Chapter 81.2

Translated by Aviana

Upon stepping into the rear yard, a small yard would enter one’s sight. Paved with bluestones, the yard was quite simple. The left and right sides had east and west wings, respectively. Each wing housed two rooms. One of the rooms in the west wing held a small kitchen. Though this kitchen was smaller than the one in the front, it was equipped with a stove and all the cabinets. The remaining rooms were turned into living spaces with each having kang and kang cabinets.

Facing these three rooms was a main house. Inside, below the central wall, there was a long narrow table. A painting or some decorative embroidery would soon decorate the wall. Lin Qingwan had plans to personally embroider a big piece for this wall, but she had no time for it at present. And the upcoming year doesn’t seem to be leisurely either. Thus, she could only buy a painting to hang there for now.

The Eight immortals round table was arranged in the center of the room to serve as a future dining table. The room in the east served as a bedroom and had a kang and a cabinet for garments. Near the window was Lin Qingwan’s dressing table for grooming. Immediately next to it was a long narrow table, which will soon be filled with flower vases.

Lin Qingwan planned to make the room in the west a sitting room. Inside, overlooking the window was a kang, with a set of small tables and two chairs adjacent to the wall. Additionally, there was also an empty space at the side, where Lin Qingwan intended to place her embroidery frame.

Also, to facilitate comfortable bathing, Lin Qingwan had a small room built by the rooms in the east both at the front and rear. These bathrooms were equipped with a stove and a bath barrel.

Currently, in this era, such a facility was quite rare and luxurious.

The windows in the house were yet to be made. Unlike modern windows, in ancient times, the windows weren’t made up of steel or aluminum. One can simply buy the ready-made ones and install them directly, greatly reducing the carpenter’s work in modern times unlike now.

At this moment, Carpenter Cui and his son were making windows. They were lattice-styled windows with flower carvings on them. When Lin Qingwan closed in to peek at the designs, she found them absolutely stunning. A wave of admiration towards the exquisite craftsmanship of the ancient times kindled within her heart, for even a window could be made this artistically.

Having examined it enough, Lin Qingwan once again strolled back into the backyard. As per her request, the backyard was divided into two portions. One part was connected to the front via a passage and a small door in the east wing. The yard was furnished with a vegetable garden and a water well, along with a chicken pen and pigsty to raise the respective livestocks. However, with them being strapped for time at the moment, they could only put the agenda of raising livestock on hold for the future.

Furthermore, the yard also had two jujube trees. From what she had heard from Yang Tiezhu, the latter had transported these trees from elsewhere. Nevertheless, they won’t be fortunate enough to taste the jujubes from these trees this year. She reckoned it might take about a year or two for the tree to blossom.

The other portion was designated for a small workshop as per the couple’s plans. Though small, this workshop was rather spread across a significant area. Outside the workshop, there was a large open space to dry Laweixian. Next to it, there was a set of three adjacent rooms. Among them, the two rooms were designed to hang the laweixian, while the other room was a processing room. The courtyard had its exclusive water well and a shed for mules and its cart. The small back gate at this side would facilitate the easier delivery of the goods in the future. The back door was connected to a small trail path, which directly takes an alternative detour around the village.

The two portions of the backyard are separated by a one-person-tall wall with a small door in between.

Lin Qingwan also went in to look at the toilet. As per her design, the entire toilet was made from green bricks, with a small toilet bowl in between. At the rear, this toilet bowl led to a septic tank, which was covered by a slab of stone. In the backyard, apart from this one toilet, there was another in the workshop. Both toilets shared the same septic tank.

By the end of her tour, the smile on Lin Qingwan grew wider and wider. For the most part, the layout of the house was very much in-line with her plans. Although there was a minute difference, her requirements were met.

After strolling for a long while, tiredness kicked in, making her feel exhausted. After instructing a few more words to Carpenter Cui, Yang Tiezhu helped her back.

On the way back home, Lin Qingwan was in high spirits as she chattered about the furnishings of the house. Yang Tiezhy replied with a slight smile as he noted his wife’s wishes in his heart.

****

The masonry team had first started working on Yang Tiezhu’s house. Once they were done with the second branch’s house, they began building the third branch’s house.

The third branch’s house was rather simple as their requirements weren’t as complicated as Lin Qingwan’s. Thus, the construction of the house was also done swiftly. By the time the carpentry on Lin Qingwan’s side was done, the construction of their house was also done.

The furniture requested by the third branch was not as detailed as Lin Qingwan’s, nevertheless, they were also crafted by Carpenter Cui. Having seen Carpenter Cui’s work at Lin Qingwan’s place, Yao-shi was also impressed by his skills.

Once both the construction and carpentry work was finished, Yang Tiezhu examined the entire and settled the bill. Altogether, the house and the furniture cost over a hundred taels, excluding the courtyard wall expenses. If even the expense of the courtyard wall were included, the number rose to about 160 silver taels.

With more than half of the silver in their hands spent, Yang Tiezhu and Lin Qingwan felt their heartache. However, after seeing the house and furniture in it, immense satisfaction dominated their pain.

For furniture, including tables, chairs, cabinets, windows, and the like, Carpenter Cui charged them over 30 silver tales. As a frequent trekker across the mountain, Yang Tiezhu was acutely knowledgeable about the types of woods and trees. Subsequently, he was aware that the wood used by Carpenter Cui in making the furniture was a good one. Thus he didn’t feel that it was a worthless expense.

Carpenter Cui and his son worked diligently, without uttering drivel outside, and ended up earning more than what they had earned in the past two years collectively. Thus both of them found their hard work in the past few days very rewarding. However, they didn’t share this with their family and made this bit of happiness a secret. It’s not because of anything else, but because Yang Tiezhu and they had specifically explained it to them and had asked them not to divulge anything outside.

The newly-made furniture needs to be properly dried as Carpenter Cui had coated the furniture with coating. Also, the new house needs to be properly ventilated and aired. Thus, it might take them about a month before they could move in. Furthermore, Lin Qingwan would be giving birth soon. Hence, she and Yang Tiezhu decided to move in before she gave birth.

During this period everyone was in a state of exhilaration. Shortly after, the third branch’s housework was also finished and was just waiting to move in along with the second branch.

Yang Tiezhu, too, in preparation for their house shifting, heated all the kang in the house, a few days in advance, in order to dry them quicker and remove moisture.

In the meantime, Yang Tiezhu also went out and bought several pieces of decorative items. Nonetheless, he wasn’t quite knowledgeable about such things, thus he picked a few inexpensive but pleasing calligraphy and painting pieces as per his wife’s wishes. Though he was literate and can read and write, he was yet to develop an artistic sense. Thus, he simply picked a few, that he felt would look good when displayed in the house.

The beddings and curtains needed to be stitched, but owing to her big belly Lin Qingwan was rendered helpless, and could only go to town to buy ready-made ones. She sought Shopkeeper Su’s Jinxiufang for this purpose. Shopkeeper Su was still hoping to get more double-sided embroideries from Lin Qingwan, thus she not only helped them pick an inexpensive and good-quality fabric, but also had the shop’s embroiderers make beddings and curtains for her.

Furthermore, when settling the bill, she only charged for fabric, but not for needlework, on the pretext that it was a congratulatory gift from her side for the latter’s housewarming ceremony.

Yang Tiezhu had also bought an entire set of kitchenware for the large kitchen in the front yard. As for the one in the backyard, they were planning to use the ones they were using currently in the house.

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