Reborn before the famine, kicking away the scumbag's family and living a carefree life.

11. Building a house (3)

Su Jinru never dared to imagine that the team would lend her money. She had asked the team leader last night on a whim, and now that he had agreed to lend her 100 yuan, it was already an unexpected surprise.

Su Jinru said excitedly, "Thank you, Brother Jingui, thank you, village leaders."

Jin Gui: "This amount of money is enough to buy timber, but it might not be enough to buy tiles."

Su Ke: "I still have a hundred yuan in my hand. You can use it to build your house!"

Su Jinru didn't stand on ceremony either.

"Dad, consider this a loan from me. I'll pay you back later."

Su Ke waved his hand: "She's my own daughter, we're family, why are you talking about lending her anything? As long as you can build the house, everything will be fine."

Liu Yulan: "Yes! Everyone needs a place to call home, whether it's good to eat well or ugly doesn't matter."

Su Jinru: "Brother Jingui, there hasn't been much work in the team lately. Could you find a few members who know about construction to help me? I'll pay them. Each member will get ten work points for a day's work, which is equivalent to two cents. I'd like to hire a few strong laborers who know how to build houses and lay foundations to help me. I'll pay them two cents a day, and we'll settle the payment on the same day."

"No problem, I'll arrange for ten people to come and help you build the house tomorrow morning. Oh! Is ten people enough?"

"That's enough, ten people can finish building it in a month."

Su Ke: "In the village, there are two treasures and three lads who know how to build houses, how to pave foundations and build walls..."

The people Su Ke mentioned are not only skilled at building houses, but also down-to-earth and conscientious.

Jin Gui nodded: "Yes, yes, these people are all quite reliable. Tomorrow morning, I'll have them bring their own tools to help you with it."

When Jin Gui was leaving, Su Jinru gave him a few potatoes. Jin Gui declined at first, but couldn't refuse her kindness and accepted them.

Sure enough, when it was time to gather for work at eight o'clock the next morning, Jin Gui called out the ten people and asked them to help Su Jinru build a house.

This also explains that Su Jinru earned two cents per person per day.

There's not much work to do in the fields these days, just ten work points a day, which is about two cents.

During the busy farming season, there is a lot of work to be done, and some people can earn more than sixty work points a day. Therefore, according to this calculation, Su Jinru giving each of them two cents a day is the cheapest option.

To compensate for the low wages, Su Jinru promised to provide each person with a sweet potato at noon.

At that time, food was scarce. Giving someone a sweet potato was equivalent to a meal, and the family could save on a meal. So, compared to working in the fields, helping Su Jinru's family build a house was more worthwhile. Naturally, those who were chosen to help build the house were the envy of many.

The reason Su Jinru suddenly announced the addition of a sweet potato this morning was that last night, after her sister and An Xin fell asleep, she went back into her space and planted sweet potatoes and potatoes on the remaining acre of land.

Sweet potatoes and potatoes have a short harvest cycle; if kept in a suitable space with appropriate temperature and humidity, they can be harvested after one month.

So, we won't have to worry about food for another month.

Moreover, if they are given a sweet potato, they won't go home for lunch, and they can work a little more during their lunch break.

At that time in Daben Village, if anyone was building a house, they would take a month or two off work and do it themselves. Relatives, friends, and people with good relationships would also help out for free in their spare time.

Only Su Jinru set this precedent by paying someone to help with the task.

People who work this way are proactive and don't need to owe anyone favors.

Because when you build a house, someone comes to help you for free, so in the future, when someone else builds a house or has other things to do, you should also help them. This is a customary exchange of courtesy.

When Su Jinru was building a house, her parents and sister naturally stopped going to work and stayed to help with the construction.

Mom complained to Su Jinru: "Food is so precious. You've already paid the workers, so why are you only providing a sweet potato? I don't think the two hundred yuan you have and the little food you have at home will last for more than a few days!"

"Mom, I'll go buy some more sweet potatoes another day. As long as we can get through this month, things will get better."

"What about a month later? You won't eat or drink after a month?"

"Mom, don't worry, I'll find a way to get the food back. You can eat without worry!"

Just then, Erbao came over.

"Aru, I heard you divorced Teacher Qi. Why? Did he bully you?"

“He didn’t bully me, we just don’t get along.”

"What do you mean by incompatible personalities? My wife and I are incompatible too, we argue every day, but no matter how much we argue, we've never thought about divorce. How could Teacher Qi divorce you?"

“Erbao, everyone’s situation is different. No matter what the reason, I’m already divorced. If you really care about me, please help me build a house. I will repay you for this favor in the future.”

Erbao said regretfully, "Look, if you had married me back then, I wouldn't have been able to bear letting you suffer even the slightest grievance, let alone divorce you."

“Erbao, I’m divorced now. They say there’s a lot of gossip around a widow’s house, and the same goes for divorced women. So you can’t say things like that anymore. If someone with ulterior motives hears it and it gets spread around, it’ll all turn out differently.”

Liu Yulan said, "Yes! Erbao, you mustn't talk nonsense."

Erbao laughed and said, "Okay, okay, I know. I won't say such things again. I just feel it's a pity to waste such a good girl... Never mind, I won't say it anymore. What I want to say now is, Aru, I'll help you build a house. I'll definitely build it beautifully for you, and I won't ask for your wages."

"Erbao, it's a deal, two cents for both of us, plus a sweet potato for lunch. You can't refuse to accept it, or I'll feel bad."

Su Ke: "Yes! Erbao, Aru is in a hurry to build the house before the busy farming season. Because it will delay everyone's work and earning work points, she is paying for workers to build the house. Two cents is already the lowest price. If you don't accept it, others will feel embarrassed to accept it, which will be worse."

Erbao understood what Su Ke meant.

"Alright alright!"

In rural areas, building a house is a major event. Relatives and friends in the village, or those with close relationships, will help out for free, but only when they have free time after work. Therefore, the construction of houses is often intermittent. It usually takes at least a year for a family to build a house, and some families even take two or three years.

Su Jinru wanted to finish building it quickly, at least before the famine, so she had no choice but to spend money.

Jin Gui and the accountant measured and demarcated the area for building the house, and then they left.

Su Ke arranged for manpower, with some digging the foundation and others taking molds to excavate the soil.

The soil base is made by mixing soil with water to form a brick-like shape. After it is prepared and dried, it can be used to build walls like bricklaying.