nycdaug Chapter 48 Preparing Bricks
Chapter 48 Preparing Bricks
The next day, just as dawn broke, the Lin family all got up.
Today happened to be Lin Yu's day off, so the whole family rode in a mule cart. Lin's father drove the cart and set off to buy bricks from the brick kiln in town.
The four chatted and laughed on the way, with Lin Yu full of anticipation.
When they arrived at the brick kiln, as soon as Mr. Lin parked the car, a dark-skinned man with a turban wrapped around his head saw them and immediately went out to greet them, asking, "Gentlemen, are you here to buy bricks?"
“That’s right, we’re planning to build a new house and need to buy some bricks,” Lin’s father replied, jumping off the mule.
"What kind of building do you want? We have red bricks and also high-quality blue bricks." The man led the four people into the courtyard and pointed to the bricks piled up on one side for the Lin family to see.
Several people stepped forward to examine it. Lin Yan picked up a piece of blue brick, examined it, and tossed it in her hand; it was quite heavy. However, she wasn't very good at judging quality, but she figured it should be quite sturdy.
Lin's father, having worked as a construction worker, knew a bit about bricks. He held the brick in his hand, tossed it around, tapped it, and touched the surface, nodding in satisfaction.
"What's the difference between these two? Is it just the color?" Lin Yu had only heard of people building houses with blue bricks and tiles, and he was curious to see that the bricks were both red and blue.
The dark-skinned man smiled and patiently explained, "These two types of bricks are indeed different in color, but that's mainly because of the different cooling methods. Red bricks are cooled naturally, while blue bricks are made with a more complicated process. Although the two types of bricks are about the same in hardness, blue bricks are more durable and can last for more than ten years without looking new."
"Oh! Which one do we want?" Lin Yu asked his father.
Mr. Lin asked, "What are the prices for both of these?"
"For commonly used sizes, red bricks are 18 wen per 100 pieces, and blue bricks are 28 wen per 100 pieces. Don't worry, people from all around here come to buy bricks from me; the prices are very fair," the man explained.
"Then tell me how many bricks we'll need to build this house?" Lin Yan took out the detailed blueprints she had revised last night, showing the yard...
The painting is now much more detailed.
The dark-skinned man was taken aback when he heard about the blueprints. People in his area usually just told the craftsmen how many rooms they wanted to build; it was rare for them to bring blueprints with them.
When he looked down and saw the blueprints in Lin Yan's hand, he was surprised again. The drawings were very detailed, and the house layout was also very ingenious. It was clear that the person who drew them had some skill, and it was really not something that a country girl could produce.
However, looking at the girl's confident and generous demeanor, he thought, "Could she be a servant of some wealthy family? Is the master planning to build a manor in the countryside and sending someone to make arrangements? But she doesn't seem like she's bringing her whole family along."
"To build a two-courtyard house like this, with the second courtyard having two floors, how much land do you estimate it will take?" The man composed himself and continued to ask.
"The building is about 500 square meters, plus a second floor, so I need to estimate it to be a bit large," Lin Yan thought to herself.
"It takes about eight-tenths of an acre, but with the yard, it takes about one and a half acres (1000 square meters)."
The man gasped, thinking, "This is a big deal; I have to keep this one."
"With such a large area, it would take about 14 bricks," the man calculated in his mind.
"140,000?!" Lin Yu gasped and swallowed hard.
"So many?" Mr. and Mrs. Lin looked somewhat alarmed. Mr. Lin had estimated that a lot of bricks would be needed for building the house, but he hadn't expected so many. He calmed himself down and asked the man...
"How much does it cost?"
"The wall bricks alone cost about forty taels."
"Phew." Lin Yu let out a long breath. "Luckily, it's within the budget."
"What about adding tiles and floor bricks?" Lin's father wasn't as relaxed as Lin Yu; he understood what the man meant by 'just'.
"The tiles need to be both bottom tiles and cylindrical tiles, and 500 large square bricks will suffice."
The man led the group inside and took out an abacus to calculate.
"Each brick costs 7 wen, and 100 tiles cost 20 wen, totaling 10 taels and 5 mace. If you want them, I'll round it down to 50 taels."
"You're offering a discount of 5 qian of silver?" Lin Yan asked the dark-skinned man.
"Uh... our profit margin isn't high either!" The man looked a little embarrassed and scratched his head.
"We need a lot, so give us a bigger discount! We might need to build something else next time, so we'll buy bricks from you then."
The man lowered his head and pondered for a while, thinking that such a big business opportunity might not come for several years, so he should be more sincere.
"Alright! Consider the floor tiles a free gift, and I'll give you a discount of three taels of silver."
"Okay, you guys can take care of delivering it!" Lin Yan thought about it and agreed.
"No problem! Leave your address. I'll send over a batch of bricks tomorrow to avoid delaying your construction schedule."
“We live in Gezhuang Village. When you get there, ask Lin Hai’s house. It’s at the foot of the mountain.”
"okay!"
Lin Yan first paid a deposit of 10 taels of silver, and will pay the rest of the money once the goods are delivered.
After ordering the bricks, the group headed back onto the cart.
“We spent 47 taels on bricks, so we still have a lot of money left.” Lin Yu was worried that his family wouldn’t have enough money to build such a nice house.
"We also need to hire workers to build it, lay out the layout, install windows and furniture—all of that costs money," Lin's father said dismissively.
Mr. Lin was still somewhat worried. Half of the money had already been spent before construction had even started, and he feared that there wouldn't be enough left for the rest.
"Brother Hai, should we also ask the villagers to build a house?" Lin's mother asked.
In general, villagers help each other build houses, and they don't ask for wages; they just need a good meal.
"Hmm..." Lin's father was still thinking.
"Let's not hire anyone from the village, let's go to town and find workers!" Lin Yan interrupted.
"The layout of this house is a bit complicated, so we still need to spend money to find someone who knows how to do it." At least we need someone who can give instructions, otherwise what will we do if we can't understand the blueprints?
“That’s right. There’s a second floor in the backyard. Villagers can build a mud wall, but we should hire workers to build the house.” Lin’s father agreed.
"Then let's go to town and find some more workers."
"Great! A new house is going to be built!" Lin Yu shouted happily, almost jumping up and down on the cart.
Lin Yan quickly grabbed him and gave Lin Yu's head a good rub. "Behave yourself!"
"Oh." Lin Yu stuck out his tongue, not daring to resist.
Lin's mother found it amusing: "You're afraid of your sister, aren't you!"
"No, I'm not afraid of her at all. I'm just being good," Lin Yu snorted.
"Oh? Is that so?" Lin Yan raised an eyebrow and looked up at Lin Yu.
Lin Yu didn't dare to meet his gaze, immediately lowered his head, blinked, and remained silent.
"Hmph." Lin Yan chuckled lightly.
Lin's mother also burst into laughter.
Lin Yu laughed until his ears turned bright red, then lowered his head and went to complain to his father.
"Dad, look at them!"
"Hey, there's nothing to be embarrassed about with your sister. Your sister is amazing." Lin's father wanted to laugh too, but he didn't dare tease Lin's mother, so he could only talk about Lin Yan.
"Hmph!" Lin Yu saw his father's true colors and turned his head away angrily.
This caused the group to burst into laughter again.