Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 30 - 29: Another Day Wanting to Beat Up a Man

Chapter 30: Chapter 29: Another Day Wanting to Beat Up a Man
Mrs. Zhang hadn’t yet expressed surprise that Qin Yao, a woman, didn’t even know how to make clothes, when she heard Qin Yao say she wanted to build a new house.
Calculating in her mind, she thought of all the things bought yesterday and the debt repaid to Lao San, and yet there was still money to build a house. How much silver would that take?
In those six days up the mountain, she must have hunted something beyond their imagination!
Mrs. Zhang was so shocked she didn’t know what to say, and all she could do was shout towards the back of the house:
"Husband, hurry over, Lao San’s family is looking for you!"
He and Mrs. Qiu in the west room heard the commotion and stopped their work, coming outside.
Qin Yao immediately hugged the cotton and fabric in her arms and rushed over, "Can you two sisters-in-law help me make a few sets of clothes?"
"I have three pieces of fabric here, make winter clothes for me and Da Lang’s four children, one set each, then make another set of underclothes, and use the red fabric to make them each a festive New Year outfit."
Qin Yao spoke quickly, leaving He and Mrs. Qiu no time to chime in, and she laid out all her requests.
This direct delegation of work — even if they had just eaten the meat she bought — left anyone a bit resentful.
Besides, they were busy weaving cloth now, and helping Qin Yao make clothes would delay them significantly.
But soon, Qin Yao added: "When I bought the fabric, the shopkeeper helped me calculate, and these three pieces of fabric along with the cotton will leave quite a bit remaining after making what I want. If you two don’t mind, consider it as a token for your hard work."
Upon hearing this, He and Mrs. Qiu finally took a closer look at the fabric she had.
It was all cotton fabric, and she bought the best, fluffy cotton, which looked warm.
The most special was the red fabric. Colorful fabric was always expensive, and based on Qin Yao’s instructions, just making clothes for the Da Lang Brothers and Sisters would leave enough for an adult-sized outfit with their cutting skills.
For Jinhua and Jinbao at home, each could get a set of clothes, too.
The other two pieces would have leftovers to make short jackets for their parents-in-law and their own husbands.
The sisters-in-law exchanged a glance, smiling broadly, saying Qin Yao was too polite, and reached out to take the fabric.
He hurriedly took the large bag of cotton and the needle thread Qin Yao brought inside, saying politely, "Sister-in-law, you are too thoughtful, even preparing the needle and thread."
Qin Yao smiled, simply saying, "Thank you both, it’s going to be hard on you."
"Sister-in-law, you shouldn’t say that. Family shouldn’t speak like outsiders. Big Sister and I can finish in two or three days and send them over," Mrs. Qiu replied warmly, with her gentle nature and soft, slow speech.
Big Sister He was completely different, bustling and fiery.
Old Liu came over, with what seemed like a bit of dirt on his hem, exuding a smell as he walked.
Mrs. Zhang stepped aside, continuing to pick her vegetable seeds, yet her ears perked up.
Old Liu sat at the four-sided table in the main room, drank a bowl of water in one gulp, put down the bowl, and asked puzzled, "Lao San’s wife, what’s going on?"
Qin Yao sat on the long bench opposite him, describing her thoughts on building a wall and renovating the house, asking if Old Liu had any money-saving tips.
Old Liu felt this was a good idea, but he needed to ask how much budget Qin Yao had.
"If you only want to build a wall, we could collect stones from the river to make a foundation and dig some soil from South Mountain. It would hardly cost any silver. Just requires some effort."
"But if you want to renovate the house and install tiles, the costs won’t be avoidable."
Qin Yao nodded, "I know, and to be honest, my harvest up the mountain was pretty good. After repaying the debt, I still have seven or eight taels left. So, I thought about using it to fix up the house so winter doesn’t feel so risky."
In reality, twenty-five taels were left; she held back the truth.
Mrs. Zhang’s hands paused their selection of vegetable seeds, and He and Mrs. Qiu stopped their needle work.
All mentally calculated how much silver Qin Yao made going up the mountain.
Just three pieces of fabric, cotton, and supplies cost nearly ten taels; the bags of fine rice and groceries yesterday must have been five taels.
Along with the seven or eight taels now mentioned, and yesterday’s debt payment of thirty-eight taels, that’s sixty taels!
"Gasp~" The sisters-in-law exchanged glances, breathing in sharply.
Old Liu was shocked internally, unable to resist asking, "Lao San’s wife, what did you catch on the mountain?"
Qin Yao calmly replied, "A black bear."
This wasn’t something to hide; yesterday they didn’t ask, so she wouldn’t proactively mention hunting a big black bear.
But if asked, she would answer.
For a moment, everyone in the old house paused, only the chickens continued clucking in the yard.
Until Qin Yao coughed, bringing them back to reality, unable to stay calm, all rising to surround her, asking curiously how she managed it.
Qin Yao was succinct, "Like this, then like that, and that’s how it went."
The old house crowd: "..." Master of nonsense, aren’t you?
Yet aware Qin Yao wasn’t planning to detail the process, everyone backed off, imagining various scenarios, viewing Qin Yao with newfound respect.
Qin Yao ignored this, discussing house-building details with Old Liu, who to hire, how to arrange tasks, where to buy materials, and the time required.
Old Liu felt good, perceiving Qin Yao approached him with importance, treating him as her father-in-law proper.
Building a house wasn’t hard now with budget in hand.
This time of year, with farms inactive, all that was left were minor tasks like fertilizing nearby fields, so people were everywhere in the village.
In the Liu Family Village, four generations were traced back to a single ancestor. The family stayed united, and Old Liu’s seniority meant he could summon many strong workers with a call.
Building a house wasn’t seen as a technical task by country folks; even those who couldn’t do it had watched others.
This formed mature conditions for technical roles.
A chief engineer was still required. Old Liu recommended Uncle Jiu, residing at the village entrance, with his experience and high esteem, ensuring uniformity across walls’ styles.
Learning Qin Yao wanted to add two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathhouse, though Old Liu didn’t know what a bathhouse meant, he counted it as a room.
Using brick and tile raised the budget, suggesting mud walls paired with timber beams and tiles instead.
Farther south towards Kaiyang County, wooden buildings offered, their houses warm in winter, cool in summer, more comfortable than mud houses.
Initially, Old Liu considered recommending them but knew wood costs were high and preparation needed years, unfeasible suddenly, so he refrained.
"Tiles can be bought in Lower River Village, South Mountain has plenty of soil, I’ll tell the village chief and clan leader, our village uses soil from there for building houses."
Old Liu drank another bowl of water, wrinkling his brow with difficulty, "Now wood is lacking; Lao San’s area was sold off, you’ll need to buy from villagers."
Tiles required beams; sturdy beams were expensive too.
Qin Yao asked, "How much silver will it take?"
Old Liu replied, "Around four taels."
Qin Yao: Today feels like a day I’d want to hit Liu Laosan!