Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 105 - 30 requires adding 5 taels of silver.

"What Big Brother said makes sense! Let’s do as Father says!" Gu Chengyi saw that Big Brother had agreed, and his opposition alone was useless, especially since the Third and Fourth brothers, his full-blood siblings, had no objections. Before the family division, everything belonged to the family as a whole; the grains received still had to be handed over. Even if there was a family division later, that would be a matter for the future.

Mrs. Lv had no dissatisfaction with Mr. Gu’s suggestion either; twenty acres of land were set aside for Xiao Bao, ensuring he wouldn’t lack income in the future. It was impossible for Xiao Bao to keep all five hundred taels of silver, as the old man wouldn’t agree. Seeing that Gu Chengyi had yielded, she chose to remain silent.

"Since we’ve wrapped up the matter of buying the land, let’s discuss house construction! If we purchased those fifty-five acres, costing over eighty taels, and deducted the eighteen-tael labor tax, we’d have just over sixty taels left, which isn’t enough!" After settling the land purchase, plans for building the house need to be realigned.

"Father, there are many of us in the family, and more will likely come in the future. If there are too few rooms, there won’t be enough space, so the house can’t be too small; we should build several rooms. I initially planned for a two-part house, buying the space of Second Grandfather next door, which is just right. It’s spacious and allows for a larger courtyard. How much silver would it take to build a two-part courtyard?" Gu Chengyu shared his plans, but with this budget, it might require quite a bit of silver, a figure his father and the rest should have a sense of.

"What? A two-part house? Oh my! Isn’t that like Mr. Zhao’s home in the village? His house is a two-part one too, all made of blue bricks and tiles—very spacious! Little Uncle, are we really going to build such a nice house?" He said the thought of building a big house thrilled her, making her forget the earlier unpleasantness. She envisioned herself living in such a mansion and never squeezing with the whole family on one small kang, where even in hot weather, someone might end up sick. When it rained, they had to put a wooden basin in the house; otherwise, the rain would seep onto the kang. Windy days were especially annoying as the thatch on the roof often got blown off.

"I indeed had such plans, but I’m asking Father how much silver a two-part house would require?" Gu Chengyu said to his father.

"Why think of a two-part house? That would require quite an amount of silver. If it’s built entirely of blue bricks and tiles, I estimate it would take a hundred taels or more! And that’s just for the house, excluding the furnishings inside." Mr. Gu originally thought about just building a main house like the original of the Gu Family, adding two more rooms to each side wing, costing forty to fifty taels at most. If a larger two-part house were to be built, a hundred or so taels might not even be enough!

"A two-part house is certainly not feasible; it’s too costly, and we don’t have that much silver," Gu Chenglian interjected. The original twenty acres of land were rightfully the Fifth’s share, leaving him with nothing to say. During his time as an apprentice in town, he hadn’t contributed any monthly salary to the family, relying on the two older brothers’ support. Although Xiao Bao discovered the ginseng, he only received twenty acres, which wasn’t much.

As for building the house, he found it quite important. He and the Fourth are no longer young yet still share a room; the big and second branch of the family are cramped in their own ways. This can’t be delayed any longer. Furthermore, he was fourteen years old, and when the matter of getting a wife arose, though he felt embarrassed and ran off back then, thinking about it now, it wouldn’t do to have a wife but continue sharing a room with his brothers, correct?

"The third one has a point; we can only build a smaller one, purchase the plot next door, and expand when the children grow up! Second, I called you back today to discuss buying the land plot from Li Zheng. What did the village chief say? How much silver is needed?" Mr. Gu recalled that after seeing the fields, he had the second return to find Lin Lize.

"I went there. Lin Lize said that the courtyard next to us now belongs to the village. Although it can be bought, the price isn’t cheap." Gu Chengyi recalled how Lin Lize had asked him at the time why he wanted to buy the land. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he said it was for building a courtyard, worrying that the growing family wouldn’t fit in the future, so he bought it first and would build it when they had money. He didn’t mention that they were planning to build right now. After all, the Gu Family had previously offended the Li Zheng family; who knows if Lin Lize would hold a grudge?

He agreed readily, saying that with so many Gu Family members, they indeed needed more rooms. Gu Chengyi was relieved that the village chief wasn’t difficult, thinking the matter would be settled. But listening further to the chief’s latter words revealed the complexity; surely grudges weren’t forgotten? 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What? The adjacent courtyard is just a bit more than an acre. Village land plots always go for two taels of silver per acre. How isn’t it cheap? How much does he want?" Mr. Gu knew from his son’s words that the village chief was taking personal revenge. It seemed he’d have to make a trip himself.

"He said that since there’s already a house on the land, we’d have to buy it together, adding five taels of silver for the house." Gu Chengyi understood it was meant to be difficult; that shabby house was probably worth five taels?

"What? That old house was made of mud bricks, half of which had collapsed, with nothing of value inside, and he wants five taels of silver? That’s daylight robbery!" Mrs. Lv was exasperated upon hearing the extra five-tael demand. She knew that ever since Second Brother’s household mentioned their sale of ginseng, the whole village was talking about it, and the chief intended to extort them.

"Why don’t you talk it over with him, Father? That dilapidated house is just a hassle to us! If he wants it, let him take it! All we want is the land; if someone wants that old house, let them have it," He found it unbelievable; that house couldn’t even be given away for free, and yet the village chief wanted to sell it for five taels — he’s more money-minded than I am!

"Let’s handle this tomorrow; once we’ve sorted out the field purchase in town, I’ll visit the village chief. I can’t believe he’d disregard Big Brother’s face as well." Mr. Gu planned to call upon his elder brother to accompany him to the chief’s house after dealing with the land issue.

"Second Brother! When you went today, did you bring some gifts?" Gu Chengyu thought that no matter when, receiving a gift always softens people, and offering a gift would surely get some favors, right?

"Gifts? For land and house purchases in our village, didn’t people just go directly? I never saw anyone bringing gifts!" Gu Chengyi found it strange but then quickly agreed it made sense. His family situation is different!

"Shall I buy some pastries tomorrow then?" Gu Chengyi thought it might be wise to bring some Jujube Cake for a visit the next day.

"And perhaps a strip of meat too! If the gift is too scant, they might not even care about it!" Gu Chengyu felt that the village chief looked upright on the surface but tended to be rather greedy inside. Though sometimes practical, if they went with a gift and offered due respect tomorrow, considering their own interests, he might agree. After all, demanding five taels for that house was impossible; gossip in the village would be inevitable. Knowing when to stop, as someone who’s been a village chief for so many years, he’d surely understand."