The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 512 - 510: Breaking Ground

Chapter 512: Chapter 510: Breaking Ground

Ever since the wife of Lizheng expressed Lizheng’s stance, no one in Qilidun dared to gossip anymore.

Moreover, this time when asking for help in building, the Wang Family didn’t keep all the benefits to themselves. Besides their own family members, they had invited quite a few from both the Li Family and the Song Family, leaving no room for complaints.

On the day the ground was to be broken for construction, Song Chongjin had driven the horse-drawn carriage early in the morning, towing Master Chiang and his bunch of old brothers, along with their tools and bedding, to the Wang Family’s place.

Before the house was finished, they wouldn’t return home because it was too far of a trip.

The Wang family cleared out the second son’s room that had been used as a storage, barely fitting everyone in; although it was a bit inconvenient, there was no other way and everyone had to put up with it.

The wild goods received over the past few days were temporarily stored in the side room of the main house, luckily not too many, just enough to fit.

The day before, the ladies who had been invited to help cook arrived at the Wang Family’s home, kneading and rolling dough; seven or eight people made several hundred steamed buns in one day.

At the crack of dawn on the construction day, while the men were still sleeping, the women hurriedly got up and came to the Wang Family’s place, washing and picking vegetables, steaming buns, and stewing porridge.

The breakfast was rather simple that morning—steamed buns, porridge, with finely chopped pickles drizzled with fragrant oil. Then they plucked some tender radish sprouts, blanched them with boiling water, chopped them finely, added chili, minced garlic, aromatic vinegar, and finally poured hot oil on top, creating a dish that was both spicy and appetizing.

The Wang Family Courtyard was immediately filled with the bustling sounds of clanging and banging.

Once Master Chiang arrived, and the geomancer who was invited had also arrived, everyone had breakfast, and a large group of people hustled to the site of the new house. They asked the geomancer to perform rituals, offering sacrifices, and as the auspicious moment arrived, they ignited a string of firecrackers, the cracking sounds startling the birds on the branches into flying far away.

After the firecrackers, Master Chiang, holding a shovel adorned with red ribbons, dug the first shovel of earth. Then he carried a basket of white lime, walking along the ground, marking the range to be dug.

Master Chiang drew the lines in the front while the men who came to help followed with shovels, positioning themselves and starting to dig enthusiastically.

After Master Chiang finished marking the entire foundation, he looked at the few dozen strapping men and couldn’t help but admire the Wang Family’s wealth and popularity.

Moving on from admiration, he picked half of the men and followed Wang Yongping to the place the Wang Family had chosen to make bricks.

For the bricks, they needed to choose good rice fields with rice stubble, the moist ones, and use a stone roller to repeatedly press on the surface until the soil was compact and as smooth as a mirror. Then they would use a specially made cutting knife to slice the soil into uniformly sized bricks.

The bricks would be shoveled up smooth and placed out to dry until hard before being used to build walls.

The Wang Family needed a lot of bricks, and fortunately, they now owned plenty of rice fields. After one layer of bricks was shoveled out, they would wet the ground again, spread straw, mix the straw and mud, level it, and then repeat the process with the stone roller and cutting...

Everyone had experience with this. Although Master Chiang was a bit more demanding, his requirements were not much different from the usual. With just a couple of remarks, everyone understood what to do.

The village had several stone rollers, all of which were borrowed.

The Wang Family’s mules were also harnessed to the rollers, pressing round and round.

The other rollers were attached to a few borrowed oxen, and the place became abuzz with activity.

Once the requirements were confirmed and a few mud brick demonstrations were completed, everything was handed over to Wang Yongping, and he hurried off to the homestead site.

By this time, Jindou and Jinhoo had already brought over the tea from home, boiling hot, and were delivering it around the construction site and to those working with the clay.

Anyone who took a sip found the tea hot and sweetened with sugar, warming them up from the inside and revitalizing their energy for work.

In the Wang Family Courtyard, after the women had cleaned up the aftermath of breakfast, they weren’t idle, as they began preparing the midday meal.

Several stoves in the courtyard were kept constantly lit, with large pots sitting atop them and stacked steamers filled with buns.

The ordered meat, fish, and tofu had been delivered; Lady Jiang was busily chopping meat, with more fat than lean, into big chunks. These would be stir-fried to render the fat, then combined with radish and selected dry mushrooms from the mountainside for an aromatic stew.

The fish, too, was cleaned and prepared. Since Old Granny Zhang had ordered a variety of less expensive fish, they were to be cooked with tofu and garlic shoots in a large pot. In this kind of weather, accompanied by buns and meat, followed by a bowl of soup, even an immortal wouldn’t exchange it for anything else.

The women helping out busied themselves with work while inwardly marveling at the Wang Family’s generosity—the food for the day was quite a considerable expense.

After returning, Song Chongjin reported to Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang that his new house would be built alongside the Wangs’. He had already made arrangements with Master Chiang, agreeing to pay separately for the blueprint fees. All other construction costs would be tallied with the Wangs’. He had initially taken out one hundred taels, and should more be needed later on, he would cover the difference.

Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang naturally had no objections, and the Wang family was even happier—whatever size house Song Chongjin built, it still meant the Wangs were gaining an advantage.

The courtyard was bustling with activity and aromatic with the scent of cooking, so much so that the nearby children couldn’t sit still. They gathered and perched on the walls of the Wang Family Courtyard, drooling over the sight of the meat.

Jindou and Jinhoo were almost adults now, tasked with delivering tea and also helping out on the construction site.

Jinguan, Jinhua, and the younger ones were left with lighter chores like running errands, picking vegetables, and moving stacks of firewood—none of them had a moment to rest.

After ensuring everything on the construction site was in order, Song Chongjin stole a moment to return to the Wangs’ and report to Wang Yongzhu about the procurement of materials like stones and tiles.

The two sat in Wang Yongping’s room, with both doors and windows open, each holding a ledger, exchanging details and making notes.

The women helping in the courtyard saw this and exchanged knowing smiles. One bolder woman approached Lady Lin and whispered, "Your family’s young girl and this prospective brother-in-law look just like those in the New Year’s paintings, so handsome! How do city folks put it? ’Talent and...’ something about looks?"

Lady Lin smirked and continued stuffing firewood into the stove without a word, merely letting out a hum.

"I’m asking, have your family’s young girl and the Song Family Boy always got along like this?" someone curiously inquired.

Lady Lin looked up as if to say something, but Lady Jiang was constantly watching her. Seeing Lady Lin about to speak, she quickly coughed to interrupt and called out to the inquisitive woman, "Sister, come over here and check—do we have enough meat?"

The woman wasn’t oblivious; seeing Lady Jiang interjecting, she just smiled, glanced over, confirmed there was plenty, then changed the subject to discuss the gossip of other households.

Inside the room, Song Chongjin was discussing the materials, "The stone is available right in the next village by the mountain, approximately two to three miles from our construction site. The price is also quite fair. We just need to haul it ourselves. There are other places with even cheaper prices, but they’re too far and would also require us to haul them on our own. After considering it, the next village seems to be the most cost-effective choice, so I settled with them. I’ve paid a deposit of ten taels of silver, and they guarantee a sufficient supply of stone when we need it."