The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 508 - 506

Chapter 508: 506

Wang Yongzhu understood immediately; this was somewhat like a modern architectural designer.

It was just right; she had been thinking about the new house, and she wanted it to be comfortable to live in. Many aspects of the current house design did not meet her expectations. Having someone like this would be perfect to convey her ideas to, to see if they could design a house that was comfortable to live in.

She immediately expressed her wish to hire this bricklayer, not fearing the cost of higher wages.

Wang Laozhu was somewhat reluctant, but it was Wang Yongzhu who persuaded him, "Dad, we’re building this big courtyard for our family to live in comfortably for a long time, so of course, we need to do it well, using slightly better materials. Otherwise, why spend so much silver to rebuild? Couldn’t we just patch up the old house by adding a couple of rooms next to it?"

"A beautifully built new house that’s comfortable to live in—Jindou and Jinhu can even get married in it. When the time comes, they’ll give you several great-grandchildren. Imagine a household with four generations under one roof, your great-grandchildren calling you ’Great Grandfather’ every day... think about that scene..."

"If we try to save money by just throwing together a few rooms, what happens when Jindou and the others get married? Will they have to build another house outside? Wouldn’t that be a waste of money?"

Wang Laozhu was swayed by some part of her argument, and he gave his tacit approval.

Song Chongjin went to invite Master Chiang, who came and surveyed the building site in front of the homestead, measuring the area.

Back at the Wang Family Courtyard, Master Chiang was served tea, which was a gift from Boss Zhang. To Wang Yongzhu’s taste, it was but mediocre tea, yet in this town, it was considered top-quality tea.

After taking a sip of tea, Master Chiang paused, taking a longer look at the Wang Family Courtyard.

He never expected to find such an unassuming family with depth in Qilidun. He had only ever tasted this tea at Benefactor Wu’s house, and it had left him with a lingering fragrance and a sweet aftertaste he still remembered.

Now, having tasted it at the Wang’s, he inferred that the Wang Family had some undisclosed background or support.

Master Chiang promptly shed his slight contempt and his attitude became serious.

He sketched out a rough layout of the house orientation on paper, showing which way the main gate would face, and how the four courtyards should be arranged, including details like ornate gates and screen walls, demonstrating almost all his expertise.

An entire afternoon passed before he finished roughly sketching out the blueprint.

Wang Yongzhu and the Wang Family gathered around to inspect it, all of them expressing their admiration.

Even Wang Yongzhu couldn’t help but sparkle with excitement. Master Chiang really had some skills; the four courtyards were facing south with the main gate to the north. Passing through the gate, one would find the screen wall, shielding the interior from the view of outsiders.

Beyond the screen wall was the first courtyard, with a main house flanked by two wing rooms on either side, as well as three wing rooms and several smaller side rooms, which could serve as a kitchen or store miscellaneous items.

The courtyard was neat and square, with a central path and two plots of land on each side for growing vegetables or flowers.

On the upper right side of the courtyard, next to the wing room, there was an arched doorway that led to the second courtyard.

The second courtyard was similar to the first, also featuring an arched doorway leading to the third courtyard.

The fourth courtyard, in addition to the main house and wing rooms, included a small garden. The garden was surrounded by high walls on three sides, designed as warehouses, with a well in the middle to prevent the warehouses from catching fire.

In the fourth courtyard, there was a small door on each side; the left door served as the back door of the courtyard and also gave direct access to the warehouse behind it, which was very convenient.

The door on the right, past that, was the new house that Song Chongjin and the Wang Family built together.

The Wang Family, excluding their delight, didn’t know what to say about such a splendid courtyard, which greatly satisfied Wang Yongzhu.

Wang Laozhu stopped grumbling about Master Chiang’s steep prices, and Old Granny Zhang only chanted Buddhist scriptures; such a courtyard was on par with those of the noble lords and ladies in the city. She never imagined she’d be fortunate enough to live in such a grand house in her lifetime; she could die peacefully now.

Lady Lin, while elated, also contemplated that who wouldn’t envy such a magnificent estate? Even Lizheng’s house wasn’t as big.

With this house alone, the marriage prospects for her children, Jindou and Jinhoo, would rise a notch. The girls they looked at before were no longer appealing—how could they match such an excellent house?

She needed to look again. This compound with four sections seemed designed for a series of living areas, one per section.

The eldest household was sizable, with children soon to marry. A separate section for the household was necessary. While the family had not yet divided, it was perfect for the eldest, third, and fourth households to each take a section, with the youngest sister-in-law and the in-laws sharing one.

She had it all figured out. Each of her sons would take a side room; Jinguan, the youngest, would live in the side room next to the main room with her and the head of the family. When he married, there would still be enough space.

Such a courtyard was sufficient for a household, and in the future, it could even accommodate grandchildren.

At this moment, Lady Lin had to admit that the youngest sister-in-law’s idea to build such a large house was sensible; with the house completed, the living arrangements for children and grandchildren were secured.

After looking over the rough drafts, Wang Yongzhu had a clear idea in mind. Since it was getting late, Master Chiang couldn’t return to town, so he was invited to spend the night at the Wang Family Courtyard.

This also allowed for any dissatisfaction from the Wang Family to be addressed and the plan to be revised accordingly.

Of course, Master Chiang felt that the courtyard designed from these blueprints would be unassailable even by county town residents. Seeing the Wang Family’s excited and inexperienced reaction, he suspected there wouldn’t be any faults for them to pick on.

After spending the night, Yongzhu took out her notebook and consulted with Master Chiang on various matters, from the logic of the layout to adding a bathroom to each section. The left side room in the fourth section would remain untouched, but the right side room needed to be converted into a laboratory, where she later planned to carry out dye experiments and other tasks, requiring some modifications.

She wanted the room she was to occupy to connect internally to the neighboring room to prepare a bathing area.

Then there were the drainage issues in the courtyard, among numerous other concerns, totaling to more than a dozen.

Initially bewildered by the flurry of questions, Master Chiang collected himself and went through them one by one, eventually realizing that resolving these issues would make him even more sought after for future house constructions.

The astute Master Chiang, known for making a name for himself, carefully proposed after finalizing the blueprints with Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin that, although he would discount his fee for this occasion, he would also use these designs for other houses in the future.

Wang Yongzhu generously agreed, as she was not in this line of business. Besides, even though Master Chiang was shrewd, he was still honest and had the decency to inform her beforehand.

Had he been unscrupulous, he might have clandestinely used them—who would have known? There was no such thing as patent protection now, so what could be done?

Master Chiang was also pleased, never expecting to learn so much from building a house for a country family.

Both parties were overjoyed.

Once the blueprints were confirmed, Master Chiang estimated the quantity of stone, wood, clay bricks, tiles, and labor required to construct such a courtyard, listing everything in a clear and straightforward manner.