Beautiful Peasant Girl: The Young Marquis's Beloved

After that day, everyone thought that Liu Xu and her daughter would be quiet for a while.

But on the contrary, Liu Catkins did not seem to have changed much. The next morning, she and Liu Changshun went to the town to find the workers who were building the house. She brought some mushrooms with her, but they were all dried. She did not want to let Manager Chang know that their mushroom cultivation was successful for the time being.

Chang Yifei didn't know why he hadn't come yet, so Liu Xu didn't ask much. But thinking that Chang was familiar with the town, she asked him to help introduce one or two. Chang did have a familiar foreman, so she didn't refuse and told the two the address and some information.

Liu Xu and the other person expressed their gratitude before leaving.

This man and his family lived in Xifang City, Yuyang Town, in a two-courtyard house. After the two sides met and exchanged greetings, Liu Xu was still very satisfied.

The foreman's surname was Zhu Jiacheng, and he was well-known not only in Yuyang Town but also in Qingshui County. However, Liu Xu and the other two did not know about this for the time being.

Liu Xu and the others just felt that this person was generous and spoke very frankly. When they heard that he was introduced by the shopkeeper Chang, he just smiled frankly and did not look petty.

The people who came to him wanted to build a house, so he told them directly that he could provide a half-package or a full-package. A half-package means that the owner is only responsible for the construction, and the materials are provided by the owner, and of course, they can also hire laborers. A full-package means that the owner does not have to worry about anything. If there are specified materials, they will prepare them all at once, and the owner only needs to wait to move into the new house.

Liu Xu and Liu Changshun discussed it secretly and decided to take care of everything. After all, professional matters require professionals. However, Liu Changshun finally said that if Zhu Foreman needed a laborer, he should consider giving priority to people from Liujia Village. After all, they were from the same village and clan, so it would be better to take care of them.

Zhu Jiacheng agreed readily.

The next step was to decide what kind of house to build. Blue bricks and blue tiles were a must, but considering that she would need to grow mushrooms in winter and that she was always afraid of the cold, she also wanted to build a fire wall and a heated bed. In this case, the drawings given by Zhu Jiacheng would not work.

"Uncle Zhu, I want to design a yard by myself. Can I borrow your paper and pen?" Liu Xu said.

"Oh? No problem. Come on, I'll take you to the study." Zhu Jiacheng was just surprised for a moment, then generously led the two of them to the study.

It would take some time for Liu Catkins to paint, so Zhu Jiacheng and Liu Changshun waited for her in the courtyard outside, drinking tea and chatting.

Liu Xu felt that when it came to house design, hers was definitely not as good-looking as the professional designs that Zhu Jiacheng had come up with, but her main purpose was practicality.

Since someone was living in the front part, she didn't make many changes. The main house still had three rooms, with a living room in the middle of the two bedrooms, a design of one bright and two dark. Because the place was wide, in addition to the hallway left behind, east and west side rooms were built on both sides of the main house.

There were three rooms on each side. The left side was for her two grown-up brothers to live in, each with a room and a study. The right side was for her to live in, with one bedroom and one study, and the remaining room as a spare.

There are three back rooms on the left side of the entrance, which can be used as guest rooms.

The back is a three-sided house that she changed into a concave shape. The side close to the mountain is a mushroom house. The house on the left has not yet been decided what to do, but the one on the right is used to raise poultry and livestock, and store food and sundries. The empty space in the middle is used half for drying mushrooms and the other half for growing vegetables. Oh, and we need to dig a well, otherwise we will have to go to the village to fetch water, which will be exhausting.

The layout was secondary, the main thing was the design of the fire wall and the kang. Because the place was large and the rooms were spacious, she built a kang in every room, so that people could sleep on the bed or the kang if they wanted. Only the mushroom room had a fire wall.

In addition, there is an independent bathroom in the main house and the left and right wing rooms. She plans to ask Foreman Zhu if he can find a pottery bathroom to heat some pipes. Well, it would be best to have a toilet so that drainage and sewage can be convenient and not smelly.

So...the shape and structure of the flush toilet and pipes appeared on the drawing again.

As for the flowers, plants, trees and other things in the yard, just leave them to Foreman Zhu and his men, they are familiar with them.

Half an hour later, Liu Xu came out with the picture she had drawn.

He handed a few drawings in his hand to Zhu Jiacheng, and sat down to pour a cup of tea. Zhu Jiacheng didn't think much of it at first, but as he looked at it, the expression on his face changed from indifference to surprise, then shock, and ecstasy.

Liu Changshun was a little curious when he saw this, but he didn't interrupt. After spending so much time with Liu Xu, he had become a little numb.

"Hahahaha, good, good!" A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Jiacheng looked at Liu Xu and laughed like a wolf grandmother.

"Haha, Miss Liu, is this fire wall or fire bed the kind used for heating in the northern winter?"

"Well, that should be it. My mother said that the north is cold and almost every family has a kang. She also heard about it from my grandfather and uncles. Later, out of curiosity, she asked my grandfather and uncles to tell her more. Didn't she see that I was afraid of the cold, so she told me as soon as she remembered it." Liu Xu blinked his big eyes and talked nonsense seriously.

"What about this ceramic pipe and this flush toilet?" Zhu Jiacheng's tone was more urgent this time than before. As the saying goes, there are top talents in every profession. He felt that this would be his chance to go further.

"Well," Liu Xu paused, took a sip of tea, and seeing the eagerness in his eyes, she continued:

"I just figured it out myself. The toilet is outside, freezing in the winter and full of mosquitoes in the summer, so I thought we should just build it indoors. But we can't just dig a pit in each room... Not to mention the trouble, the whole house will stink."

"Ahem." Liu Changshun heard her speaking so freely and couldn't help but remind her that she was a girl.

Liu Xu pretended not to see it.

"At first I thought of digging a ditch, or at most using stone slabs to build a trench to the backyard toilet. Then a few days ago my mother accidentally broke a water jar, and by chance the bottom was broken. When I saw water flowing out of the hole, I suddenly had an idea. Ceramic pipes can drain water, and as for the toilet, haha, I'm mainly afraid of the smell. Really, I have a very sensitive nose, and I can't sleep if it stinks. After using a flush toilet, you can just flush it with water, and there will be no odor in the house. Hahaha, am I smart?"

Liu Changshun looked at his niece with difficulty...

Zhu Jiacheng was indeed full of admiration:

"Hahaha, smart, really smart. But, girl, aren't you afraid? Give me these drawings and I'll use them?" Although there are fire beds and fire walls in the north, in their place, people only know one side of the story. The drawings of Liu Xu are very clear, and there are annotations next to them. This toilet and ceramic pipes are even more so. Although they look simple, who would have thought of this before. If you know any of these two methods, whether you use them yourself or sell them to others, it will be enough for an ordinary family to have food and clothing for at least ten or twenty years, not to mention a lifetime.

"Hehe, Uncle Zhu, can you do it?" Liu Xu smiled like a little fox.

"Hahaha! You little girl! Brother Liu, your niece is amazing!" Zhu Jiacheng laughed heartily and patted Liu Changshun on the shoulder.

Liu Changshun said with a smile: "Little kids like to have wild and unrestrained fantasies. Brother Zhu, please forgive me for making fun of you!"

Zhu Jiacheng smiled and asked, "Are both your houses going to be built this way?"

"Hmm? Can I take a look at Xu Yatou's picture first?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jiacheng handed it to him.

Liu Changshun looked at it and asked Liu Xu what she was doing. Liu Xu told her uncle what she was thinking when she designed it.

After Liu Changshun understood, he turned to look at Zhu Jiacheng:

"Brother Zhu, how much does it cost to build a house like this?"

His family only has more than 100 taels now. Although Xu girl said it was not enough and asked her to pay, he, as an elder, still felt embarrassed.

"Well, that depends on your choice of materials. Different materials have different prices. If you're just building a house, I estimate that one hundred taels will be enough with ordinary materials. The main reason is that the pipe designed by the girl is more complicated. You need to dig drainage ditches and customize ceramic pipes separately, so it will cost at least this much!" Zhu Jiacheng held up three fingers.

"This..." Liu Changshun looked at Liu Xu hesitantly.

"Uncle San, build it first. We're going to live here for the rest of our lives. I'm here for you!" Liu Xu said, patting his chest.

Liu Changshun gritted his teeth and nodded heavily:

"Okay, then build the same one."

When they looked at Zhu Jiacheng again, they found that this man was looking at Liu Xu with an embarrassed but enthusiastic expression.

Liu Changshun quickly pulled Liu Xu behind him.

"What's this, Foreman Zhu?"

"Haha, well, Brother Liu, don't get me wrong. I just want to discuss a cooperation with Miss Xu..." He scratched his head and smiled in a naive way.

Liu Xu naturally understood what he wanted to say, so when Liu Changshun looked at her in confusion, she nodded and turned to look at Zhu Jiacheng:

"Uncle Zhu, what you want to talk about is the fire wall, the kang and the flush toilet, right?"

Zhu Jiacheng nodded.

"Then uncle, have you figured out how to cooperate?" Liu Xu looked at Zhu Jiacheng and blinked, looking like a child who knew nothing about the world.

"Ahem." Zhu Jiacheng cleared his throat:

"Girl, uncle doesn't have any special skills, the only thing he knows is building houses, and he has a group of people under him. But there are so many people in Yongzhou Prefecture and even in the whole Dongsheng who know how to build houses. As the saying goes, there are top talents in every profession, and uncle also hopes to make some achievements in building houses."

Zhu Jiacheng looked at Liu Xu while speaking, and seeing that she was not annoyed, he continued:

"But I'm a slow-witted person, and I can only make a living in Yuyang Town or Qingshui County with my family's inheritance. So I want you to teach me the fire bed and fire wall you just mentioned, especially the ceramic pipe and flush toilet. In the future, whether you build a new house or renovate a house, as long as you use these things, I will give you 40% of the profit. How do you think?"

"This..." Liu Xu paused, and Zhu Jiacheng was a little nervous. Liu Xu knew that 40% of the profit was already the limit for Zhu Jiacheng. After all, he still had so many people to feed, which showed that Zhu Jiacheng was really a good person.

"Haha, Uncle Zhu, 40% profit is... a bit high. The girl just came up with an idea. How can you be so greedy!"

After hearing the first half of the sentence, Zhu Jiacheng was obviously a little discouraged, but unexpectedly Liu Xu changed the subject, which made his eyes light up instantly.

"Uncle Zhu, you are a good man. In fact, if you were not so gentlemanly, you would have built a house for us and secretly used it yourself, and the girl might not know about it. But you are so frank, Xuer admires you!"

"So, Xu'er decided to give you all these methods and compositions. I just hope that Uncle Zhu will pay more attention when helping us build the house. Especially the courtyard wall, it has to be stronger. After all, the place we chose is at the foot of the mountain, and we have to guard against wild beasts coming down the mountain." Liu Xu said with a smile.

"This, this is not possible, girl. You know clearly, especially the design of the flush toilet and drainage. Once it gets out, how many wealthy families will flock to it." Zhu Jiacheng shook his head. Although he was half a businessman, he couldn't take advantage of her like this, especially in front of a little girl who was younger than his son. He couldn't do that.

"Oh, uncle, it's settled. If you say anything more, I won't let you use it!"

Liu Xu said playfully, it's not that she doesn't want to make money, it's mainly because she thinks that anyone who knows how to build a house can think through these things if they think about them more, so she doesn't have the nerve to do that.

“This...Brother Liu, look at this..." Zhu Jiacheng still couldn't get over himself and hoped that Liu Changshun could help persuade him.

"Brother Zhu, this is Miss Xu's idea. She can make the decision herself." Liu Changshun said after taking a sip of tea.

Zhu Jiacheng looked at the two of them, then lowered his head in thought. After a moment, he suddenly looked up at the two of them:

"Girl, your kindness is so great that I can't just accept it for nothing. So, I will pay for the construction of your two houses, and you can just move in when the time comes."

Seeing that Liu Xu and the other two wanted to refuse, he raised his hand to stop them from talking.

"Listen to me first. I, Zhu Jiacheng, am an upright man after all. How can I accept favors for nothing without giving anything back? You, Miss Xu, have given me more than one goose that lays golden eggs. I have gotten a great deal with just two yards. If you still want to refuse, then I would rather not have these drawings."

Zhu Jiacheng looked determined. Liu Xu and Zhu Jiacheng looked at each other and nodded in agreement helplessly.

After finishing the discussion and exchanging pleasantries, the two prepared to leave. Zhu Jiacheng naturally tried to persuade them to stay for dinner. Liu Changshun admitted that his family was still waiting for news, so they made an appointment to meet again when the construction of the new house started.

So, Liu Changshun drove the ox cart, carrying willow catkins, back to the village.