Chapter 291: Chapter 291: Mud-Brick House Chapter 291: Chapter 291: Mud-Brick House “This…!”
Madam Xie suddenly found herself without any ideas, her eyes turned to Xuexue, filled with a questioning look.
Ever since moving out of the Mo family residence, Xuexue had been managing everything by herself. Now being abruptly asked to make a decision, Madam Xie was truly flustered.
“Uncle Mo, how much silver do you think we would need if we were to rebuild our house?” Xuexue asked from the side.
The mason looked up at their old residence, pondered for a moment, and then said, “Your house, although dilapidated, has the advantage of being quite spacious. Rebuilding it will be costly, and it also depends on what kind of materials you want to use.”
“What kind of materials are there? Uncle Mo, could you tell me more?”
“Mud bricks are relatively cheap; for a house as big as yours, around thirty taels of silver would be almost enough. But blue bricks, well,” the mason’s voice grew quieter as he spoke, looking somewhat troubled.
Being from the same village, they knew Madam Xie’s circumstances–how she and her daughter were divorced and sent away by her husband’s family, and that life hadn’t been easy. Although they had earned a substantial amount of silver selling garlic sprouts and loaches not long ago, the villagers thought it would be unlikely they had earned enough to buy a house back.
Seeing the mason’s troubled expression, Xuexue knew they meant well and were afraid of hurting their pride. She smiled and said, “Uncle Mo, it’s alright, just tell us. If we can’t afford it, then we won’t build.”
“Well…!” The masons looked at each other and said, “Alright, then we’ll just tell the truth!”
Xuexue nodded her head, “Okay! Go on.”
Mason: “If you use blue bricks and a roof tile top for construction, it would cost around one hundred taels. And in this hundred taels, we’ve only calculated the cost of materials, not including labor.”
Madam Xie gasped, “Sss! Goodness gracious! It requires so much silver! Never mind, Xuexue, let’s just build a house from mud bricks.”
Xuexue knew that the mud brick houses of peasant families were made of mud mixed with chopped straw, which could not withstand soaking in rainwater. In time, the house would inevitably collapse. In the nearby villages, every time there was heavy rain, one would hear news about an Owner’s house collapsing or someone being crushed to death by their house.
“No, if we build, we should build it well. Uncle Mo, we will go for the blue bricks and roof tile top. Please let us know when we can start the work.”
Upon hearing Xuexue’s words, everyone was stunned, not expecting that the mother and daughters could really get rich by selling garlic sprouts and loaches!
The masons were dazed, shocked by Xuexue’s decision to build a house of blue bricks and roof tiles. It took them quite a while to snap out of it, but once they did, they were thrilled–it meant they had work to do, and it would bring them silver.
“Aunt Xie, constructing a house is a big affair, and we should choose an auspicious day. Plus, if you are going to demolish the old residence, maybe you should find another place to live for a while until the new house is built and then move back.”
Now that the spring plowing was over, they were idle at home every day with nothing to do, feeling bored and wondering whether to go into town to find work to earn some Copper Coin to help with household expenses. They didn’t expect Madam Xie to come to them with this project, and what made them happiest was the plan to build the old residence with blue bricks and roof tiles–such buildings required much finer workmanship and took longer to complete, unlike mud brick houses, which were crudely made and could be finished in just over a dozen days. Construction with blue bricks would take at least a month or more, and naturally, their wages would be significantly higher.
Suddenly, Xuexue declared the intention to build a house with blue bricks and roof tiles, and not just the masons, but Madam Xie herself was shaken. After all, she didn’t even know how much silver they had at home, so it was natural to be frightened half to death.