Chapter 454 - 220: I’ve Run Into a Ghost, Too

Chapter 454: Chapter 220: I’ve Run Into a Ghost, Too

They had spent ten thousand yuan on the new house. Today, they strolled happily around its exterior, growing more and more satisfied with every look.

The foot traffic was immense. East Main Street was lined with all sorts of shops, and there were plenty of individual vendors with stalls as well.

Jiazhou Pier was the city’s most important port. Passenger ships sailed directly to places like Mountain City and Yibin, carrying a steady stream of merchants and travelers. People disembarking were often looking for a bite to eat, while those about to board wanted to bring some of Jiazhou’s local specialties with them. They all tended to be generous spenders.

Tourist boats to see the Jiazhou Giant Buddha also departed from here. You could cross to Wuyou Temple on the opposite bank and climb the mountain for a view of the Buddha, or you could simply take a boat tour on the Min River to see the Buddha from the water.

The Jiazhou Giant Buddha was famous both in China and abroad, attracting a great number of tourists. When people were on vacation, they were much more open-handed with their spending on food and souvenirs than usual.

Zhou Yan really had a good eye. This wasn’t just a place Jiazhou locals liked to visit; the out-of-towners passing through every day would bring in a lot of business.

If they really moved the shop here in the future, business definitely wouldn’t be bad.

Zhao Tieying already had it all planned out. They would build a large stove directly facing the pier entrance and simmer a pot of Kneeling Beef there every day. The aroma of the beef bone broth would waft out, and the hungry passengers getting off the boats would follow the scent right to their door.

"Mama, there’s a big swing in the yard! And there are goldfish in the fish tank, and so many rooms to play hide-and-seek in. It’s so much fun!" Zhou Momo asked, her eyes full of the same anticipation, "When are we moving?"

"Already thinking about moving in?" Everyone laughed when they heard her.

"It’s still too soon. We have to open the shop here and make money first," Mrs. Zhao said, smiling as she pinched Momo’s cheek. She thought for a moment and added, "How about we come up and stay for a few days during the New Year? We can invite everyone over to liven things up. It’ll also be a good chance to show everyone where our new home in Jiazhou is."

"I think that’s a good idea," Comrade Zhou nodded.

"I think so too. Everything’s already here. We’ll just need to buy a couple of quilts and we can stay," Zhou Yan said with a smiling nod.

"That’s the plan! I’ll go buy some cotton and have two new comforters made." Mrs. Zhao nodded, already starting to calculate seriously. "We’ll also need a new thermos, and two enamel basins..."

"Mama, I want a new little pillow~"

"Of course. I’ll make one for you later."

"MWAH~ I love you, Mama!"

Seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, Zhou Yan felt, in that moment, the profound significance of buying a home for a family.

’That sense of joy, that feeling of bright hope for the future—it’s something that no accomplishment I’ve achieved alone could ever compare to. Family amplifies this sense of fulfillment.’

"You said you plan to tear this house down and rebuild it. When are you going to start?" Old Zhou asked.

Hearing this, Mrs. Zhao also looked toward Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan thought for a moment before replying, "I’ll start planning it out after the New Year. I need to consider whether to do it all right at once, or just do a simple renovation for now and wait a few years for construction techniques to improve before doing a major overhaul."

"If you’re planning to build a two or three-story building, it’s probably going to cost a lot of money. People say red bricks and cement are so expensive," Mrs. Zhao said.

"To find a wife for his son, Zhang the Third built a story-and-a-half house in town at the beginning of the year. It’s less than a hundred square meters, but it cost him over four thousand yuan, and now he’s up to his eyeballs in debt," Old Zhou said. "It has red brick walls on the outside and red brick walls on the inside, with hardly any furniture. It’s not even as comfortable as our upstairs is now. The materials are too expensive; labor is the cheap part, by comparison."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If I’m going to build, my standards will definitely be higher than Zhang the Third’s. The first-floor storefront will have high ceilings, at least three and a half meters, to make it feel spacious and bright. That will also leave more room for creativity if we decide to install a drop ceiling later.

"If we consider turning the second floor into private dining rooms, we might need to add a third floor for our living quarters.

"I don’t think precast concrete slabs are very reliable. I want to see if we can use a reinforced concrete frame, poured on-site. That way, it won’t easily crack or collapse if we have a small earthquake. We’d feel safer living in it."

He had actually been thinking about this issue for a while.

Sichuan was different from other places; it shook a few times every year. That was unavoidable.

In the countryside, some people were still building rammed-earth houses. Anyone who could afford a brick-and-tile house was considered capable in their village.

Zhou Yan didn’t know much about the current construction market, but he was leaning toward using a reinforced concrete frame to ensure the structural integrity of the entire building.

Safety was always the top priority.

He planned to find some time to ask Meng Anhe about the situation. As a leader at the architectural design institute, she would definitely know more.

Old Zhou pondered this. "Poured-on-site reinforced concrete... that’s going to take a lot of cement and rebar. Your building is so wide, the total cost will probably be staggering. Zhang the Third used precast concrete slabs, and he said they’re plenty comfortable."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Building the house is one expense. But if we’re going to open a restaurant in the city, we can’t be as casual as we are now. We’ll need a complete renovation, and we’ll have to budget for that too. I estimate that by the time it’s all done, it’ll cost forty to fifty thousand yuan."

"Forty to fifty thousand!" Mrs. Zhao and Old Zhou were stunned.

Back in the day, that would have been an astronomical figure.

After all, Old Zhou couldn’t even make a thousand yuan a year from butchering cattle. It would take him forty years of working without eating or drinking to save up forty thousand yuan.

Mrs. Zhao smiled and said, "I think we can do it! We’ll work hard for half a year, spend a little less, save a little more, and we’ll earn it! Since we’re going to do it, let’s do it right the first time!"

"Listen to your mother," Old Zhou nodded.

"Listen to Mama!" Zhou Momo chimed in with a nod.