Liangyue Farm Gate

Chapter 128 Attic Fireplace
Master Wu is a man in his fifties, with bushy eyebrows and big eyes, and he looks calm and majestic.He used to work for a wealthy family in the town earlier, and his unique skill was building attics.The attic built by him is praised both in terms of firmness and aesthetics.

But as the saying goes, the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, and Master Wu is getting older and older.The apprentices of the church starved to death of the master, and the young people who came from behind were more energetic and passionate than him, so gradually Master Wu lost his "market". After a serious illness, he decided to return to his hometown for the elderly.

Because he grew up in Huixian Town in his early years, there are many people in the village who know him, but few know that he is a master craftsman.Guan Wen only found out about him after a lot of contacts.

Speaking of which, Master Wu is considered to be retired. He agreed to this job because he heard what Guan Wen said about the "fireplace", which aroused his enthusiasm for starting work when he was young, so he agreed to come and discuss it.

Guan Wen welcomed them into the main room, and Li Xin scooped up boiling water, made a pot of hot tea, and brought them over. He also added red-hot charcoal pieces to the charcoal basin and brought them over.

Although Master Wu is old, he seems to be in good spirits. He has a young apprentice by his side. Master Wu introduced that it is his distant nephew, named Wu Biao, who learned the craft from him.

Wu Biao's name is Biao, but he looks like a handsome and indifferent young man, only sixteen or seventeen years old, and his body is still very thin.

Master Wu is not a procrastination person, and he started to get down to business as soon as he entered the room.

"It's a little difficult to build an attic after the house is finished." Master Wu said: "People in the town usually build two-story houses, and attics are only built for girls who are not married. Those people Green bricks and blue tiles are hard enough, and it is better to build an attic, but our village has some difficulties with mud tile walls and wooden piles."

Guan Wen looked at Li Xin, and Li Xin smiled and said, "Master Wu, we don't understand what you mean. We only thought of the attic because it is good and practical, and it doesn't take up space on the ground. My sister-in-law It’s also appropriate to stay for another two years at a young age. We haven’t come into contact with anything else, so we don’t know much about it, so you just say, can this attic be built? Let us have a clear idea.”

Master Wu said: "Then I have to see if the foundation is well laid and how your wall is able to bear."

Guan Wen hurriedly said, "I'll take Master Wu to have a look."

As the group of people walked, Master Wu said: "I heard you said that you want to connect the west room with two separate attics, right? There is also a smoker on the top of the stove. Small space. Project is a bit big."

As he spoke, he began to check, and asked Guan Wen some questions from time to time when he first built the house. It wasn’t long after Guan Wen talked about the house, so he nodded and said, “Your house is solidly built, and at first glance, I don’t think there is any shoddy work. .”

Guan Wen said with a smile: "All the folks in the village came to help, and they must have done their best."

Because Master Wu has been working in the town for a long time, he has cut corners and encountered many incidents of using inferior materials as good ones, so he said this.

After walking around the firewood room, the spare room, sister's bedroom and the kitchen, Master Wu nodded and said, "It can be done, but it will take a lot of work. It may take longer, maybe a month or two."

In a month or two, it will almost be the Chinese New Year.

Li Xin counted the time and thought it was okay, so he nodded at Guan Wen.

Guan Wen said: "Master Wu, we can wait for this time, but I don't know where you are..."

"I have nothing to do, and I don't care about these days." Master Wu looked at the roof, and then asked Guan Wen: "What fireplace are you talking about..."

"This is what my daughter-in-law thinks." Guan Wen led Li Xin over, hugged her and said, "Daughter-in-law, tell Master Wu."

Li Xin got ready a long time ago, and took advantage of the time to pour tea to put paper and pens in the main room.

Ask Master Wu to go to the main room. Li Xin held the pen and drew a sketch while explaining to Master Wu in detail.Wu Biao looked at it carefully and earnestly, and he seemed to be learning the craft.

Guan Wen and A-mei stood by, and Li Xin would turn around to ask their opinions from time to time.During this period, the old man also came out of the house to listen, but he probably didn't understand, so he knocked on the burned smoke in the bong with a cigarette stick.

After Li Xin and Master Wu finished discussing, Master Wu was already full of glory.

"This is a good thing. If it is well made, the room will be as warm as a stove."

Master Wu narrowed his eyes slightly, and said to Guan Wen, "Your wife is really capable!"

Guan Wen smiled cheerfully: "She just has an idea, so it's up to Master Wu to figure it out?"

Master Wu also smiled, his originally serious face was relaxed by this smile, and he looked much gentler.

"I'll go back and think about it first. If I go to work, I may have to go in the day after tomorrow." Master Wu said to Guan Wen: "Taking advantage of these two days to move all your things, don't live in the place where people live, but don't use the stove. Move away, the project is not too big and there is no hindrance. I will bring people back later."

Guan Wen hurriedly responded, and then asked Master Wu: "Then the salary..."

"My rules are, you buy the materials yourself, and I'm only responsible for the work." Master Wu said to Guan Wen, "The people I bring are honest and reliable, and I will never steal work for you. In this way, If the work can be completed within one month, you will pay me a total of five taels of silver. If it exceeds one month, even if it is more than two months, you will only pay me an extra tael. You take care of the midday meal, and you don’t care about the morning and evening. If you can trust me not to steal work or delay intentionally, then we will make a deal."

Guan Wen looked at Li Xin, the family's financial power is in the hands of his wife, and the matter of the attic was also on the mind of his wife, of course she has to make up her mind.

Li Xin felt that Master Wu was also a straightforward person. She also heard from Guan Wen that Master Wu was diligent and conscientious.

She provides the materials, so you can find cheap and good materials, and you can find acquaintances through relationships.And they figured out the wages themselves, which saved her a lot of trouble.

Weighing the pros and cons, Li Xin was unambiguous and nodded at Guan Wen.

Guan Wen immediately made a final decision and said, "Master Wu, let's make a deal like this."

Li Xin said with a smile: "Don't worry, Master Wu, I will definitely let you eat well and keep full."

Wu Biao was only listening from the sidelines. After Li Xin said this, he finally found a place to intervene. He smiled with the excitement of a young man and said, "I have heard that the big pot rice made by Mrs. Guan is delicious. It is better than homemade rice." It's delicious, Kui Zi from the Gu family even showed off to me, saying that if Mrs. Guan opened a restaurant in the town, the business would be very good, and the taste would be better than Fumanlou's..."

Master Wu coughed, Wu Biao immediately fell silent, and smiled sarcastically.

Master Wu sternly scolded: "How many times have I told you that you should be prudent and down-to-earth, watch more, listen more, think more and talk less, there is no benefit in learning to be so smooth-tongued. Once you settle down for a while, you will reveal your true colors , Let your big brother and sister-in-law of the Guan family watch the joke."

Wu Biao said in a low voice: "Understood, master..." It sounded a bit pitiful.

Both Li Xin and Guan Wen laughed, leaving Master Wu and Wu Biao for lunch, and Wu Biao yelled again: "Master, Master, do you see that I didn't lie to you? I didn't lie to you! This taste Isn't it very good..."

Master Wu didn't train him this time.

When he was leaving, Master Wu said to Guan Wen, "Your wife's cooking skills are really good. I also ate at Fumanlou. It was a medium-sized banquet, and a host invited me. The dishes are not comparable to your wife's." Come on. If you really go to the town to open a restaurant, it will work."

Guan Wen nodded with a smile, sent Master Wu away and said to Li Xin, "Everyone praises your craftsmanship."

"It's just that they haven't eaten it before. Don't you praise me every day when you're used to it?"

Guan Wen rushed forward with a smile: "Is this unhappy that I didn't praise you? Will I praise you every day in the future?"

Li Xin pushed him, seeing that he had forgotten about Guan Zhicheng again, and didn't want to mention it, so he hooked Guan Wen to settle the score with him, "It's going to cost another ten taels of silver now. After we went out, we still had a dozen taels in our hands. The money is not spent, so we still need to find something to make a living."

Guan Wen nodded and said, "We should look for it. But hunting is off in winter, we have no fields and no way to grow crops, so we just guard this acre of forest..."

"You are stupid, the mountains and forests are full of treasures, you don't need to bother." Li Xin counted with him: "In the paddy field, you need seeds and manpower to grow crops. If you don't have enough manpower, you have to buy cattle and iron. Plowing, bending over to sow seeds and pull weeds, and so on, even in the hot and rainy days, it doesn’t stop. After a year of hard work, you have to harvest so little rations and pay so much. You feel pain when you look at it. But the mountains and forests It’s different. Trees and forests are all ready-made, and bamboo is also grown on its own soil. You don’t need to sow seeds or irrigate. When you want it, you can just go to the mountains and forests to get it. Whether it’s animals or fungi, if you want it yourself You can pick it. Do the math, is it more realistic than you who have worked so hard to serve the land?"

Guan Wen thought along what she said, but felt that it really made some sense.I just feel like I'm missing something...

Li Xin smiled again: "To earn money, you don't have to earn it from the fields. I have an idea of ​​earning money here."

Guan Wen hurriedly shook off the question in his head and asked Li Xin, "Come and hear what you said?"

Li Xin took out the papers he had collected and whispered to Guan Wen.While listening, Guan Wen frowns and relaxes his eyebrows. There are some things he doesn't understand, and he doesn't know how to ask them. But Li Xin said, and he just listened honestly.

Li Xin said a push to push him: "Do you understand?"

"It's that...women's hand oil?"

Li Xin was anxious: "You didn't listen!"

Guan Wen smiled wryly and said, "I don't quite understand. Isn't this oil for sale? Xiner, you know how to make that?"

Li Xin didn't bother to talk to him, and said, "I'll discuss it with my sister, you old man doesn't understand anything."

Guan Wen chuckled, he didn't realize what he thought was missing when Li Xin left -

cooked rice!
How can we get rice without planting crops? How can we eat delicious rice without rice?Isn't the purpose of the people at the head of the village to work hard for a year so that they can eat two meals of white rice during the Chinese New Year?There is everything in the forest, but rice cannot grow out of the forest...

Guan Wen still didn't remember about Guan Zhicheng.

(End of this chapter)