However…

Gu Yundong didn’t trust Chen Liang; she trusted Nie Cheng.

Her main requirement initially was that the village chief’s character had to be decent. Although Chen Liang had his own schemes, he was clear-headed about important matters and wouldn’t deceive her when it came to building the house.

It was normal for people to have their own schemes.

Now she just needed to plan the structure of the house as quickly as possible so they could start construction and move in sooner.

When they arrived at the Chen family’s second house, Gu Yundong unloaded everything from the carriage. Chen Yulan enthusiastically helped her carry things.

There weren’t many items, just two backpack baskets, so Chen Yundong didn’t need her help. Gu Yundong and Yang Shi each carried one.

After paying the coachman, they let him go.

The Chen family’s second house wasn’t far from the village chief’s house and had a small courtyard. There were only a mother and daughter living there, and the place was quite tidy.

Fang Shi seemed like a delicate woman, with a faint smile. As soon as she saw them enter, she started talking to Yang Shi.

Yang Shi didn’t recognize her and was immediately startled, hiding behind Gu Yundong.

Gu Yundong smiled at Fang Shi, “My mother is timid and not used to interacting with strangers. Aunt Fang, you can tell me if you need anything.”

Fang Shi also noticed that Yang Shi wasn’t comfortable, so she smiled and nodded in agreement.

Gu Yundong took all the things to her room and also gave Chen Yulan a small package of date cakes, thanking her for her help today. Then, she said she was feeling a bit tired and wanted to rest in her room.

Chen Yulan took the date cakes and went to Fang Shi’s room.

As soon as she entered, her smile faded, and her face turned sour. “I’ve been working hard, but the date cakes they gave us are fewer than what they gave to Uncle Chen and the others. Do they look down on us? Are they bullying us, a widow and her orphan daughter?”

Fang Shi opened the date cakes and started eating, “Alright, they’ll have to live with us for a while, so there will be benefits for us. You see that woman, she’s practically a fool, saying she’s timid. Later, let’s coax that Yang Shi to bring us some snacks or other good things. I think they must have some wealth. By the way, let’s not cook dinner tonight. Let them cook, and we’ll say a few kind words. She won’t feel embarrassed not to invite us to eat.”

“Will that work?”

“Why wouldn’t it? They’ve just arrived, and they don’t have any relatives or friends around. There’s also no adult man in the house. They’ll have to maintain good relations with us villagers, won’t they? Besides, your uncle is the village chief, so they’ll have to please us.”

Chen Yulan nodded. Gu Yundong had no idea that a simple gesture of goodwill, such as giving some date cakes, would be met with dissatisfaction, and they were already planning for more, even dinner.

They didn’t cook lunch; they had bought many buns when they came from the county town in the morning and finished them with pickles.

Yang Shi and the two children laid out the beds and went to take an afternoon nap.

Gu Yundong sat at the table, took out charcoal and paper, and began drawing the floor plan of the house.

In her mind were more modern house designs, but here, many aspects weren’t easily implemented. She could only make the house as comfortable and convenient as possible.

Each room had to be for one person, and there should be two guest rooms and two study rooms.

Once the house was built and stable, she would definitely work hard to send Gu Yunshu to school.

Gu Yunshu had learned some characters when he was at home with Gu Dajiang before. This child inherited Gu Dajiang’s talent, so as long as he studied well, his future would be bright.