stingy landlady

Chapter 106 Huanghua Village (3)

As Guizhi drew, she explained, "This wheelchair has four wheels, two small ones, and it's this big!"

Measure the cassia branch by hand.

"Two large ones, about half a person's height! You can roll them around by hand while sitting on them! And for these chairs, try not to use wood, wood is too heavy. Use willow branches instead, or buy bamboo chairs or rattan chairs from the south, the kind that are light and easy to use!"

You also need to install a brake! The kind that can stop the car with a simple press of the brake pedal when going downhill!

That's basically the gist of it. You and the craftsmen figure it out yourselves! We have some talented people here! Once it's made, you can sit in it and go wherever you want around here. It'll be very convenient!

Then you can redraw the design yourself, find a large workshop, go to the prefectural city or the capital to make it, and sell it to those nobles. This time we'll get a share of the profits!

We still need this money to buy pigs and cattle! There are so many people here who need to build houses and get married!

Even after getting married, you still need to have work to do and money to earn! Sigh! There's so much to do! Let's take it one step at a time!

Uncle Lin Qian! Hehe! You'd better hurry up! We're all about making money! Hehehe!

Gui Zhi finished drawing, and Lin Qian was still pondering. Xu Hong strode in.

"Miss! You've arrived! I just saw Ping An and Xi Le in the carriage. Did you three children come together? Why didn't you bring an adult?"

Zhou Mingzhi hurried in as well.

"Third Miss! I think it would be better to speak with Steward Xu Hong! I've taken the liberty of going to see Steward Xu!"

"Uncle Xu Hong is back! Uncle Zhou, what are you saying! You thought of things I hadn't thought of, isn't that great!"

"Uncle Xu Hong! The adults at home are all busy, and I only managed to come by briefly before heading back! The wheat harvest started today, and we're having a housewarming party on the 16th of this month, so I need to bring Uncle Zhou back to help out!"

Xu Hongxu! Uncle Lin Qian, you two should all go back and have a drink then!

Lin Qian gestured for Xu Hong to step forward and whispered:

"Xu Hong! Come and take a look at the blueprints the employer has drawn."

Xu Hong was astonished:

"Miss, you have another new idea to make money? Oh, Miss! I've been so worried lately! I'm trying to stretch every penny I have to spend!"

You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household! Miss, two hundred taels of that five hundred taels of silver were spent on two hundred acres of wasteland. The remaining three hundred taels will be used to buy rice seeds, build pigsties, and build cattle pens!

I originally wanted to build a brick house for the young lady, but alas, I am short of funds!

Guizhi laughed and said, "Haha! Uncle Xu Hong! You're not as rich and powerful as you used to be? Look how arrogant the Prince was back then! He gave us a thousand acres of land, but now we only have two hundred acres and we don't even know how we're going to survive!"

"Uncle Zhou! Could you please have Ping An and the others unload the cart and let the horses graze? I'll talk to Uncle Xu Hong and Uncle Lin Qian for a bit, then we'll leave!"

Zhou Mingzhi agreed and went out.

Xu Hong asked:

"When we came in, Ping An and Xi Le were already releasing the horses!"

Gui Zhi smiled but did not answer:

"Uncle Xu Hong, do you think this wheelchair of ours is worth anything?"

Xu Hong looked at it, but didn't understand!

Lin Qian said:

"If it really is like what the owner said, that you can push it around on your own, it's definitely valuable! Of course, it's not something a normal person would use! But if it were me, I'd buy it no matter the price!"

Let's make it even more aesthetically pleasing so that people with mobility impairments can appreciate it!

Xu Hong! This deal is a success!

Xu Hong looked at Lin Qian in surprise:

"Huh? Strategist Lin, weren't you planning to just coast along and wait to die?"

Lin Qian said smugly:

"Hehe! I'm useful now! I'm your manager! Appointed by the boss himself! Right, boss!"

"That's right! Uncle Xu Hong! From now on, Uncle Lin Qian will be in charge of all matters, big and small, in our Huanghua Village! I reckon this will be a piece of cake for Uncle Lin Qian, right?"

"I'll do whatever the master says! Hehe!"

Xu Hong looked at Lin Qian's eyes, which were shining with excitement, and was happy for him! He was no longer the decadent person he used to be, just loafing around and waiting to die.

"Xu Hong! The landlord said this is our new home! Whoever gets married will get a house built first! I'll take advantage of this and have a house first before I find a wife!"

You'd better hurry!

"Then I'll have to choose carefully; I can't just settle down with anyone," Xu Hong said with a smile.

"Uncle Xu Hong, you have pretty high standards," Guizhi teased.

"Of course, this is a major life event," Xu Hong said earnestly.

"But then again, this wheelchair is really good. If it could be marketed, it would definitely fetch a good price," Lin Qian said thoughtfully.

"Uncle Lin Qian, Uncle Xu Hong, once you have some money, buy piglets and calves. Let's grow them from small to large!"

Guizhi thought for a moment and, not seeing a vegetable garden, asked:

"Uncle Xu Hong! Have you planted your vegetables yet?"

Xu Hong slapped his forehead:

"Look at my brain! Oh no! Miss! I've been so busy I forgot! Besides, there's no time!"

"Uncle Lin Qian! Uncle Xu Hong, you are in charge! You don't need to do everything yourself! It's easy to lose things like that!"

"You only know what you should and shouldn't do by assigning tasks to others and then checking on them yourself! By the time you're exhausted, you won't have the energy to think about anything else!"

Guizhi slowly explained the situation to the two of them.

"Let's go! Let's go out and make some plans! With so many people, we can't afford to have a slack season!"

Remember, we won't support anyone who's idle; we can't afford it!

Several people walked out of the courtyard, with the guard still pushing the wheelchair.

Guizhi pointed to the wasteland behind the thatched hut.

"We can cultivate a vegetable garden here. We can eat together for now and that's fine, but once we get married, we can separate our own space and grow whatever we want to eat!"

“Just look at the people in the village and follow their example! Don’t do anything special, just let the villagers think that everyone is about the same!”

The group walked along the road, past the cattle pen, and looking at the wasteland before them, Guizhi said:

"Uncle Lin Qian! You need to allocate manpower reasonably! Don't let those with skills go to waste! Those who make wheelchairs can make an extra one! As a sample, find someone who is eloquent and has a certain status to negotiate business with!"

What kind of "refusing to bow down for five pecks of rice" is that! What kind of "treating money like dirt" is that! We can't send such gentlemen abroad! We'll negotiate whatever is in our favor, whatever can fetch the highest price!

"Uncles! Look at this wasteland. After the rice seedlings are planted, during the off-season, you need to arrange for people without skills to gradually clear it out and plant fruit trees!"

There are saplings in the nearby villages. If we build good relationships with them, they'll give them to us for free! We can plant more trees, and in a few years, when they bear fruit, we can sell them for money!

We must plant it secretly! Don't let the officials know! Once the grain is harvested, we'll sell it, make money, and then secretly buy all this land!

Guizhi thought for a moment, fearing it might be too risky, then gritted her teeth and stamped her foot, saying:

"If that doesn't work, Uncle Xu Hong, go to the Prince's mansion again! Ask the Prince to allocate five hundred acres of wasteland, and make an IOU first. Tell him we won't take advantage of him; we'll include everyone's residential land in the allocation!"