“This is the place, Zhang’s Carpentry Shop in the southern part of the town. Prices are reasonable. I’ll take you inside to have a look.”
As soon as they stepped in, Master Zhang came forward.
“Welcome, guests! What are you looking to buy today?”
Li Laotou pointed to Li Suisui.
“My granddaughter wants to buy two beds. She’ll explain the details to you.”
“Shopkeeper, how do you sell these wooden beds?”
“Our beds vary in price, depending on the quality and design. It’s up to the young lady to choose.”
“What’s the cheapest bed you have?”
“The lowest is 100 wen.”
Li Laotou frowned. “Too expensive. Can you offer a lower price?”
“Sir, I really can’t. The cost of timber is high, and I’m already giving you just the cost price.”
Li Suisui immediately spotted a few simple small stools on the floor.
“Shopkeeper, everyone has a hard time. Don’t worry about the bed price—I’ll pay 100 wen per bed, two beds in total.
But can you give me these four small stools? I see they’re made from leftover timber—it won’t cost you much, just a bit of effort.”
Zhang had made the stools to attract customers. Hearing this, he happily agreed.
“All right, as you wish. Besides the beds, do you need anything else?”
Their current house had no doors, no windows, and no table. If prices were reasonable, they might as well get everything at once.
“Do you have tables and doors or windows?”
“We have ready-made tables. Doors and windows need to be custom-made. You can see the tables now, and later when we deliver doors and windows, we’ll measure the dimensions.”
“Fine, let’s look at the tables first.”
Master Zhang showed Li Suisui several “Eight Immortals” tables. These traditional tables were too large and tall to fit in her small room.
“Are any of these suitable, young lady?”
“They’re all too big. My little house can’t accommodate them.”
Li Suisui suddenly had an idea when she thought of the four small stools.
“Shopkeeper, can you make a small table to match the height of these stools?
It doesn’t need to be tall or large. Just enough to sit on the stools and use comfortably.
And the design doesn’t need to be complicated—just a tabletop and four legs.”
“A small table, you say? I’ve never made one, but from what you describe, it’s not complicated. I can give it a try.”
“How much will it cost?”
“The timber needed is minimal. I’ll charge 30 wen.”
After paying and arranging a delivery time, Li Suisui followed Li Laotou out of the carpentry shop.
Li Laotou, always frugal, scolded her all the way home.
“The house is damp, so two beds are fine. Why a table? And what about doors and windows?”
“Grandpa, we don’t have a table. We eat sitting on the floor, which is inconvenient. For just 30 wen, I can solve this problem—it’s worth it.”
“And the doors and windows?”
“Grandpa, it’s getting colder. Without doors and windows, the wind will chill us to the bone.
And when it rains heavily, water will drift inside without any cover.”
“You make sense, but installing them isn’t cost-effective. After all, we’re renting this house.”
This reminded Li Suisui: at first, she disliked this house. But after a few days, she realized that, aside from its poor condition, it had advantages—close to the sea and far from neighbors, so no disputes.
She even considered buying it, tearing it down later to rebuild.
“Grandpa, I heard the house we rent is ownerless. If we want to buy it, would the villagers sell?”
“Of course, but it won’t be cheap.”
“How much?”
“At least two taels of silver.”
“Just for that small, run-down house? Two taels?”
“The house itself is small, but it sits on over three fen of land. Buying it means buying the land. Essentially, you’re paying for the land; the two rooms themselves aren’t worth much.”
“Grandpa, I want to go ask the village head. If possible, I’ll buy the rooms.”
“You don’t have enough silver. How will you pay?”
“I have one tael. I can ask Village Head Huang to be lenient—pay for the house first, then settle the rest later.”
“And if he refuses?”
“Then he refuses. It’s just a matter of words—not a big deal.”
Li Laotou was speechless. His granddaughter really was clever and practical.
“Grandpa, what does Village Head Huang like?”
“Why do you ask?”
“When asking for favors, it helps to bring a gift.”
“No need. We’re all from the same village. Just inform him.”
“No, I must prepare a gift. I want this house in our hands soon, so we don’t have to pay rent every month.”
Li Laotou thought of the twenty wen monthly rent. It wasn’t much, but for farmers like them, twenty wen could buy several jin of grain.
Originally, he only planned to ask Village Head Huang to temporarily let their second son’s family stay. But Huang demanded rent. He was angry at the time but sympathized with the second son’s family, so he agreed.
As Li Laotou pondered this, Li Suisui had already bought a small jar of wine—one jin—and it cost her twenty wen.
“You girl! Didn’t I tell you not to buy things? How much did this cost?”
“Twenty wen.”
“Twenty wen? That’s nearly a month’s rent! Go return it immediately!”
“Grandpa, trust me. Bringing a gift when meeting the village head will only help. Let’s go back quickly.”
Li Laotou watched her stride ahead, silently fuming. He’d lived most of his life without tasting such expensive wine, yet Huang would enjoy it. And his granddaughter… she never made things easy, always spending recklessly.