Chapter 38
Not Enough
Master Fu didn’t dare to lock the door from the inside. He had been sitting at the door and waiting, worried that if work came to him, he could still discuss the start date with the other party.
Zhao Zhan pushed the door open and entered. His eyes swept over Master Fu’s legs. “Your leg…”
“It’s just a slight sprain, but it’ll be fine soon.”
Master Fu hurriedly explained as he stared at Zhao Zhan. “May I know your purpose in finding me?”
“I’d like to ask for your help in building a house,” Zhao Zhan said as he took out a piece of carefully folded paper from his pocket and placed it in his hand.
“I plan to start moving in a month at the latest. I’m afraid I’ll be busy in a few days, including the miscellaneous work such as buying materials in advance.
“I see that your foot is very swollen. It’s best not to move it for the next few days. Usually, a master like you will have a few disciples by his side. If your disciple is free, you can let him take a look at it first and then calculate the money and expenses, so that we can buy the materials first.
“When your foot has recovered, you can keep an eye on the progress when we start work.”
“I don’t have an apprentice, and I don’t have a other workers. If you want me to work, I’ll have to find my own team.” Master Fu’s eyes dimmed as he thought of the past. He forced himself to cheer up and said, “My injury may be serious, but you can’t rush to build this house. If you believe me, I’ll go to your house to check on the foundation in ten days. Then we’ll see what you can build. I heard you intend on building a brick house, right?”
“Yes, I’ve brought the blueprint. I’ve also measured the size of the land and the measurements are all written on it.”
Master Fu took Zhao Zhan’s drawing and looked at it, his eyebrows twitching.
This house was even more impressive than the other houses in the town. If he could take on this job, he wouldn’t have to worry about his family’s medicine money this winter.
Zhao Zhan’s drawing was drawn according to Yue Jiaojiao’s description.
She only described to him what kind of house she wanted to live in, and Zhao Zhan silently engraved the contents in his heart as he listened. Today, he didn’t sell tofu in town. He went to the town’s bookstore to try and replicate a picture of the house based on her description.
Ever since his parents had passed away, he had never had the chance to touch a pen and paper. He had wasted nearly ten pieces of paper on this drawing before he felt that it was barely presentable.
The drawing was… not bad, but the necessary annotations were very clear. Master Fu used his own understanding of architecture and could still roughly understand what he meant.
“If you want to build this house, it will cost at least three hundred silver.”
Master Fu gestured for Zhao Zhan to come closer.
“Your house is in the shape of the sun. After entering, you will see the well and then two wing rooms on the east and west side. Behind the well, there is a corridor, and then the main room. There are also two wing rooms and a study room.
“Other than these, there’s also a bathroom marked at the corner of your main room. I saw that you drew two strokes on the bathroom. What does this mean?”
The bathroom was something his lover had emphasized three times.
Zhao Zhan only listened, but he couldn’t imagine what it meant at all. He could only copy it for Master Fu to hear. Then, the two of them looked at each other.
Master Fu really didn’t want to miss out on this job.
He used to be a famous master in Huai Country. If he had not been easily schemed on, he would not have returned to Wangshan Town to guard the ancestral home. He could only take up odd jobs such as repairing mud houses every day now.
The house that Zhao Zhan wanted to build aroused the fighting spirit in his heart that had not been stirred for a long time.
If he had not seen the blueprint today, he would not have realized that he had been muddleheaded for so long.