Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 223 Construction Arrangements (Please Subscribe)

Xia Maosheng looked at Xiao Wei and said, "Then let Brother Gong take care of it. It's really too much trouble for us to do it ourselves. I don't even know where to get it."

Xiao Wei said, "I'm just afraid of causing trouble for Uncle Wang. These are extra things for us."

Master Gong laughed and said, "Xiao Zhang, you're overthinking it. That's not true. We repair so many houses all year round. It all depends on who owns the property. If it's public, then it's all public. If it's private, then it's private. It has nothing to do with who uses it."

Xiao Wei said, "Oh, okay then. I'll have to trouble you guys, Master Gong. Looks like you'll be busy for a few more days this year. How about this, Lao Xia, let's give Master Gong and the others some subsidies, like a day's transportation, food, and cigarettes. Remember that, we'll settle it all together when the job is done."

Xia Maosheng nodded in agreement, and Master Gong said with a smile, "That's great. I won't stand on ceremony with you. It's not just my job; I'll get the job done for you."

Xiao Wei said, "We bought decorative fabric and we want to cover the entire walls of these living rooms. Is that possible?"

Master Gong nodded and said, "That's easy. These rooms will be nailed up in half a day. Hurry up, is there anything else?"

Chen Hui asked, "Brother Gong, have you guys packaged this kind of fabric before?"

Master Gong said, "We've had this thing for a long time. We've installed it for leaders' homes before, and the city hotels also have it, which we installed as well. It looks nice, but it attracts dust, so you have to sweep it frequently. Especially in the summer when the doors and windows are open, you have to sweep it every day."

Xiao Wei said, "We need to book all the private rooms in the restaurant, as well as the large rooms from the old grain station. We also need to make some bar counters and cabinets. Can you make some tables? Then we can get a few more for office use. That's all."

Master Gong scratched his head and said, "You don't need to make desks, I'll get them for you. How many do you need?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Four or five are enough."

Master Gong nodded and said, "Okay, I'll get it over to you when it's done. The bar counter cabinet needs to be made. I remember there are still some old boards in the warehouse. There are no color requirements, right?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "No, whatever."

Master Gong said, "Then there's no problem. What's the solution?"

Xiao Wei said, "Once we finish the first floor of this old building, let's stop here for now and get the living rooms ready so we can move in. After that, we'll move on to the restaurant side, that needs to be done quickly. We can come back and work on the second floor after that's finished, okay?"

Master Gong did some mental calculations and nodded, saying, "Okay, these few rooms will take a few days to dry, four or five days. Stretching the cloth will be quick, then the bar counter and cabinets will take three or four days. How about painting? The floors and walls can't be left unpainted. In this weather, it'll take several days for the paint to dry, and we'll need to let it air out. Moving in will take a few more days; it won't be that quick."

Xiao Wei said, "I don't really understand. Master Gong, you can handle the arrangements. Anyway, it's up to you. If it doesn't work, we can add more people. Would adding a few more people speed things up?"

Master Gong nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll go back and take a look tomorrow. How about a private one? I can find a private old carpenter, but I'll have to charge him separately."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, as long as it's quick. My parents will be here in a few days, and staying in a guesthouse isn't ideal. As for the money, you can pay me back in the end."

Master Gong nodded and said, "Okay, we'll start working on it this afternoon. Try to be as quick as possible. You can leave the cloth here and go do other things after you're done."

The three people went to the car and carried the decorative fabrics from the rooms to the empty room.

Master Gong looked at the truck and said with a smile, "You guys really put in a lot of work. You're all capable and efficient."

After the arrangements were made at the hospital, the group drove straight to the restaurant.

Nothing much had changed at the restaurant. A few electricians were upstairs installing insulation frames and running three-phase electricity into the restaurant. Master Zhai stood below watching, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Three power company employees in their early twenties were working on the rooftop, cigarettes dangling from their lips. One was setting up ceramic brackets, another was squatting there sorting through parts, and the third was looking into the distance, seemingly lost in thought. The one setting up the ceramic brackets turned his head unintentionally and saw Xiao Wei's three cars driving by. He kicked the one looking up and said, "Stop staring, get to work. It's a provincial bureau car."

The two men glanced down, one threw away his cigarette butt, stood up, and said, "This family has really powerful connections. We'll have to smoke so many less cigarettes to get any profit. Why is it so difficult to put on a condom? It's been so long and we're still not done." The three of them started working on it.

Chen Hui parked the car in the dam behind the house. The three of them got out of the car. The door of the bungalow behind the house was open, and the three of them walked straight through.

The light bulbs in the room were replaced with 200-watt bulbs, making the room brighter. A stove made of welded iron plates lay on the floor, burning brightly, making the room warm and cozy. Two people were building a fire wall, mixing cement next to the stove.

Huang Laowu, who was standing to the side watching, turned around when he heard someone come in: "Oh, you're back! When did you arrive?"

Xiao Wei nodded to Huang Laowu and said, "It arrived last night. What's it like now? How many more days until it's ready?"

Huang Laowu said, "It should be finished today. The other rooms over there are all built, but the stoves at the back haven't been welded yet. Look, the iron plates are all here, and each room has a big stove burning. I reckon the other side can be taken down by tomorrow. Want to take a look?"

Xiao Wei nodded, and the four of them went out and walked to a few rooms on the side. Huang Laowu opened the door, and a wave of heat mixed with coal smoke rushed out.

After entering the house and closing the door, I turned on the light and saw that the fire walls had been built along the walls of the entire house. The two huge stoves inside the house were radiating heat. Huang Laowu said, "Building this thing is fast, but it doesn't dry as quickly as in the summer. It has to be heated like this all the time. This end is almost done. It should be ready by tomorrow. The other end will be finished today and will need to be heated for two more days."

Two large, one medium, and two small rooms, five rooms in total. Except for the room next to the billiards room, the firewall has already been built.

Xiao Wei said to Xia Maosheng, "Perfect timing. This room doesn't have a firewall, so let's put the cake here. Have Master Chang install a radiator, just the back half, we don't need to install the front half, we can separate the front and back."

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Okay."

Chen Hui looked around and said, "This room is still empty, it's just going to be left empty like this?"

Xiao Wei said, "Aren't you going to put anything there? Where will you put the tables and chairs in those two rooms where we usually sing, dance, and do other things?"

Chen Hui suddenly realized and nodded.

Xiao Wei said to Xia Maosheng, "The storefront needs to be fixed, and the doors need to be replaced. Let's replace the doors in the cake shop area with glass doors, and the rest with wooden doors. Is that okay?"

Xia Maosheng said, "It's feasible. How about we use wood nails to make the entire row of storefronts? We can ask Master Gong to help design it, make the storefronts taller, and then paint them a different color."

Chen Hui asked, "Why are you painting? It's so cold!"

Xia Maosheng said, "First brush it, then nail it, and then patch it up, and that's it."

Xiao Wei pointed to the other end of the restaurant and said, "We need to fix the wall behind the restaurant too, to cover the coal shed, and then put up a curtain of starry sky in the middle."

Xia Maosheng pointed to the toilet and said, "What about this side? Can we do it here?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Forget about this part, we'll just paint it with some whitewash when it gets warmer next year."

Both of them nodded in agreement.

Dear readers, if you have a spare moment, please help me recommend this book so more people can see it. Thank you. Due to some reasons, this book had a very short release period, and its reach is far from sufficient. Website recommendations have limitations, so your help is still needed.

(End of this chapter)