Chapter 53: Upper Beam

Chapter 53

It was an auspicious day again.

After laying the foundation for many days, it had finally dried thoroughly and become very firm.

So today, the new house of Li Yao's family was going to officially start building the walls.

The mason was found by the Village Head to help. He had brought masons and carpenters from ten li around, and had also found over ten people from the village to help with odd jobs.

Of course this time Li Yao said in advance that those who came had to be paid wages, otherwise don't come.

"Hey, this is the first time I've heard that wages must be paid," a mason from another village said, "All the homeowners I've met were reluctant to pay even a penny in wages."

"You're not looking at who the homeowner is," a He Wan villager said, "It's our Lady Li from He Wan village, she has plenty of money at home."

"It's Lady Li who runs the boutique store at the Baichuan Market?"

"Who else could it be?"

...

Hearing the villagers' praises of herself, Li Yao could only quietly walk to the side, watching from afar as the masons built the bricks according to her instructions.

The walls were 24 inches thick, although it used twice as many green bricks, it was sturdy and reliable, and could also insulate against heat and keep warm.

The roof was also double layered.

After the walls were built, they had to build a row of large wooden beams, equivalent to a ceiling, and then build an outer wall and put on roof beams and tiles.

As for the floor, she had carefully considered and decided to temporarily lay a layer of green bricks for the time being.

Later when she had time she would make a kiln, find a craftsman with experience, and try to figure out how to fire floor tiles.

The masons worked quickly, and with so many people the walls were built up in just two days. The carpenter masters had already started building the roof beams.

The last main beam must be installed on an auspicious yellow calendar day, the so-called "topping out” ceremony.

And the next auspicious day was in two days, so before that, Li Yao planned to have the craftsmen build a kang stove-bed in each bedroom.

Although the winter temperatures in Yizhou Prefecture were at lowest only two or three degrees below zero, being close to the mountains meant damp air. That kind of bone-chilling dampness easily made people sick.

This was also why many villagers had serious arthritis before they were even forty years old.

The solution was simple — a small kang stove-bed, at the cost of a little firewood.

When Li Yao explained what a kang was, the dozens of craftsmen's eyes almost popped out.

"You mean people sleep on it, with a fire burning underneath?"

"Yes."

"Then... aren't you afraid of getting roasted?"

Li Yao: ...Do you think it's for roasting sweet potatoes?

"If you're not worried about money, do as you please."

Li Yao took out pen and paper and asked Wang Er to start writing the menu.

First the meat dishes.

Four large meat dishes: whole chicken, whole duck, whole fish, pork hock.

Four steamed dishes: stuffed pork, stuffed shredded pork, steamed fragrant bowl, steamed crispy pork.

Two stir-fries: wood ear mushroom with pork slices, twice cooked pork.

Two cold dishes: braised goose, mixed braised platter.

Altogether 12 meat dishes.

The vegetable dishes were simpler: cold spinach, cold noodles, stir fried cabbage, stir fried bean sprouts.

Finally two soups: a sweet soup of red dates and snow fungus, and a vegetable soup.

If each table sat ten people, based on the villagers’ appetites, Li Yao estimated it would just be enough to finish. So calculated this way, the ingredients for each table would cost at least one or two taels of silver.

With 80 tables, that was 80 taels.

And with so many dishes, she definitely wouldn't be able to cook them herself, and there were far from enough bowls, chopsticks and steamers, so she had to hire special chefs to cater the banquet.

"Hire someone? That'll cost money?" Wang Xueshi, who had agreed not to interfere, felt her heart dripping blood when she heard a banquet would cost 80 taels of silver. She hurriedly said, "I'll have your father take your younger uncles, three of them, and find a few more people from the village who can cook, that should be enough."

"Better not," Li Yao said. "Banquet cooking is difficult, we should hire professionals. You are guests, just sit and wait for the banquet when the time comes."

To save meat as much as possible, following the principle of frugality whenever possible, Li Yao asked her father-in-law and three uncles to buy two fat pigs from nearby villages.

"One is enough!"

"Two," Li Yao said, "We can make smoked and cured meat with any leftovers."

Wang Xueshi: ...

Wang Xueshi sighed lightly in her heart.

In such a short time, she felt she no longer recognized this daughter-in-law.

Just over a month ago, let alone spending nearly a hundred taels on a banquet, she wouldn't have dared to ask for a pound of rice!

Yet now she was planning it like a rich household.

"Right," Li Yao said, "After slaughtering the pigs, keep all the lard and pig oil, don't use it for anything else."

"What are you keeping those for?"

"I have my purposes."

After the house topping out event was done, it would be time to prepare some new goods for the boutique store.