Uncle Ge Si was an honest and down-to-earth countryman.
After the land had been confirmed in 1997, he contracted thirty acres of cotton fields from the village.
The cotton market wasn’t good in the previous years, and the prices were low, so he didn’t make much money.
However, this year, the state adjusted the tone, and cotton prices rebounded, which allowed him to save quite a bit of money.
Now that the farm work in the cotton field was finished, and his eldest son was getting married at the end of the year, Uncle Ge Si thought it was time to build their new house.
After dinner.
The whole family moved the stuff from the old house and sat under the eaves, peeling corn cobs and chatting.
“Dad, I called for help in the village today, but the masters like Da Chun have gone back to the northeast. Xi Zi and Da Mao are at home. Uncle Ge Feng can come, but Little Tian got into trouble yesterday, and I don’t know where he’s gone,” the eldest son, Ge Lei, said in a muffled voice.
Uncle Ge Si took a puff of his cigarette, his brows furrowed, “What about your second uncle?”
“He injured his leg while cutting corn stalks a few days ago, so he’s lying at home.”
“Then you should bring him five pounds of eggs tomorrow!”
“Alright!”
“With you, me, your two uncles, second uncle, third uncle, Da Mao, and if Little Tian can come, that would make eight helpers, which should be enough. However, we only have your uncle and Xi Zi as bricklayers, and I’m afraid it’ll take them two months to finish the walls. Moreover, your uncle has to go back to the construction site after planting wheat, so it won’t be easy!” Uncle Ge Si took another puff of his cigarette, his face full of worry.
“My dad can also lay bricks. Should I ask him to come tomorrow?”
“Your father-in-law is already seventy years old, don’t bother him!”
“Or should we ask around in other villages?” Ge Lei suggested.
“It’s difficult to find help from strangers. The timing is just not right. If we could wait until the end of the year, it would be perfect!”
“Little Lei is getting married in early December, we can’t wait until the end of the year!” Auntie Si was getting anxious.
“Should’ve built it last year!”
“Did you have the money last year?”
Old man Ge was furious, glaring at her, “You nagging woman…”
Bang, bang…
“Uncle Si, open the door!”
“Coming!” Ge Lei got up to open the door, “It’s Little Tian!”
“What’s he here for? Just eating and drinking all day, shouldn’t have invited him to build the house!” Old man Ge’s wife muttered.
“Hey, you old nag, I’ll slap you… Oh, Little Tian, what’s with the stuff? You didn’t have to bring anything!”
“Ha-ha, it’s a hot day, let’s drink up!” Ge Little Tian handed out beers and cigarettes, “Uncle Si, I heard we’re building a house?”
“Yeah, I asked Little Lei to invite you this afternoon. Were you out having fun?”
“Sigh! I was doing some jobs outside, so busy I didn’t have time to come home!”
After Ge Little Tian finished speaking, Old man Ge’s family of three exchanged doubtful and contemptuous glances, but dared not show it.
As if! If you could do any real work, your family’s old pig could climb a tree!
However, Old man Ge understood that this was an excuse to avoid helping with the house construction and squeezed out a smile, “Little Tian, if you’re busy, it’s okay. We have enough people here.”
“Hey, what are you talking about, Uncle Si! When your family builds a house, it’s like my family building a house. How could I not come?” Ge Little Tian took out a notebook and pencil, “Uncle Si, how’s the search for workers going?”
Old man Ge was a little puzzled, unsure of what the village’s little bully was up to, but after all, it was his nephew, so he replied truthfully, “We only have two skilled workers, and your dad will have to return to the construction site in a few days.”
“I see!” Ge Little Tian looked around the courtyard.
Cement, sand, lime, red bricks…
The materials were almost ready.
There should be about 70,000-80,000 red bricks in the two rows of brick stacks in the alley, enough to build about six rooms.
At this time, pouring concrete roofs wasn’t popular yet. They used prefabricated cement boards instead.
Demolishing the old house, laying the foundation, building walls, installing cement boards, sealing the roof, plastering…
If there were only two bricklayers, even with overtime, the construction would take at least two months!
Ge Little Tian had a rough idea in his mind.
“Uncle Si, how about I help you with some calculations?”
“Huh?” Uncle Ge was a bit puzzled, “What calculations are you doing?”
“Well, when we build a house, we need at least ten people for various tasks, right?”
“True!”
“Ten people, each needing at least one cigarette a day. Building a house is a joyful event, so you can’t buy cheap cigarettes, right?”
Uncle Ge nodded in agreement.
“Let’s use the Red General brand, it has a festive and domineering name, 4.5 yuan per pack, so that’s 45 yuan!”
“As for alcohol, we’ll drink Lanling Daqu, not the cheap stuff. A bottle is 6 yuan, and we’d need at least five bottles a day. That’s 30 yuan!”
“Chicken meat is 3.2 yuan, pork is 5 yuan, bean sprouts are between 1 and 5 yuan, cucumbers… fresh lotus root… celery…”
“The construction period is two months…”
“You’ll also need to provide your own trowels, mud boards, tile knives…”
“Renting scaffolding, water pumps…”
“Using a tamping machine costs 80 yuan per hour…”
Ge Xiaotian had done his homework today.
In this era, building a house in a village didn’t involve hiring workers.
First, building a house without inviting people seemed impersonal.
Second, labor costs were too expensive!
A day laborer would cost 20 yuan a day, a bricklayer would cost 40 yuan a day, and overtime was extra. With workers who slack off and cut corners, the quality and construction speed could never compare to using your own people.
Therefore, to win the job of building Uncle Ge’s house, they needed to use a roundabout strategy.
“Just these miscellaneous expenses alone, not counting the materials, the house would cost at least 7,000 to 8,000 yuan!”
Uncle Ge, puffing on his cigarette, sighed, “7,000 to 8,000 isn’t enough; I estimate it’ll be 10,000!”
Ge Xiaotian didn’t respond, but instead turned his notebook to the last page, revealing several hand-drawn floor plans.
Generally, rural houses are built with three large rooms, where the living room and bedrooms are connected, with a side room or three rooms in a row.
If Uncle Ge builds six new rooms, not considering the kitchen and bathroom, it would definitely be two sets of three large rooms.
One set for him and Auntie Ge, and one set for Ge Lei when he gets married.
Spacious, bright, and guests can see the bed when they enter.
Not much privacy, and not much uniqueness.
“Uncle, what do you think of this two-hall, four-bedroom design?”
“Oh? Let me take a look!” Uncle Ge took the notebook and examined it carefully. “Wow, this house is beautiful! But this construction method seems a bit brick-consuming, huh?”
“How much does the brick cost anyway? This layout is no different from those in the city. It’s stylish, sophisticated, and grand! It has some real presence!”
“Besides, two sets of three big rooms are a hundred square meters in total! But this construction method takes up one hundred and thirty square meters!”
Ge Xiaotian explained as he picked up a pencil, “This is a 4:8 load-bearing wall, this is a 3:7 side wall, and the rest are divided by 2:4 walls, or 1:8 walls, or 1:2 walls…”
“Red bricks would only add 10,000 pieces, one piece costs 0.16 yuan, plus cement, sand, and steel, the total budget for materials would only be an extra 3,000 yuan!”
“It’s like buying a 30 square meter big house for just 3,000 yuan! How perfect!”
“Moreover, the yard is so big…”
Auntie Ge furrowed her brow, “If we take up the yard, where will we dry our crops later?”
“We don’t even grow crops!” Ge Xiaotian kicked a corn stalk. “We’re all contracted to grow cotton now, why would we still grow corn? When the wheat is ripe, we put it in the wheat field, when the cotton is ripe, we use the wheat field too!”
Uncle Ge nodded, “That makes sense!”
Ge Xiaotian closed the notebook and said to his uncle, aunt, and brother, “What if I offer to build this house for you within a month, labor included but materials not covered, for 8,000 yuan? What do you think?”
“Of course!” Auntie Ge was the first to respond.
Uncle Ge took a deep breath and nodded, “It’s a guaranteed profit!”
Ge Xiaotian rubbed his hands together and smiled cheekily, “I’ll take this job!”
“Huh??” The family of three was stunned.
