Chapter 1823 - 1825: House Planning
Xiaoxiao was engrossed in her drawing when she suddenly felt something and turned around, only to see Yang Ming standing behind her, giving her a scare.
"Why didn’t you make any sound, you scared me."
Yang Ming took a chair and sat beside her, "You were too focused. What are you drawing? Is it the new house we’re planning to build?"
"Yes!" Xiaoxiao nodded. It wouldn’t hurt to show him; after all, it’s their home.
It’s just that her drawing was a bit messy; she wasn’t a designer, and her lines and proportions were all marked out haphazardly.
Her sketch resembled a child’s doodle, showing a rough idea of the house, roughly planning how the piece of land should be laid out, and indicating where to build what, and that’s about it.
"Honey, this project is quite big, a total of nine compounds. Let’s not bother with a main and secondary yard concept, just make them all the same."
Yang Ming picked up the piece of paper his wife had drawn, looking it over from side to side, and he could indeed see nine courtyards.
In the middle was a large courtyard, surrounded by eight others. Each of the eight courtyards could be an independent compound as they encircled the big one; only the direction of the doors differed.
Clearly, these are for the eight kids on the periphery, and the elderly couple’s courtyard is in the innermost part.
Looking at the structure of each courtyard, they’re all the same, with a main room, side rooms, a kitchen, a storeroom, a latrine, and an animal pen – quite comprehensive.
Seeing Yang Ming reviewing the drawing, Xiaoxiao started explaining the layout to him.
"The bedroom is made a bit larger, the south side has a kang, and when the winter sun comes in, the room will be warm as well. Then, this whole area is built into a heated wall, and in winter, lighting a stove outside will keep the room warm."
"And on the north side, we’ll make a big bed, so in summer, staying on the north side, there won’t be any sunlight, it’ll be cooler!"
"The room inside here will be our study and workspace. I’ll specially make you a row of bookshelves to store books!"
"In the middle, this is a reception room for when guests come over."
"Now that we have more space, the kitchen will be in a separate building, with two rooms – one for cooking and the other for dining."
"And here on my side... and this side..."
Xiaoxiao kept talking non-stop. The thought of eventually constructing the house made her so excited, she even explained the lavatory and bathhouse to Yang Ming in detail.
After finishing, she didn’t forget to ask Yang Ming’s opinion, "Honey, what do you think?"
Yang Ming’s mouth curved upward; he could hardly have any opinions. His wife had thought of everything, such a perfect house, which even the countryside had never seen, let alone the town or the County.
He was thinking, once the house is built, will it make others green with envy, or attract visitors?
"It’s great, as long as you’ve decided!"
Seeing Yang Ming didn’t have any more suggestions, Xiaoxiao went back to writing and drawing, making revisions for a long time, and finally came up with a plan.
"Alright, our house will be like this. Tomorrow let’s ask the rest of the family for their opinions, then we’ll get started on building!"
"Okay, stop for now, come up and sleep."
Yang Ming beckoned, and Xiaoxiao finally climbed onto the kang and snuggled into the covers.
But she still couldn’t fall asleep.
"Honey, are there specialists for building houses here, or do the villagers build them themselves?"
"We farmers build our own, but in the County and town, there are specialized people for building. Once you ask for the family’s opinions tomorrow and it’s decided, I’ll take you to find someone!"
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