It has taken a little more than a month since the ground was broken, and the house is almost completed, and the construction team is also very efficient. No wonder the houses in the city are built so quickly. There is a reason.
At Zhang An's house now, only the top beam has not been installed, so the roof tiles have not been started yet.
But after I found someone to check the date, it happened that there was a good day for me to go to bed in the past few days.
So Zhang An was not in a hurry. The doors and windows he had ordered from someone earlier were now ready, so he just happened to bring them over.
You can ask the construction team to install the doors and windows first.
It just so happens that we can deal with the walls and floor first.
On the floor, Zhang An listened to Li Hongbin's advice and instead of laying floor tiles, he installed a terrazzo floor.
But originally Zhang An had no intention of doing anything, and even just wanted to lay a cement floor.
Who knew that Li Hongbin still had these businesses, so he would just take care of them.
Terrazzo floors are much easier to use than floor tiles.
Especially in the past two years, floor tiles have just come onto the market and are ridiculously expensive.
Although terrazzo is also expensive, it is still much cheaper than floor tiles.
The key point is that the terrazzo floor will stay the same for many years. Its elegance will never go out of style. Some people will still use terrazzo floor more than 20 years later.
Although Zhang An and Li Hongbin discussed it for a long time, in the end Li Hongbin decided to make his own decision.
He finally figured out that Zhang An was just an outsider and didn't understand anything.
As for the homestead given to Li Hongbin from the nearby village, they also found someone to look after the future.
The groundbreaking ceremony had already been held before, and the foundation had been laid.
As long as Zhang An's house is completed, the masters can go over and start building Li Hongbin's own house.
Regarding moving to Changqing Village, Li Hongbin persuaded Li Yao's grandparents at home for several days, and finally convinced the two old people.
Zhou Lan is quite happy, because Changqing Village is close to the town. If the two elders live in Changqing, it will be convenient for them to go back and forth on weekdays.
Unlike before, it would take several hours every time to go back to my hometown.
Li Hongbin, an experienced driver, had to drive slowly on that mountain road, and Zhou Lan didn't even dare to drive.
The second elder didn't want to move here at first, and kept telling Li Hongbin that they were used to living there and were reluctant to let go.
In fact, I'm used to living there, but I just can't place the tombs of Li Hongbin's grandparents. I feel that after moving away, it will be quite far to pay homage on weekdays.
Their family was not a local population before, but was moved here from other places during the war.
There are so many people like this in the nearby mountains that there is no such thing as a saying that it is hard to leave one’s homeland.
But in the end, with the persuasion of Li Hongbin and Zhou Lan, as well as Li Hongbin's two brothers, they agreed.
Moreover, Zhou Lan said that if they asked the second elder to come over, they could bring Li Yao over and stay with them when Li Yao went on vacation.
When she was in her hometown, Zhou Lan was worried about letting Li Yao live there because of the long distance.
How could grandparents not like their grandchildren?
Especially the children of the eldest and second family. The two elders had raised them since childhood. They had no chance to take the only son of the third family with them.
After a long time, I didn't kiss them much anymore, so Zhou Lan's words were considered to have sealed the fate of the two elders.
As soon as Zhou Lan said this, the old man immediately did not hesitate and moved. He moved as soon as the house was built.
On the day when their house was breaking ground and laying the foundation, Zhang An cooked food for everyone at his house.
On the morning of the day when Zhang An's family was going to the Liang Dynasty, many people in the village came to Zhang An's house to join in the fun.
Two thick and long trees were carried from Zhang An's old house to their new house.
These two big trees were cut down by Mr. Zhang’s family last year. They are high-quality wood and are the perfect choice for making large beams. The length and size are just right.
Some time ago, Zhang An and his son originally wanted to invite someone to go to the woods on the mountain to cut down two suitable large trees to make beams. However, after Zhang An's fourth grandfather found out about it, he said that he had it at home and there was no need to cut down any more.
So these two pieces of good wood were carried to Zhang An's old house. This morning, everyone carried them from the old yard to the new house together.
Two big trees were put on the wooden horse, and the old carpenter in the village used tools to repair them.
He is serious about the work of Zhang An's family, because this year Zhang An asked him to do a lot of door and window work, which made him make a lot of money. This is a business that he could not find in previous years.
The old carpenter's surname is Lin. He is in his sixties and is the best at carpentry work in the surrounding areas.
If he hadn't been too busy by himself, Zhang An would have thought of asking him to do all the work, because the doors and windows he made were beautiful and durable.
After a lot of work by carpenter Lin, the two square roof beams had been dug out.
Zhang An's grandfather was gone, so the two old men of the Zhang family took the red cloth bought by Zhang An's family and tied it to the main beam. They also tied the deed paper written by Mr. Kandi to the main beam.
After doing this, everyone helped to send the two beams upstairs. There were many people who came, so they easily sent the two beams upstairs.
As soon as the auspicious time came, firecrackers began to be set off in the yard, accompanied by a burst of crackling firecrackers.
"It's time to go up the beam!" The old man below also shouted loudly, and the people nearby also shouted, "It's time to go up the beam."
Everyone upstairs also helped to lift the beams that had been carried upstairs little by little to the top position reserved for the beams.
At this time, it means that the upper beam is successful.
Zhang An carried several baskets filled with candies and cakes and started tossing them down from upstairs. The adults and children below started grabbing them on the ground in a lively manner. It is said that the more lively the grabbing, the better.
At noon, because there were too many people, we had to hold a big banquet on the drying ground. Today, we invited Uncle Jianzhong and Zhou Yang from my second grandfather’s family to cook.
Including the masters of the construction team were also invited to have a meal.
Everyone was having a lively meal, as if they were having a banquet.
After the beams were installed, it was the construction team's work in the afternoon. They quickly covered the top roof with tiles.
Since then, Zhang An's new house has been completed and can be moved in as long as the water and electricity are connected.
Tap water is simple, you can just connect it to the branch in the village, but if you want to connect to electricity, you have to go to the county to find someone from the power supply bureau to get it, and you have to install a new electric meter.
The current power supply bureaus are all in the county, and there are none in nearby towns or villages. It will be many years before township power supply bureau offices will be established.
So every time there is a power outage, it will take a long time before the call comes back.
To collect electricity bills at this time, the power supply bureau will find a person in each village. When it is time to collect electricity bills, he will carry a ladder to read the electricity meters of each household, and then collect the money.
Early the next morning, Zhang An went to the county. Today he was going to the power supply bureau to find someone to open an account and connect the wires. He should go there early and come back early.
When we arrived at the bureau, the staff had already gone to work. Zhang An asked several people and found the person in charge. Finally, he paid 150 yuan. The person gave Zhang An an order and said that he would call someone to do the wiring tomorrow.
Zhang An thought that Li Hongbin's family was also building a house, so he immediately said that there was a house building nearby and he could bring an extra electric meter there so that they could install it together, saving them several trips back and forth.
The wiring in Zhang An's home has been laid. Once the electric meter is installed and the entrance wire is connected, it can be used normally.
Nowadays, it is different from later generations. If people say they will install it for you tomorrow, they will go there tomorrow. Unlike in the past, they always said that they would install it when they have time, but it has been delayed for several months.
After finishing the work and seeing that it was not yet noon, Zhang An went into the county town for a walk.
The dry toilet at home has been renovated recently. Zhang An planned to go to the place where electrical appliances are sold. Bathing in winter has always been a big problem, but he was confused when he arrived at the store.
Zhang An wanted to buy a water heater, but he didn't see what Zhang An wanted in the store.
There are water heaters for sale in stores now, but most of them are gas-fired water heaters used in cities. In the countryside, there is no way to use them without gas.
After checking several stores and finding nothing, Zhang An asked the bosses about solar water heaters.
Finally, a boss told Zhang An that because it often rains in this mountainous area and there are too few sunny days, as the saying goes, it never gets sunny for three days, so solar hot water is not very popular in mountainous areas now.
Because products like water heaters are very expensive products nowadays, they are basically bought by people in the city, while people in the countryside don’t have much money to buy them.
But if the sun doesn't shine often, the solar energy can't play the role of hot water. I originally wanted to buy it to save some gas costs, but it turns out that I have to use electricity. Electricity is more expensive than a gas-fired water heater. Why do I need it?
Choose it.
So now many owners who sell home appliances don’t dare to buy goods at all, because if they can’t be sold, they have to throw them away.
Finally, Zhang An gave up the idea of buying this thing.
I found a place that sold other home appliances, shopped around and picked out a washing machine for my mother.
Because no matter it is spring, summer, autumn or winter, the laundry at home is washed by hand. It is most difficult to wash clothes in winter, so Zhang An bought one.
Especially in winter when washing quilt covers, sheets and thick clothes, it is very inconvenient.
At this time, the washing machines only had two drums, one drum for washing and one drum for dehydration. Zhang An chose a brand that would be used by his own family in later generations.
Because in later generations, my family also bought a double-tub washing machine like this. It was used for more than ten years without breaking. It left a deep impression on Zhang An.
Every time Zhang An asked for a new washing machine, Wang Fang always said that the one at home could still be used and that he would buy a new one when it broke. After waiting for nearly twenty years, Zhang An finally bought a new one and it was not ready yet.
bad.
In Zhang An's impression, the washing machine seemed to have cost 680 yuan. After calculation, it only cost more than 30 yuan per year. It was a great deal.
Even though it didn't wear out, the motor of the dry bucket broke down midway. Wang Fang couldn't bear to sell it as scrap. In the end, she spent more than 100 yuan to find someone to replace the motor, which lasted another seven or eight years.
The quality is simply unparalleled. Many household appliances in later generations are very durable and of good quality after being used for five or six years at most.
Compared with it, it is completely dwarfed and far different.
There is no need to buy a refrigerator. The one Li Hongbin sent to me is big enough and can be used when the time comes.
Walking to the display counter where the TVs were placed, there were already color TVs for sale, imported from abroad, but after looking at the price, Zhang An thought about it and decided not to.
Spending thousands of dollars to buy a small color TV is not worth it. If Zhang An buys it back like this, he will definitely be hit hard by Wang Fang at home, who will criticize him for spending money arbitrarily.
Nowadays, the replacement of this gadget is very powerful. After a few years, the price of this color TV will plummet. There will be many opportunities to buy it in the future, but I am not in a hurry now.
Moreover, Changqing Village does not yet have a closed circuit that can put a TV, and there are no small satellite pots on the market in later generations. They only sell antennas and very large pots.
If you buy an antenna, you can receive several TV stations, and the big antenna is easy to break.
After thinking about it, Zhang An didn't even buy a black and white TV set.
In the end, Zhang An just bought a washing machine and went back.
Before going out, I checked that there was no meat in the refrigerator. Although Zhang An doesn't eat meat-free now, sometimes some meat is better when stir-fried with it.
So he went to the meat stall in the vegetable market and cut a few kilograms of good pork belly.
I saw that the quality of the meat on the meat counter was very good today, so I bought more. I planned to go back and ask my mother to fry some crispy meat.
When I got home, Wang Fang had already prepared lunch.
"What did you buy again?"
Seeing Zhang An carrying a big box from the car, Wang Fang helped him.
"I bought a washing machine so that you can wash clothes without using your hands in the future."
When Wang Fang heard that it was a washing machine, she felt that it must have cost a lot of money. She couldn't help but feel a little worried because her family had been spending a lot of money recently.
"Xiao An, this washing machine is not cheap. Our family has just spent so much money to build a house. We should save money. I can just wash these clothes by hand. Why spend this money?"
As the saying goes, if you have money in your pocket, you won't panic. During this time, money from Zhang An's family was flowing out, and Wang Fang became more and more panicked.
She was worried that her family's money would run out, and what would happen if something urgent suddenly happened.
Zhang An also knew what his mother was thinking, "Mom, I will save some money from now on, but I still have to buy this washing machine. It's okay to wash some thin clothes, but it will be difficult to wash sheets, quilt covers and thick clothes.
Especially in winter, cold water is a problem, and it can’t be dried even after washing for several days. With this washing machine, it is much more convenient.”
Zhang An knew that his mother was used to saving money, and his lavish spending made her feel unsteady, so he didn't say anything about the money being a bastard. If she didn't make money again, she would only be more worried and anxious.
.
I just followed my mother's advice and told her not to buy it next time and to save money in the future, so that she could feel at ease.