Chapter Fourteen Building Houses

  There must also be a toilet built in the farthest place from the house, with a large vat underneath and two pieces of bluestone on top. The toilet should have tiles on it, and there should be a small window at the very top so that it won't smell. Lin He's current toilet is one where she feels like throwing up every time she goes in, and the only thing covering the top are two wooden boards which make her feel like she's going to fall through whenever she stands on them. These two things are very important.

  Lin He told Lin Er Niu about her idea, and Lin Er Niu also thought it was good. Since they were going to build a house, they might as well do it properly. After all, the house would be where they lived for the rest of their lives, and their children and grandchildren would live there too. Spending more money now meant that they wouldn't need to constantly renovate in the future, so it was worth spending a bit more.

  After the whole family had agreed, they felt that their own yard was still a bit small and needed more land. Huang let Lin Erniu go to the street to buy two catties of pork, bought several packages of snacks and brought several catties of white flour to the ancestral home. The ancestral chief was the most prestigious person in the village, and all major events in the village had to be approved by him. When the ancestral chief saw Lin Erniu coming into his house, he already had a plan in mind.

  A few days ago, Lin Er'niu's family bought a field, and he also knew something about it. It was said that they were buying on behalf of someone else, but the Lin family didn't have any wealthy relatives either. Today, seeing his attitude, he understood a bit more in his heart. He welcomed Lin Er'niu into the house, and the houses of the clan leaders were all made of green bricks and glazed tiles, bright and spacious. People living in such houses would be more spirited. Lin Er'niu thought that soon he could also live in such a house, and his heart was truly excited for a moment.

  Lin Er Niu was just getting into the swing of things when he heard the clan leader's cough, snapped back to reality, and almost forgot what he had come to say. He handed over the items in his hand to the clan leader, saying "Clan leader, it's been a long time since I last came to visit you. My wife asked me to buy some things to pay respects to your elderly self."

  The clan leader chuckled and said, "You little scamp, you never come to the Three Treasures Hall without a reason. You must have something to ask of me."

  "Uncle, I have a couple of things to tell you. Firstly, recently my second daughter made some toys that were seen by the merchants in town and they bought them at a high price, so we got some silver money. Coincidentally, there was someone in the neighboring village who wanted to sell their land, and after checking the price and everything, I thought it was reasonable, so I let the middleman handle it. Originally, I wanted to come and inform you earlier, but the family selling the land said they were in a hurry, so I went ahead and finalized the deal first, and only had time to come see you today. Secondly, my children have all grown up and it's not suitable for them to live together anymore. With this extra money, I was thinking of finding a place in the village to build a new house."

  Lin Er Niu's family bought land without notifying the clan leader, which made the clan leader a bit unhappy. Originally, buying land had nothing to do with the clan leader, but who is the clan leader? He is the leading figure in this village and thinks that no matter what big or small things happen, he should be notified. As the clan leader is used to being in charge, he naturally likes others to fawn on him. However, today Lin Er Niu brought something over and voluntarily mentioned this matter, so the anger in his heart has dissipated by half.

  The clan leader held a dry smoker in his hand and took two puffs "Where do you want to build a house?"

  "It's just that at home, we need to add a few more rooms, the original land is a bit small, so I want to allocate some of the adjacent empty land, not too much, just about the size of three or four rooms, what do you think?"

  The clan leader thought for a moment and said, "If it's just three or four rooms in size, it's no big deal. There's empty land on either side of you anyway. I'll help you make the rounds and give the village a heads up. I'm sure there won't be any problems. But Er Niu, it's not that Uncle is saying this to you, but from now on, if anything comes up, please let me know as soon as possible. After all, I'm still in charge of things around here. If something happens and I'm the last to find out, it won't look good for me when I have to explain it to the village."

  Actually, the clan leader thought that Lin Er Niu's family had bought land, but he didn't know all along. He felt that his position as clan leader seemed not so important in other people's eyes, so he was like this, beating around the bush.

  Lin Er Niu nodded like pounding garlic, saying "Mm-hmm, yes indeed, we didn't think it through thoroughly. Please forgive us, elder of the clan, and don't hold our mistakes against us."

  The clan leader saw that Lin Erniu had a good attitude in admitting his mistake, and also took into account the gifts he brought. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Alright, you can go home and prepare to build your house now. I'll assign this task to you."

  Lin Er Niu returned with a thousand thanks. Lin Er Niu thought, this matter was indeed not thoroughly considered by himself. The clan leader is the head of the clan, and in the future, there will be many things that still need the help of the clan leader. His wife and children at home do not know about these matters, so he must pay attention to them. Lin Er Niu reflected on his way back, but was still very happy in his heart, as long as the matter is settled, it's all good.

  As soon as I got home, I discussed with my family about building a house. However, since the new house is to be built on the original site, there is still a very important issue to be resolved - these old houses are all going to be demolished, so where can our big family live? There are so many people, and even relatives in our household don't have such a large house that can accommodate us. Besides, it's really not very convenient either.

  Huang proposed to go to her mother's house to live, her mother's house has a large space and can accommodate them. Lin He rejected it, saying that Huang's mother's house is too far away, and they still need people to help with building the house on this side. Going back and forth every day would delay their work, and distant water cannot put out a nearby fire.

  "Otherwise, I'll go to the town tomorrow and tell my brother that we can stay in their old house for a while. Their house is empty anyway, it's close to our home, and it's more convenient since they're not living there. We also need to go to the town tomorrow to buy materials for building the house, so I'll talk to him about it then."

  Lin He thought for a moment, and this idea was actually not bad. She had seen her uncle's house before, the house had several rooms, and there were also some things in the yard that could be stored. It was also close to home.

  However, Huang disagreed and merely asked "Can your elder sister agree?"

  Lin He had never seen his uncle and aunt before, nor did he know what his mother meant by saying this. He didn't make a sound, but Lin Er Niu said "I'll also give some things to my parents tomorrow, our family is building a house and we should tell them about it too. If they have time, maybe they can even come back to help us out. I'll go talk to my brother and sister-in-law tomorrow."

  Huang didn't say much more and things were temporarily settled like this.

  At night, the whole family discussed what needed to be done at home. Early tomorrow morning, Lin Er Niu will take Da Bao to the town to invite a mason who specializes in building houses. They will come to the house to see what specific materials are needed and then buy them later. Tomorrow, they need to demolish the old house first and tidy up the things inside before starting to build the new one.

  Lin He and San Ya, as well as Huang Shi, just need to take care of the daily chores for a few days, but they might still need to ask some people for help. There are over a dozen workers in the construction team, and during this era, it's customary to provide food for them when building a house. With two small children, Huang Shi is worried that she won't be able to manage the meals for so many people. Zhou Shi will definitely come to help out - after all, she's family. Xu Shu might also need to be invited over. Li Shu is working on furniture, so they'll have Da Bao bring Xiao Jun over to lend a hand. Hopefully, by the time the house is finished, the furniture will be ready too, and they can move into their new home quickly. The atmosphere in the family is very lively.

  After having a new house, it's not cold in winter and not hot in summer, who doesn't like it? Even the smallest treasure says he wants to help. Lin He smiles and hugs him, saying "You don't have to make trouble, what can you do to help?" The whole family laughs and prepares to go to bed early, getting up early tomorrow.