Volume 1 Chapter 19 New Year's Preparations Officially Begin!

  In early December, Lin Chun sent three paintings and a large mountain uncle to Qianfuyuan in the town. Due to the influence of the first pair of Angel Wings rings, the second pair of Angel Wings rings were just made and were promoted to the palace by an imperial edict from Tianyang Country's current Holy Emperor. The youngest sister of the current Holy Emperor, Princess Anxin, was getting married, so it was natural that this pair of rings became Princess Anxin's most beloved dowry. With the ring symbolizing good luck, Princess Anxin was overjoyed and ordered many new wedding accessories from Qianfuyuan.

  Qian Fuyu's reputation rose again, and he was even bestowed with a plaque by Tian Hong, the first silver building. Although no money was given, many antiques and jade were awarded. Qian Ye estimated that it would be difficult to give Lin Chun a share of the profits, so he personally wrote a letter stating that in the future, if Lin Chun had any matters, he could directly find Qian Dashi at Qian Fuyu's place in town. As for the money, five million taels were deposited in Lin Chun's name at the Futong Money House to avoid Lin Chun needing it. Qian Dashi also asked Lin Chun indirectly and knew that Lin Chun wanted to buy a mountain to build a new house, which would require a lot of money. Just buying land and mountains would cost two thousand taels, not counting the fees for handling documents and other expenses later on. Moreover, Lin Chun planned to use whole stone blocks to build the house, and according to current market prices, due to the high labor costs of polishing, Lin Chun's household had a large demand for stone blocks. Originally planning to use bricks to build walls, they all changed to whole stone blocks, and the money flowed out like water...

  So Qian Ye Li knew, that's why he gave Lin Chun 50,000 taels of silver. Lin Chun was very satisfied and asked Uncle Qian to write a letter back to Qian Ye Li. From now on, the share will be directly deposited into Futo Bank, which is also convenient for himself and Da Shan Bo Bo to carry so much money back home. Moreover, it's not safe to keep so much money at home. Just like last time, the 5,000 taels of silver notes, Cui Hua Niang hid the money by digging more than a dozen big and small holes in each room at home, which made Da Shan Bo Bo cry and laugh. Lin Chun also deeply felt that keeping so much money at home was not appropriate. Now that Qian Ye Li has come up with the idea of depositing money into a bank, it can be said to have solved Lin Chun's problem. Futo Bank is also the most reputable bank in Tianyang Country, so Lin Chun is also very relieved. In the future, no matter whether depositing or withdrawing money, Uncle Qian can act on his behalf, and at that time, he just needs to provide the transaction certificate with a seal, which will save him from running to the county town.

  Mr. Dashan found a family that specialized in grinding stone blocks, and this family had been doing it for several generations. They were skilled at their craft and charged fair prices. Mr. Dashan also had some connections with the head of the household. Usually, people would come to them to grind stone blocks used to support bed boards, like the one Lin Chong initially slept on at Old Man Lin's house, as well as stone tables, stone stools, and other furniture items made from stone. Although stone products were heavy, they didn't break easily. Lin Chong wasn't very familiar with these things; he had only drawn a blueprint of his own house and listed the materials needed, entrusting everything else to Mr. Dashan to handle. As a young girl, Cuihua's mother didn't want Lin Chong to go out often, and now she treated Lin Chong like her own daughter.

  Mr. Dashan took the drawings made by Lin Chun and found a good friend, who was the nephew of Zhao Shucun, the village chief of Cuifang Village, and was skilled in bricklaying. He was also building a stone-block house for the first time, so he was very serious and prepared to do his best. Lin Chun had told Mr. Dashan not to be stingy with money, but to give the workers more wages. Mr. Dashan, acting on behalf of a powerful person, was generous with money, so the craftsmen and suppliers of building materials trusted him completely.

  Lin Chuan went to the county with Da Shan Bo Bo and Qian Fu Yuan's Uncle Qian on the twelfth day of the lunar month. Uncle Qian found the shopkeeper of Qian Fu Yuan in the county town, who had received instructions from Qian Ye Li and was very respectful to Lin Chuan. Together with Uncle Qian, they took Da Shan and Lin Chuan to the county government office to see County Magistrate Shi, where they completed the paperwork for Lin Chuan's purchase of the mountain land and mountain head. From then on, all the land from the Lin family village's rock pile, including the western mountain head, to Chen Jia Village's big slope belonged to Lin Chuan's family.

  Lin Chun took the documents and invited Uncle Qian and Da Shan to dinner in town. The next day, Da Shan hosted a dinner for the village heads of Linjia Village and Chenjia Village, as well as several elderly villagers. They still said that the land and mountain were bought by a wealthy person from Tianfu Yuan Store in town, and Da Shan was just occasionally helping out. Lin Chun also asked Da Shan to give dozens of eggs to each household in Chenjia Village and Linjia Village, telling them not to go up the mountain on the west side of the village again. As for himself and his siblings, they said they were hired by the wealthy person to take care of the mountain. The villagers didn't want to offend the rich people anyway, and now that they had received eggs, they happily listened and admired Lin Chun's good fortune in being chosen by a wealthy patron. Some people envied and resented them, but Lin Chun just smiled it off. As long as he had the documents and could build a wall around his property, others couldn't see how he lived, so why bother with what they said? He wouldn't lose any flesh, as long as they didn't cross his bottom line.

  Today is already the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Chun is preparing to go to the town with Cui Hua to buy grain and vegetables for the New Year. The weather is very cold, Lin Chun wears a new thick cotton-padded jacket inside and an old coat that Pei Wushuang had altered for himself on the outside, wrapped up like a ball. In these two months, Lin Chun has gained weight and grown taller, although it's not very noticeable, but Lin Chun can still feel it, his complexion is also ruddy and healthy. Da Tou and Er Ya have been fond of staying at home since November, playing with Gei Gei and Du Du, the two of them collaborated to make a doghouse behind the door of their bedroom, one reason is that they are afraid the dogs will be stolen, another reason is that it's cold outside, Da Tou and Er Ya can't bear for Gei Gei and Du Du to freeze outside. The room is warm with charcoal fire burning inside.

  Charcoal is made by Lin Chuan using wood, and a stone basin with an opening was built inside to burn it. Lin Chuan forged an iron lid in the blacksmith's shop, leaving holes on top, and also made a simple chimney with an iron pipe inserted on top. The iron pipe was inserted with bamboo tubes that had been stripped of their nodes all the way outside to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. When adding charcoal, it was added from the charcoal opening of the stone basin, which also prevented burns. Moreover, a thin mud wall was built around the periphery of the charcoal fire to prevent DouDou and GeGei from getting burned while playing mischievously.

  Mr. Dashan was waiting for Lin Chong to come out, driving a cow cart at the foot of the mountain. Lin Chong instructed Da Tou and Er Ya again and promised to buy them delicious pastries before leaving the house. As soon as he sat on the cow cart, Cuihua wrapped him in a quilt. Mr. Dashan was wearing a thick coat, which was made by Cuihua according to Lin Chong's imitation of modern military uniforms. Lin Chong couldn't draw it out, and he didn't understand the size and measurements of clothes. He and Cuihua studied for two afternoons before trying to make one. After Mr. Dashan tried it on, they made several changes before finally making a suitable one. Although it was clumsy, it was very warm and especially suitable for people who drove cow carts to wear. Lin Chong had Mr. Dashan wear it out to drive the cow cart several times. Later, many people who drove cow carts came to find Cuihua to learn from her. Cuihua didn't hide her skills and taught those girls and women who came to their home to study with enthusiasm. As a result, the good reputation of Mr. Dashan's family was known by people in several villages.

  They arrived at the town, and the ox cart was still left at the old friend's house of Dashan Bo. Because there were no pigs raised in the village, and no pigs to kill, Linjia Village, except for the village head, Qi Shu Gong, and Dashan Bo's family, were all poor households, with infertile land and average harvests. Many young people went to work in the wine shops or rich families in the county town, and rarely returned to the village. There were also many lazy people. As the New Year approached, more and more people returned to the village. The pigs from the village head's and Qi Shu Gong's households had already been booked in advance. Cuihua Dama thought of Lin Chuyu's family and made arrangements with the village head's household to buy some pork, which was also good for Lin Chuyu's family. The village head originally wanted to give some five-flower meat to Lin Chuyu's family, but there were only two pigs in the village. During the New Year, people who worked outside returned home and brought back their wages, so they could still make a profit from selling pork. Cuihua Dama didn't mind buying pork in town, unlike previous years when she would book pork from the village head's household, which was always a large quantity for one family.