“Find me some professional workers and we’ll start building the foundation tomorrow. Your team will be in charge of cutting the wood and getting the necessary beams in place according to the layout plans. Once the foundation is built and everything is ready, all that’s left is to set everything up.”
“Sure, sure! I’ll hire some capable craftsmen for the job!” The old man looked at the client in the Bull-head mask, and then at the Horse-face mask of the man behind him. That, in addition to the layout plans by Master Li Qinglian, told the old man that this was a huge project. “About the workers’ wages and construction expenses…” Some big clients would only pay them after the job was done, but a small team like the one led by the old man did not have a large enough budget to shoulder the costs in advance.
Jiang Yeqian gestured to Si Jin and had him bring over his bag. He fished out some paper money from the stack, counted them, and handed them to the old man. He said, “You have a month to get everything done. I’ll give you two thousand taels for the workers’ wages and construction expenses. Tell me when you run out.”
“…”
The old man was speechless at Jiang Yeqian’s generosity.
He took the notes blankly and stared at this generous and wealthy client.
“You’ll have to manage the accounts properly. If you cut the workers’ wages, or skimp on the construction materials, you’ll…” While Jiang Yeqian spoke, he slammed his palm on the shop’s wall, which left a concave handprint on it.
Cowed at the sight of that handprint, the old man swallowed. He said, fearfully, “We will definitely complete everything on time, sir. We’ll manage the accounts properly too!”
Jiang Yeqian was satisfied by the old man’s behavior. It was only then that he remembered what Qi Qingyao had told him. He quickly recommended the boy behind him to the old man. “Have him work together with your carpenters.” Qi Qingyao had said that Si Jin should learn some skills so that she could abandon him. That was why he had to give Si Jin the opportunity to master carpentry skills as soon as possible.
The old man looked at the person wearing a mask depicting the face of a horse. Judging from his figure, it looked to be a young boy. He was extremely thin and slender. “Is he a carpenter too?”
“No, he’s… a tool that can improve the efficiency of your work,” Jiang Yeqian tried his utmost to praise the boy.
The old man didn’t voice an objection. The boy worked for the client anyway, and that meant that he would not need to pay his wages, which was all that mattered. However, was this young brother a carpentry expert too?
On the third afternoon, Xiaobao asked Qi Qingyao if she was going back to the village for a look. Qi Qingyao simply shook her head and said that it was not necessary.
She went downstairs herself and bought several sets of books from Baishui Town’s only bookstore. Then she bought several sets of stationery as well.
When she returned, her three children were wearing the same serious faces.
It was as if they were going to face a deadly enemy.
“Hmm?”
“Hmm.”
The children swallowed.
After Qi Qingyao set the stationery sets down, she smiled at them meaningfully. “Why do you all look like you’re about to be taken to the guillotine?”
Xiaobao and Erniu swallowed. They did not dare to speak.
Dabao raised his hand carefully. “I heard some of the village kids who know how to read say that learning to read is very, very difficult.” This was also the reason why there were so few people in the village who knew how to read. Now Mother was about to teach them to read. What if they failed to learn? Would Mother beat them?
The children were all worried.
Qi Qingyao smiled and said casually, “They’re stupid because their parents are stupid. You’re all different. Mother’s so clever, so my kids aren’t gonna be stupid. You’ll definitely turn out to be super clever and capable! You’ll definitely learn everything on the first try!”
“Right…”
