Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1169 - 596: New Year, New Beginnings
First watch, asking for pink.
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The plan for the Yeye Household is to build five main rooms, one bright and four dark. Then, they would fence off the front and back yards. The backyard will have a toilet and vegetable garden, while the front yard will have a pigsty and vegetable garden. In other words, it’s laid out like the old residence, just like a typical farmhouse, but without the East and West Wing Rooms.
The Yeye Household doesn’t have many members. For families like theirs, having three main rooms is actually enough. So, five main rooms, even without the East and West Wing Rooms, are spacious enough for them to live in.
If they add more members in the future, it would be quite convenient to build East and West Wing Rooms or to separate another yard.
Building a house inevitably requires money. The Yeye Household originally saved up some money which was almost enough, but a lot was spent on Lian Shouli’s health restoration. Now, with the house construction, the finances are a bit tight.
"...In spring, we also need to catch piglets. Fixed jobs are fine since people can provide wood and other materials first. Without fixed jobs, if you make a cabinet or table for sale at the market, you still need to spend money on materials first... Everything requires money..."
Without Lian Shouli and the others speaking up, Lian Shouxin brought out several strings of money he’d prepared earlier. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"...Start with these, we’ll see if it’s not enough. It’s hard to build a house once; we have to do it properly."
Lian Shouli had traits that were worthy of respect. For example, when he was receiving treatment and buying medicine, the costs were covered by Lian Manman’s Family. Once he woke, he asked Lian Yeye and Lady Zhao to account for these expenses and returned the money to Lian Manman’s Family. According to him, although they were brothers, he’d borrowed a lot from Lian Shouxin’s generosity, which he appreciated. But since he had money on hand, he didn’t want to take advantage of his brother.
As for the later medicinal expenses, those were covered by his own. Lian Manman’s Family could only find ways to supplement him somehow.
Now that he had moved out, building a house was unavoidable. Pressured by circumstances, and perhaps after surviving his ordeal, Lian Shouli realized some things. As a result, he didn’t reject Lian Shouxin’s help this time, but still insisted that the money was borrowed and would be repaid.
Lian Yeye and Lady Zhao were inside speaking with Lady Zhang, Lian Manman and the others, while in the other room, Lian Shouli was calculating the dates.
With the help of the temple’s Abbot Master, the dates chosen were February 12, February 20, and February 26, all deemed excellent.
"Better early than late, I want to start construction on February 12," Lian Shouli told Lian Shouxin.
Lian Shouxin naturally nodded in agreement.
"We need to start buying bricks, stones, and timber now." Lian Manman took out the ledger from when they built their house and began helping Lian Yeye estimate the amount of each material needed, their approximate costs, and so on.
"Sister Manman, we’re not planning to use all glass windows," Lian Yeye told Lian Manman. "After we discussed it, we’re going to have it like the old house—with two windows by the hearth being glass, and the rest will be the old-fashioned windows."
"That’s pretty good," Lian Manman nodded. After all, for a tenant family, it’s rare to have all glass windows. If they can have one or two glass windows, it’s already a sign of a well-off family.
"There’s also labor costs, which might require money as well." After calculating the material costs, Lian Manman helped Lian Yeye estimate the labor expenses.
For the Yeye Household, the plan is to complete the construction of the five main rooms before the spring plowing starts. The timeline is tight, and relying solely on village folks to help may not suffice, so they would need to hire labor like how Lian Manman’s Family did.
"My family will provide you with a few long-term workers, and you should hire a few more, which should be enough. Then there’s the daily meal costs; this season has fewer vegetables, so you might need to spend a bit more on that..."
Lian Manman helped Lian Yeye plan things, ultimately providing her with a list. Lian Yeye, having learned to read alongside Lian Manman, was able to understand it.
"Use it for reference, but ultimately it depends on the situation, with Third Uncle making the final decisions," said Lian Manman.
"Sister Manman, you’ve been a huge help," said Lian Yeye, holding the list as if it were a treasure. "We’ll definitely follow this. The other day, my dad, mom, and I were saying we’ve never built a house and haven’t even really watched others do it. Now that we’re building one, it feels like we’re walking in the dark. With this, we have some direction."
The Yeye Household was bustling with the house construction, and the news naturally spread quickly. The next day, Lady Wu Wang brought Wu Jiayu over with delight.
