Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Money can move mountains.

Wang Guohua raised an eyebrow when he saw the five large unison bills.

As the person in charge of the Sun Red Brick Kiln, he had seen thousands of bricks.

He was still slightly surprised when a farmer from the Peace Production Brigade pulled out five hundred yuan.

As a businessman, it's a fool not to make money when there's an opportunity!

Wang Guohua immediately dispelled his doubts and greeted him with a smile: "Hehe, brother, you misunderstood me. I was just giving you some advice because I was considering that you'll be using a lot of bricks to build your house, so you won't buy too many and waste them."

Seeing Wang Guohua immediately change his attitude, Zhao Lei smiled slightly, thinking to himself: Sure enough, no businessman is without guile.

Immediately, he put the five hundred yuan into his pocket.

Wang Guohua was stunned by this scene. He reached out slightly and exclaimed in confusion, "Hey? Brother, what's this?"

"Boss Wang, I haven't even said I absolutely have to buy red bricks from you. Taking out the money is just to prove my financial strength."

Wang Guohua immediately felt a surge of dissatisfaction in his heart.

I go!

This kid doesn't look to be more than thirty years old, does he?

How can you be so experienced in doing things?

Wang Guohua has his own set of principles for dealing with simple, honest rural people.

On the surface, they will be very enthusiastic, but secretly they will charge extra fees, and after the transaction is completed, most rural people will thank them.

Wang Guohua originally thought the deal was mostly done, since the other party paid without saying a word.

He originally intended to quote a higher price, but unexpectedly Zhao Lei took the money back.

This caught him off guard, and his originally cunning plan instantly became uncertain.

Zhao Lei asked, "Boss Wang, how many bricks do you think I'll need based on my requirements? By the way, how much does a brick cost per brick at your brick kiln?"

Faced with the question Zhao Lei suddenly posed, Wang Guohua hesitated.

"Brother, Mr. Wang, can you help me calculate whether there are any other materials needed besides red bricks? For example, river sand, lime, cement, etc. Although you don't do stone business, I believe you have bosses you cooperate with."

Zhao Lei bombarded Wang Guohua with questions one after another, completely stunning him.

He originally thought Zhao Lei was unaware of the market situation, since there were hardly any red brick houses in the entire Tuanjie Township now, and most of them were mud-brick houses.

Without consulting professionals, rural people simply cannot understand the quantities and amounts of these materials used.

Surprisingly, Zhao Lei seems to know quite a bit about what's needed to build a house; it looks like I can't fool him.

The fact that he dared to ask such detailed questions means that at least someone had already prepared a relevant budget for him.

Wang Guohua has received many high-ranking officials and met all kinds of important figures. He has never lost in terms of presence when facing farmers and individual investors.

But today, facing this unknown Zhao Lei, he felt as if he had been seen through and understood.

It seemed the other party understood his intentions and was subtly probing him through repeated questioning: You better not try to cheat me, I know the ins and outs of building houses.

Wang Guohua couldn't help but gasp, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Zhao Lei, Zhao Lei...

The name sounds familiar, but I just can't remember it.

Could it be that he made his fortune abroad and has just returned home in glory?

Yes, yes, very likely!

Otherwise, I've heard more or less about the wealthier families in this area.

It seems that Zhao Lei is no ordinary person. At such a young age, he has earned so much money outside and built a two-story red brick house. He must be someone important in the outside world. We can't afford to offend this kind of person.

It's no wonder that Wang Guohua was able to stand out from Taiyang Township and become the head of the red brick kiln.

In just a moment, he pondered many things and came to a conclusion.

To cover his embarrassment, he took a sip of tea to clear his throat. "Ahem, Brother Zhao Lei, it seems you know quite a bit about building houses."

Zhao Lei replied, "Oh, Mr. Wang, you flatter me. I'm just an outsider watching the show. Building a house is a big deal, so I just spent a little time asking around."

"Oh, I see. Brother Zhao Lei, our brick kiln rarely sells large quantities of bricks to individual buyers. Large quantities of bricks are mainly for the town and county's national projects, so the amount we can sell to individual buyers each week isn't very large."

Zhao Lei laughed and said, "Haha, Boss Wang, building a house isn't something that can be done in a short time. I'm not in a hurry right now. I'm just here to scout things out first. I'll start construction once I've prepared most of the other materials."

"That's right, Brother Zhao Lei has considered everything very thoroughly. Let me do a quick calculation for you. Based on your requirements, eight bedrooms, two floors, it will probably require..."

As he spoke, Wang Guohua took a pencil and drew a rectangular sketch on the paper. "Brother Zhao Lei, what do you think of building the main structure like this?"

Zhao Lei took a closer look.

Although the other party only drew two stacked blocks as a sketch, they marked out the approximate area and room locations.

As you can see, after the renovation, the house will be a neat rectangular shape, without any fancy balconies or Roman columns.

These are all styles that became popular in later generations. Nowadays, the houses built with red bricks are all simple and unadorned in design.

Zhao Lei checked the room locations and layouts again and raised no objections.

Wang Guohua then picked up his pen and paper again, lowered his head to calculate, and said, "Brother Zhao Lei, I have made a rough estimate. According to your requirements, eight bedrooms, plus the necessary spaces such as the main room, kitchen, corridor, stairs, and toilet, your house is not small. The total building area is about 280 square meters, and the land area is at least 140 square meters."

Zhao Lei thought about it and realized that in later generations, the floor area of ​​ordinary family apartments with three bedrooms and two living rooms, three bedrooms and one living room, or two bedrooms and one living room was mostly less than 100 square meters. 280 square meters is equivalent to three apartments put together.

With this in mind, I had a better understanding and felt that the area was large enough for a large family to live in.

"Boss Wang, based on your plan, could you estimate how many red bricks you'll need? And what will the total cost be?"

To be fair, Wang Guohua is indeed quite good at math. Having dealt with building materials for many years, he quickly calculated the data.

"Brother Zhao Lei, the prices at our brick factory are all in accordance with the official price regulations. The price of a brick is three cents and two cents."

Qin Bowen, who had been standing silently beside Zhao Lei, breathed a long sigh of relief upon hearing the price and muttered under his breath, "That's really cheap."

Zhao Lei immediately glared at him, and Qin Bowen shrugged and stopped talking.

Wang Guohua glanced at the two of them and continued, "This is the price for red bricks. Every transaction at the brick kiln must be registered and approved. The price will not increase or be discounted. You can rest assured about this. The price is the same in the surrounding towns!"