CH 52

On an auspicious day with lively drumming and gongs, Zhang Wensheng reluctantly married Qiao Yingying.

As Yu Dameng and Qiao Yuan were returning home after work, their ox cart happened to cross paths with the wedding procession.

Qiao Yuan felt unlucky and urged Yu Dameng to hurry up and leave.

Seated atop a tall horse, Zhang Wensheng, observing the affectionate interaction between Qiao Yuan and Yu Dameng, silently vowed to make him regret in every possible way.

…..

As spring gradually warmed, everything was ready to begin construction.

The villagers saw that Qiao Yuan’s family was buying cartloads of green bricks and wood and guessed that they were going to build a house. They privately discussed and decided to each send a strong laborer to help Qiao Yuan’s family.

“The Yu family donated money to build a school and even dug a well for our village. It’s only right that we all pitch in when they are building a house,” one villager said.

“That makes sense.”

Apart from a few families who had grievances with the Yu family, almost no one objected.

However, Qiao Yuan didn’t need their help. He had hired a professional construction team from town. The leader was named Liang Shang, who led a group that made a living building houses. They had a good reputation in town.

Initially, Qiao Yuan thought of constructing a two-story house. However, considering the potential invasion of neighbors’ privacy from the second floor, he abandoned the idea. Later, he considered building a courtyard with two entrances, but he also thought that if he lived in the backyard, he wouldn’t be able to hear someone shouting at the front gate, which was not suitable for living in the village.

In the end, he decided on a five-room brick-and-tile house. Qiao Yuan drew up the plans himself. Upon entering the main gate, there was a spacious courtyard directly facing the main hall. On either side of the main hall were bedrooms, each equipped with a bathroom. The doors opened individually to the courtyard, avoiding the situation where the bedroom can be seen from the main hall.

On the east side were four rooms, three serving as side rooms and one as an outhouse toilet with a bathroom. The west side consisted of three rooms: a kitchen, a grain storage, and a utility room. To the left of the main entrance was a cowshed, and to the right, a shed was left for future use.

Corridors lined both sides of the main hall, providing cover from rain when going between rooms. Each side of the main hall corridor had a door; the one on the east led to Qiao Yuan’s current living space in the small courtyard.

On the west side, it connected to the shed previously used for storing beehive coal. Qiao Yuan planned to enclose the space, creating a row of houses facing north to south. This would serve as honeycomb coal storage and a grain warehouse, with an additional room for Yu Dameng’s tools. The remaining space in the courtyard, against the walls, would be designated for vegetable plots and a chicken coop, leaving the middle for drying crops in the future.

Liang Shang, holding the blueprint, fell into silence. This is such a huge house!

Why wouldn’t a wealthy landlord just buy a mansion in the county town?

However, upon closer inspection, if built well, this house would be extremely spacious and well-lit, much more comfortable and brighter than those low and short houses in the county town.

Moreover, the interior design of each room was quite sophisticated. For example, the kitchen had workstations on both walls, topped with polished marble; the bathroom had a specially designed drainage outlet, and the floors were to be tiled.

This house would take some effort. Just the labor costs for the construction would be twenty taels.

Qiao Yuan had inquired about the price beforehand and knew he was not lying, so he paid a deposit in advance.

On an auspicious day before construction began, Yu Dameng hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony. After the firecrackers rang out, everyone gave a loud cheer, and enthusiastic construction on the house began in earnest.

As soon as the village chief saw it, he quickly arranged for the construction of the village school.

He did not need to worry too much about this. The villagers were already working hard to finish it as soon as possible. They could not wait to finish building it and have the children start studying.

As Qiao Yuan had just started laying bricks for his house, construction on the school’s foundation was already underway. The school was built according to Qiao Yuan’s suggestion, with a total of four rooms.

The largest and most spacious room, situated to the north, served as the classroom. Adjacent to it was a slightly smaller room designated as a “library” for students to read privately.

To the east, there was a room for the teacher to rest and another room designated as a kitchen for the teacher to heat meals and provide hot water for the students. As for the outhouse, considering the unpleasant smell during hot weather, it was built a bit away from the main building, also serving as the public restroom for the villagers.

Additionally, there was ample open space on both sides of the school, which was convenient for future expansion.

On the day of the school’s completion, the village chief personally bought a pig to prepare a feast for the school’s warming ceremony. Each household also brought their own homemade dishes in a spontaneous display of support.

The village chief also invited Qiao Yuan to say a few words. “My original intention for donating money to build a school was to accumulate merit for my parents who passed away early, hoping for their peace and smooth journey in the next life.”

As soon as he finished speaking, several women, including Lin Cuifen and Aunt Wu, couldn’t help but shed tears, silently sighing that this child had a difficult life.

Qiao Yuan continued, “But I also sincerely hope for the prosperity of our Xianhe Village. Most of us in this generation are bound to a life of farming. However, the children are different; they have limitless possibilities in the future. Knowing a few words can open up various opportunities. Take my eldest brother trying to pass the imperial civil service exams, for example. More realistically, look at Village Chief’s eldest son Gensheng, and our neighbor Granny Jiang’s son Jiang Damei, both found good jobs in the county town because they can read and do calculations.”

After the villagers heard it, they immediately started discussing it in a lively manner, “That’s right, even the young runners in town must know how to do calculations and keep accounts!”

“Even the vendors selling goods from stalls can do calculations!”

Qiao Yuan waved his hand, signaling for quiet, and then said, “The content taught in our village school focuses mainly on literacy and arithmetic. It only costs one hundred wen per year to attend, and if a student performs well, they may even receive a reduction in fees or rewards. Therefore, I encourage all children in the village, even gers and girls, to come and learn at the village school, to learn more characters and understand more principles.”

In the county town, the tuition fees for private schools were generally over five hundred wen per year, and additional gifts were expected during holidays. The village school only required one hundred wen, and it was close to home. On the first day, over thirty children eagerly enrolled.

When Liu Ge’er heard he would soon be able to attend school as well, he was thrilled that he no longer had to envy his brothers, who left early and returned late each day for school.

Word of the activities in Xianhe Village spread to nearby villages, and people inquired if the school would admit their children. After discussions between the village chief and several elders, it was decided to accept students from other villages, but their tuition would be two hundred wen per year.

Even if it cost two hundred wen, it was much cheaper than in the county town. People from neighboring villages had no objections, and those with the means sent their children over.

This raised Xianhe Village’s status among the surrounding villages. When villagers traveled elsewhere, they were treated much more politely after saying they were from Xianhe, sometimes even getting free peanuts and melon seeds stuffed in their pockets. Everyone praised Qiao Yuan and the Yu family.

The school enrolled a total of sixty-five children. On the first day of school, the children sat in the school building while their parents sat outside the courtyard, quietly observing. Some sensitive and melancholic parents even shed tears upon hearing the clear voices of their children reading.

Lin Cuifen was also no exception and couldn’t sit still all day.

When Qiao Yuan returned home that afternoon, and Meng Qiu told him this, he couldn’t help laughing, “I remember when the twins went off to martial arts school. Mother was so happy she nearly held a celebratory procession.”

Meng Qiu found it funny when he recalled it and gently touched his protruding belly, his face full of happiness.

That night, Qiao Yuan was still perfecting the interior decoration plan for the new house. Items like new beds, large cabinets, and tables and chairs had their dimensions pre-arranged with the woodworker a while back. Now, he was just patching up some minor details.

Yu Dameng added charcoal to the stove, cleaned his hands, and walked over to embrace Qiao Yuan from behind, discussing with him, “We’ve almost caught up with the orders in the shop recently. I won’t go to the shop tomorrow. I’ll hire some people in the village to cultivate the few mu of wasteland.”

Qiao Yuan retrieved the ten mu of prime land from Qiao Guangzhi that initially belonged to his biological parents but still felt it was not enough. Recently, he also bought twenty mu of barren land, which needed to be cultivated before crops could be planted.

Qiao Yuan leaned against Yu Dameng’s muscular chest, feeling sweet and content. He put down his pen, turned around, and gave Yu Dameng a kiss with a smile in his eyes. “Recently, Yu Qiao Ji has been getting a lot of big orders for flower buns. Please keep an eye on things at home.”

“Mm.” Yu Dameng’s hands gently roamed around Qiao Yuan’s waist, and both of them, with a glance, swiftly rolled into each other’s embrace.

The consequence of being too vigorous at night was that Qiao Yuan’s waist was particularly sore the next day. He couldn’t help but rub it a few times in the shop, which aroused Ming Chen’s curiosity. “Boss, is your waist uncomfortable?”

With worldly Ming Xu and Zheng Xin also present, Qiao Yuan’s face reddened at the thought of them guessing the real reason. Hastily laughing it off, he made up an excuse, “My family is building a house recently. Yesterday, I moved some bricks and used too much force.”

Ming Chen was shocked. If the boss made so much money, why do they still have to do the manual labor themselves?

Tomorrow was the wedding banquet for Qian Yuan, the son of the wealthy merchant Qian from Yunshui County. Since last year’s birthday celebration for the Lu family’s elderly lady, they had placed an order at the shop. Qiao Yuan’s customized plan included unique flower buns on each table and additional decorations like pomegranates, gold ingots, and lucky bags for the welcoming procession.

Now, Ming Chen, Ming Xu, and Zheng Xin could handle things independently. When facing such a significant order, Qiao Yuan had much less to worry about and didn’t have to stay at the shop at night.

In the afternoon, Yu Dameng came to pick up Qiao Yuan to go home.

Qiao Yuan greeted him with laughter in his eyes. “I told you I could just return with Father and the others. Why did you come to pick me up?”

As Yu Shanwen and Yu Shanwu went to school in the county, their father bought a cart after the New Year for the convenience of transportation, and he no longer went back with Qiao Yuan and others on weekdays.

Approaching Qiao Yuan, Yu Dameng grinned even wider. Glancing around, he scratched his head, a little embarrassed, then leaned close to Qiao Yuan’s ear and said, “I missed you.”

Unable to wait until the usual evening time to return to the village, he’d rushed over early to bring his little husband back home.

Qiao Yuan haughtily cleared his throat, then smugly threw himself into Yu Dameng’s arms, eyes curving as he said, “I knew you couldn’t do without me!”

When expressing affection, his little husband was always bold and daring. Yu Dameng felt his throat tighten, and his heart was filled to the brim.

The two of them cuddled for a moment. Then, Qiao Yuan relayed some final reminders to Ming Chen before heading home with Yu Dameng.

On the way back to the village, Yu Dameng told Qiao Yuan about today’s land reclamation, “I hired ten people in the village, and each person is responsible for cultivating two mu.”

Qiao Yuan pre-arranged this to calculate the money per mu to avoid some people being lazy and slippery when calculating the pay based on the number of days.

The tactic worked well; one household even asked if their family members could join. Yu Dameng agreed, and a few other households followed suit, resulting in rapid progress in land reclamation.

“The soil is too poor. We need to plow it several times and plow deeper. We also need a lot of fertilizer. Before I came to pick you up, I made an agreement with several fertilizer suppliers in the county town. They will deliver it to the field the day after tomorrow, and my mother will arrange for hired workers to apply it.”

Qiao Yuan nodded and leaned on Yu Dameng’s back, acting coquettishly, “My waist is so sore today.”

Yu Dameng raised his whip and blushed, “When we get back, I’ll give you a massage.”

Excited, Qiao Yuan joyfully rubbed his head against Yu Dameng’s back.

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