CHAPTER 87: CHAPTER 87: RENOVATING THE FIRST FLOOR

It sounded as if their family owned plenty of land, doing whatever they pleased.

Ah Fu admired them even more.

When the things were moved up to the second floor and he saw the renovated rooms, Ah Fu was thoroughly impressed.

He and Lin Qingxiang worked together to assemble the bed.

Meanwhile, Lin Yi was downstairs busy cooking, and soon he had to pick up the two kids.

By the time he was almost done, Ah Fu had also finished assembling the four beds.

The cost for processing the materials was over a hundred, and a deposit was paid earlier. After Lin Yi checked and confirmed everything was fine, he paid the remaining amount.

Ah Fu was very happy to receive the final payment. After sitting for a while, he wanted to leave, but Lin Yi urged them to stay for a meal. No matter what he said, they wouldn’t agree.

So Lin Yi had no choice but to take the keys, use a bamboo pole to send them across the river, and pick up the kids on the way.

When Lin Qin and her husband got home at noon, they were overjoyed to see the four brand new beds.

"Dad, why don’t you go with me this afternoon to buy some new quilts. We can almost move in."

Lin Yi nodded, "Sure! I’ll drop the kids off at school first; you can go to the tailor to choose fabric for the duvet covers."

The supply and marketing cooperative also has these items, but the price is much higher. Now, with more and more stores opening, the custom-made four-piece sets are cheaper than the ready-made ones.

They also needed to custom-make the cotton quilts.

The two of them spent the entire afternoon getting these things done.

During dinner, Lin Qin gave Chen Wenjun a piece of fish, saying, "Today, Dad and I went to the quilt workshop and ordered six twelve-pound big quilts and six eight-pound quilts, which will be warm enough when laid underneath.

We custom-ordered twelve duvet covers and pillowcases, which all added up to hundreds more."

Chen Wenjun nodded nonchalantly, "This money is meant to be spent. We should also buy some thick clothes when we have time; it seems like this winter will be quite cold."

From autumn to winter, people living by the water have their own way of predicting the weather.

Lin Yi quickly said, "I bought some yarn; I plan to knit two sets of clothes for each of the kids. You can buy less because we still need to save money for renovating the house!"

Chen Wenjun laughed, "Dad, no need to scrimp here. We’ve saved quite a bit recently, enough to renovate the house. Once the second floor is set, we can move in and hire people to work."

Lin Yi was especially happy to hear this.

Before the quilts even arrived, four made-to-order straw mats were delivered first.

Once everything for the beds arrived,

Chen Wenjun personally made a trip to Shanglin Village.

In mid-October, they formally started renovating the first floor.

With the experience from before, everyone now worked in perfect harmony, and it took only three days to finish laying over a hundred square meters of tiles.

It was then that Lin Qin realized the delivered tiles included not only floor tiles but also wall tiles, in quite large quantities.

Zhang Yongquan, along with his apprentice, meticulously calculated the number of tiles needed, laying them circle by circle from the bottom up.

After another five days, they finally finished tiling the walls.

"The height of the wall tiles is 1.4 meters, which is enough. The rest can be painted, and it should be completely finished by early November. I noticed there’s still quite a bit of cement left; how about we pave the outer dirt road with cement? This way, we won’t have to worry about mud messing up the house when it rains."

suggested Zhang Yongquan.

Lin Yi went to discuss this with Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin, and they all agreed.

For road construction, you need an expert. Luckily, Lin Qin was working with a road construction expert, and when she mentioned it to Huang Wenlong, he readily agreed. Once the house painting was done, he immediately brought two younger workers to help Lin Qin with the work.

When they arrived at Nanyu, the three were impressed by the imposing two-story building and had their perception of Lin Qin and her husband refreshed.

Knowing the vegetables they ate were all grown by Lin Yi, they kept showering them with compliments.

At that time, Lin Yi was busy sowing seeds in the paddy field, stepping in and out of the water, so he couldn’t spare a moment to chat with Huang Wenlong and the others.

Huang Wenlong was puzzled, "Is Uncle planting rice at this time?"

Although he didn’t farm, he did have some basic knowledge.

Lin Qin shook her head and explained, "He’s planting lotus roots. This whole area is planned for lotus planting, and next year, they can be sold at South Port."

Realization dawned on Huang Wenlong; lotus roots aren’t cheap and are hard to cultivate. Apparently, only one village nearby grows them. If this entire area is planted, it could bring in quite a bit of money!

Now he truly admired Lin Qin and her husband from the bottom of his heart.

It took about a day to complete the small road.

The three stayed in Nanyu for dinner before being seen off by Chen Wenjun.

Once they left, Lin Qin and the two kids began cleaning up the leftover construction debris, picking out what could be used and bagging what couldn’t in fertilizer sacks for Chen Wenjun to dispose of.

After three days of hard work, they managed to clean the island thoroughly.

Looking at the leftover bricks and tiles that were broken in half but still usable,

Lin Yi suggested, "Why don’t we build a stove room in the yard? This way, it’ll be more convenient for cooking, and we won’t have to worry about dirtying the house."

There was a kitchen on the first floor with a wood-burning stove. Before the renovation, he used it without any worries.

Now that it’s renovated, he found it inconvenient. The kitchen is clean and white everywhere, and the thought of burning wood made him feel like he was ruining the house, unlike before.

Chen Wenjun understood right away and went off to mix cement, laying bricks in a corner of the yard, building the stove, and using the leftover materials to construct a simple roof.

In about four or five days, the stove room in the yard was completed.

Lin Yi was very pleased with the stove room, and he worked with great enthusiasm.

Just as the stove room was completed, Ah Fu finished making the wardrobe and dining table and chairs.

With these items in place, the house looked entirely different.

Ah Fu was astounded by the renovated house and, after some thought, said, "Since the house looks this good, I think we should add an Eight Treasures cabinet in the living room. It’ll look nice with some items displayed on it, and of course, we can’t forget the living room’s four-piece furniture set, and the kids’ study desks and chairs, these items will make it complete."

Lin Qin wholeheartedly agreed, and without waiting for Lin Yi to speak, she approved it and paid the deposit, telling Ah Fu to deliver everything before the New Year. They also ordered two more beds and two cabinets; one floor has three rooms: one as a utility room and the other two as guest rooms.

After seeing off Ah Fu,

the next day Lin Qin went to the tailor shop again.

By now, she was considered a major client and had become friends with the owner, Zhang Shujuan.

As soon as she walked in, Zhang Shujuan called her over to help, "Help me press this fabric, someone ordered it."

Lin Qin quickly went over to help, taking the chance to glance at the colorful fabrics on the three walls, "Shujuan, I want to buy curtains; can you help me choose something nice?"

Zhang Shujuan paused her work in surprise, "Who buys fabric just to make curtains? Such a spendthrift! I don’t actually have suitable materials here. I heard they have them in Guangdong Province, but we can’t get them here."