From wilderness to palace

Chapter 34 Hiring a Helper
As the young people in the village have moved out one after another, the once lively Kaoshantun Village has now become much deserted.For the villagers, there were many people building new houses in the village ten years ago, but in recent years almost no one is willing to build houses in the village.

The villagers who made money basically ran out of the city to buy commercial housing, and then moved their families away from the backing village.There are still houses in the village, so they come back to live for two days during the Chinese New Year.Or come back during Qingming or ancestor worship, and usually don't live in the village.

When they learned that Liu Yaozu's old house was going to be renovated, he invited several villagers who stayed behind to help. The villagers also found it strange.It can also be seen from this incident that this young man who has lived in the city for many years has made up his mind to return to the village.

"This kid, I really don't know what he's thinking. What are you going back to the village for if you don't stay here?"

"What's the point of staying in the city? You have to spend money to eat and drink. If you don't have money in the city, your life will be worse than anything else!"

"That's right! I heard that the money we paid to buy a house in the city is not enough to buy a bathroom in the imperial capital!"

"What bathroom is so expensive?"

"That's the imperial capital, a place where every inch of land is at a premium. Isn't it normal for housing prices to be higher?"

Ever since Liu Yaozu came back from the imperial capital, some old people and women in the village had a lot more topics to talk about.This kind of thing called Bagua is common to all people, young and old.In rural areas, this situation is even more common.

Fortunately, this kind of thing is the same no matter who comes back.Since he chose to live as the village chief, Liu Yaozu was naturally not afraid of what others would say!
Considering that there are a lot of people invited to work, and there is no suitable place to start a business at home, I will discuss with my neighbor, Uncle Wu, that Liu Yaozu will buy good vegetables and seasonings such as oil and salt, and ask Aunt Wu to help me cook for myself.

According to the estimate of the village chief Zhongbo, as long as everyone is quick and agile, the cement floor of the old house and the kitchen can be paved in a day or so.Some damaged parts were cleaned by Liu Yaozu yesterday afternoon.

In addition to filling with new cement, the old cement floor was not completely broken, but a layer of fine sand cement floor was re-sealed on top.In this case, people will not feel that the floor of the room is too high, which will affect the layout of the room.

As for the kitchen, the stove builder was invited to explain the rules to Liu Yaozu.They burned incense and worshiped the gods, and listened to the stove master's incomprehensible words. The old stove, which had been abandoned for many years and had not been burned, was also demolished with the help of everyone.

Later, when the new concrete floor in the kitchen is dry, the master will also come to build walls for Liu Yaozu.As for the location, the master craftsman suggested to build it on the original site.Recklessly moving the position of the firewood stove can also easily change the Feng Shui at home.

Although Liu Yaozu didn't believe this suggestion.But if you actually ask the master to come over and look at it, you naturally have to listen to him.What he has to do next is to wait for the new stove to be built and fired before re-planning and designing the kitchen.

On the day of starting work, Liu Yaozu also woke up early and drove to the city to buy food.Even if there is a vegetable garden, none of the vegetables grown at home can be eaten right now, and many vegetables need to be bought on the street.

In addition, when people are hired to do physical work in the countryside, they also have to prepare a few more big dishes, which are so-called meat dishes.Although the conditions of rural people have improved nowadays, and meat is indispensable for daily meals, it is still necessary to prepare more meat dishes.

The ordered cement and sand and gravel were delivered one after another yesterday afternoon.Seeing that Liu Yaozu was happy to check out, the delivery driver was also very polite and said directly: "If you need anything in the future, just call me."

Under normal circumstances, when building a house in the countryside and buying cement and river sand, the bill will not be settled immediately, but will be settled after the house is completed.For those who deal in cement and river sand, the annual checkout is also a headache.

It is not uncommon for some people who like to renege on their debts to delay their work for three to five years!
In addition to the village chief Zhongbo and fifth uncle Liu Shouyi, fifth uncle also helped hire five young men.Although no wages are paid, Liu Yaozu provides three meals a day.Liu Yaozu, the host, would not be too polite about things like tobacco and alcohol.

The fifth aunt who helped cook looked at the vegetables Liu Yaozu bought and said in surprise: "Azu, it's not like we're making a banquet, so it's so rich? What if we buy so much and we can't finish it all?" "

"It's okay! Today's work is physical work, so it's necessary to eat something good. After the kitchen is ready, I will treat the villagers to a banquet. Who in the village can cook the big banquet now? Or should I hire someone from outside to cook?"

Making a big banquet means that the villagers hold weddings and funerals and ask someone to help them be the chef.In Liu Yaozu's memory, in the past, when someone's family invited guests to a big feast, most of the villagers who had relatives or relatives would invite someone to come over to help.

But in recent years, country people seem to be keen to hold banquets in cities.Fortunately, this situation in the north seems to be rare.However, for the sake of simplicity and convenience, we often ask mobile chefs who specialize in banquets to help.

This kind of itinerant chef who specializes in hosting banquets in rural villages is very quick at work.The owner only needs to explain how many tables are needed, or what dishes need to be ordered, and they will take care of the rest, and the host also thinks it is very trouble-free.

If the family organizes such a banquet, although there are many people, the money spent may be less.The problem is, after the banquet, the house is in a mess, and it is very troublesome to clean it up.

The fifth aunt in question had heard Liu Shouyi say before that after Liu Yaozu finished renovating the old house, he planned to invite the villagers over for a banquet.In this way, we can also get closer to the people in the village.

In fact, the relationship between people in the same village will become harmonious, which is often related to mutual help.Usually when the host family organizes a happy event, as long as the host family says hello, anyone who needs help will not refuse.

"There are really not many people in the village who can cook banquets now. Your eighth uncle could do it in the past, but in the past two years he hasn't done it much. He has hired people from the village who specialize in cooking. However, it doesn't matter if there are fewer tables. Taking business."

It is clear that Liu Yaozu has no relatives at all, and I am afraid that all the people who invite him to the banquet will be from the village.Although there are quite a few women in the village who know how to cook, cooking their own small dishes is definitely different from cooking the big dishes at the banquet.

For those who drive trucks to the countryside to help cater banquets, the banquet organized by the host is too small, and they must not be interested.Because after a busy day, they don't make money at all.How can they do a loss-making business?
But now, even if all the men, women, and children in the village are invited, there will probably be less than a hundred people.Only during festivals does the village become lively.At that time, it was also the time when most banquets were held in rural areas, because most of the relatives and friends were at home.

After listening to the fifth aunt's story, Liu Yaozu thought for a moment and said, "I think the eighth uncle is still strong, so why don't you make a meal?"

"It's too tiring to make a banquet! And now there is a special cook for this in the town, he certainly doesn't want to be a chef for others. However, if his relatives organize a banquet, they will still go if they ask him to help. You can Ask him."

"Sure, then I'll invite him later. There are probably five or sixty people in the village, men, women and children, right?"

"Almost! You really invited the whole village here for the banquet?"

"It's so lively! Anyway, I haven't been back for many years, and it's rare to go back to live in the village. I also want to treat the big guy to a meal. It's said that cannibalism is short-mouthed. I still hope that the big guy will eat this meal and talk less in the future. Let me say a few words, teach me a little more!"

Even if the whole village is invited for a meal, there will only be five or six tables at most.Although Liu Yaozu has not been in the village for many years, if he invites him personally, I believe the people in the village will give him the honor to come and have a meal.

Furthermore, Liu Yaozu invited the whole village to dinner, but he didn't intend to accept gifts.You can eat rice without spending money, even those shrewd old people, I believe it is hard to refuse, right?On the other hand, Liu Yaozu, is he short of the so-called courtesy and money?
(End of this chapter)