Chapter Thirteen: Dah Bao's Thoughts

  It's been half a month since then, and the day agreed with Old Wen has arrived. In these days, Lin He made two Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck plush toys, as well as Captain Hook and Doraemon. She planned to take this opportunity to go out and see how Old Wen's goods were selling. Lin He still went to Tianxin Town with Da Bao, and when they walked to the entrance of Cai Die Xuan, they saw the shopkeeper looking outside all the time. When he saw them coming, he immediately came out to greet them.

  Seeing the shopkeeper's enthusiasm, Lin He knew that the little bear last time should have been sold well. The shopkeeper saw Lin He and walked over to say "Lin Niang, Lin Gongzi, Mr. Wen is waiting for you in the wing room."

  Upon arriving at the private room, they saw that Old Master Wen was already there waiting for them. As soon as he saw Lin He and his sister enter, he immediately invited them to sit down. Lin He asked, "Boss, how did the small bear sell last time?"

  Boss Wen laughed loudly and said, "The last batch of toys sold very well. They're selling out every day now, with many children lining up in queues every day."

  Lin He let Da Bao take out the other four toys from the package and give them to Lin Boss. Lin Boss looked at these toys and couldn't help but be surprised again. What is this little girl thinking about every day? How can she come up with things that are so unique, yet appealing and likable? As a businessman, he saw the commercial potential of these toy dolls and believed Lin He knew it too. So, he tentatively asked, "Lin Girl, since you can come up with such great ideas, why don't you open your own small store to sell these toys?"

  Lin He understood what Old Man Wen meant. "Our family is just an ordinary farming household, we just want to make some small money at home and plant some fields, except for planting fields, we can't do anything else. In addition, our older brother is still young at home, and we haven't thought about doing business yet."

  Old Wen understood Lin He's meaning, and Lin He didn't think of doing it alone, which was good. This time, Lin He also took some loose silver coins, the rest were all silver ingots, no silver notes.

  And tell Boss Wen that from now on, only send him plush toys once a month. In winter, the weather is cold and there are fewer people on the street, plus it's passed the initial freshness, so it may not be as good to sell as before. Boss Wen thought about it and indeed agreed.

  He wasn't surprised this time either, and besides, he was an honest person to begin with. His sister had told him not to speak out of turn, and he wouldn't. Lin He knew that about her brother, which is why she wanted Da Bao to come along. Da Bao also found the tone his sister used when speaking to Boss Wen to be unfamiliar. At home, Lin He was just a seven-year-old kid in front of her parents and family members, sometimes understanding and quick-witted, but also prone to throwing tantrums and being unreasonable at times.

  But every time Lin He talks to Old Man Wen, it makes Da Bao feel very strange, as if the sister in front of him has changed into a different person. The tone and content of her speech are completely different from usual. Although his sister had said that she saw other business people doing the same thing, just imitating them, but Da Bao didn't believe it.

  The younger sister has always been staying in Linjia Village, seeing more land than people. There are only a few business owners in Linjia Village. Dabao understands that his sister Er Ya doesn't want him to know some things, but he knows she is genuinely good to their family members. Every time she earns money back, she thinks about how to make her family live a better life, never thinking of herself. Isn't this enough? What else can be unsatisfactory?

  If it weren't for this sister, the family would have already started worrying about the approaching winter, and he was still being used as an apprentice by that master in the ironwork shop. Therefore, Dabao never asked his sister what had happened, and instead helped her lie to their parents.

  Lin He also knew that Da Bao didn't believe her, but he could see that Da Bao wouldn't say it out loud. Da Bao would always cover for him in front of his parents. Lin He had thought about telling Da Bao the truth, but was worried that Da Bao couldn't accept the fact. If she told him that she was just a lonely soul from another world, Da Bao might not believe her and think she was crazy instead. So it's better to leave things as they are for now, or maybe wait until Da Bao is older before telling him.

  Lin He had two hundred taels of silver on her, but she didn't linger on the street. She thought that this money was for building a house. Lin He thought that this time, the house must be built. Her own family's house was hot in summer and cold in winter, and it leaked everywhere when it rained. The yard was all muddy, and as soon as it rained, her shoes would be covered in mud as soon as she stepped out of the door. It was really impossible to live there.

  Lin He heard from Huang Shi that this house was still divided when the family was separated, because his grandparents had no house and gave him two silver dollars to buy a house. After buying it, they didn't have money to renovate, so they just lived like this. Thinking again about what to buy at home, they also bought almost everything, and then went back home with Da Bao.

  Back home, hand over the silver to Huang Shi. The whole family discusses the matter of building a house. If the house, including walls and backyard, is built with green bricks, the cost will be around 50 taels. Adding labor costs, food expenses, and furniture costs for the new house, it's likely to add up to over 10-20 taels. Lin He wants Li Shu (Er Gouzi's father) to make the furniture.

  Mr. Li's craftsmanship is not bad, plus he has a good relationship with their family, the price is also negotiable, most importantly, the furniture made by himself must be durable and long-lasting, in ancient times there were no other options, like trees that are everywhere, these things have not been divided, the trees in the mountains can all be used.

  Lin He wanted to build a few more houses. If there was not enough land on this side of the house, they could also allocate some land from outside the wall. The courtyard around their house did not belong to others, and those lands belonged to the village. If they wanted to allocate land, they just needed to go to the clan leader's house and say something, and then the clan leader would go to each household in Lin Village to get a handprint, and that was it. Generally speaking, for big things like building houses, people in the village would not object. After all, every family would build houses. If the land did not belong to private ownership, as long as it belonged to Linjia Village, it could be used.

  Lin He thought of building a few more rooms, the current house is really too small. Now Xiaobao is still young and lives with her and San Niang together, Dabao and Qin Lao Ye live together. If in a few years they want to get married, they must have their own room, especially Dabao, who will be talking about marriage in no time. Do you want to add more rooms again at that time? It's better to build the house once and for all now.

  Lin He thought that the kitchen was a must, her parents needed one room, Da Bao and Xiao Bao each needed one room, Qin Lao Ye and his two grandsons needed one room, she and San Ya were girls who could live in one room, after all, daughters would grow up and get married, then there should be a miscellaneous storage room, if there was empty land, it would be best to build another room as a study.

  Xiao Bao is getting bigger day by day. In the past, our family's conditions didn't allow it, but now that our home environment has improved, we still want to send Xiao Bao to school. Whether or not Xiao Bao can study well is not a priority for now, but learning more things will definitely be beneficial. In this era, education is highly valued, so tuition fees are very expensive. Just the annual payment to the teacher's salary is several taels of silver, and there are also expenses for giving gifts to the teacher during holidays and festivals. Additionally, buying books, stationery, and other school supplies costs around one or two taels of silver per month. Although Da Bao started late, it's still best to let him study for a few years, regardless of what he wants to do in the future. Recognizing more characters will always be beneficial.

  In addition to the study, there is another important thing that Lin He wants to build - an independent bathroom. It will be built on the side of the house and a drainage channel will be dug under the house. The drain in the bathroom will be sealed with a plug at ordinary times, and when water needs to be drained, just pull out the plug. Both washing and bathing can be done inside.