Chronicle of Farming in Muxianfu

Chapter 25
The old man and Xiao Heng opened the third drawing, and they were slightly taken aback. Strictly speaking, this drawing cannot be regarded as a drawing. It would be more appropriate to call it a painting.This is a brick house with its back to the west, with a pointed roof. There are no gray tiles on it, but a thick layer of thatch.There are four pillars on the front of the house, supporting the front porch, a little to the inside, and only a few narrow walls have been built, and a few slightly open mahogany doors are installed in the empty space, and the tables and chairs inside can be vaguely seen.A small gazebo was built on the right side of the house, which is hollow on all sides and also has a thatched spire.Only a layer of wooden boards was laid half a meter above the ground.Nothing fancy on the left, just an ordinary wall.In the middle of the house, the gazebo, and the wall, a pool with a blue brick bottom was dug, and a large group of red swimming fish was raised in it. There was a stone path beside the pool, and a few bushes were planted beside the road.Coupled with orange lights, it is really a leisurely and elegant place to live.

After a while, Xiao Heng and Mr. Zhou regained their attention from the painting.

"It's so realistic. The old man thought that Mr. Mu was just clever, but he didn't expect that the painting is so good. Anyone who sees this painting will want to live in it immediately. And although the structure of this house is a bit simple, it is also Without the craftsmanship of carving, it is really a place of simplicity and grandeur." The old man praised repeatedly, and Xiao Heng also nodded, with a look of excitement and envy, "What kind of paint did Brother Mu use to paint this? Eye-opening. Is this another house that Brother Mu wants to build? It’s really a good place for people to want to go in and have a rest after seeing it.”

"Brother Xiao, Mr. Zhou, that's too much of a compliment. There are only two courtyards in the previous drawings. I want to build the third courtyard as shown in the drawing, and use it as a place to live and cool off in summer. Mr. Zhou, I wonder if this arrangement is feasible? "

"Of course it's possible." The old man lowered his head and thought for a while, "Mr. Mu, most houses are made of bluestone and square wood at present, which are much stronger and more durable than red bricks. I don't know whether Mr. Mu wants the entire building to be made of bricks, or Only this third entry is like this?"

"The first two entrances and the walls are all made of bluestone like other houses, but the partitions inside the house should be made of bricks. And the third entrance, both inside and outside, are all made of bricks. Please ask Mr. Zhou to estimate how much money it will cost to build it in this way. It’s better to know what’s in your mind.” Mu Ai explained the request to the old man in detail.

The old man bowed his head and pinched his fingers carefully, and said, "The old man estimated by comparing the houses built in the past, such a house only needs 600 taels of silver, but if Mr. Mu added geothermal heat, it will cost more money, but 800 taels of silver is enough. , plus the wages and food costs for the hired helpers, it may cost more than 1000 taels of silver. Of course, you have to find someone else to build the furniture and decorations in the house, and the money is also calculated separately."

Mu Ai nodded, feeling upset, building a house is really cumbersome, if Hyundai finds an engineering team to outsource it, it would be fine.

Xiao Heng thought he was worrying about money, and immediately said, "Brother Mu, don't worry too much about money, no matter how much you lack, just come to Brother Yu to get it."

Mu Ai thanked him with a smile, "Xie Xiaoxiong for your generosity, I don't need money for the time being, but I'm just worried that building a house is so cumbersome, I'm afraid it will take quite a while."

Xiao Heng just smiled when he heard this, and just wanted to say that he could send a steward to help Zhang Luo, but then he remembered that Brother Mu was so mysterious, he thought he didn't want to get too close to people, and rashly said that he wanted to use someone to help him, I'm afraid he would suspicious.He could only comfort him, "Building a house is very cumbersome, but when it's completed and you live in a new house, brother Mu's hard work will be rewarded."

"What Brother Xiao said is true." Mu Ai replied with a nod, and then turned to Mr. Zhou, "Mr. Zhou, then I will trouble you in my house. As for the commission, I will definitely satisfy you. There is only one thing, there may be some delays in terms of time." Urgent, we need to start work as soon as possible. I wonder if Mr. Zhou can accommodate here?"

The old man waved his hand and smiled, "commissions and the like are trivial things. If the geothermal heat that Mr. Mu came up with really succeeds, so what if the old man is working for nothing? As for the need to rush to work, you don't have to worry, my subordinates There are a group of experienced hands who often cooperate, you just need to recruit more helpers to do manual work."

"That's really great. It's my first time building a house. I hope Mr. Zhou can give me some pointers in the future." Mu Ai quickly saluted and thanked her.

The three of them said a few more polite words, and Mu Ai made an appointment with the old man to send a carriage to pick him up to live in Lijiacun the next day, and then he left with Xiao Heng.

It was just around the corner of Shen Shi, the sun was not so bright, and the two of them did not hire a carriage, and walked slowly together on the road, Mu Ai was thinking about whether to continue selling the sweet potatoes and sunflower seeds at home to Xiao Heng, and at what price suitable.And Xiao Heng was also hesitating how to ask about the fragrant rice. It happened that there was a tea shed on the side of the road, covered in the shade of a tree, which looked very cool, and there were not many guests present, so the two went in and asked A pot of herbal tea.

It was Mu Ai who spoke first, "Brother Xiao, I really want to thank you for introducing Mr. Zhou to me today, otherwise I'm afraid I will have to go through a lot of trouble."

"Brother Mu, you are polite. Mr. Zhou is kind, but occasionally you will be stubborn when encountering technical problems. Of course, you will know this later. Brother Yu is also very fortunate to settle the commission today, so that he is destined to be with Brother Mu again. Gathering, I am very happy.”

"My little brother didn't expect to run into Brother Xiao. Originally, he wanted to finish his business and go to Xiankelou to visit. Now that we meet, there is no need to make another trip."

Xiao Heng quickly put down the tea in his hand, with a happy expression on his face, "Oh, really, Brother Yu thought Brother Mu..., Oh, don't talk about these, I don't know if there is something that Brother Yu needs to help, please just ask."

"Nothing, just want to ask Brother Xiao, after these days, I wonder how the fragrant rice is selling? If necessary, I can produce some more here, and the price is the same. In addition, I also planted a few more I won’t go into details about the new crops, but I can guarantee that there is no food here. It will be harvested in one month, I wonder if brother Xiao is interested...” Mu Ai paused, and did not continue Going down, took a sip of tea slowly, looked at the two tables of guests in the corner, they were all chatting about something, and no one noticed what they were talking about.

Xiao Heng didn't expect that Mu Ai could solve the things that bothered him all the time with just a few words.Last time, he spent a huge sum of money to buy four hundred catties of fragrant rice. At the beginning, he only took out one catty a day in the restaurant, arranged for someone to steam it, and sold it at a high price of one tael per bowl.Not only no one said it was expensive, but customers came like a cloud. Anyone who came to the door did not order fragrant rice. Some regular customers would keep complaining to him if they came late and didn’t eat it. He had no choice but to change it to Make two catties of rice every day, and then change it to three catties of rice...In this way, after a month, half of the fragrant rice will be used.Other restaurant colleagues are also very envious of his booming business. Although they are jealous of his background and dare not blatantly cause trouble, they have also sent many people to investigate in order to find out the source of the fragrant rice, and even bought the store at large sums of money. boy here.

(End of this chapter)