Chapter Thirty-Eight: Wages

  It turned out that Old Man Ye had built this house in his own name.

  "She's my sister, what relationship does she have with our grandfather?" Ye Baiji suddenly appeared behind them and said.

  Yelu's eyes lit up and he quickly turned around, smiling at Yebai Zhi: "Little sister Bai Zhi, when did you arrive? Why didn't you say anything, I would have gone to pick you up."

  "Go away, go away! If you continue to be so mischievous, I'll tell my seventh uncle about it. Be careful or he'll whip you with a rattan stick."

  Ye Luoyu cooperated and shook slightly, as if he was really afraid of his father, but Qi Zhen'er saw that there was not a hint of fear in his eyes.

  "Zhi'er little sister, don't be so heartless, you know that your brother Lu Yuang cares about you the most." As he spoke, he also pulled on Ye Bai Zhi's sleeve and shook it.

  Qī Zhēnér looked embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject to prevent them from teasing her further. "Lù Yuǎn gēgē (Brother Lù Yuǎn), Seventh Uncle told me to help you pave small stones, how do I do it?"

  As soon as it comes to work, Ye Luyuan is like a different person, rigorous and serious. "These small stones need to be sprinkled on the ground with scattered soil, so that it's convenient to lay bricks. Look, you have to sprinkle a layer of soil on the ground first, then evenly spread the stones, and also trample them firmly. You can't do this job, I'll borrow a stone roller later to roll them."

  "What about the floor tiles?" asked Qizhen'er, "Do we need to pay extra for them?"

  "Ah?" Zhen'er said in a low voice, and Yelurong didn't quite catch it at first, but then understood. He waved his hand and said: "Wait for 15th brother to go to the kiln factory to bring it over, that money will be included in the material cost. Didn't my dad say that this thatched hut has already been negotiated on price? Is there anything else?"

  Zijin'er let out a sigh of relief and shook her head, "No, I was just asking."

  She doesn't have any money on hand now, and has to be very frugal, or else she won't be able to make ends meet.

  Yelu Far explained to Qizhen'er and then went back to hauling scattered earth and gravel. Qizhen'er saw that he still needed a while, so she ran back to the Ye house and brought over the two taels of silver they had agreed on. It didn't make sense to build a house and still need someone's help with the silver, let alone when they were already giving a friendly price.

  "Zhen'er, what's this?" Ye Qiushu looked at the two taels of loose silver that Qizhener handed over and asked.

  Qī Zhēnér stretched out her hand towards Yè Qī Shū and said: "Seventh Uncle, take this money first. I heard Lù Yuǎn Gēgē say that you still need to buy tiles later, so don't use your own money to pay for it."

  "Zhen'er, don't worry about it. We'll advance this money first and after the work is completed, you can listen to my report and then pay the wages."

  "Seventh Uncle, I trust you, take the silver first and use it, we'll settle the account later."

  Ye Qiushu looked at Qizhen for a while, seeing that she was very persistent, and put away the money: "Alright, you trust your Seventh Uncle, and your Seventh Uncle will definitely make this embroidery beautiful."

  Qī Zhēn ér saw him receive the money, and smiled happily. She knew that Yè Qī shū was helping her build a house because of Yè Lǎo yé zi's face. Listening to their tone of conversation, after finishing yesterday's task, they were originally planning to take a rest to recharge for the summer harvest, but instead came to help her build a house without even resting.

  They have shouldered the emotional burden without saying a word, and they have also taken on the risk. Qizhen and her younger brother are orphans and outsiders. They were promised two taels of silver, but if they can't come up with the money when the time comes, who will they turn to?

  Is Ye Lao a family member? Is he a senior or a junior? How can they be so presumptuous?

  Actually, last night when they were talking about this, Ye Qiushu was also very worried. There were three people working with him, and he had planned to have them work together to finish building the thatched hut for Qizhen in just one more day. But those people, as soon as they heard it was for a young girl from outside the village, all backed out.

  Although Ye Qiushu knew their difficulties, he couldn't force them to come. After all, Old Master Ye had found him, and he couldn't push it away. Fortunately, his two paternal nephews came to help. He had already thought it through; if Qizhen couldn't get the money out, he would lose face himself and personally make up for the money, so as not to disappoint those who worked with him.

  At this moment, Qi Zhen'er took out the money, and it really calmed the military's mind. Ye Shiyi and Ye Shi Wu also saw Qi Zhen'er give the money to Ye Qi Shu, and they felt at ease, and their work became more energetic.

  Before long, Ye Luyuan pushed a wheelbarrow of crushed soil over. Qi Zhen'er followed Ye Luyuan's instructions and first sprinkled the crushed soil, then paved the gravel.

  After a while of busy work, Ye Baiji came over with a pot of mung bean soup.

  Qī Zhēnér looked at the soup and suddenly remembered Old Master Ye's instructions, she had been too busy to think about it.

  Ye Baiji handed a bowl to Ye Luyuan and Qi Zhen'er respectively. Smiling, she asked: "How is it? Are you tired?"

  "I'm not tired, I still have energy." This was said by Ye Luyuan with a proud smile.

  Qī Zhēn ér pursed her lips and smiled. Someone had just said that he was very tired these past few days, and wanted his dad to give him a holiday, and also pay him wages, so he could go downtown for a stroll.

  Yebai Zhi said, "Since you're not tired, the rest of the things will be done by you. I'll take Zhen'er back now. The sun is high at this time, and the little girl's skin is delicate, it's not good if she gets sunburned."

  Qī Zhēnér took a look at the sky and indeed the sun was shining brightly. She felt happy in her heart, not only did she have energy to work, but even the heat didn't feel like it was there anymore.

  Ye Lu looked at Xiao Buzhi's Qi Zhen'er and nodded hastily: "You take her back, she doesn't need to help anyway, I can do it myself. She's just holding me up here." The tone was as disdainful as possible.

  Qī Zhēn'er was stunned, this wasn't how it was supposed to be. When Yè Lù Yuàn had her do chores, he was full of praise for her, if not for Yè Qī Shū keeping a close eye on him, he would have let Qī Zhēn'er take care of everything herself. How come now he's starting to look down on her?

  Ye Baiji didn't believe what Ye Luyuan said. She could see that Qi Zhen'er was a skilled worker, whether it was feeding chickens and pigs or doing chores in the kitchen, she did everything quickly and neatly, and even understood more about field work than her, so how could she be as bad as Ye Luyuan said?

  But she had achieved her goal, so she pulled Qi Zhener and greeted Ye Qishu and the others.

  Ye Qiushu naturally had no opinion. The young lady paid them to come and work, and it was enough for them to supervise the work. This little girl is kind-hearted and wants to help them, but they can't just take advantage of her kindness and really get her to stay here and help. Besides, apart from laying stones, Qizhen couldn't help with much else here either.

  "Zhen'er go back. It's hot, you shouldn't come either, children have delicate skin, if they get sunburned it won't be good. Your Uncle Ye Qi will definitely build a good thatched hut for you."

  "Thank you, Seventh Uncle. Then I won't bother you all anymore. When it gets hot, you can head back first, don't get sunburned."

  "Seventh Uncle knows, let's go back."

  Then she bid farewell to Ye Eleven and Ye Fifteen, and Qi Zhen'er followed Ye Baiju back to the Ye family.

  In the east wing, Madame Sun sat beside Qizhen's bed, chatting with Hu'er, holding a peach-red underskirt in her hand, with flowers embroidered on the hem, still unfinished, looking like camellias. The color of the flower is good, and the thread is also good, it can be seen that Madame Sun's embroidery skills are not bad, no wonder Jiang praised Ye Baiju's embroidery skills last time, it turns out that she has a good teacher like Madame Sun.

  "Sister, is the house built well?" Hu Zi asked hastily as he saw Qi Zhen'er enter the house.

  Qizhen'er nodded her little nose and smiled: "Where is it as fast as you said? It's still excavating the foundation."

  Hu Zi pouted and complained, "Why is it so slow?" He really didn't want to live here now, especially not with Ye Su Qi, that naughty kid.

  Yesterday, Zhen'er said that Hu's hand was injured by himself accidentally, and Hu became somewhat unhappy. Obviously, someone else pushed him, but his sister said it was his fault. Later, it was still Zhen'er who told him the inside story, and he felt a bit better in his heart. Although he didn't understand human relationships and gratitude, he knew that they had accepted Ye Grandfather's kindness, so they couldn't be hostile to his family.

  "Don't worry, Little Tiger," said Ye Qī Shū. "They can finish building in just two days. After it airs out for a day, we can move in the day after tomorrow." Qi Zhēn Er rubbed Little Tiger's head and smiled. She was also looking forward to moving. Although living at the Ye's was comfortable, she always felt like a guest, and having her own home was something that made her smile even in her dreams.

  Sun heard them mention the moving day and stopped her needlework, "So soon?"

  Qī Zhēn'er carefully explained her plan. At this time, a commotion was heard from the doorway. Yè Bái Jí rushed to the door and looked out, also excitedly calling out.