Shen Miao’s shameless remarks, inherited from later generations, almost made the craftsmen of this era, who had some spirit, angry enough to cut ties with her on the spot.
In the end, she had to speak softly and negotiate carefully with them.
Finally, she struck a deal for three brick and tile houses at sixty-eight guan.
She also had to provide these workers with two meals of porridge a day.
If they didn’t have enough to eat, they wouldn’t be able to work properly.
In ancient times, when building houses, there were “five elements and eight occupations,” but all respected the carpenter the most.
The carpenter had to act as both architect and designer at this time, responsible for drawing designs, making models, and guiding construction.
Therefore, Old Man Yang, in high spirits, carried a folding ruler and ink line, leading his apprentices to Shen Miao’s home to measure the land.
After confirming with Shen Miao, they decided to build on the foundation of the original house that had been burned down.
In the original owner’s memory, these three rooms were actually quite large and very square.
One was for the parents and Xiang Jie’er, one was for Ji Ge’er, and the other was hers.
The furnishings inside were also similar, with beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, and wardrobes.
Now she wanted to turn all three rooms into suites, using flower cabinets as partitions to separate small living rooms and bedrooms.
The outer half of Ji Ge’er’s room could be made into a study, with the partitioned area behind serving as the bedroom for daily living.
This way, there would be both privacy and a place to read.
For the bedroom parts of the other three rooms, Shen Miao wanted Old Man Yang to build a floor-to-ceiling combination wardrobe that included a dressing table directly into the wall.
Just like in later generations—using wooden rods and partitions to divide different areas for folding clothes.
This way, clothes wouldn’t have to be constantly folded in the wardrobe, getting wrinkled and needing to be ironed with the bottom of a teapot every time they were worn, and they would be less likely to be eaten by bugs.
How great the wardrobes of later generations were! If one had to specially commission a set of wooden wardrobes, the cost would definitely not be cheap.
But by building directly with bricks on the wall, a lot of wood could be saved.
After applying putty, only the wardrobe doors and frames needed to be installed.
All three rooms would have rainproof platforms and front porches outside, with bricks laid to raise the house floor, and rain gutters installed to prevent dampness and bugs.
In the northwest corner of the yard, she also wanted them to dig a small pond for free, pile up broken stones around it, and lay a stone slab path connecting to the front porch.
While they were at it… the plot of land at the southeast corner, she wanted them to cultivate it and enclose it with a wooden fence.
She planned to grow some melons, fruits, and vegetables there in the future.
Next to the vegetable garden, she also wanted them to build a brick chicken coop and dog house for free.
Shen Miao originally wanted Old Man Yang and his apprentices to build a grape arbor for free or help her set up some wooden stakes in the yard for a clothesline, but seeing Old Man Yang’s increasingly pale face as he listened, she gave up.
She sighed regretfully:
“Well, don’t push this honest craftsman to the brink. Where would I find another good-tempered and skilled carpenter to work with?”
After collaborating twice on the stall cart and the doors and windows of her home, and seeing that the kitchen door and courtyard gate were both sturdy and perfectly fitted.
Shen Miao had come to fully recognize Old Man Yang’s craftsmanship and had also gained some understanding of his character.
When looking for a decoration company, the worst thing was dealing with those who were deceitful and took advantage of your lack of knowledge to provide substandard work.
If the house turned out to be a shoddy product, that would be disastrous.
So, when it came to decoration, the first thing was to examine character and skills, and only then consider the price.
Old Man Yang was not good with words, and his quotes were not high.
The materials he used to make the doors and windows for Shen Miao were all very solid.
This time, she could trust him.
Shen Miao talked with Old Man Yang for over an hour, drinking up an entire pot of tea.
Finally, Old Man Yang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said,
“Then it’s settled. I’ll go back and draw up the plans, and tomorrow I’ll bring you the cart you ordered.”
With that, he immediately took his apprentices and left, fearing that Shen Miao might come up with some more “while you’re at it” requests.
This Shen Niangzi is so eloquent, not only extremely good at bargaining, but also at coaxing people, calling him “You are simply the Yang Lu Ban!”
“I only favor your craftsmanship,”
“If you lower the price a bit, I’ll introduce more work to you later!”
“Can’t lower the price, then you have to give something extra. I am your regular customer, you can’t just brush me off like that.”
“All over Bianjing,”
He was so confused that in the end, he didn’t see any of the work he was supposed to introduce, but he did end up doing a lot of free work!
Old Man Yang shuddered at the thought and, supported by his apprentices, ran even faster.
The next day, the plans and the small dining cart were very satisfactory to Shen Miao.
She immediately made a decision, found a monk from Xingguo Temple to act as a mediator, and together with Old Man Yang and the other craftsmen, they all signed and pressed their fingerprints to confirm the details such as the construction period, payment, and house plans.
Shen Miao then counted out forty guan of money in front of the mediator and gave it to Old Man Yang.
He needed this money to buy wood, stone, and to fire tiles and bricks.
The grand construction project of the Shen family’s house began.
The Gu family was the first to notice this.
Aunt Gu had a bit of a cough a few days ago, took two doses of medicine, and stayed in the house for a whole day without going out.
This morning, she heard a loud rumbling noise early on, with people’s voices bustling and bright calls.
She opened the door and saw that the back door of the Shen family’s yard was wide open, with a wooden plank forming a slope.
Two strong laborers were dragging the foundation stones with thick hemp ropes on their shoulders.
After that, two more laborers carrying two loads of sand and stone also entered the door.
There were also people transporting mortar and stones, one after another.
Aunt Gu was extremely surprised:The Shen family is building a house?
She stood there watching for a while and noticed that other neighbors had also come out.
Soon, they all gathered around the Shen family’s door, peering in.
Later, they were driven away by a carpenter whose face was wrinkled like an old tree root:
“Move away! Don’t crowd around. What’s so interesting to watch? We’ll be rolling logs soon! If anyone gets hurt, we won’t be responsible!”
Aunt Gu recognized him; he was the Yang family carpenter from across the Jinliang Bridge.
Her family’s tables and chairs were also made by the Yang family, so she curiously approached and asked,
“Old Man Yang, is the Shen family building a house?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Aunt Li, who was nearby, heard this and gasped, coming over to ask Aunt Gu,
“This Shen eldest sister has only been back for half a month, and she’s already earned enough money to build a house? Look at all those bricks piled up there; they’re building a tile-roofed house! Where did she get the money?”
Aunt Gu instinctively defended Shen Miao:
“What, when she got married, Old Shen gave her a hundred guan as a dowry. It was quite a sensation in our alley at the time. Although she came back from her husband’s family, it’s normal for her to have some savings.”
“I don’t think so,” Aunt Li said with a sneer.
If it were from her dowry money, she would have prepared to build the house right after she came back, not wait until now.
She was quick-witted and remembered that the Xie family’s manager had come several times, and these days Shen Miao often went to the Xie family.
She had even run into the carriage driver picking her up several times!
It’s likely that Shen eldest sister’s money came from the Xie family!
She must have struck it rich!
Seeing the sour look on Aunt Li’s face, Aunt Gu frowned:
“Even if it’s not from there, it’s money she earned by working hard from dawn till dusk. Since she came back, she gets up earlier than the rooster and works later than the dog”.
“Earning some silver to repair the burned-down house is nothing unusual. Can’t the three siblings keep living in a dilapidated house forever? It’s already pitiful that Old Shen left behind these orphans and widows”.
“What’s so enviable about earning some money to build a house? We are all neighbors, and we’ve all watched these children grow up. Aunt Li Taozi, don’t be so stingy.”
Although she said that, what kind of business could earn so much?
It’s natural to be curious…
Aunt Li didn’t say anything, took one last look, and saw that the Shen family’s yard was already bustling with activity.
She stood there for a while longer before turning around and leaving.
Aunt Gu shook her head and also turned back to her own home.
Gu Tusu had also gotten up and was standing in the courtyard, wiping his face with a towel in a rather haphazard manner.
Aunt Gu approached and asked,
“The Shen family is building a house. You go to that eldest sister’s place every day. Do you know anything about it?”
“I don’t know,” Gu Tusu said with a darkened face and turned around and left.
“Hey, you naughty boy,” Aunt Gu was puzzled, “What’s gotten into you?”
The house was busy, messy, and crowded with people.
Shen Miao took her money jar, Xiang Jie’er, the dog, and the kitchen knife with her, leaving Ji Ge’er, who was supposed to study, at home to take care of the chicks and the house.
Before she left, she boiled a large pot of strong tea for the craftsmen and steamed five trays of sauce meat coarse flour steamed buns, then pushed her newly made small dining cart out to the morning market.
Her home was bare, with only three beds, a few benches, and a table.
Now, in order to provide meals for dozens of people, there was hardly any extra grain left, so she really wasn’t worried about anyone stealing.
Apart from a few cheap bed frames, bedding, and benches, there was nothing else.
A thief, seeing her home, would probably feel the need to donate a few coins out of pity.
Although Ji Ge’er was still young, he was enough to guard the house.
Shen Miao had taken all her money with her, hiding it in the basket under the dining cart.
After the morning market was over today, she planned to take all the accumulated copper coins at home to the big money shop in Bianjing and exchange them for silver.
Copper coins were too heavy and took up too much space, and storing them was inconvenient.
The price of silver was always relatively stable, with one tael of silver being worth a hundred coins.
It was small in volume and convenient to hide.
She had originally considered the various Jiaozi (paper money) shops in Bianjing, but she heard that when exchanging Jiaozi, thirty coins would be deducted for every hundred coins as a “storage fee.”
Although the government had now issued “official Jiaozi” and decreed that the crime of forging Jiaozi would be the same as forging official documents, with the punishment of beheading at the vegetable market if caught.
Shen Miao still didn’t quite trust the credibility of these “banks” that were originally freely issued by merchants.
In this era, nothing was more stable than gold and silver.
Moreover, she was not the kind of wealthy merchant who needed to carry a large sum of money out.
She didn’t need it for the time being.
Silver was good!
However, silver was just her “fixed deposit” for convenient storage.
Daily expenses still had to be made in copper coins.
She was thinking about the matters of silver and copper coins and didn’t notice that as soon as she pushed the dining cart onto the bridge, it attracted a lot of attention.
The cart was brightly decorated, with two wheels and a wooden sign carved on the top, painted in eye-catching red lacquer, visible from a great distance.
Shen Miao also nailed blue cloth curtains on the body of the cart, and had Ji Ge’er write the big words “Shen’s Pastry Shop” on it.
When she pushed it to her original stall, Mei San Niang was curious and came over to feel it, marveling, “Where did you get this cart? So beautiful! The cutting board can even hold things? I really envy you, you always have one idea after another.”
Shen Miao then promoted Old Man Yang’s carpentry shop as well.
This cart was not only beautiful to look at, but the cart board had grooves, and Shen Miao’s small jars and food boxes could fit perfectly into them, without fear of tipping over when going uphill or downhill.
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