Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 353 - 352: Group Purchase

By mid-October, the guests had moved out, and Qin Yao’s family was ready to start construction on a new study, finally beginning.

The materials had already been ordered by Liu Ji, and a mute was in charge of contracting the work. Five or six people were called together, firecrackers were set off, and with the first shovel, the construction commenced.

This time, it wasn’t just Qin Yao’s family building a house; most of the village was repairing houses, intending to reinforce them all before the first snowfall.

The reason they could do this was that everyone now had money on hand.

There were plenty of workers from the village, one or two in each family, working at the stationery factory. If it was a couple, they’d joined during a large recruitment drive five months ago and had each earned over three hundred coins, totaling six hundred for the pair.

Over five months that would be three taels of silver, enough for simple repairs and strengthening of the house.

This was just for ordinary workers. For small stewards like Yun Niang and Shunzi, with the bonuses distributed in September, they earned even more.

The idea of collective house building didn’t begin with a consensus. It was Liu Ji who, during a literacy class, suddenly thought of buying building materials collectively to save a lot of silver.

Sure enough, trying to make savings out of the tight budget given by Qin Yao, he used his persuasive tongue to unite twelve village families to decide together to purchase bricks, tiles, and wood.

The villagers loved to follow trends, and this year they had indeed earned money alongside the stationery factory. Hearing Liu Ji and his party talking to the Lower River Village tile-seller about ultra-low prices, Old Liu made the decision to repair his old house, too.

With a village elder like Old Liu joining, Liu the carpenter couldn’t sit still either.

These days, he noticed a lot of unfamiliar carriages arriving at the village entrance, and the people alighting were all dressed in silk and cotton, inquiring everywhere about scholars.

Some directly came to visit, but unfortunately, the Lotus Courtyard displayed a sign saying no visitors, a disappointment for them.

However, the next day these people returned, either staying nearby the Lotus Courtyard or in the village well area, hoping to encounter the scholar out for a walk.

Unfortunately, with the weather getting colder each day, the scholar was cozy at home with a brazier, warmed wine, and chess, unlikely to venture out.

As time passed, the villagers became familiar with these visitors.

With the cold weather, staying outdoors was unbearable, so Granny Wang was the first to open her courtyard gate, offering these visitors some boiled water for a rest inside.

Initially, Granny Wang only kindly offered these young scholars hot water to drink without charging them.

Later, these young men felt embarrassed and always left copper coins on the table when they left.

The payment for water ranged from more to less; those who were well-off found the rural courtyard uniquely pleasant, often leaving pieces of broken silver worth two maces.

The less wealthy bought seven or eight eggs from the host family, reciprocating Granny Wang’s goodwill.

This arrangement became a trend; the scholars all naturally headed to Granny Wang’s house, where three or five of them gathered at a table, regardless of status, boiling water, and roasting by the fire, indulging in witty banter, which added a kind of wilderness fun.

Seeing this, Liu the carpenter’s alarm bells rang in his mind, and he finally understood what Qin Yao had said to him at the time.

Without any more hesitation, he spent two taels of silver to buy the abandoned house under his family’s sunflower land.

Now that the whole village was starting construction, he wasn’t going to fall behind and joined Liu Ji’s procurement group.

With larger quantities, materials indeed had better pricing, and a satisfied Liu Ji pocketed 500 cents from the savings.

Unfortunately, he could have skimmed off another one or two hundred cents from the mute foremen, but Ah Wang had unexpectedly plowed and replanted the fields, leaving him lying in bed, helplessly watching Qin Yao’s busy figure.

Qin Yao was not in the best of moods, as Liu Ji was supposed to supervise the work, which now fell to her, making her quite irritable.

Seeing Qin Yao passing by the window, Liu Ji innocently smiled, "Wife, thank you for your hard work."

Qin Yao replied, "I’m not tired, I’m just unfortunate!"

Seeing him still smiling, Qin Yao turned back after passing the window, scrutinizing him with suspicion.

Under her intense gaze, Liu Ji embarrassingly pulled the quilt up to cover his neck, leaving only his face exposed. "Wife, what are you looking at~"

"I’m looking at how you’re not so incapacitated; you still seem to talk quite well."

Qin Yao suddenly strode into the room, causing Liu Ji to swallow hard and glance nervously at the open door and windows. "Wife, the door hasn’t been closed yet, is this appropriate?"

Qin Yao yanked the quilt off him, and as she reached out, Liu Ji willingly leaned forward, thinking, this is so thrilling, as a slap landed directly on his chest.

Unprepared, Liu Ji let out a scream, flopping back onto the thick bedding, weakly clutching his chest.

The strained muscle suddenly struck by external force sent a wave of uncontrollable, tear-inducing sharpness into his bones. The seven-foot-tall man quickly found tears rolling down his cheeks, continuously sucking in cold air.

Clearly, it didn’t seem like he was faking it.

The culprit, Qin Yao, coughed lightly twice to cover her unease and said earnestly, "You seem quite seriously injured, should we ask Ah Wang to get a doctor for you?"

The romantic fantasies in Liu Ji’s heart had long been crushed by the unbearable pain, and he lay on the bed moaning, ignoring her suggestion.

Seizing the rare chance to make the domineering woman apologize, he was not about to let her off easily.

Liu Ji wailed even louder, attracting the mute and other workers from the rear yard to rush in, checking to see if anything had happened.

With so many people watching with concern, Qin Yao awkwardly nudged the bed frame, signaling for Liu Ji to tone it down, enough was enough!

Turning to the mute and others to explain, "It’s nothing, he’s just having a fit. You all continue working, it doesn’t matter." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The mute looked at Liu Ji, who was clutching the quilt, sweating profusely, and teary-eyed, and gestured inquiringly: Is it really nothing?

Qin Yao nodded with a smile, and only then did the mute and others hesitantly leave.

As soon as they left, Liu Ji resumed his painful cries, but would Qin Yao indulge him?

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the man on the bed conscientiously fell silent, his tear-dappled eyes gazing at her weakly and innocently, biting the corner of the quilt.

Qin Yao’s gaze darkened, staring at him for a full five seconds before reluctantly moving her sight to the quilt covering him, expressing disdain,

"You’re too scrawny; from now on you should exercise with Da Lang."

She had already thought of the reason for him, "The examination hall is not easy to endure, and the longer you stay, the longer it takes. Being confined in such a small room for three to five days, you can’t manage with your current physique."

Finished with her words, her dim gaze fell on his face again, making Liu Ji’s heart race with fear that she might slap him again, sending him off to meet King Yan.

However, her gaze rested on him for only a moment before she turned to leave the room.