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Chu Yue looked at Lu Xinghe. “Do different brickyards have different prices for bricks?”
Lu Xinghe nodded.
“The owners of the brickyards are different, and the locations are different, so there are differences. But the price differences won’t be too big. The biggest difference is in the quality of the bricks. Some brickyards produce bricks with good color and high hardness, which are not easily broken. Other brickyards produce bricks with poor color and are easily broken.”
“But you haven’t been to the brickyards in the neighboring villages, how do you know their quality?” Chu Yue was puzzled.
“I haven’t been there, but I’ve seen their bricks, so I have some impression.”
After two quarters of an hour, they finally reached the brickyard.
The brickyard was large, with finished bricks piled everywhere. Because of the constant firing of the kiln, there were no grass or trees around the brickyard, and the temperature was much higher than elsewhere.
A young servant saw them from afar, wiping his sweat as he ran up and asked, “Are you two looking at the bricks?”
Lu Xinghe nodded. “I wonder what the price of your bricks is?”
“Two copper coins for three.” The young servant quickly pointed to the bricks behind him. “You two can take a look at our bricks. Our brickyard has been in Nanping Town for a hundred years. More than half of the houses in town use bricks from our brickyard.”
Lu Xinghe stepped forward to take a look and then tapped on the bricks.
Seeing this, the young servant quickly took two bricks and knocked them together. The sound was crisp and not dull, and there was no sign of cracking.
As expected of an old brickyard, the quality of the bricks they produced was quite good.
Lu Xinghe looked at him.
“Can the price of these bricks be lower? There’s a brickyard in Yaojia Gou that’s cheaper than yours.”
The young servant immediately smiled. “Oh, that little brickyard in Yaojia Gou, how can it compare to our old brickyard that has been making bricks for over a hundred years? Since you’ve checked out the brickyard in Yaojia Gou, but haven’t bought bricks there, you must know the quality of their bricks, right? We do business, we get what we pay for. If you want high-quality bricks, there’s really no place better than our Kaiyang Brickyard in the entire area.”
Lu Xinghe already had a plan in mind. The bricks from a large brickyard like this would definitely be more expensive than those from a small workshop. Two copper coins for three was a bit more expensive than the bricks from Yaojia Gou, but the quality was better.
He told the young servant the approximate size of the house he wanted to build. The young servant immediately calculated the approximate number of bricks they would need.
“You’ll need about sixty thousand bricks. That should be enough. If you need more, you can come back and buy more. If you end up with too many, as long as the bricks haven’t been damaged, you can return them. How does that sound?”
Sixty thousand bricks would cost a total of forty taels of silver. After calculating, it was ten taels of silver more than the bricks from Yaojia Gou!
That was no small amount.
Lu Xinghe looked back at Chu Yue, thought for a moment, and then nodded. “Okay.”
He then asked about the price of tiles.
The tiles from Kaiyang Brickyard were about the same price as those from Yaojia Gou, but the quality was better than those from Yaojia Gou. So, he decided to buy them here as well. The tiles cost a total of six taels of silver.
In the end, Lu Xinghe paid a deposit of ten taels of silver, ordered sixty thousand bricks and the necessary tiles, and then took Chu Yue back home.
It would take a few days for the bricks and tiles to be fired. The brickyard agreed to deliver the bricks and tiles to Banpo Village in half a month. In half a month, the rice in the fields would have been harvested, and the houses of his uncles should be almost finished.
Once the bricks arrived, they could start building their house.
…
When they got back home, it was almost noon.
Because several hours had passed, the injury on Lu Xinghe’s lip wasn’t as obvious anymore.
To avoid worrying Yun Cuihe, he said he had accidentally bumped into something when he got back home, then gave the remaining money to Yun Cuihe and carried a bucket of water to the fields.
Chu Yue went back to her room and put the loose silver in a bamboo tube, hiding it in several places. The box where the gold bracelet was kept was too big to fit in the wall hole, so Chu Yue wrapped it in old clothes and stuffed it under the kang.
Anyway, it was hot these days and they wouldn’t be using the kang. By the time they needed to use the kang, they would have moved to the new house, and they would have a place to hide these things then.
After hiding the things, she went to the kitchen and unwrapped the meat dish that Lu Xinghe had packed from Ruyiju.
Lu Xingping smelled the aroma and entered the kitchen.
“Sister-in-law, what is this?”
“Your brother packed some food in town and said he wanted you to try it.” She used a bowl to serve the food and handed it towards Lu Xingping. “Try it.”
Lu Xingping waved his hand, a little embarrassed.
“No, it’s almost time for dinner. Let’s eat together as a family then.”
Chu Yue smiled and then turned the dish over in a larger bowl, placing it upside down on the stove to keep the dust out.
As she was leaving the kitchen, she saw Yun Cuihe coming out of the house.
“Yueyue, come with me.”
Chu Yue followed Yun Cuihe into the house, confused.
“Mother, what’s wrong?”
Yun Cuihe took out the silver that Lu Xinghe had given her. “I remember giving Xinghe fifty taels of silver this morning, for him to buy books and bricks. The deposit for the bricks was ten taels, why are there still forty taels here? Didn’t the books cost any money?”
Having two scholars in the family, she knew very well that books in town were more expensive than gold.
Chu Yue smiled. “Mother, my husband bought the books with our own money.”
Yun Cuihe sighed.
“You child, we’re all one family now. Why are you saying mine and yours? You’ll have many more expenses in the future. The path of the Imperial Examination, even if everything goes smoothly, will take many years. Once Xinghe continues down this path, not only will the family be unable to help, but you’ll also have to help out in every way. In a few years, when you come of age, if we have a big, fat baby boy, then the expenses will be even greater.”
Chu Yue didn’t expect Yun Cuihe to think so far ahead.
“Mother, it’s not time for that yet. We can just work hard and earn more money in the future.”
Yun Cuihe patted her hand. “You child, you’ve been lucky lately, but no one can guarantee that this luck will last forever, can they? If we have money, we should save it. I’m not worried about Xingping and Xing’an; they’re still young. It’s Xinghe who’s had it tough these past few years.”
Hearing this, Chu Yue couldn’t help but ask, “Mother, Xingping and Xing’an are growing up too. Have you thought about their future?”
Yun Cuihe looked a bit troubled. “Xing’an has a steady temperament. If he can learn a few characters, he could become a bookkeeper, which would be an easy job. But as for Xingping, that mischievous boy, I really don’t know what to do with him.”
She was a practical person. It was enough to have Lu Xinghe taking the Imperial Examination. Everyone had to make a living. If they sent all of them to school, they wouldn’t be able to afford it.
Chu Yue comforted her. “Mother, you don’t need to worry. Although Xingping is a bit mischievous, he’s also brave and careful. Maybe he’ll have his own opportunities in the future.”