Inside the old house, Second Song and Second Aunt Song looked at the waterlogged rice grains and shook their heads.
Why such bad luck, for the house to collapse just at this time.
Song Jinzhao held a cup of warm ginger tea, drinking it while checking the three children for fever or runny noses.
Although their clothes hadn't been completely soaked and they had changed immediately after the rain lightened, there was still fear that a chill might have taken hold, especially for Song Anhao.
A two-month-old infant can't even take medicine properly if they fall ill, making recovery difficult.
Their temperatures were normal and their throats weren't sore, so they should be fine.
After spreading out the rice and millet to dry, Old Man Song began discussing with Song Jinzhao: "This afternoon, your uncles and I will start clearing the foundation. How do you want the house built?"
Half of the hemp paper was damp. Song Jinzhao pulled out a dry sheet from the middle and started drawing with a brush.
"Build three rooms side by side in the center. The middle one will be the main hall, with a room on each side. Then, build a latrine right against the corner."
"To the front, on the east side, build a kitchen. On the west side, build two more rooms. Dig a cellar in the backyard. In the front yard, make a larger goat pen, which can also be used to store firewood later. Enclose the whole yard with a wall."
Old Man Song stared at the "mountain"-shaped diagram on the paper. The third branch of the family now only had four children, one of whom was less than a year old. Building such a large house was simply wasteful.
"Two rooms and a main hall would be enough. One room costs six taels of silver. Building according to your plan would take at least thirty taels to complete properly."
Song Jinzhao counted on her fingers: "Qiming and Shixue are already grown up; each needs their own room. And Anhao, when he grows up, will definitely need a separate room too. With less than four rooms, the house won't be enough later. We might as well build them all now."
"Qiming and I sold mushrooms a while back and made over thirty taels of silver. That's enough to build the house."
Adding the thirty-three taels from selling the leopard, there would still be about thirty taels left after building the house.
It wasn't a huge amount; she'd have to find ways to earn more later.
Oldest Song and his wife sat to the side with mixed expressions. In such a short time, she could come up with thirty taels? How much better was her life now!
Second Aunt Song pinched her thigh hard to stop herself from exclaiming aloud. She had thought earning four taels for her own family was already quite a lot, never imagining Song Jinzhao could make over thirty.
She had previously assumed it was only about ten-odd taels.
Old Lady Song chimed in with advice: "You can't spend it all. You need to keep some money for daily expenses."
Song Jinzhao added a few more strokes to the diagram. "The rice can still be sold for money. If we truly run short, I can always go into the mountains to hunt."
Old Man Song couldn't keep up with Song Jinzhao's pace. Since the money was hers, he felt he couldn't say much more.
"After the autumn harvest, everyone in the village is free. I'll call more people to help this afternoon. We should start work quickly and try to finish building within half a month."
"Thank you, Grandfather."
The faster it was built, the better. Staying at the eldest uncle's house inevitably had its inconveniences, and staying too long could easily lead to resentment.
That afternoon, when Old Man Song went to ask for help, the whole village learned that Song Jinzhao was building a new house.
The houses in Song Village were all built by the villagers themselves, so no wages were paid, only a midday meal needed to be provided.
After the foundation was cleared, Old Man Song led the villagers in making adobe bricks.
They mixed clay with rice straw, shaped it, and left it to dry in the sun. The original house had been built with adobe bricks.
Seeing this, Song Jinzhao paused, then turned and pulled Old Man Song aside. "Grandfather, I want to build the house with fired blue bricks. The courtyard wall can be made of adobe."
Adobe bricks shed dust that's hard to clean completely, and the gaps between them grow larger over time.
Bees often build nests in the pitted surfaces, and their lifespan is short.
Old Man Song's eyes widened, and he drew a sharp breath, thinking she was daydreaming.
"Using blue bricks would cost a fortune. Thirty taels wouldn't be nearly enough."
Blue bricks had to be purchased, costing at least five times more than adobe. Just the bricks would cost thirty to forty taels of silver.
Song Jinzhao scratched her head. She hadn't known how they built houses before, so she hadn't considered the type of brick.
Now that she'd seen it, she definitely couldn't use adobe.
"It's fine. I haven't spent the money from selling the leopard yet. We can use that for the house first."
Old Man Song gritted his teeth, trying to persuade Song Jinzhao to change her mind.
"A house just needs to be livable; there's no need to spend so much. Keep the silver on hand. In case of an emergency, you won't be at a dead end. Sending Qiming to private school will also cost money."
Song Jinzhao waved her hand. "That's next year. I can still earn money before then. I just want to live more comfortably."
Old Man Song was so anxious sweat beaded on his forehead. "Money isn't that easy to come by. A house is just a place for shelter. Everyone in the village lives in adobe houses, and they're just fine."
Song Jinzhao retorted, "Who wouldn't want to live in a blue-brick house? They live in adobe because they can't afford better. The Zhao family's house uses blue bricks. How many years has it been? It still looks almost new."
Old Man Song was left speechless, his breath trembling.
It was just as his wife said: his eldest granddaughter's fingers were too far apart; she couldn't hold onto money.
Extravagant and wasteful, she simply didn't understand the meaning of "frugal housekeeping."
"Fine, fine. It's your life to live. I'll go to the brick kiln to buy the bricks."
Unable to dissuade Song Jinzhao, Old Man Song decided to build the three central rooms first.
Seeing the vast amount of silver spent might make Song Jinzhao regret it, and there would still be room to stop construction then.
After the grain dried, Song Jinzhao only sold half of the rice. With over a dozen people working at the house every day, consumption was high. She kept the millet to mix with rice for the midday meals.
With no time to go hunting in the mountains while building the house, she went to the river early every morning to catch fish for Old Lady Song to add to the midday meal.
It was well known that when families built houses, having a dish of scrambled eggs for the midday meal was considered a substantial treat. Usually, a meat dish only appeared at the feast after the house was completed.
Song Jinzhao not only provided ample staple food but also served meat and eggs. The meals were so good that if Old Man Song hadn't already gathered enough helpers, some would have volunteered to come help.
Song Shigen, the father of Tudian, sat on a stack of blue bricks with his bowl, asking Old Man Song, "I heard the money for Jinzhao's house came from selling mushrooms. Is that true?"
Song Jinzhao had been seen twice by villagers when she took Old Man Song, Oldest Song, and Second Song to the mountains to pick mushrooms. Previously, no one paid much attention, but now that they saw her building a blue-brick house, some started wondering.
Did she make a lot of money selling mushrooms?
Old Man Song averted his eyes and began being evasive. "What money can you make selling mushrooms? It's all from Jinzhao's hunting in the mountains."
"When Anhao was just born and had no milk, Jinzhao went to the mountains to catch a nanny goat and killed a leopard. She sold it to a restaurant and saved some silver."
A thunderclap seemed to go off in Song Shigen's mind. His eyes widened in shock. "Jinzhao can kill a leopard?!"
Old Man Song leaned his head forward slightly. "Scarface taught Jinzhao everything he knew. This granddaughter of mine has great skill. That leopard wanted to eat the nanny goat, but she didn't get a single scratch and chopped its head right off."
Song Shigen stared blankly at Old Man Song, feeling as if he were listening to a tall tale.
Looking at Song Jinzhao, she wasn't tall or particularly strong. How could she possess such great skill?
He patted Old Man Song's arm enviously, "You're truly blessed. The children left by your Third Son won't have to worry about their future."
Old Man Song half-heartedly tugged at his own hair with some force, his tone full of vexation.
"That child is too young, and her free-spending ways worry me to death. The moment she has some money, she insists on building a house with blue bricks. I've tried to talk her out of it several times, but she won't listen."
Song Shigen clicked his tongue, as if trying to console him.
"When a child wants only the best of everything, why don't you just have her hand the money over for you to manage?"
Old Man Song pretended to recoil in fear, shaking his head vigorously. "The third branch's household is now run by Song Jinzhao. How could I, as an elder, presume to manage the money a child earns? At most, I can back her up. If she falls short, I'll just have Oldest Song and Second Song lend her money. They'll surely have to help their own niece."
Song Shigen looked toward the house where Song Jinzhao was inside, feeding milk with a spoon. No matter how capable she was, she still had to raise three younger siblings.
This girl really has it hard. He'd heard folks in the village say her future marriage prospects would likely be delayed because of all this.
