Chapter Thirty-Three: Business Discussion

  Zijin didn't sleep well all night yesterday, thinking that she would soon have her own home, and was so excited that she couldn't fall asleep.

  Finished being happy and started worrying again, thinking about feeding a few chickens one moment, thinking about raising a few pigs the next, and also thinking about furniture and how to make money to support the family.

  She kept doing this back and forth until the rooster crowed twice, then she felt a bit sleepy. As soon as it was dawn, she woke up. This was a habit formed in the Qi family, and she didn't even need anyone to call her.

  After dressing and sitting in the room for a while, she heard some noise coming from the third house. Qizhen sat in her room for a while longer before going to Yebaiju's room to wake her up.

  Last night, Sun returned to her room, and Ye Baiji also came back to sleep. Although she looked unhappy, she didn't dare to provoke Ye Baiji either. The two of them spent a peaceful night without disturbing each other, and it was considered a harmonious coexistence.

  At this moment, Qi Zhen'er came to call Ye Baiji, but also woke up Ye Baizhi. Ye Baizhi glared at her and turned over to sleep again.

  Ye Baiji knew there was something important today, so she felt her way through getting dressed and then went to wash up.

  Just as I was about to go upstairs, I heard a knock at the door. Ye Baiji hurriedly went to see who it was and found that it was the bricklayer standing outside. Since he was a member of the Ye family clan, Ye Baiji still had to address him as Seventh Uncle.

  "Seventh Uncle, so early? Have you eaten?" Ye Baiji asked.

  "I've eaten, Bai Zhi. Where's your grandfather? He said he wanted to build a house, so I rushed over." The bricklayer had a straightforward temper and a loud voice, full of energy. Qi Zhen'er was standing far away, but she could hear the conversation very clearly.

  Ye Baiji let Seventh Uncle in and was just about to go upstairs to call Ye Lao, when the door of the upper house opened.

  Ye Lao Yezi stood at the door, dressed neatly and looking very spirited, not like he had just gotten out of bed.

  "Ah, it's Ah Song, you've arrived. Come on in and take a seat first, eat something before going to see." Old Master Ye said.

  The bricklayer waved his hand and said, "Third Uncle, don't be busy, I've already eaten in the morning. Later, I still have to hurry to Xiahe Village to work, let me take a look at the place first."

  Ye Lao Yezi also knew he was very busy and had been rushing to finish his work recently, so he nodded and called for Ye Bai Zhi and Qi Zhen Er to go out.

  As they went out the door, Ah Song looked at Qi Zhener and Ye Baiji, two little girls, and asked in confusion: "Third Uncle, why are you bringing these two girls?"

  Ye Lao pointed at Qi Zhener and said to Ah Song: "This is Zhen'er, the house was built for her."

  Qizhen'er also had a look, and sweetly called out to Ah Song: "Thanks, Uncle Song."

  Ah Song glanced at Qi Zhen'er and nodded, casually waving his hand, saying: "Don't call me Uncle Song anymore, it sounds like a squirrel. Just call me Seventh Uncle like Bai Zhuzi." Everyone laughed at this.

  "Seventh Uncle." Qizhen'er called out smoothly.

  Arriving at the empty land, Ah Song looked around and chose a place with relatively flat terrain and hard soil, directly facing the entrance of the medical hall. This was also what Old Master Ye had requested.

  "How is it here?" Ah Song asked.

  Qizhen'er looked around and thought this place was well chosen. The surrounding area is still very large, so if there's anything unsatisfactory in the future, they can just build again.

  "If you're satisfied, then build it here," Ah Song said, and asked: "I heard Third Uncle say that you want to build three thatched cottages, with a kitchen and a toilet, so how much do you plan to spend?"

  "Is this place where you collect the payment, or will we come to settle it later? However, if we collect it, we still need to calculate the labor cost. Also, regarding the materials, do we cover all of them or do you buy them yourself?"

  A string of questions came, and Qizhen also felt dizzy. However, she didn't understand any of this, so early on, she had made up her mind to let the craftsmen take care of all these things.

  "I only have two taels of silver, what kind of house can be built with this processing fee?" Qizhen asked. Ye Lao Yezi was able to find him, so he knew he was trustworthy. Moreover, there were some kinship relations between him and Ye Lao Yezi, so Qizhen was not afraid that he would cheat her.

  Roughly calculating, Ah Song said: "Two taels of silver can build three rooms, no problem. If you provide food, there will still be dozens of coins left." He was speaking based on the lowest labor costs, if not for Master Ye's face, Qi Zhen'er would have to add at least another 50 coins.

  "What about dinner?" Qizhen asked, she and Huzi were still temporarily living with the Ye family, what could they do about dinner?

  Ah Song saw Ye Lao Ye didn't say anything, it was all Qizhen this little girl who took charge. For a moment, he couldn't figure out what their relationship was, but his work was indeed reliable, and many were old customers introducing business to him, so he didn't need to cheat a little girl for a few cents.

  "If we don't count the food, each person will have to add fifteen cents to their daily wages. After deducting this, there shouldn't be much left from two taels of silver."

  Zijin'er listened and thought it was reasonable, so she agreed.

  It was settled that he would come to work tomorrow, and then Ah Song hurriedly left.

  Qī Zhēnér followed Yè Bái zhǐ and Old Master Yè back to the Yè's house, planning to go pick up stones after dinner.

  At the dinner table, Jiang's family became lively again: "Her grandfather, I just heard Ah Song say that you want to build a house?"

  Ye Lao Yezi took a sip of porridge and glanced at Jiang Shi, saying: "It's Zhen Er who wants to build a house."

  Jiang smiled even sweeter, looking at Qi Zhen'er and asked: "Zhen'er this child is really capable, deciding to build a house so quickly. You must have a lot of money in your hands, building a house is a big project!" Jiang thought to herself, she had misjudged them initially, thinking they were just two helpless orphans, but it turned out they even had money to build a house.

  Zi Zhen'er knew that if she didn't clarify things now, there would be endless trouble later. She said: "It's to build a few thatched cottages, using two taels of silver. This period has been troubling Auntie, and Zi Zhen'er felt uneasy in her heart, thinking about moving out early and also earning money to repay Grandfather's medical expenses."

  Jiang felt very comfortable with what Qizhen'er said. Sun was ill, and she had to cook for the Ye family, which she couldn't refuse. But this Qizhen'er sister and brother were not anyone from the Ye family, and they still wanted her to serve them, which made her unhappy. Now that Qizhen'er was leaving, she also praised her and let her share the credit in front of everyone in the Ye family, so that they would know about her contributions.

  After dinner, Qizhen and her siblings, as well as Ye Baiju, rushed to collect stones. If they couldn't finish collecting them in one day, they would definitely have to delay their work for another day. One more day of work meant one more day's pay.

  There are rocks everywhere on the barren land, which should have been left behind when the small stream was still quite wide. Now that the stream has narrowed, the surrounding rocks have also been exposed.

  Some stones were scattered on the surface, while others had a part buried in the soil and needed to be dug up with tools. Qizhen let Hu Zi and Ye Baiju pick up the stones scattered on the ground, and she dug up those buried in the soil.

  Ye Baiji looked like someone who had never done any chores before, and from their usual conversations, it was clear that she had been spoiled in the city as well. Qi Zhen'er hadn't planned to let her do much, just thinking that having one more person to talk to would be nice, but after a whole morning passed, Ye Baiji didn't complain of tiredness or hardship, and continued until noon when they went back to eat lunch, her face was also flushed red, making Qi Zhen'er feel somewhat embarrassed.

  Looking at the scattered stones on the ground, there's nothing left, only some stones in the soil are left. After finishing dinner, Qizhen'er thought of telling Yebaiju not to go in the afternoon. Who knew she was stubborn and insisted on helping Qizhen'er to the end.

  Zi cherished this friend and understood her sincerity, so she didn't refuse.

  In the afternoon they were much more relaxed, chatting and laughing while digging stones in the soil.

  Everyone in the Ye family knew that Qi Zhen'er was going to build a house and today they were going to pick stones. Except for Old Master Ye, Ye Baiqi, and Sun Shi, not one person took the initiative to offer help.

  But Ye Lao wants to see a doctor, and Sun is still "resting" so they can't come.

  Qizhen'er felt that it was indeed true that one grain of rice could support a hundred families. Ye Lao and Ye Baiju were good people, but the others seemed to be somewhat selfish. However, Qizhen'er only sighed in her heart, after all, she didn't have any substantial relationship with them, and couldn't force them to help out.

  However, in the afternoon, there were still some unexpected guests who came to this empty land.