After being exiled, relying on space to pamper the chief assistant

Summer is always hot, especially in small southern border towns like Manyi County, which are prone to drought.

Fortunately, the weather this year is pretty good, with rain from time to time.

When Xie Yunshu brought Zhao Yi back to the house and Ye Zhen had collected her clothes, a heavy rain started falling.

The pouring rain pounding on the ground did not make people feel bored, but made the farmers even more happy.

With this rain, I'm afraid there won't be any water shortage in the fields this year.

In previous years, the villagers in the village were worried about the drought in their fields when summer came, and they always had to run to the river to carry water.

Under the patter of rain, the three of them returned to their previous state, reading and cooking.

As soon as Ye Zhen walked into the kitchen, she noticed something was wrong. She had already kneaded the dough and put it aside.

Not far from the dough, drops of rain were falling from the roof.

"This! It's leaking!"

He quickly walked over and moved the dough to avoid ruining all his hard work.

She glanced at the roof helplessly. She couldn't see anything wrong with the naked eye. Anyway, there was a line of rainwater dripping down slowly.

Resigned to finding a wooden basin to catch the rainwater, Ye Zhen packed up her things and moved to a different location to avoid the leakage.

Xie Yunshu, who came after hearing the news, stood outside the door and his face tightened when he saw the leaking roof.

"It seems that we should put the renovation of the house on the agenda as soon as possible. We can't have to pick up a basin every time it rains!"

Seeing his figure, Ye Zhen once again mentioned the decision to rebuild the house, but the other party was noncommittal.

Now that she has money, she doesn't want to live in a miserable state and even wants to build a big blue brick house.

Naturally, she wouldn't dare to think of a house like the Wu Mansion, but a blue brick house should be fine, right?

Moreover, Ye Zhen plans to design it according to the layout of a modern house. She does not plan to design it according to the layout of the houses of this era, with one room per room, which is a waste of space.

After dinner, she put her ideas into action.

Draw a floor plan with a brush.

Xie Yunshu, who had been watching her draw the design drawing, frowned, obviously not understanding the drawing very well.

In fact, the system also has architectural drawings, and they are more sophisticated and intuitive than those drawn by Ye Zhen herself, but she does not want to spend this merit point at all.

Right now, she didn't have much money in hand, and Ye Zhen didn't plan to buy a high-end house.

Three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom, enough for three people to live.

After drawing the design drawing, Ye Zhen folded it and held it in her hand. Regardless of whether the people around her understood it or not, she said hello and went out.

She had to ask about repairs to the house while it was still dark.

Because it had just rained, the road was very muddy, and Ye Zhen's shoes were covered with mud.

When she arrived at the door of Aunt Huang's house, the smell of food was wafting inside.

"Mrs. Xie, why are you here?"

The woman who was packing things in the yard saw Ye Zhen and asked with a smile.

This person is Aunt Huang's daughter-in-law, not much older than Ye Zhen, but years of exposure to wind and sun have made her look older than her.

"I just want to see Aunt Huang for advice. You are busy."

Ye Zhen smiled at the other party and looked into the room.

Aunt Huang heard her daughter-in-law calling Ye Zhen when she was in the house, and hurriedly went out to greet her.

"What a coincidence, we are preparing to eat. Have you eaten? Why don't you take a bite?"

In addition to Aunt Huang, there was also her son in the house. In order to avoid suspicion, Ye Zhen did not enter the house, but stood in the yard.

"It's okay, I've already eaten. I just want to ask you something."

"But it doesn't matter."

As soon as Aunt Huang finished speaking, her sons and daughters-in-law gathered around and gave Ye Zhen friendly smiles.

It has been four or five years since their family was exiled here. During the exile, Aunt Huang's husband-in-law fell ill and died, leaving mother and son to depend on each other.

This daughter-in-law was later married in the village. We were all poor people who had been exiled, and they supported each other to live their lives.

Ye Zhen took out the design drawing she drew and explained:

"Our bamboo house has been in disrepair for a long time. I saw that it is not strong and it leaked today. So I thought about hiring someone to rebuild a house. I have already drawn the blueprints, and the only thing left is the workers."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Huang's family instantly understood and did not feel inappropriate about the other party's decision.

The houses in the village were built by each family after they arrived. Before they arrived, it could be said to be a wasteland.

When Xie Yunshu and his party arrived that day, the villagers spontaneously went over to help with the repairs.

But the bamboo house looked like it was many years old, and the space inside the house was extremely cramped. It was natural that the two of them could not get used to living there.

"You can find people from the next village. Many people in their village are good at building houses. Many houses in our village were built by them."

These words made Ye Zhen a little excited, but she thought that the houses in the whole village were generally made of wood, so she quickly added:

"I was thinking of building a house with blue bricks."

"Blue bricks? That's not cheap! I heard from cousin Huang Chuan that a blue brick costs five cents!"

The daughter-in-law exclaimed and looked at Ye Zhen in shock.

It’s not like no one in the village has thought about building a house with blue bricks and large tiles, but the cost was too much, so they had to settle for the next best thing.

Everyone was exiled here, and although they still had some wealth, they couldn't spend it all on building houses.

Not only did the daughter-in-law react excitedly, but even Aunt Huang had a solemn look on her face.

"Mrs. Xie, do you really want to build a blue brick house? You know, without a small courtyard, an ordinary house would cost hundreds of blue bricks!"

Five taels of silver per room was still within Ye Zhen's affordability, so she nodded.

According to her design, three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom should cost about thirty taels, and her maximum limit is fifty taels.

Of course, labor costs have to be factored in.

Seeing her resolute look, Aunt Huang had no choice but to stop asking any more questions. After all, this was a family matter, and she had already made the cost very clear. I guess Xie Yunshu's family still had some wealth.

Besides, who doesn’t want to live in a brick house with big tiles? It’s warm in winter and cool in summer, which is better than your own wooden house!

"Well, I will ask Huang Chuan for you when he comes back. There seems to be a brick kiln in the county that makes green bricks, and he is familiar with these."

Hearing this, Ye Zhen nodded, and the stone in her heart fell to the ground temporarily.

If you are not familiar with the place where you live, and you can't find the direction to build a house, it is best to ask for help from experienced people.

After thanking the other party, she turned around and went back.

Aunt Huang deliberately wanted to retain Ye Zhen, but seeing that it was getting late, she had to give up.

The bamboo house was in a remote location, but she had not forgotten that two days ago she reminded him to be careful of the wild beasts in the mountains behind!

After returning home, Ye Zhen told Xie Yunshu that she had not received accurate information yet and would probably have to wait a little longer.

Fortunately, Xie Yunshu was not anxious about this and didn't say much.

When Ye Zhen got up the next morning, after finishing the eels and snails sold by the villagers, she thought about going to the mountain to see how the traps were.

As eels and snails were sold in large quantities, the number available in the village was running low recently. They kept Ye Zhen's advice in mind and kept some of the young ones in the fields.

The total weight today was less than 200 kilograms. The Wangyuelou guy who came to buy it looked obviously disappointed.

Since acquiring the two formulas from Ye Zhen and officially selling them in Wangyue Tower, business has been extremely good.

A large number of repeat customers who had tasted it before flocked to it, attracting other customers who had never heard of it. The result was unanimous praise.

Those chefs are definitely better at cooking than Ye Zhen. After mastering the correct cooking methods, the taste has improved again.

It's a pity that the raw materials are far from keeping up with the demand.

It's usually sold out by the afternoon, and many diners can't enjoy it when they come in the evening.

Ye Zhen saw clearly that the waiter was depressed, so she took the initiative to remind him that the shopkeeper could also go to other villages to collect these two ingredients.

As long as she ensures that her side is given priority, Ye Zhen won't care much about the rest.

After all, she still gets a share of the bonus from the first floor of Wangyue Tower! The more these two dishes are sold, the more money she can get!

The waiter who understood the instructions immediately changed his expression, thanked Ye Zhen and went back happily.

This incident was just a small episode. After Ye Zhen prepared breakfast and lunch for Zhao Yi and Xie Yunshu, she carried the bamboo basket and prepared to go into the mountain again.

Xie Yunshu still wanted to follow, but Ye Zhen refused. The reason was that it rained heavily last night and even if there were wild animals, they would not come out.

In such weather, most wild animals will stay in their caves.

The road up the mountain was much more difficult than the first time. The problem was that it had rained, so it was extremely muddy.

Ye Zhen walked one foot at a time and one foot at a time, missing the modern road very much in her heart.

Fortunately, once the sun comes out, it will be much easier to walk on the wet road, and a lot of the water will have evaporated.

Walking along the path in her memory, Ye Zhen held the sickle in her hand and looked around, paying careful attention to her steps.

The beast doesn't go out anymore, but it's easy to encounter snakes on rainy days, and she doesn't want to be so unlucky!

Not long after going up the mountain, she saw the mark she had made before - a strip of cloth tied to the tree trunk.

Because of the rain, the cloth was washed and twisted into a ball, and its original appearance could not be seen.

Fortunately, Ye Zhen was wearing a pink skirt that day, and the pink strips of cloth were particularly conspicuous in the mountains and forests.

Quickly walking to the mark, she carefully searched for her trap and soon found it.

Also due to the erosion of rain, the weeds originally covering it had disappeared, and a deep pit was clearly revealed.

The pit was full of stagnant water, and it was impossible to see whether there was any prey. Even if there was prey, I probably wouldn't be able to take it after soaking it all night.

Ye Zhen had no choice but to take out the shovel from the basket on her back and poke it into the pit.

Then I was extremely disappointed to find that there was nothing inside except water...

What bad luck!

After muttering silently, she stood up in frustration and prepared to walk over and take off the cloth.

Due to the accumulation of water, this trap is probably unusable.

When she just walked in front of the tree trunk, a black plant came into her sight.

"fungus?!"

Squatting down, Ye Zhen looked at the circle of black fungus surrounding the bottom of the big tree, and instantly beamed with joy.

It’s really black fungus!

After picking off the fungus, she was more sure of her judgment that this was an extremely common variety.

"Yeah, how could I forget that after it rains, it's the best time for fungi like fungus to grow!"

Ye Zhen, who only reacted belatedly, giggled, and her original frustration because the trap failed was wiped away.

After picking the ring of fungus at the bottom of the tree and putting it into her backpack, she quickly took off the cloth strip, squeezed out the water, and threw it into the basket as well.

Next, she was not in a hurry to find the second trap, but looked around the surrounding trees for traces of the fungus.

I expect to gain a lot this time!