When Chen Shuqin heard this, she said, “No wonder. So they’re from Russia.”
Zhang Shaoquan chuckled. “It’s cold in Siberia, so the kittens need more fur to keep warm.”
“Both of these kittens are pretty.” Chen Shuqin held one cage in each hand.
After carrying the groceries, cats, and dogs into the house, Song Guozheng asked, “Yingzi, how old are these three dogs?”
Song Ying replied, “The Alaskan is over three months old, and the Border Collie and German Shepherd are both two months. The two cats are also two months.”
Song Guozheng said, “Then these two dogs won’t be able to go herding sheep with me for another month. They’re too small right now.”
Chen Shuqin said, “What’s the rush? Take them out once they’re bigger.”
Song Guozheng said, “People are trained from a young age.”
Zhang Shaoquan was getting ready to leave, and Song Ying gave him a pound of beef jerky, a box of milk skin, and a piece of milk tofu. “Uncle, take these home to eat.”
Zhang Shaoquan said, “Keep them for yourselves.”
Song Ying said, “Take them back for Auntie to eat.”
Zhang Shaoquan didn’t refuse any further. “Thanks, Yingzi.” Song Ying waved her hand. “Uncle, help me ask Auntie about it.”
“Won’t forget.” Zhang Shaoquan made an OK gesture.
Song Ying hadn’t just bought meat and vegetables—she’d also bought quite a lot of fruit, cold dishes, and grilled cold noodles. Of course, the grilled cold noodles were raw; she’d grill them herself when she got back.
“Sister Mi, I brought you some beef jerky and milk skin rolls. Try them.” She took them out of the bag.
Mi Duo accepted them. “Thanks, Yingzi.”
It was noon by then, time for lunch. Mrs. Chen Shuqin cooked two dishes—braised pork spine and muxu pork—one stew and one stir-fry.
Song Ying stir-fried another dish of leaf lettuce, a vegetable dish, and with the cold dishes she’d bought, that made four dishes total.
“Grandma, do we still have any mutton in the fridge?”
Although they’d slaughtered a sheep, the meat seemed like a lot, but it was a young sheep, and there wasn’t much edible meat on it—just the lamb chops, spine, and legs.
Chen Shuqin said, “Almost gone—just two legs and the offal left.”
Song Ying said, “Then let’s make the offal into a dish for the workers tomorrow.”
She didn’t like offal herself, but most people in their area loved it.
Chen Shuqin said, “Fine, you decide the menu anyway.”
Song Ying said, “The brick and cement deliveries are coming this afternoon. We’ll start digging the foundation tomorrow.”
“Uncle Zhang said they can finish the main structure of the house in half a month.”
It was mid-April now, meaning it would be done by early May.
“Let it air out for three months, then start renovation in August—sound good?”
A new house needs to air out for several months, waiting until it’s completely dry before renovating. In the north, two to three months of airing is usually about right.
Mi Duo said, “That works. Four months of renovation from August to December is plenty.”
The main work for interior renovation is plumbing, electrical, walls, floors, and ceiling. Then for a village house like Song Ying’s, they’d also need to tile the exterior.
Song Guozheng and Chen Shuqin both said, “Fine, air it for three months and start renovation in August—perfect timing.”
“Oh, right, Yingzi—what kind of floor heating are you planning to install?”
Chen Shuqin suddenly remembered this matter.
Song Ying thought for a moment. “Electric floor heating, I think. Water-based requires the hassle of firing up a boiler, and it heats everything uniformly. With electric floor heating, each room and area has its own control button, so we can turn it off in rooms nobody’s using and save a bit.”
Chen Shuqin said, “That works, though the electricity bill will be higher.”
Song Guozheng said, “It’s all the same. If we switched to coal, a winter’s worth of coal would probably cost tens of thousands.”
Song Ying said, “Right, and the main thing is electric floor heating is convenient—no need to tend the fire.”
“By the way, Sister Mi, we’ll need two more rooms added to our house. I didn’t count the storage room—where do you think would be the best place to connect it?”
Since they raised sheep, they definitely needed a storage room to stack feed, corn, and other grains, as well as a place for farm tools and miscellaneous items.
Mi Duo thought for a moment. “How about not connecting it at all? Just build a separate one off to the side—garage, storage, and a small shop all together.”
The villa she was designing for them already had too many attached rooms, especially something like a storage room that wouldn’t look very appealing.
Song Ying said, “Sure, that works. Sorry to make you redraw the plans, Sister Mi.”
Mi Duo waved her hand. “That’s no trouble at all.”
Song Ying continued, “Then the house can be a bit smaller than before—five bedrooms, one study, one indoor storage room, and then the living room, kitchen, and the other rooms.”
Mi Duo nodded. “Got it. I’ll make sure the design exceeds your expectations.”
This girl had given her a hundred and fifty thousand yuan—with that much money, she’d definitely design something to make the customer happy.
Song Ying thought to herself, “Grandpa, didn’t we get our homestead plot approved a bit too small?”
The general layout of their new house was like this: a courtyard wall surrounding the outside, their big restaurant at the front, the yard in the middle, then the house they lived in, with vegetable plots and the sheep pen behind the house.
The sheep pen needed to be built farther away from the house, or it would affect the aesthetics. But that way, she didn’t seem to have any space left for a greenhouse.
Song Guozheng pondered for a moment. “It is a bit small. But let’s finish building first and see. You’ll have plenty of space for the restaurant and the house, I just don’t know if there’ll be room for a greenhouse afterward.”
“Yingzi, how about this—don’t build your restaurant in front of the house. Build the restaurant and the house in a row instead.”
“I always felt it’d be inconvenient to have it in front. If you build them in a row with a small wall separating them, then the vegetable garden goes behind the house, and the sheep pen goes behind the restaurant. What do you think?”
“This way it’s easier to keep an eye on everything, right? Whether you go out the front door or the back door, you can see everything at a glance.” Mi Duo suggested.
Song Ying said, “Build them in a row.”
Mi Duo got up and grabbed her computer. “Let me sketch out a simple layout for you to look at. Otherwise, no matter how nice you design your front yard, having a building blocking it in front just doesn’t feel right, and it’s inconvenient for getting in and out.”
“Build them in a row, put a big gate at the front for easy access. For the restaurant, put a large entrance on the left side so customers can come and go easily. Also add a gate at the back for your grandpa to move the sheep in and out.”
She had gone to look at the homestead plot—there was a road in front, and roads on the left and back as well. Surrounded by roads on three sides, access was extremely convenient.
Mi Duo was indeed a designer through and through. She quickly drew up a simple blueprint, and Song Ying understood it at a glance.
She nodded. “This works, Sister Mi. I had a feeling something was off with the previous design too.”
Mi Duo said, “Right. With the old plan, having a building blocking the front meant no matter how nice you designed your yard, nobody could see it. Plus, in the afternoon, the building’s shadow would fall right over it.”
“The backyard will be open and connected. For the front yard, I’ll separate it with a low wall or iron railing, so restaurant customers won’t wander around everywhere.”
“Or I could design the two buildings at a ninety-degree angle, with the restaurant facing the main road to the east.”