The happy little days of the Ye family

In the evening, Mrs. Ye took out the 25 pieces of silver given by Father Ye.

"Old man, I pawned the jade pendant during today's harvest, but it wasn't worth much, so I got 25 taels of silver."

Old Mrs. Ye felt that Ye's father must have been deceived. How could such a beautiful jade pendant be worth only 25 taels.

"Pawn shops have always been shady. This price is about the same. With the more than 200 taels we have in hand, it is enough to knock down the old house near the academy and rebuild it."

The money is a little less, but Mr. Ye thinks it's about the same. After all, pawnshops also have to make money.

Mr. Ye added: "I think the business of Fengshou Braised Pork Stall has been getting worse and worse recently, and this is not the way to go."

Speaking of this, Mrs. Ye became even more worried, sighing and mumbling:

"After the New Year, there was another braised pork stall selling spicy duck and spicy rabbit meat. The business is getting worse day by day. Now I only earn more than 100 yuan a day."

"And the pier is open-air. When the weather is bad, you can't set up a stall, and you can't make much money in a month."

Mr. Ye talked about wanting his father to sell braised pork in his shop.

"It's not easy to get up early every morning to cook braised pork in Fengsheng. It's not easy to drive such a long way to the county from dawn to dusk."

"I think it's better to build the house over at the academy as soon as possible and sell braised pork in your own shop."

"Dong Lin has developed his temper now and can actually open a grocery store."

Mrs. Ye agreed to open a grocery store and braised meat shop in this shop.

"You have a good idea. Nowadays, the business on the dock is getting worse day by day. It is better to build the house early and save the rent in your own shop."

"Fengsheng now gets up before dawn every day to cook braised pork. I can still endure it now that I am young, but over time it will easily damage the body."

Old Mrs. Ye still felt sorry for her son. She dug out all the money from the father-in-law's family and gave them all to Mr. Ye's house.

"Take this money and go find Master Fang Lin tomorrow who helped Shanzi and the others build their house. Let's knock down the old house and rebuild it as soon as possible."

Mrs. Ye thought that it would be built sooner or later. If she built it earlier, she could open a shop earlier and make money.

"Okay, I'll go find Master Fang early tomorrow morning."

However, Mr. Ye only took 200 taels of silver, and the remaining dozens of taels were pushed back to Mrs. Ye.

"200 taels of silver should be enough, plus the 100 taels for the land, we should be able to build two houses with 300 taels."

Mrs. Ye calculated that it was 150 taels for a house, which was not much different from buying a house directly.

Old Mrs. Ye thought about the shop she had seen before. The shop was small, but the price was similar to the house or even more expensive.

It can be seen that the value of the shop is higher than that of the house. Moreover, the shop should be reserved for one's own business, so it would be better to build it as big as possible.

Mrs. Ye and Mr. Ye suggested:

"This shop is worth more than the house. See if you can make the shop in front bigger."

Mr. Ye doesn't think the problem is big, "The old house is actually two homesteads."

"The land deed is 6 cents per acre. If two houses are built, one house will be 8 cents per acre."

"Actually, it's not that small. The house that Shanzi bought in Rongshu Lane, with a front shop and a house in the back, is only 7 cents the size of the land. I think the shop in the front can be built bigger."

Mr. Ye feels that the homestead is quite large, and a shop of [-] to [-] square meters in front of each home should not be a problem.

Old Mrs. Ye thought that she would have her own shop at home soon, and she was in a very good mood.

"That's fine. Don't you still just want Dong Lin to open a grocery store? This grocery store is too small."

"Also, you go to see Master Fang tomorrow to discuss what style the house should be built in. He is knowledgeable, so you should ask for his opinions."

Mr. Ye thinks that the house the Tang family bought before is quite good.

"I think the layout of the house that Shanzi bought before, with a front shop and a house in the back, is quite good. How about we build it like that?"

Old Mrs. Ye thought about the house on Rongshu Lane and said:

"The shop in front of the house is in the shape of horizontal strips. It looks quite open and bright, but it is still a little small. I think the shop can be built deeper."

"Okay, I've made a note of it. When I discuss it with Master Fang tomorrow, I'll tell him that the shop needs to be built deeper."

"Do you have any other ideas?"

"The village is not far from the town. It only takes two-quarters of an hour to get there by donkey cart. We shouldn't be able to use the houses in the town ourselves."

"The house will be rented to college students in the future. The house in Shanzi is more practical, but not beautiful. I think those two houses should be made more elegant."

Mr. Ye felt that Mrs. Ye's analysis was reasonable.

"How about the house at the back should be built based on the recently purchased small house. That house was originally inhabited by scholars and was decorated very delicately and elegantly."

"I think it's okay. Let's build it according to Qingqing's dowry house."

Mr. Ye took the paper and used burnt charcoal to write down Mrs. Ye's requirements one by one.

"Okay, I've written it all down."

"The two shops in front are reserved for our own use, one is used to open a braised meat shop, and the other is used to open a grocery store."

"The house at the back is rented to the scholars of the academy to collect rent."

The two of them discussed it, and when Mr. Ye saw that the house of Ye's father and Ye's mother was still lit with candles, he went over and knocked on the door.

It was Ye's father who opened the door. Seeing Mr. Ye knocking on the door so late, he was a little surprised and thought something had happened.

Mr. Ye kept the story short.

"Your mother and I have already discussed that we are going to knock down the old house near the academy and rebuild it, and build two houses with a front house and a back house."

Two days ago, Mrs. Ye had mentioned building a house in her house. Mother Ye did not expect that Mr. Ye would come over so late at night to discuss this matter.

Mr. Ye continued: "The business of the braised pork stall is getting worse and worse, and didn't you say that the stall on the dock might be bought by those wealthy businessmen?"

"Just in time for the house to be built, you and Dong Lin can cook braised meat and open a grocery store."

Ye's mother felt sorry for Ye's father and had long wanted him to sell braised pork in the town. She was very much in favor of knocking down the old house next to the academy and rebuilding it.

Ye’s mother thought that Mr. Ye didn’t have enough money.

"Dad, Fengshou and I still have some money on hand. Let's use part of the money to build this house."

Mr. Ye refused and said, "No, I still have more than 200 taels. Plus the 25 taels I got from today's harvest, the money is more than enough."

Seeing that Ye's mother didn't believe it, Mr. Ye made a simple calculation for Ye's father and Ye's mother.

"The house that the Tang family built two years ago only cost 60 taels. I estimate that the two houses in the town can be built with 160 taels."

"If you spend a few dozen taels to buy furniture and decorate the shop, 200 taels should be enough."

Of course Father Ye couldn't miss such a big thing as building a house. "Dad, I will accompany you to find Master Fang tomorrow."

In fact, the business at the dock has been bleak recently, and Father Ye has become a little negative.

Mr. Ye: "I came here just to ask you to go with me to find Master Fang who built the house tomorrow."