Chapter 89: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 89: Night Conversation
Returning from Liuyang Village, the sky had already darkened completely. Li Zhong and his granddaughter had prepared dinner and left it simmering in the pot, awaiting the return of Mo Yan's family.
After dinner, Mo Yan gathered her family in the room, indicating that she had something important to discuss. Li Zhong, sensing the seriousness of the matter, knew it wasn't appropriate for him, an outsider, to listen in. Therefore, he went to another room to spend time with his granddaughter.
Mo Yan took out a key and opened the large wooden chest at the bedside, revealing a small wooden box inside, which was used by their family to store silver coins.
When the small box was opened, revealing the thick silver bills and a pile of silver coins inside, the eyes of the father and children were all fixed on it in amazement. They had never imagined their family would have so much silver!
Mo Yan found it amusing to see their reactions. She then took out an account book from the bottom, which clearly recorded all the expenses and income since they started building the greenhouse.
"Father, our vegetable business has been running for one month and six days. After deducting the wages paid to the villagers and the cost of building the greenhouse, the net profit totals two thousand and fifty-six taels."
Originally, they didn't have this much money. It was only in the past few days, as tomatoes, cucumbers, and other fruits and vegetables came to market successively, coupled with the approaching end of the year when both wealthy households and common people would stock up on vegetables for the New Year, that business unexpectedly boomed, tripling their sales in the final few days.
"Wow, so much?" Mo Qingze stared blankly at the silver bills lying in the box. He was not particularly interested in money matters, but to have accumulated such a large sum in just over a month left him unable to remain calm.
Xin'er eagerly pulled out all the silver bills and coins, carefully counting them twice before finally believing it wasn't a dream. For a moment, she stared at the silver bills in disbelief, lost in thought.
"With so much silver, how many candied haws can we buy?" Zhen'er blurted out, earning himself a scolding from his elder sister. Seeing his father and sisters smiling at him, his face turned red with embarrassment.
After the family laughter subsided, Mo Yan spoke seriously, "In addition to this, plus the previous thirteen hundred taels of silver, our family now has nearly three thousand four hundred taels of silver. When we start building the house next spring, I estimate it will cost about eight hundred taels."
"Eight hundred taels? So much?" Just as Mo Qingze was recovering from the shock of having "three thousand four hundred taels of silver," he fell into another pit of astonishment at the thought of needing "eight hundred taels to build a house," his expression fluctuating comically.
"Father, eight hundred taels is just a preliminary estimate. It might be even more." Mo Yan calmly added, anticipating her father's inability to accept it.
Their family's house naturally had to be the best it could be. In this era, labor costs were not high, but using green bricks and green tiles for construction would still require a lot of silver.
If they wanted to decorate the interior, the cost would be even higher. If she were to follow her own preferences, eight hundred taels might not be enough.
"The land we bought has seventy mu. Apart from the ten mu reserved for the front fruit orchard, I plan to enclose the rest and keep it for future planning."
Mo Qingze furrowed his brows, feeling conflicted. He had seen the architectural drawings of the house and really liked the layout, but the thought of spending so much silver made him feel helpless.
The two children looked at their father eagerly, unable to intervene in the conversation. However, the thought of living in a spacious and bright beautiful house made them ecstatic. They were already imagining what the house would look like.
Then, Mo Yan dropped another bombshell, "Father, when the house is built, I'll find a study for you, so you can continue your studies!"
"What?" Poor Mo Qingze was so shocked by his daughter's words that he felt as if he were in a dream, his whole person appearing dazed.
Mo Yan didn't rush him. She had planned all this in advance and wanted to prepare her family for it today.
After digesting these two pieces of news, Mo Qingze finally said, "Yan'er, our family is not lacking in silver now, so you can handle the house-building matters. However, as for entering the academy to study, it's not as simple as you think."
Towards the end, his voice carried a hint of bitterness.
Is entering the academy to study really that difficult?
Seeing her father's expression, Mo Yan didn't quite understand, but this matter wasn't urgent. There were two major official academies in the capital, as well as several private schools. She could inquire slowly after the New Year and would surely find a suitable one.
Setting this matter aside for now, Mo Yan brought up another plan that she had been planning for a long time, "Father, let's buy the barren hills behind the land foundation and plant fruit trees for farming!"
With the two previous matters settled, Mo Qingze quickly accepted the idea of buying barren hills to plant fruit trees, "Yan'er, you handle this matter. If you need anything from me, just let me know. However, as for whether these fruit trees are easy to cultivate, let's not talk about it for now. Where are we going to get the tree seedlings?"
As for the tree seedlings, this was the difficulty that Mo Yan was facing, but she wasn't particularly worried. "Let's start with ordinary peach trees and pear trees. As for other tree species, we'll explore them slowly. If they're not available in the capital, we'll look elsewhere. We'll surely find them."
It was almost impossible for fruits from the south to grow in the north, but with her space and Spirit Spring water, this wasn't a problem. The key was the tree species.
Seeing her daughter so confident, Mo Qingze couldn't say anything to dampen her spirits. He decided to go to the market in the village after the spring festival to inquire. Perhaps they could really find what they were looking for.
After discussing some details about building the house, it was already late. Thinking that they had to get up early the next day, they exchanged a few words and dispersed.
In the quiet night, holding his son's warm and soft body, Mo Qingze's mind was filled with thoughts. After thinking about many things in a daze, he forced himself to sleep when the first crow of the rooster sounded...
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