Chapter 64: Assigning Houses
Chapter 62 of "The Great Ming in the Box" begins with suspenseful moments: After the Hakka roundhouse had been lowered, the outer Lego brick city walls became useless.The... Don’t miss it!
After the Hakka roundhouse had been lowered, the outer Lego brick city walls became useless.The roundhouse itself came with walls three zhang tall, so the Legos’ paltry two-zhang walls were completely redundant.
Moreover, when those walls were first placed, they had encroached upon some farm fields. With September steadily approaching and autumn sowing imminent, those fields urgently needed to be freed up.
Li Daoxuan reached into the box and removed the Lego bricks. The cola can temporary house for Li Da could naturally be taken out too. The big pond made from lock-lock containers wasn’t an immediate priority; it could stay in the open space next to the roundhouse, continuing to provide water for the villagers.
Gao Yiye and the Village Chief began assigning residences.
The village now had over 150 people. Divided by families, including three generations (grandparents, parents, grandchildren), this actually amounted to just over forty families. However, in his mercy, the Deity allowed a family to be counted as “a married couple.”
Meaning: grandparents counted as one family, entitled to one house. Parents counted as one family, entitled to one house. Children, if underage, lived with their parents as part of that one household. If they were adults, even if unmarried, they too were entitled to a separate house.
This way, for the over 150 people, only sixty-four houses were occupied, with many rooms remaining vacant.wo days; naturally, he worried – as mothers fret when travelers journey far. He watched them carefully.
One look identified the man in the cyan Daoist robe following Thirty-Two – definitely the new teacher. Li Daoxuan watched even more delightedly.
Gao Chuwu was the first to loudly exclaim. Pointing at a dilapidated grass hut perched strangely on a hillside, he yelled, “Oy! Ain’t that my house? What’s it doing up there?”
He bounded towards it in great strides. Just as he reached the doorway, the door creaked open. Gao Chuwu’s parents, a middle-aged couple, were carefully lifting a large wooden bed out.
The three met face to face in the doorway.
Gao Chuwu urgently asked, “Father! Mother! What on earth happened? How’d our house end up on the hillside?”
Gao Chuwu’s father beamed happily. “The Deity gifted everyone in the village new houses! Look, right over there in that mighty fortress! Your mother and I are moving our furniture… Son! Just in time! Take over for your mother. We men will carry this bed together.”
Gao Chuwu quickly replaced his mother. Father and son lifted the bed and carried it away at a brisk trot.
As they dashed along, Gao Chuwu’s father chuckled. “Son! You get your own house too! The Deity decrees every adult villager, married or not, gets one! The Village Chief allocated your room right next to ours! Heh heh. Later, move your bed into your own place!”
Gao Chuwu grinned foolishly. “Huh? I’ve got my own place? Does that mean I can marry?”
His father roared with laughter. “Who’d marry you, simpleton?”
Gao Chuwu retorted, “Simple maybe, but I’ve got strength! I’ll do more physical work for the Deity, earn lots and lots of rewards! Then I’ll have money to marry!”
“Your reward is here!”
Gao Yiye called from a distance. “Brother Chuwu! The Deity says, for safely escorting Third Lady back and forth, he rewards you with five jin of white sugar, fifty jin of flour, ten jin of pork, ha…”
She cut off with a “ha,” stifling a laugh. The Deity had added ‘to help you get married,’ but Gao Yiye couldn’t hold back her giggles and missed the final part.
Gao Chuwu stammered, “Huh? Huh huh? That much?! Wow! Mother! Please find me a wife! These rewards can be the bride price!”