"We get to live here for free, but we have to pay rent over there. What kind of nonsense is this?" a woman around forty complained.
Village Head Su's face turned cold. "If you are not satisfied, you can leave."
The woman was a villager from his village. He hadn't expected that even with such good days now, there would still be people who were ungrateful.
He looked at the man beside the woman, "The Lord is kind-hearted and knows the hardships of us common folks, which is why she let us stay here temporarily for free. It's not like she owes us anything. You don't know how to be grateful and take it for granted. Have your consciences been eaten by dogs?"
The man was overwhelmed with shame by his words and smiled awkwardly, "Village Head, she didn't mean that. You know she just has a loose tongue."
The woman was also startled by his stern expression, keeping her head down and not daring to speak.
Village Head Su snorted coldly, looking around at the crowd. "We all know what kind of lives we lived in the past, and what kind of lives we are living now. Don't take your blessings for granted. That's all I have to say; conduct yourselves well."
A villager glared fiercely at the woman, "Exactly. If you ask me, the Lord is just too kind, which has fed the greed of certain people. What, do you expect others to build a nice house and just give it to you? Who do you think you are?"
"That's right. If the Lord hadn't taken us in, who knows where we would have died, turning into someone else's pile of shit."
Looking at the indignant villagers, Village Head Su finally felt a bit better. Fortunately, most of them were reasonable people; ungrateful ones like that woman were just a tiny minority.
The atmosphere over at Lihua Village was completely different. Everyone's faces were brimming with smiles, and despite a hard day's work, their bodies still felt full of energy.
Everyone was excitedly discussing the houses.
Sun Yi smiled and made the decision, "We'll rent the one with five rooms and a private courtyard."
He worked at the construction site, so he was very clear about the layouts in the residential area. He had already set his eyes on a house, and as soon as the rental prices were announced, he knew exactly what to do.
His wife, Yang Sanniang, was a bit worried. "That kind costs 200 copper coins a month. Isn't the rent too high? How about we just rent a small courtyard with three rooms?"
To be honest, for five main rooms and a courtyard, this price was incredibly cheap.
His family was large and had a lot of labor. There were five people who could work and earn grain. If calculated by the current grain prices, the rent was about one-fifth of the family's income. All things considered, it wasn't a lot of money, and they could totally afford it.
His eldest son, Sun An, also advised, "Right, three rooms are enough. The kang beds are big, we can all fit."
Yang Sanniang nodded. "We don't have much spare money left at home, and we still need to buy some household items later."
Sun Yi insisted, "We have several people working in our family, so we can afford the rent. The children have grown up, it's not good for everyone to sleep together."
After saying this, he sighed, "Now that the grocery store sells grain, it would be great if they could pay us our wages in money."
At this time, Jiang Jin was also discussing this issue. "The houses will be up for rent starting tomorrow. There are more things that require money now, so the time is ripe to settle wages in cash."
Luo Qingci nodded, her eyes full of admiration. Back then, the people in Gefeng County Town didn't want copper coins, so the Lord paid them in grain as their wages.
After that, the grocery store was opened, and now the rental policy was introduced. Money was now truly needed and in circulation.
And as long as money circulates, the economy will come alive!
Jiang Jin looked at Yun Ci. "Sales at the grocery store should increase a lot in the next few days. Keep an eye on it and continue the purchase limits; our inventory isn't exactly abundant."
Yun Ci nodded. "Understood."
Dong Si was worried, "Lord, what if the houses are damaged by them?"
Jiang Jin smiled, "Simple. We just collect a small deposit from them. If they can't come up with the money, they can borrow it from me. I won't charge them interest; they can just pay me back in installments."
She was in a good mood. Although the rent for the houses wasn't high, she hadn't spent much money building them either. The materials were all sourced locally for free, so the main cost was just labor.
She calculated that about four to five months of rent would recoup her labor costs for building the houses. This was only because they were in a time of chaos; otherwise, she could have just been a landlady and lived a relaxed life forever.
Dong Si's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea."
Jiang Jin reminded him, "Don't collect too much."
There was no furniture in the rooms, just the main structure of the house, floor tiles, and the like. Collecting a deposit was really just to prevent some people from intentionally causing damage, even though there weren't many people like that.
Dong Si nodded, "Rest assured, Lord, I know what to do."
Jiang Jin looked around at everyone and said, "Starting tomorrow, we will no longer settle wages with grain. Wages will be paid monthly in cash. The wages for this month and next month can be drawn in advance. Have all the supervisors pass down the notice."
The commoners had just moved into their new homes and would inevitably need to purchase a lot of things. There were many places where money was needed, and Jiang Jin didn't mind opening the doors of convenience for them.
She paid their wages, the workers used the money to pay rent and buy things at her grocery store. The money went round and round, but ultimately it still returned to her hands.
Everyone replied, "Yes, Lord."
Jiang Jin planned to move into her new house today. There were no harmful substances in this era; everything used was pure natural materials, so it was ready to live in as soon as it was built.
To celebrate moving into the new home, she specifically picked some incredibly tender radishes and Chinese cabbages that hadn't yet reached maturity, and cooked a sumptuous dinner.
Mu Qing ate while feeling a bit of heartache. "This Chinese cabbage is delicious. It's indeed a bit different from our varieties. It's too tender; if it kept growing, it definitely could have grown a lot more."
"Oh my, so this is the taste of white radish. Delicious, so delicious! Lord, you said one could grow to two or three catties, but this is barely over half a catty. What a pity, it hasn't fully grown yet. But it's so delicious!"
Everyone: "..."
At night, Jiang Jin returned to her own private courtyard. The furniture and everything had been made by the carpenters according to her requests.
Finally sitting on a chair with a backrest and armrests, and using a table of normal height, she let out a comfortable sigh.
Speaking of which, people in this era mostly sat on their knees, sat with their legs sprawled out, or sat cross-legged. They mostly used low couches and low tables. There were also stools, called folding stools, which had no backrests and were similar to the small square stools of later generations.
Jiang Jin was very unaccustomed to this, so she had the carpenters make furniture according to the design drawings she provided. She even had them make two sets of solid wood sofas, which were quaint and antique, exuding the unique scent of wood.
She also had Liqiu and the other girl weave seat cushions out of linen. It was only because cotton was scarce and had to be prioritized for making quilts or winter clothes; otherwise, she would have used cotton to make throw pillows and seat cushions.
At this time, Luo Qingci and the other two were also discussing furniture in their new home.
Liu Mi slumped ungracefully in her chair. "This chair is too comfortable. I also really like that thing the Lord calls a sofa. It's just a pity that the carpenters are all busy right now. When they have free time later, we should have two sets made as well."
Feng Qingzhu also leaned lazily against her chair. "If we make these, we could sell them outside. They would definitely be worth a lot of money. It's just that there's war everywhere now. Otherwise... sigh..."
Luo Qingci, however, sat perfectly straight. "It's just that the windows of the house are a bit large. Although the lighting is good during the day, such big windows will be too cold when the weather turns chilly."
Liu Mi said casually, "The Lord naturally has her profound reasons. We have oiled paper, but the commoners might have to use dried grass."
Luo Qingci shook her head. "The grocery store also sells oiled paper, as well as gauze. Both can be used for the windows."
Feng Qingzhu sighed comfortably, "I actually think having large windows is quite nice. I like it."
Liu Mi sighed deeply. "I never could have imagined we would end up living like this. Our old lives feel like a lifetime ago."
Nowadays, she spent her days shadowing Suo Qian at the medical clinic, treating patients, learning to read pulses, studying medical theory, and preparing medicinal herbs. Her days were busy yet deeply fulfilling.
Feng Qingzhu let out a soft sigh. "It is true. I love the life we have now. As for the past..."
A distant look entered her eyes. "I have almost forgotten it."
Luo Qingci's eyes grew misty. "I have almost forgotten it too. Back then, my parents and older brother were still around..."
