The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 536 - 534 Assigning New Houses

Everyone dispersed to attend to their tasks. Ever since Wang Laozhu was forced to take out his private savings, his mood had been very low. Moreover, after overhearing his daughter-in-law and sons privately complaining that it was his indulgence that allowed the Sun Family to take advantage, he became even more silent.

He buried himself in furniture making every day and barely spoke a word about household matters.

Today, after Old Granny Zhang had said so much, he just listened in silence and didn’t utter a single word.

Once the two carpenters had taken the measurements and inquired about Song Chongjin’s requirements, they became excited upon hearing that he wanted the received Padauk and Rosewood to be used for the furniture.

They seldom had the chance to work with such fine wood, and now that the opportunity had come, they couldn’t contain their joy.

After discussing furniture styles with Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu, and estimating the wood, they concluded they had just enough for a wardrobe, two chests, a dressing table, and a jewelry box.

The rest would have to be made of pine or cypress wood.

After reaching a decision, the two carpenters worked from dawn till dusk at the new house every day.

In no time, the last tile was placed on the new house, marking its full completion.

Another string of firecrackers was set off to celebrate, Master Chiang and his team were treated to a meal, and their wages were settled.

Apart from the two carpenters, Master Chiang and his team were eager to return home, having not been back for nearly a month. Now that their wages were paid, and everyone’s purse was full, they all couldn’t wait to get back to their families.

The two carpenters sent the wages they had previously settled with, through Master Chiang back to their families and asked him to convey a message that they would return home once the current work was finished.

Song Chongjin once again drove the carriage to send Master Chiang and his team back to the town.

Although the house was built, it was not yet suitable for habitation. freeweɓnovel-cøm

A newly built house has a lot of moisture, which must be drawn out by smoking the interior.

Every morning, noon, and evening, tree branches were burned in the main rooms to smoke out the dampness.

The new house had already been allocated.

By rights, Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang should live in the first or second courtyard.

But Old Granny Zhang had no desire whatsoever to live with her sons and wanted to dwell in the quietness of the last courtyard with Wang Yongzhu.

With that decision, allocation of the rest became easy: Eldest Brother would live in the first courtyard, Laosan in the second, and Laosi naturally in the third.

In the fourth courtyard, Old Granny Zhang and Wang Laozhu would occupy the main house, with Wang Yongzhu living in the west wing.

Everybody was overjoyed and content.

Each family had its own courtyard, so there was no more grumbling over who had more or less room.

Moreover, being separated front and back, each family had its own space, and there was no worry about private conversations being overheard.

The Wang Family was indeed lucky, from the beginning of digging the foundations to completion, it only rained twice; clear skies prevailed throughout.

Seeing that the dampness in the house was almost gone, the Wangs started busily packing their belongings.

Wang Yongzhu found some time and asked Song Chongjin to accompany her and Old Granny Zhang to the town to purchase the household necessities.

With winter fast approaching, although the houses had heated brick beds, they still needed to prepare a couple of thick cotton quilts.

First, they placed a pre-order for cotton quilts and mattresses at the cotton-fluff store. Looking at the clothes Song Chongjin was wearing, Old Granny Zhang simply bought several pounds of cotton and told Wang Yongzhu to make two cotton-padded jackets for Song Chongjin to wear in the winter when she had some free time.

They also got everything else they could think of like pots, pans, ladles, and kitchen essentials such as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, loading up and returning with an entire horse cart full.

The moisture in the house hadn’t fully dried yet, so while people couldn’t move in, some items could gradually be moved inside.

Like the furniture Wang Laozhu made for Wang Yongping’s new home had been properly aired and was moved to the main room of the third courtyard.

Because they had a few days head start, the Wang Family’s move was somewhat leisurely.

After continuously drying out the dampness in the new house day and night, they chose an auspicious day to set the moving date.

For moving into a new house, they needed to have a housewarming, which is when the hosts cook and serve meals to entertain friends and relatives in their new home.

Song Chongjin’s house naturally moved along with the Wang Family.

His house was a bit smaller, and in recent days, he spent many nights burning branches to dry out his own small yard, as well as the rooms that Wang Yongzhu and those that Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang were to live in.

As a result, his courtyard dried out earlier than the Wang Family’s.

The two carpenters, seeing that the New Year was approaching, were all eager to finish their work early and return home.

Since there wasn’t much furniture to make, they started with Wang Yongzhu’s wardrobe and the other large pieces.

For Song Chongjin’s side, they quickly made cabinets, various types of tables, and stools because Song Chongjin only requested speed and did not ask for intricate carvings on the stools, saving the carpenters much effort.

They barely finished making all the furniture before the house was dry.

The two carpenters settled their fees for making the furniture and happily went back home.

Over here, Song Chongjin was busy every day in the new house, with Wang Yongzhu coming over to help.

Together they watched the courtyard become neater by the day, livelier by the day; all the furniture and arrangements inside were made according to their preferences.

Even the small garden in the yard was designed with Wang Yongzhu’s guidance, with a tree planted here, a plot of flowers there, a swing set to be added, and a wall blanketed with climbing roses.

He remembered it all by heart, but since it was currently winter and the ground in the courtyard was frozen, they would have to wait until spring to plant trees and flowers.

Made to their taste, the courtyard even seemed to suit Wang Yongzhu’s preferences more than the Wang Family’s courtyard.

After cleaning up for two or three days, Song Chongjin’s small yard was ready to be moved into as soon as the housewarming day arrived.

On the Wang Family’s side, most of the large items had been moved, with only some personal belongings still left in the old house.

A few days before the housewarming, Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu, accompanied by Old Granny Zhang, made several trips to town to purchase all the essentials such as fish and wine for entertaining guests on the day of the celebration.

As for the meat, the Wang Family had raised two pigs for an entire year, which the children fed daily with weeds. Because the pigs mainly consumed weeds, it was only in the last month, due to the need for more grain to prepare meals for the workers, that bran was mixed with the weeds to feed the pigs.

This indeed fattened up the pigs a bit.

In previous years, the Wang Family would raise two pigs, sell one and from the remaining one, half was taken by Wang Family’s Second Child to give away as gifts, and half of the remaining half was taken by Wang Yongan to the city; leaving the large Wang Family with only a quarter of a pig to eat throughout the year.

This year, not to mention the more comfortable financial situation, but also considering the upcoming housewarming, Laosi’s upcoming wedding, and the meat needed for New Year’s, Old Granny Zhang decided to bite the bullet and butcher both pigs to keep for the family to eat.

Upon hearing this news, the children were the first to cheer. Although the house now had a steady supply of meat and fish, who would complain about having too much meat?

Foll𝑜w current novels on fre(e)w𝒆bnovel