Chapter 421 - Chapter 421: Building Dormitories
Chapter 421: Building Dormitories
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Wenwu said happily, “Song Yi will be thrilled, Little Sister. I’ll tell him about it tomorrow.”
He would have told Song Yi about the stinky tofu sooner if Song Yi had not lived so far away.
Meanwhile, Su Binglan’s expression changed when her third brother mentioned Northern Mountain Village. “Your friend is from Northern Mountain Village?
“That’s right, Little Sister. Do you know about that place? It’s quite far from here, deep in the mountains.’
“Yes, I know,” Su Binglan said, “They have many pine trees there, and some people use pine trees for their fire when making pottery.”
The Taos from Willow Village typically used pine wood to make their pottery. They bought the pine wood from Northern Mountain Village but went into debt because of it.
After Su Binglan bought the Taos’ business, she told Su Fengzhang and Su Wenxian to pay off the Taos’ debt. Now that the Taos had started making pottery again, they could afford more pine wood.
“How did you learn about that place, Little Sister? I heard from Song Yi that
there are a lot of pine trees in the mountains near his house.”
After some thought, Su Binglan asked, “Are Northern Song Village and
Northern Mountain Village close to each other?”
Su Wenwu answered, “They’re only a mountain apart, but the Northern Song villagers must cross that mountain to reach Northern Mountain Village. The road is tough to traverse. That’s why it’s a little further off.
“I might’ve arranged for Song Yi to get ingredients for the hotpot restaurant if he didn’t live so far away.”
Su Binglan asked, “Will it take him longer to reach town? It wouldn’t inconvenience Song Yi if we hired him to sell stinky tofu in town, right?”
She wanted to build a staff dormitory, but Su Xueye was currently busy building the embroidery shop, while Su Zhengde had arranged for his team to help his niece renovate the hotpot restaurant in the east. They were so busy that they could not cope with another project.
Even if Su Binglan had hired them to build a staff dormitory, finishing would take a lot of time.
Su Wenwu said, “Song Yi isn’t afraid of hardships, Little Sister. He can always wake up early and go home in the dark at night. He told me he was looking for a job.
“As for the ingredients for the hotpot restaurant, three people will suffice for now. They’re from the surrounding villages, so it’s more convenient for them to get the ingredients.
“Selling stinky tofu shouldn’t be too hard on Song Yi, right? After all, he only needs to set up a stall in town to sell them daily. He should finish selling them before it gets too dark, correct?”
Su Wenwu wanted to find a job for Song Yi, but he was working for his sister, and she had to arrange these things.
Su Binglan noticed her third brother’s anxiety and could understand his feelings. After some thought, she said, “How about this? The dessert shop and haggis soup shop have two rooms in the back. We can use them as a staff dormitory, and Song Yi can rest there. He can always go home and rest whenever he wants to.
“Li Shi is currently living in Northern Song Village, so he and Song Yi will be heading in the same direction. They can go home together at night.”
Su Wenwu’s eyes lit up. “Yes, that’s a perfect plan.”
After discussing living arrangements, Su Binglan changed the topic and discussed business again. She planned to get a small food cart for making and selling stinky tofu.
“The small cart can house oil, tofu, and seasoning. However, the small dining cart will be simple. If we sell stinky tofu, we’ll only need to do it from noon to night since we only have a fixed daily amount. Then Song Yi can rest earlier if he sells out of stinky tofu.
“When the business gains traction, we can hire someone else to handle the stall. Then Song Yi will only be responsible for the delivery. He’ll fundamentally be a small business manager.”
Su Wenwu was thrilled after listening to his sister’s plans. “I’ll tell Song Yi about this tomorrow!”
Su Binglan nodded. “Yeah, I’ll also need to teach him to fry the stinky tofu and season it.”
After having dinner with the family, Su Binglan went to Su Zhengde’s house. The sky had darkened, making it hard for the construction teams to continue their work. Hence, Su Zhengde and Su Xueye had already returned home. After all, they could only do construction work during the day.
The family had just finished eating and were delighted to see Su Binglan. She revealed a few blueprints and said, “Uncle Zhengde, I want to build a staff dormitory behind the tofu factory.”
She had bought a few hundred acres of land before, and after the factory and hotpot restaurant made enough money, she bought the remaining land. Now, she could adequately plan the construction.
However, taking on such a large project would require a lot of money. Thus, she planned to make money while the construction team built the buildings.
She wanted that neighborhood to be somewhere her future employees could live. Each building would be an apartment building, and the rooms would vary in size.
Su Zhengde quickly took Su Binglan’s blueprint and looked at it. “Are these blueprints for the staff dormitories?
Su Xueye and his father’s two uncles also came over to look curiously at the blueprints. They knew whatever ideas Su Binglan came up with would be fresh.
Everyone went to look at the blueprints, even Su Xueye.
Su Xueye asked, “Is this a two-leveled bed, Aunt Binglan?”
Su Binglan explained, “That’s right. One room can have two bunk beds. Since that’s the case, four people can live in one dorm room. If we build a row of two-story buildings like these, many people can live there.”
They could build many two-story buildings like these to make a community. When the embroidery shop officially opened and Su Binglan expanded her factory, everyone could live in the dormitories.
Nonetheless, Su Binglan owned a large plot of land and could develop many things there.
Su Xueye said, “Grandpa, My team will complete the embroidery shop in a few days, so I can lead them to start constructing the dorms.”
‘You rascal,” Su Zhengde said smilingly, “You’re even taking my job now? I want to build stuff like these, too, you know?”
Su Binglan looked at the duo and said, “Don’t worry about it, Uncle Zhengde.
Theres a blueprint of a winery at the bottom.”
“A winery?” Su Zhengde’s family members looked up at Su Binglan in disbelief.
No one expected her to want to build a winery.
No one found it strange when she wanted to build a tofu factory and an embroidery shop since she knew how to make tofu. Even though she was opening an embroidery shop soon, it would be fine since she knew people who could do embroidery.
However, her idea of building a winery shocked everyone. After all, brewing wine was a prestigious thing in everyone’s eyes. It was not something ordinary people could do. Otherwise, wine would be relatively inexpensive.
Even Su Zhengde was reluctant to buy wineo He would drink it sparingly and only take one or two sips at a time, even if he did. He would also only take it out to drink if he had guests.
Su Binglan was unsurprised at everyone’s reactions. Her Uncle Fengzhang reacted similarly when she first said she wanted to open a winery.
She smiled mysteriously, saying, “There’s a reason why I want to open a winery, Uncle Zhengde. Please help me build it. You can hire more people to help with your construction since I still have many more things for you to build.”
Since Su Binglan still had vast vacant land, she planned a food street business district. However, she intended to hold off on telling anyone as they would get anxious if she did.
‘I wonder if it’s better to build these things bit by bit so that the surrounding areas can prosper..’