novelaction Chapter 789: Fireplace
Chapter 789: Fireplace
He took the hot water bottle handed to him by his second brother, sat on the stool, and spoke calmly.
"If you want to make money, you have to know how to judge people!
As soon as those three people came in, I noticed the thin boy.
Among the three of them, he has the most stable temperament.
When I saw the knife on his waist, I was worried that they would rob him.
But the old man in front and the yellow-skinned boy next to him were both staring at the price tag on our counter.
I knew then that these three people shouldn't be a big problem.
That’s why I only pulled the rope so that you don’t have to bring sticks down.
If all three of them were looking around the room, I'd have to keep ringing the bell."
The second child was listening carefully, somewhat puzzled.
“Brother, this only means that they don’t rob!
How do you know that helping them find a house will make money?"
The grain shop owner weighed the silver ingot in his hand before continuing:
“When buying food, the skinny guy didn’t even ask for the price, which clearly shows that he has plenty of money.
Besides, it was getting late, so I guessed they would stay in town for the night.
But Old Li, who runs the inn, had already gone home because of lack of business.
There was no inn in the town, so they had to rent a house.
At the time, I thought this was a way to make money. Even if they only stayed for one night, it was still money.
I just didn’t expect that guy to be so generous.”
After hearing this, the second brother was completely in awe of his eldest brother.
The owner of the grain shop felt even more proud when he saw his second brother's admiring eyes.
He's still hiding something!
For this deal, he handed over a thank-you gift of five taels of silver to the counter, and his father and brothers all praised him.
And the remaining three taels of silver, when given to the daughter-in-law, will also be praised.
He is such a smart guy!
......
In the small yard, Lu Qingqing and the other three unloaded the bicycle frame and spread a tarpaulin on the ground.
First lead the horse over and feed and water it.
After settling the horse, Old Man Zhuang looked at Lu Qingqing.
"Qing girl, there is so much work to do. Where do we start?"
Lu Qingqing glanced around the yard and decided to clean the two rooms with kangs first.
It's getting late, so clean up the house early.
Only then can you sleep on a warm kang at night.
In addition, after the house is cleaned up, you can move your luggage in and you won’t have to worry about it later.
After thinking it through, she arranged the work.
Sun Yue and Old Man Zhuang were responsible for cleaning the pots and boiling some warm water to clean the dust in the house.
She and Qin Lang went out to borrow snow-clearing tools from their neighbors.
Before leaving, she took off the long knife from her waist and placed it on the carriage.
After thinking about it, he took a handful of dried vegetables and two multi-grain pancakes that he had just bought.
Seeing this, Qin Lang also took off the Tang sword hanging from his waist.
The two men walked out of the yard and looked at the neighbors on both sides.
The closest one is naturally the neighbor on the right.
There was an aisle of only two or three meters between the two courtyards.
The neighbor on the left is much farther away, separated by a large vegetable garden buried in snow.
Lu Qingqing looked to the right and saw that the snow in front of the house on the right had obvious signs of being cleaned.
He called Qin Lang and went to the right first.
The two stood at the door and knocked on it several times.
Soon, a man's voice was heard in the yard.
"Who?"
Lu Qingqing raised her voice and replied:
“Brother, we just arrived and rented the yard next door.
There's too much snow in the yard, and I'd like to borrow your big shovel."
In the yard, the man looked back at his wife and remembered that she said she heard some noise next door just now.
He was just suspecting that there might be a thief next door.
The two families are so close, I'm afraid my own family will suffer too.
Now that I know someone is renting the house, I feel a lot more relieved.
The man didn't open the door, but got a ladder, climbed up the wall and looked outside.
Seeing that there were only two young men outside the door, he came down and opened the gate.
Behind him, three young boys stood vigilantly.
Lu Qingqing looked at the family of five and hurriedly handed over the dried vegetables and multi-grain cakes in her hand.
"Uncle, this is a little token of my appreciation. I hope you don't mind."
When the man saw the food, his expression became less serious.
"Look at you guys, you're still so polite.
Since you have rented the yard next door, we will be neighbors from now on.
Don’t be so polite next time!”
Having said that, he took the dried vegetables and the cake and said to the person behind him:
"Mother, go get our snow shovel."
His wife looked at the dried vegetables and pancakes and quickly agreed.
He turned around and went into the house to get the big snow shovel.
Qin Lang stepped forward and took the shovel.
Lu Qingqing continued to talk.
"Uncle, aunt, we just arrived.
I thought of setting up a kang in the house and a livestock shed in the yard.
As for wages, each person is paid twenty cents a day, and a lunch is provided.
I don’t know, is there anyone here willing to come and help?”
When the man heard this condition, his face lit up with joy.
"Boy, are you telling the truth?
Twenty cents a day for each person, and one meal?"
Seeing Lu Qingqing nod, he pointed to his three sons behind him and introduced them:
"Little brother, what do you think of my three boys?
Don't be fooled by their young age, but the three of them are good at their work.
Besides, I know how to build the barn, so you won’t lose out by coming to us.”
Lu Qingqing looked at the three boys behind him. They looked about the same age as her and Qin Lang.
But he was obviously much thinner.
However, most girls and boys these days are like this.
Considering that he hasn't had enough food to eat all year round, it's already pretty good to be able to grow up like this.
Lu Qingqing agreed immediately.
"Uncle, thank you for your help.
But we brought a lot of horses, more than a dozen in total.
The weather these days, as you know, can change at any moment.
I was thinking about building the livestock shed as soon as possible.
I'll give you the wages, can you help me find another person in the village?"
Before the man could react, the woman behind him reacted first.
The wages are given to their families, and they have the final say on how much to give to the villagers.
These days, even in their town, twelve cents a day to hire a strong laborer was considered high.
Add to that the provided meals, the treatment is very high.
She quickly agreed.
"Don't worry, we'll find this person for you.
I guarantee you’ll find someone who’s in good health and willing to work hard!
However, if the villagers ask about the wages, I would like you to keep it a secret."
Lu Qingqing naturally agreed.
After the man heard what his wife said, he also reacted.
After thinking about it, he asked again.
"Little brother, how many people do you plan to hire to build this barn?"
Lu Qingqing didn't have much idea and subconsciously looked at Qin Lang.
Although Qin Lang had never actually done it, he still had memories of building houses with the villagers.
Thinking about the barn that could accommodate more than a dozen horses, he roughly calculated and said:
"Let's find ten people first."
The man thought about it and agreed.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Lu Qingqing thought of the kang and continued to ask:
"By the way, is there anyone here who can set up a kang?"
The man heard the word "fire kang", thought for a moment, and said:
"Yes, there are, but they are not in our Fushan Town.
The kangs here were built by the old firewood master in Gouzi Village, which is more than ten miles away.
But the snow is so thick now that it’s hard to hire anyone.”