PFC Chapter 113 Repairing the House
Chapter 113 Repairing the House
"Yes, I bought a shop here. If I don't want to stay at the security agency in the future, I can stay in the shop. Mu Qing will be in charge of running the shop then," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile.
"I understand, Madam. I will tell the young master when he returns." Xu Sen replied calmly, but he was shocked. He hadn't expected that his wife could afford to buy a shop in the county. He had been here for a while and knew the property prices here. A house in this area would definitely cost no less than 1500 taels, let alone a house with a shop.
"By the way, you've been in the county for so long, do you know any craftsmen or carpenters? I still need to make some changes to that house, but I'm not familiar with the county and don't know where to find these people." Song Jiaojiao asked Xu Sen tentatively, thinking about what she needed to change.
"I'll ask the master later. He's lived in the county for over ten years and knows the area well. Madam, I'll bring some people over tomorrow." Xu Sen thought it would be best to bring people over tomorrow.
“Okay, it’s not far ahead, it used to be the breakfast stall.” Song Jiaojiao gave Xu Sen the address.
"I know that place, Madam, don't worry." Xu Sen knew that place; he would sometimes even run errands for his master to buy breakfast.
Song Jiaojiao nodded, "Then we'll head over first, put our things in today, and we can move in tomorrow."
"Yes, madam, take care." It's just that Xu Sen is the only one in the shop who can't leave right now, otherwise he would definitely go and help.
Song Jiaojiao helped Meng An unload their things. The house was a bit messy after the move, but the dust was fine. They could clean it tomorrow. They also needed to plan who to bring, and they couldn't be careless about the food.
The next morning, Song Jiaojiao paid the bill for the inn and checked out. She then led everyone back to the shop, buying steamed buns and mantou for breakfast on the way.
As soon as they arrived at the shop, everyone got busy. Some made the beds, others washed the dishes. Li Yuan had also left Song Jiaojiao and the others a lot of firewood, so it seemed they wouldn't have to worry about firewood for the next few days.
Living in the county town, you need to spend money to buy everything.
When everyone had finished tidying up, Xu Sen brought the carpenters and craftsmen to the house.
“Madam, this is Carpenter Tan and Master Zhang.” Xu Sen introduced the two craftsmen in front of Song Jiaojiao. “Both of them are experienced craftsmen in the county town. Madam, you can ask them any questions you may have.”
Song Jiaojiao nodded to indicate that she understood, "Please follow me, both of you. I'll be looking forward to your hard work from now on."
Song Jiaojiao led the two to the backyard and said, "The back gate is a bit small. I want to widen it so that a carriage can fit through. We need to build a stable here so the horses can rest." Song Jiaojiao pointed to an empty space two meters away from the gate.
"Also, there's the cellar. Right now, it's a straight ladder down, which is really inconvenient for getting things. I'd like the craftsman to change it to a staircase, which would make it easier to access things. We also need to build some shelves inside the cellar to keep things organized. This is a storage room, which I need to convert into a living room later. I need to build two bunk beds. I've drawn up some plans here. Craftsman, please take a look and see how long it will take?"
Song Jiaojiao handed over the drawings she had finished at the inn the night before to the two craftsmen, which included drawings of how to make the bunk bed.
Master Zhang didn't react much, but Carpenter Tan's eyes lit up the moment he saw the bunk bed setup. "This is great!" he exclaimed. "Everything is good in the county town, except for the lack of rooms and limited space. These bunk beds can accommodate many people and save a lot of space, especially in this era where the more children the better."
"Madam Song, we've looked at it, and it will probably take three days. The main issue is that we've never made a bunk bed before, so the timeframe is uncertain," said Carpenter Tan after reviewing the blueprints.
"Okay, let's finish it in two days as soon as possible. We can hire more people to process it. Money is not a problem. The main thing is that we are in a hurry here." Song Jiaojiao thought that she had spent a lot of time in the county and still had to go back. There were also many things to do at home. It seemed that she would have to add more people to the household.
The two masters exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and agreed. It seemed they would have to call more people when they got back.
After Song Jiaojiao negotiated the price with them, signed the contract, and paid the deposit, the two craftsmen rushed home to gather more people and start working overtime.
Xu Sen took two days off to come here and help Song Jiaojiao. Song Jiaojiao thought that since Xu Sen was here to help look after things, she wanted to take Meng An and the others back first.
In the afternoon, Song Jiaojiao made up an excuse to send them all out, which gave her the opportunity to move all the peach trees out of the space and pile them up in the open space.
When everyone returned after shopping, they saw the peach saplings and asked in confusion, "Mom, what are these? They look familiar."
Mu Xue said, eating the candied hawthorn her older sister had bought for her.
"These are peach trees. We just had them brought over. Didn't Second Sister want to plant peach trees like the ones we saw behind Nanshan Temple last time? Now that we have the materials, we're just waiting to bring them home so we can start planting them." Song Jiaojiao said with a smile as she looked at Mu Xue, whose mouth was covered in syrup from eating candied hawthorns.
"Wow! This is a peach tree. It's so small. Will it grow as big as the peach tree at Nanshan Temple in the future?" Mu Xue looked up at Song Jiaojiao with bright eyes.
"If Mu Xue takes good care of it, maybe it will work!" No way, that tree is at least a hundred years old, it's not that easy.
Unaware that she had been tricked, Mu Xue looked at the peach sapling in front of her with anticipation and asked, "Mother, when are we going back?"
Mu Xue was determined to plant peach trees and wished she could grow wings and fly back right now.
"Let's do it tomorrow. The saplings can't be left too long. We'll go back first thing tomorrow morning. We'll ask Aunt Baozhu if she wants to come with us later." Song Jiaojiao thought about Wang Baozhu going back and wondered if she had left yet.
When Mu Xue heard that she could go back tomorrow, she pulled Mu Qing out the door again, saying that she wanted to buy more things to share with her friends at home.
Song Jiaojiao found it quite amusing to watch Mu Xue rushing by and almost tripping over Mu Qing.
Song Jiaojiao went out alone and arrived at the address Wang Baozhu had mentioned last time. There were two large brown doors with two golden iron rings hanging on them, and two majestic stone lions at the entrance. Song Jiaojiao went up and knocked on the door, and soon a servant came out.
The servant looked at Song Jiaojiao, who was dressed in silk and had her hair styled like a woman, and politely asked, "Madam, who are you looking for?"
"Please inform your family's Third Young Mistress that Song Jiaojiao requests an audience." Song Jiaojiao announced her name, and the servant politely invited her to sit in a side room.
"Alright, Madam, please wait here for a moment, I'll be right there." There were only a few tables and chairs in the side room, presumably a place usually used for waiting for people.
A moment later, the servant who had gone to report returned, followed by Qiuju.
"Qiuju greets Madam Song. Please follow me, Madam. The Third Young Mistress is waiting in the garden." Qiuju bowed to Song Jiaojiao before leading the way.