Chapter 59: The Depressed Captain

After such a scene yesterday, it wouldn't have been so easy for any other Educated Youth to get past it.

As for why she handed the blueprints to Ershu Xie, it wasn't that there weren't others in the village who could build houses, but that girl was closest to Ershu Xie, and by letting out just a little bit while measuring, she also made it much more comfortable for several people to live.

How could the shrewd An Yinan not understand? She had encountered enough of the ways of the world in her previous life; in fact, the people present might not even compare to her.

"Let's agree on this first: building a house in the village requires providing a lunch. I've calculated your dimensions, and it will cost at least thirty yuan." The Captain did the math; this included both labor and materials.

An Yinan didn't want to show off or insist on building a brick house; how many years would she even live there? The houses the villagers built were all earthen, and couldn't one live in those for a lifetime?

"Fine, I'll listen to the Captain. As for the lunch, I won't say what exactly we'll serve, but I'll make sure everyone is full." An Yinan patted her chest; the village was about to distribute grain, and besides, there was still plenty of grain she had collected in that cave.

As for the vegetables, they were even easier to handle; if nothing else, there was plenty of pickled cabbage and Chinese cabbage, and she would have to trouble Auntie Li when the time came.

"Then go to the Daduibu in a while and pay the money for the house construction; you don't need to worry about anything else." The Captain walked over to a stone on the side, sat down on the large rock, and watched as several people measured the dimensions.

Except for An Yinan, who had blueprints, the others didn't, so they could only center their houses around An Yinan's and build next to hers. For the sake of safety, both Xie Yuanyuan and Li Xiue chose to build a courtyard. Xie Yuanyuan's courtyard was a bit small, and she didn't intend to grow vegetables; it was mainly to block the prying eyes of those with ulterior motives.

Zhang Qian built his house right next to the vegetable garden, directly opposite Xie Yuanyuan; he didn't need a courtyard and just had a solitary house.

The houses for several of them were all very small. In the end, Zhang Qian's construction cost fifteen yuan, Xie Yuanyuan's was twenty yuan, and Li Xiue and the others' was twenty-three yuan. Actually, their house was the same size as Xie Yuanyuan's, but the courtyard was much larger; otherwise, they wouldn't have had a place to grow vegetables.

Seeing that the villagers had finished measuring and had drawn the lines, the group hurried to the Daduibu.

"The price just now was all-inclusive. Although it's expensive, you don't have to worry about anything. However, we have to provide a lunch while building the house. I plan to hire villagers to cook, and I'll buy the vegetables from the villagers too. I'll provide the grain. How do you want to calculate your share?" This matter had to be made clear, otherwise there would be trouble later.

"How many people is the village planning to provide?" Zhang Qian asked.

"Uncle Captain said he would provide twenty strong laborers. At this speed, my house should be finished in three or four days," An Yinan answered without hesitation; she had indeed asked about these things.

"Hmm, in that case, our houses will be finished very quickly. Is your grain enough? Can I just pay money instead?" Zhang Qian asked. If An Yinan refused, he would go to the Daduibu to ask about grain; his own grain was definitely not enough to eat.

An Yinan pondered for a moment, looked at Li Xiue, and skipped over Xie Yuanyuan directly. "Sister Xiue, how are you planning to handle your side?"

Li Xiue and Zhao Qiu Hua discussed it. "Our grain isn't enough either. Based on our Work Points, it's probably only enough for our annual ration. I'm afraid we'll have to pay money too."

An Yinan thought about how she could reasonably bring out the grain.

"My godmother and brother mailed me quite a bit. I'll go to the County tomorrow to ask about grain, though the price probably won't be like at the Food Station," An Yinan told them.

The group naturally understood in a second. Besides the rationed grain, if one went to the County to ask about grain, one could only go to the Black Market. They all knew that the price at the Black Market was three times that of the Food Station.

Twenty people, one meal a day—that was quite a lot of food.

"I have to give it to you first." Zhang Qian gave her ten yuan directly; he would just wait for the specific arrangements.

Xie Yuanyuan was also straightforward and gave ten yuan directly.

Li Xiue and Zhao Qiu Hua pooled twelve yuan together and handed it to An Yinan.

An Yinan thought to herself that this time, there was the Captain's indulgence and the villagers' help, so she naturally wouldn't treat these people poorly when it came to food.

The group went to the Daduibu to pay the money first, then An Yinan went to the Captain's house.

"Why are you here again?" The Captain widened his eyes, looking unwelcoming.

An Yinan rubbed her nose. *Ahem*, it seemed she had annoyed this old man.

"I'm looking for Auntie Li." An Yinan didn't beat around the bush and stated her purpose directly.

Auntie Li walked out from the house, threw the washed clothes to the side, and looked at An Yinan. "Girl Nan, what do you need from Auntie Li?"

People in the countryside didn't stand on ceremony and wiped their hands directly on the sides of their clothes.

An Yinan walked over. "We're building houses, and it's not convenient for us to cook there. I wanted to ask Auntie Li to find two good cooks; how about one yuan per person?"

Don't underestimate one yuan. The villagers had no income at all; they all carried baskets to the County to sell vegetables, saving up a few cents at a time. One yuan was already a lot of money to them.

Moreover, in the countryside, two yuan was enough to buy a cart of Chinese cabbage.

Auntie Li heard this. "Er Xie's wife is good at stir-frying and is clean. Can my eldest daughter-in-law also help out?"

"I'll leave it all to Auntie Li's arrangement." An Yinan agreed without hesitation and handed over two yuan, letting Auntie Li arrange it as she pleased.

"By the way, Auntie Li, you know my little garden hasn't been used yet. I'll buy the vegetables and such from the village. You look after the arrangements so that those uncles and brothers can eat well and be full," An Yinan said.

When Auntie Li heard this, she knew this was a good thing for the whole village. These twenty people would consume at least forty-plus catties of vegetables a day, and they had to eat well and be full.

Her family didn't have any Chinese cabbage left, but most people in the village couldn't sell theirs, so she could naturally collect them very cheaply.

"Leave it to me. How much are you expecting?"

"One yuan a day, I suppose." An Yinan didn't hide the number. One yuan a day for twenty people was not a small amount, but it wasn't too much either; it would just be Chinese cabbage and pickled cabbage with a bit of oil, as there was nothing else to eat.

When Auntie Li heard this, she had an idea in her mind. "There will definitely be oil, but we won't do meat. I'll try my best not to repeat dishes for two days."

"Then I'll trouble you, Auntie Li. This is the meal money for five days. Please send it directly to the construction site at noon. As for the rice and flour for cooking, I'll send them tomorrow." She hadn't been to the City yet, so she certainly couldn't just produce a pile of rice and flour; wouldn't that be telling the people with bad intentions, "Your supplies are here, come and get me!!!"

She still needed to go to the City to make it look legitimate before she could send them to the village.

"Captain, can you let Uncle Niu go to the County with me tomorrow?" An Yinan came to the Captain's side and looked at him with a smile.

The Captain knocked his Tobacco Pouch irritably. "Go ahead, you pay the charter fee."

"Deal!" An Yinan agreed immediately upon hearing this. Since she was using the ox cart, wasn't it only right to pay the charter fee?

Auntie Li looked at her old man with a smile, his face flushed red from being choked by a single sentence, and she didn't intervene, just watched the fun.