Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 359

One room was for Cheng Jinxi and Zhou Yuren, a married couple, whose eldest son slept with them. The other room was reserved for their two daughters.

When Zhou Tianfu gets married, a room will definitely need to be vacated. This room will be the room for the two daughters. But the daughters are too old to sleep with their parents, so they need to find another room for them. The Zhou family has already built a new house recently, and with the dowry money for their eldest son's wedding, they don't have much money left to build another new house.

As for where her two daughters would live, this became a headache for Cheng Jinxi. When Cheng Jinxiang found out, she said to Cheng Jinxi, "Eldest sister, when my new house is finished, let Chunwen and Chunhong come and sleep with Da'e."

Cheng Jinxi was still a little embarrassed, but Cheng Jinxiang said, "You helped me a lot when I moved out of the Zhao family's house. You took care of me a lot during my postpartum period and even helped me take care of the geese. You said that as sisters, we should help each other. Now that I'm able to build a new house, when Tianfu gets married, Chunwen and Chunhong can come and live in my new house. Big sister, I'm not happy if you're too polite to me."

Cheng Jinxi was touched and immediately stopped being polite.

“Okay, then we’ll do it your way. Once the new house is built, Chunwen and Chunhong will move in with Da’e. It will just be a lot of trouble for you, Jinxiang.”

Cheng Jinxiang smiled and shook her head, then took Cheng Jinxi's hand. "Big sister, why are you being so polite with me? We're all family, don't be so formal with me, or I'll be unhappy."

Cheng Jinxi laughed after hearing this, "Okay, okay, then I won't be polite."

This is why Cheng Jinxi was so excited today when she heard that an experienced craftsman was coming to help Cheng Jinxiang with the house layout. After all, once her second sister finishes building the new house, her two daughters will have rooms to live in after her eldest son gets married, and her worries will be solved.

Later, when she has more money, she'll build a new room and bring your daughter back.

Back in reality, Cheng Jinxiang warmly welcomed Chai Zhiyong, "Master, try this fish, it's so tender, absolutely delicious. And these steamed buns, if you feel they're cold, I'll warm them up for you, okay?"

Seeing Cheng Jinxiang's excessive enthusiasm, Chai Zhiyong was a little overwhelmed. He quickly shook his head and refused, "No need, no need. It's already too much trouble for you to eat here. Besides, I didn't come here to check on the construction site for nothing. Da'e has already paid me for my work."

When Chai Zhiyong came to Dongtaizi Village today, Zhao Dage paid him 20 yuan, which counted as hiring him for a day. So Chai Zhiyong felt that it was already a lot of trouble for Zhao Dage's aunt to eat at her house. Now that she was going to cook an extra dish for his visit, Chai Zhiyong felt very embarrassed.

Zhao Da'e laughed from the side, "Mom, you scared Master Chai. I did pay him, after all, I can't let him make a trip for nothing, can I?"

Hearing about the wages, Cheng Jinxiang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the wages were paid, there was no need to worry that the craftsman would run away halfway through the job.

Fearing that Chai Zhiyong would feel uncomfortable, Zhao Da'e said to Cheng Jinxiang, "Mom, let Master Chai take a look at the construction site and plan the room layout when he arrives. Master Chai is a professional in this area. If you talk about building a house now without him inspecting the site, you won't get anything out of him."

Zhao Da'e just wanted Chai Zhiyong to have a good meal and for Cheng Jinxiang to keep quiet, otherwise he would make Chai Zhiyong feel uncomfortable.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jinxiang obediently shut up; she still listened to her own daughter's words.

Seeing that Cheng Jinxiang wasn't asking any more questions, Chai Zhiyong gave Zhao Dage a grateful look. If it weren't for Zhao Dage, he probably would have been asked nothing but questions about building houses during the meal, making it impossible to eat in peace. But thankfully, Zhao Dage had helped him change the subject, allowing him to eat in peace without having to listen to any more nagging.

An hour later, Cheng Jinxiang asked Cheng Jinxi to take care of her youngest daughter, Zhao Xiaojuan, and then packed up and set off.

It takes about ten minutes to walk from here to the Zhao family's house. Cheng Jinxiang deliberately bypassed the Zhao family's house and came to the back of the Zhao family's house. There was a large open space here that was a construction site. Cheng Jinxiang and Zhao Tiesheng had tidied up this place a few days ago, and it looked very clean.

When he arrived at the site, Chai Zhiyong was carrying a tool bag. He first squatted down and touched the soil. The soil was quite hard and very suitable for building houses. When building the foundation, there was no need to worry about the ground collapsing.

Then Chai Zhiyong took out a ruler and measured the area of ​​the open space that could be used for construction. Chai Zhiyong called Cheng Jinxiang over and held one end of the ruler. The measured area that could be built was 14.2 meters by 10 meters.

Chai Zhiyong took out a piece of paper and a pen, and drew a rectangle on it, with the same proportions as 14.2 meters by 10 meters.

Next, we discussed the layout of the room with Zhao Da'e and her daughter.

Cheng Jinxiang put forward his idea: "This house should have at least three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a toilet. I don't have any other requirements."

Cheng Jinxiang was thinking of these three rooms. She and Tiesheng would share one, Da'e would have a separate room, and the other room would be used as a guest room for someone else or reserved for Xiaojuan in the future. Da'e was a smart and quick-witted child since she was a child, and now she could earn money. Cheng Jinxiang thought of reserving a separate room for Zhao Da'e so that she wouldn't be affected by others.

Chai Zhiyong explained, "If there are more than three rooms, then let's make four rooms. A normal rural house can be laid out like this: one room in each of the four corners, making four rooms in total. The central area is divided into two parts: one for the kitchen and dining room, and the other for the living room."

The houses that can be built here are large enough to accommodate four rooms.

Cheng Jinxiang breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this; four rooms would be fine too.

At this moment, Zhao Da'e spoke up, "Master Chai, this house can be built as a two-story building, right?"

Chai Zhiyong nodded and said, "It's possible, but it will cost a lot. If it's just a one-story building, it will cost about 10,000 yuan. If it's a two-story building, it will cost at least 20,000 yuan, or more."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jinxiang's subconscious choice was to build a single-story house. After all, even with the addition of the nine thousand yuan, a few thousand more yuan would be enough to complete the house.

But Zhao Da'e clearly didn't think that way. She wanted to build a two-story house, with her own bedroom, study, and office on the second floor, as well as a balcony with floor-to-ceiling windows. She wanted to make it as comfortable as possible, since she would be paying for most of the construction costs herself.

Without even thinking, Zhao Da'e said, "Two floors. This house will have two floors, one bedroom, which should be quite large, with a separate bathroom and a large floor-to-ceiling window. The other room will be used as a study, and the rest of the large area will be used as a balcony. Don't worry about the funding; I'll take care of that."

Chai Zhiyong was shocked. He hadn't expected to hear such a thing from a child. However, when he thought of Zhang Daya's praise for Zhao Dage, calling him a child prodigy, a genius with great business talent, and a once-in-a-century talent, Chai Zhiyong felt relieved. Since he was a child prodigy, he shouldn't be treated with the same standards as ordinary people.

Cheng Jinxiang was also hesitant. If she had the money, she would have agreed to Zhao Da'e's request without hesitation. But the key was that such a construction would cost a lot. Could Da'e really afford it?

Zhao Da'e noticed Cheng Jinxiang's hesitation and smiled slightly, "Mom, don't worry, you don't need to worry about the money. Since I dare to say that, I can definitely guarantee that I will earn it back."

Since Zhao Da'e had already said that, Cheng Jinxiang didn't know what to say and nodded in agreement. However, she couldn't help but worry. Was Da'e really just putting on a brave face? What if he couldn't pay the money later?

Chai Zhiyong didn't think much of it. He came here today mainly to listen to his employer, Zhao D'e. He would listen to whoever paid him.

Immediately, Chai Zhiyong drew a rough plan of the first-floor rooms on a piece of paper.

The room measures 14.2 meters by 10 meters. Each of the four rooms measures 3.9 meters by 4 meters. Between every two rooms, there is a 2.4-meter bathroom and a 2.4-meter storage room.

The central area, measuring 6.2 meters by 10 meters, can be used as a kitchen, dining room, and living room.

The kitchen is 2.6 meters by 3.9 meters, the dining room is 3.6 meters by 3.9 meters, and the remaining space is used as the living room.

Upon seeing the size of the kitchen, Cheng Jinxiang asked, "Isn't this kitchen too small? My older sister's kitchen is as big as a room."

Seeing this, Chai Zhiyong slapped his forehead and said, "I forgot, the county town and the countryside are different. The kitchens in the city are so small because, unlike in the countryside, the city uses stoves that use gas as fuel, and there are also appliances such as refrigerators next to them, so the layout is relatively small. In the countryside, they use large stoves that use firewood as fuel, so they need a lot of space."

This presented a problem: if the layout was based on a rural kitchen, the 2.4-meter by 3.6-meter area he had just drawn would definitely not be enough.

Looking at the drawing on Chai Zhiyong's paper, Zhao Da'e pointed to the room in the lower right corner and said, "Master Chai, I think this room should be used as a kitchen. A kitchen area of ​​3.9 meters by 4 meters should be enough. Then we need to put a chimney here, and put the door outside so that the smell from the kitchen won't easily drift into the living room. There's also a second floor, right? We can build another room on the second floor later. Five rooms in total. I also have my parents and sister, so we need three rooms."

"Although they said that it's fine for a daughter to squeeze in and doesn't need a separate room, my sister and I will each have our own room here. This will give us privacy in the future. Even after we get married, we will still come back to stay often. Those two rooms will be used as guest rooms, and relatives can stay when they come. In addition, we can set up a larger storage room on the second floor, and we can get rid of the storage room on the first floor. We can use it to increase the size of the rooms. This, this will be the main room."

"As for the layout of the second floor, I'll just briefly describe it. My room needs to have a private bathroom, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a study. The study and bedroom are connected, and next to it is a storage room. This storage room needs to be larger. A lift can be installed between the storage room and the first floor to help move heavy items. Next to the storage room, a guest room or master room can be set up, and the remaining area can be converted into a large balcony."

Zhao Da'e had a lot of say in the room layout, since she had paid for most of the house construction. She certainly wouldn't treat herself badly. Before that, Zhao Da'e had a good talk with Cheng Jinxiang. Cheng Jinxiang naturally trusted Zhao Da'e's decision. After all, without Zhao Da'e's help, the new house wouldn't have been built, the money left with Zhao Chunqin wouldn't have been recovered, and Zhao Da'e had taken care of everything, including hiring workers and buying building materials.

Zhao Da'e has the ability to make money, so what if he does something special?

Zhao Da'e was also thinking of getting a bigger yard in front of the house. When she had more money, she wanted to buy a car. She lived in the countryside, but her business was all in the county town. It was very inconvenient to travel back and forth between the countryside and the county town without a car. Although she could ask her employee Xiangzi to pick her up and act as her driver, Xiangzi also had his own work to do. He couldn't always come to help her whenever she needed him, so it would be more convenient to buy a car.

The reason for building a larger storage room is to take into account Zhao Da'e's business. For example, the tea she hoards can be stored in the shop now, but once the clothing supply arrives, the storage room will definitely be filled with clothes. However, the storage room is only so small. As the business becomes more complicated, the amount of goods that need to be hoarded will definitely increase. Therefore, Zhao Da'e thought of building a larger storage room in her home and installing several shelves inside to save more space. However, moving things around is also tiring. Zhao Da'e thought of installing a lift, which works on the same principle as the elevator she saw in the county town in her previous life, but this lift is for carrying goods, not for carrying people.

In the future, when I have more money, I might renovate this house again and buy more smart furniture to free up my hands.

Oh, right! Speaking of smart home appliances, Zhao Da'e thinks it's a good idea to get a refrigerator and a washing machine. Both are very useful. In the hot summer, clothes need to be washed almost every day, and each time it takes about an hour to get all the family's clothes clean. Buying a washing machine can free up your hands; just throw the clothes in, add some detergent, and you're done. Having a washing machine in the summer greatly improves the quality of life. Zhao Da'e thought that since he had the money, he should definitely get a washing machine so that his mother wouldn't have to work so hard.

Moreover, in winter, clothes are all cotton-padded, and washing thick clothes is extremely troublesome. In the dead of winter, the water is icy cold, and your hands can turn red from the cold when you wash clothes.