Divorcing your wife might feel good for a moment, but seeing me make money will make you regret it f

The two drove the oxcart towards the designer's house that Old Man Qian had mentioned, and the road became more and more familiar to them as they drove.

Once inside Shijia Village, Xu Qing finally realized that this was her ex-husband's village.

Xu Qing's lips twitched. What a small world! He hoped he wouldn't run into the Shi family; they were disgusting.

Following the direction Old Man Qian pointed, the oxcart stopped in front of a house.

It was said to be in front of a gate, but there was no gate at all. There was just a thatched shed with an old man and a young boy sitting inside.

An old man was writing and drawing on rough paper with charcoal, while a child watched him.

It was the same old man Xu Qing had commissioned to draw design drafts at the recruitment office yesterday.

Old Man Qian stared in shock at the thatched hut before him: "I remember this place. Did they move? But they couldn't have moved the whole house..."

Hearing the noise, the two people inside the shed looked out, and the old man suddenly stood up: "Madam! How did you know my home was here?"

Then, somewhat reservedly, he brought out a wooden stake, brushing the dust off it with his worn-out clothes.

"Please have a seat. Do you urgently need the blueprints? I've almost finished them. The drainage pipes just need some redesign. They should all be ready by tomorrow."

"Old Shi, is this really your home?" Old Qian exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the old man. "But how do you two know each other?"

"What a coincidence! I didn't come to pick up the blueprints, sir. Dr. Qian said he knew a very talented designer, and I asked him to introduce me. So he brought me along. I never expected it to be you."

After explaining to the old man with a smile, Xu Qing turned to Old Man Qian and said...

“Yesterday I found someone at the job posting office who knows how to repair houses and asked him to draw up the design drawings for me. It was this old man.”

"I see, what a coincidence!" Old Qian looked around, then hesitated before asking, "But you still haven't answered me, your house... how did it end up like this..."

Old Shi poured two cups of water into a bamboo tube and brought them over: "Have some water. The house is simple, please sit down... Sit down and I'll tell you slowly."

Xu Qing didn't mind, after all, her house was just a bamboo fence with yellow mud on all four sides, which was no different from this thatched hut.

It's just strange that this old man sounds like a very famous designer, and his family should be well-off, so how could he suddenly be so poor?

There isn't even a stool in the house; a thick tree trunk serves as the stool, giving it a rather rustic feel.

Xu Qing and Old Man Qian sat down.

Old Shi slowly recounted the changes that had befallen his family.

It turned out that his family had indeed built the first brick house in the village with his skills, and had accumulated a considerable amount of savings. He only had one son, so his wife was inevitably a bit spoiled.

Later, he somehow developed a gambling addiction, and the amount he gambled increased. He worked everywhere every day, and sometimes the construction site was far from home, so he would live on the construction site and only go home once every few days.

His wife secretly paid off their son's debts, but when she couldn't pay them back, she started selling off family belongings. When he came home and saw that things were missing, his wife lied and said she had given them to her family.

Although he was angry, he also felt that he was often away from home, and his wife was taking care of the children and managing the household alone, which was hard work. So he didn't say anything. Anyway, he could earn money, and he could earn it slowly.

He only found out when the debt collectors came to his house that his wife and son had run off somewhere to hide from the debt collectors, leaving him all alone at home.

He had sold everything in the house that could be sold, except for this house. He refused to sell it, so the debt collectors took away all the tiles and bricks.

He could only work while paying off his debts.

Speaking of the old Shi family's past, Xu Qing had some memories, but he couldn't match the people. The original owner of this body was busy like an ox every day, and even taking a breath was difficult.

Every day, I just go back and forth between the fields and home to work.

Apart from the Shi family's neighbors, she didn't know the names of any other villagers.

Therefore, they failed to recognize that Old Shi was from Shijia Village.

Old Man Qian sighed, looked at the timid little boy beside him, and asked, "Who is this child?"

Old Shi replied, "I picked him up by the roadside. He was starving and fainted. When he woke up, he didn't remember anything. He was a pitiful child."

I'm all alone now, so if I keep him by my side, at least I'll have someone to break the pot when he dies."

Xu Qing: "May I see your drawings?"

Old Shi immediately handed the blueprints to Xu Qing, who took them and began to look at them, while Old Shi explained them to him.

"You need at least 10 rooms, so I drew a three-section courtyard house. There are three rear rooms and a toilet on the left side of the main gate. Guests can stay here."

To the right of the main gate is the gatehouse, but people in the countryside don't need gatehouses; they can be used to store miscellaneous items.

Entering through the hanging flower gate, there are connecting corridors on both sides, sheltered from the wind and rain. In the center are three main rooms, and on each side is a side room, which can be used as a study or storage.

There are three side rooms on the east and west sides, and each of them is connected to an annex room, which can be used as a toilet and a kitchen.

There are three rooms in the rear row of buildings. Madam, is that alright with you?

Xu Qing pondered for a moment. There were too few toilets in the yard. With such a large family, one toilet was not enough. Fighting for a toilet was too painful.

"Could we convert one of the side rooms next to the main house into a toilet, and the other into a study? We could also convert the side rooms next to the east and west wing rooms into toilets, and convert one room in the rear building into a kitchen."

Three toilets were built in the inner courtyard to avoid fighting for them and to keep them close to the houses where people lived. The rear building was relatively remote and no one would live there, so it was better to make use of it.

Old Shi immediately made the annotations on the drawing and then said:

"Since you have so many toilets, you can spend more money to buy some ceramic pipes and make a separate sewage system."

Kitchen wastewater can also be connected to the sewage pipe and discharged directly into the septic tank, which will greatly reduce the odor.

To improve drainage in the yard, the center of the yard should be raised higher than the surrounding areas. A ditch should be dug and paved with stone slabs. During the rainy season, rainwater will flow away along the ditch, preventing water accumulation in the yard.

"If that's the case, the cost might be a bit high."

Xu Qing slapped his thigh. He hadn't made a mistake in choosing Lao Shi. This guy even knew about separating rainwater and sewage. High construction costs weren't a problem. Money was meant to be spent.

"I'll do as you say, Grandpa Shi. Tomorrow I'll hire workers to dig the foundation and get ready to start building the house. You'll come and supervise the construction."

Xu Qing took out 800 coins and gave them to Lao Shi: "This is the money for the blueprints. The wages are still 30 coins a day. We will settle the payment after work each day."

Old Shi waved his hand and refused, saying, "It was agreed to be 500 coins, how can I ask for more? I'm already very grateful that you can give me a job."

"I'll tell you something you won't laugh at, but I haven't been able to find work for many days. Luckily I met you, otherwise my son and I would probably have starved to death."

Xu Qing tossed 800 coins into Lao Shi's arms without giving him a chance to refuse: "I'm not giving this to you for nothing. You drew the blueprints, and you'll be the one to guide the construction afterwards."

"We don't understand these things, so please pay attention. If the house is built and doesn't match your blueprints, I'll still hold you accountable."

Tears welled in Old Shi's cloudy eyes as he said firmly, "I will definitely not let Madam down."

Xu Qing bought a set of paper and pen for Lao Shi in the mall, asking him to redraw it more clearly, as she wanted to keep it for future use.

Then he and Old Man Qian drove away.

When Ding Guihua saw that the person driving the oxcart was actually Xu Qing, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

It really was that money-losing bastard!

Where did she get the oxcart?

Ding Guihua couldn't wait to run back and complain to her mother-in-law that Xu Qing had an oxcart and must have made a lot of money in business.

The mother-in-law became paralyzed, and Shi Gandang, who was pulled out of the latrine, also fell seriously ill. The family spent a lot of money on medical treatment and medicine.

We must find a way to coax her back.