Chapter 155: Good Things and Bad Things

"All dead, what a pity." Jiang Sheng looked at the medicinal herbs in the field that had been dried into withered grass and sighed regretfully.

Du Ruo smiled. "Let them die; they are useless anyway."

They were all ordinary medicinal herbs, and the quality was not high; they were just chicken ribs.

Besides, the Gu family father and son were sent to prison by the Jiang family's Second Branch, so the two families had a grudge. Although Little Song Shi had to sell the land to her, she didn't want to take advantage of her.

So while clearing the house, she pulled all the medicinal herbs in the acre of land behind, which was normal operation.

Over there, Foreman Lu was already measuring the dimensions of the house foundation with his apprentice, and Zheng Qinghe was helping on the side.

After measuring, a few people walked around while discussing the layout of the new house.

Du Ruo took out the design drawing she had doodled before and gave it to Foreman Lu for reference; that was the two-entry courtyard house in her ideal.

After all, it was in the countryside, so it was mainly practical.

Her design drawing incorporated some characteristics of modern villas, removing the cramped and piled-up nature of ancient courtyards, making it appear more spacious and atmospheric.

Anyway, the place was big enough. Since it was hard to build a house, of course, it should be built well, right?

Foreman Lu carefully pondered the design drawing and nodded repeatedly.

"Du Niang Zi is indeed intelligent; this house doesn't have those flashy things, not only saving a lot of silver but also having special wild interest. Rare, rare!"

Du Ruo was also quite satisfied. The two decided on the style of bricks, tiles, and beams, as well as the skilled craftsmen needed.

After pondering for a while, Foreman Lu quoted a price.

"How about this: round it up, eight hundred taels, completed in two months." He smiled. "This is giving Du Niang Zi the lowest price for the sake of nephew Jiang Zhan. Such a big house, if it were placed in the prefecture city or the capital, it wouldn't be built without thousands or ten thousand taels."

Du Ruo also knew she was taking advantage, so she hurriedly bowed. "Foreman Lu's kindness, I will accept it on behalf of Azhan, thank you very much."

After the agreement was reached, the group returned to the courtyard of the Jiang family's Second Branch.

Then they looked at the date, and it happened that two days later was an auspicious day, suitable for breaking ground.

Both sides agreed that Du Ruo would pay a deposit of one hundred taels first, and Foreman Lu would bring his men over that day.

After everything was settled, Foreman Lu took his apprentice and said goodbye.

Zheng Qinghe took a ride on the carriage, saying he hadn't been home for a long time and wanted to go back to see his father and mother.

Du Ruo naturally couldn't let him go back empty-handed, so she stuffed silver into his hand, plus half a jar of salt, a basket of vegetables, and a bolt of cloth bought in town yesterday.

If it were usual, Zheng Qinghe would rather die than accept it.

It was just that he accidentally heard the conversation between his A'Man and Foreman Lu, and then he almost fainted.

Eight hundred taels! Eight hundred taels!

Building this house costs eight hundred taels!!

A'Man is a little rich woman!!!

Since that's the case, he wouldn't be polite and would take whatever was given.

No, he had to go home quickly and tell his family about this, otherwise he would suffocate.

This silver and salt were just the evidence!

"Tired, right?" Zheng Shi lovingly brought a bowl of tremella and red date soup to her daughter. "If you ask me, why build such a big house? It's enough to live in; it's too expensive."

Du Ruo scooped a spoonful of red date soup into her mouth and smiled. "Mom, your pattern is too small."

She counted on her little fat claws to Zheng Shi. "Azhan and Asheng are not small anymore; they have to get married, right? Even if each person has two children, they need rooms; Wan'er and Chunhua live in one room now, and when they grow up, they have to have their own boudoirs, right? Mom, your room goes without saying, it's indispensable. And mine and my husband's, your grandchildren's; and Tie Dan and his wife's..."

"Alright, alright, Mom understands, build it, build it." Zheng Shi was overjoyed.

Thinking that there would be many more people in the family in a few years, and many babies, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but split open.

After lunch, Du Ruo went to the neighbor Jiang Clan Head's house and told Jiang Clan Head about the arrangement for building the house.

Jiang Clan Head knew her intention as soon as he heard it and waved his hand righteously.

"Don't worry, when the time comes, I'll let Yulan sister-in-law and the others all go to help cook, ensuring they can keep up."

After thinking about it, he added, "Anyway, it's not busy in the fields now, and it's idle anyway. I'll call Jiang Tong and the others to help with the work. After the new house is built, it has to be ventilated, so building it early can also allow moving in early, just in time to move into the new house for the New Year."

Du Ruo was overjoyed when she heard this.

"That's great, I don't have any experience, and I'm worried. It's really great to have sister-in-law and the others help!"

"But I can't let them work for free. How about this: thirty cents a day for each person to mean something, you can't refuse."

Jiang Clan Head couldn't beat her, so he had to agree.

Du Ruo had a scale in her heart.

Although the relationship between the two families was good, working for free for a day or two was nothing, but it wouldn't work for a long time. Not to mention whether others would be unhappy, she didn't have such a thick face herself.

Everything was ready, just waiting for the east wind.

The east wind didn't come, but Jiang Li suddenly returned in the evening.

Counting the days, the couple hadn't seen each other for some time.

Last time Jiang Li took leave to accompany the exam, the work in the county Ya Men piled up like a mountain, and he had been busy all these days.

But no matter how busy he was, missing his wife was a daily compulsory course.

The so-called small separation is better than a new marriage, mostly like this.

That night, the young couple tossed and turned in bed for half the night. Although there was no substantial progress, it was enough to satisfy the man who had been holding back for so many days.

After a full meal, Du Ruo was already sleepy, but Jiang Li was still full of energy.

"Wife..." He hugged the soft body like a caterpillar into his arms and whispered in her ear, "Do you know what I came back for this time?"

Du Ruo closed her eyes and muttered, "So you didn't miss me."

Jiang Li lowered his head and kissed her lips. "Naturally, I missed you. But there are two more things I want to tell you, one good thing and one bad thing. Which one do you want to hear first?" ===== CHAPTER 156 =====