrow. I'll find a few people, the workload is not big, should be able to rush through it." Fifth Uncle seems to be in the construction business, and he does things with great efficiency.

  "In that case, I'll go with Shengyi. Leave this place to Ershu. By the way, Wu Gong, how is the labor cost calculated?" Chu Jiaqiang asked.

  "Hmm? We usually calculate it this way: 50 yuan per day with meals, 60 yuan without meals. What do you think, Qiangzi?" said Wu Shu Gong.

  "Oh! That's not expensive, how about this? I don't have time to manage meals either. Fifth Uncle, you can have 101 yuan a day! Other workers will get 81 yuan a day. Everyone must help me get it done properly." Chu Jiaqiang didn't mind the extra money, hoping that by giving more, the workers would be more motivated and do a better job renovating the old house.

  The second uncle and aunt opened their mouths, but in the end they could only sigh and shake their heads. Chu Jiaqiang's approach was actually a way of increasing the labor costs of construction workers. Later on, if someone in the village wanted to build something, it would be hard for them to offer too little money, and they would inevitably blame Chu Jiaqiang.

  "Ah! Alright! Don't worry, I've got this under control. I'll definitely help you do it beautifully and with even better quality." Uncle Wu promised on the spot.

  Everyone is busy, Wu Shu immediately found someone to go. Now that the farming season is over, it's not difficult to find someone to help. Chu Jiaqiang went to the town with Chu Shengyi.

  Feeling the constant bumps and vibrations of the car, Chu Jiaqiang said: "This road needs to be repaired."

  Chu Shengyi smiled slightly, he also felt the same way, almost every day driving this car in and out of this road, the condition of the road has a great impact on the car, sometimes one breakdown would cost him almost all his earnings for a month.

  "It's not very effective, except for major repairs. The drainage ditch needs to be fixed properly, otherwise everything is in vain. Whenever it rains heavily, this road will become a small river, and those potholes that were filled with mud and gravel before will soon be dug out again." Chu Shengyi had already gotten used to it.

  Chu's family nodded thoughtfully, also understanding the village situation. Major repairs are impossible, as villagers are reluctant to spend money on roads. At most, it would be organizing everyone to repair the road, clearing the clogged drainage ditches and flattening the road surface a bit.

  When he arrived in town, Chu Jiaqiang first went to the rural credit union to withdraw 20,000 yuan. There was no bank in the town, only a rural credit union and a postal savings office.

  Then went to the street to buy bowls, chopsticks, iron pots and other kitchen utensils, bedding, pillows, mosquito nets and other bedding. Walked into a grocery store, asked for several energy-saving lamps, two fluorescent tubes, and a bundle of electrical wire. Chu Jiaqiang put the things in the car and went shopping again. Went to the market, cut a few pounds of beef. Came out, saw a large Superman on a stall, next to it was a set of small monsters, asked the price, got 156, bargained, got it for 120.

  Back in the car, Chu Shengyi was startled: "You really bought it for that kid?" He had asked about this thing before, over a hundred yuan, he couldn't bear to spend the money.

  "Hehe! Since I promised, I should make it happen, right? Never mind that, Sheng Yi Uncle, do you think we should go check the lime cement first or buy red bricks first?" Chu Jiaqiang said with a smile, seemingly nonchalant.

  "Let's go take a look at the lime cement first! The brick factory is a bit far, we'll go there last." Chu Shengyi immediately started the car and headed towards the end of the street. The end of the street was where building materials were concentrated, and steel and cement could all be found here.

  As soon as he got off the car, the boss came out from inside and greeted him: "Xiao Yi, what's up?"

  "Haha! I haven't let you take care of me yet, boss! This is my nephew, he's renovating and needs some cement, lime, and whatnot. By the way, how's business these days?" Chu Shengyi was apparently quite familiar with this old boss.

  "We're all familiar with each other, so I'll give you the real price! Cement is 25 yuan per bag now, and lime powder is 30 yuan per bag. How many do you want, young man?" The boss gave Chu Jiaqiang and the other person a cigarette each.

  "Fifteen bags of cement and eight bags of lime. By the way, how much does this flooring cost?" Chu Jiaqiang's eyes lit up when he saw the ceramic tiles and flooring on display.

  "Oh! I don't know which one the little brother likes? Let me introduce them to you! I have three types of flooring here. This anti-slip flooring is the most expensive, eighty per piece; this printed flower one looks the best but is the cheapest, thirty per piece; and this one over here is the easiest to dry, fifty-three per piece." The boss saw another business opportunity and immediately became enthusiastic.

  Chu Jiaqiang thought for a moment and prepared to paste the floor on the wing room, toilet, and living room.

  "I'll take this one that's easy to dry! First, give me 300 pieces, if not enough, come back later. By the way, this bathroom door is good, do you have a smaller one? Eight centimeters wide and two meters high will do." Chu Jiaqiang finally fixed his gaze on a bathroom door with opaque glass inlays in the middle.

  "Yes, yes! The wood for this door is made of wenge, many people like it, and the price is reasonable. Originally it was over 300, but since you've helped me out so much, little brother, I'll let you have it for free. Shengyi, take little brother inside to have a cup of tea, and we'll get everything loaded up for you right away." The boss was extremely pleased - this was a deal worth over 16,000 yuan, no small amount!

  The boss immediately ordered someone to load the materials onto the truck, which filled up the tractor-trailer halfway. Once they loaded the red bricks later, it would be considered a full load on their return trip.

  After settling the account, Chu Jiaqiang found that the 20,000 yuan he took out plus the more than 1,000 yuan left before was almost gone, and he couldn't help but smile wryly. He then took out another 10,000 yuan.

  Back in the car, Chu Jiaqiang sighed bitterly: "This money is useless even in rural areas."

  "Haha! Now you know? You're using high-end materials, this floor alone is over 10,000. Nowadays, materials are getting more and more expensive, nobody in our village dares to build a house, it's because of this reason. A single building costs at least 600,000 to 700,000, only a few households in our village can afford it, and once you start building, you'll immediately become bankrupt, who would be so foolish?" Chu Shengyi laughed.

  The car soon arrived at the brick factory, red bricks were cheap, buying a few more wouldn't make much of a difference, but Chu Jiaqiang didn't ask for many either. Wu Shu said that five hundred would be enough at most.

  "Ah! That's right, we need sand too!" Chu Jiaqiang said suddenly.

  "Haha! I thought you'd forgotten! Wu Shu Gong finally told me, don't rush to get the sand, go back to the neighboring village once, there's a person who specializes in scooping sand, the quality is absolutely better than what the sand dredger can extract." Chu Shengyi explained.

  "That's good, now that everything is basically ready, let's go back!" Chu Jiaqiang thought about it again and felt that it was almost enough.

  Chu Shengyi nodded and started the car. On the way back, he slowed down a lot, mainly because he was afraid that the floor would crack, this road is so bad, it's really hard to say.