ATPnovel Chapter 32 A Developmental Perspective
Chapter 32 A Developmental Perspective
Upon entering the imposing shop, Lu Xingzhou asked a shop assistant to pass on a message, and then he saw Yu Fengzhu, who was engrossed in writing at his desk.
This sheer diligence was enough for Lu Xingzhou to understand how he got his shiny bald head.
Not only are they born rich, but they also work so hard.
If they hadn't been stuck in a place like Kanto, where demons and monsters roam, the Yu family might have formed a large trust family.
Unfortunately, life is full of disappointments, and even a wealthy family like the Yu family can still fall from grace.
"Second Brother."
Yu Fengzhu had heard the servants' report and didn't treat him like an outsider, not even raising his head.
"Sitting down and having some tea is fine since you're here. I'll settle this account and then we can talk."
"Okay, Second Brother, you go ahead and do your work."
Lu Xingzhou picked up his cup and slowly sipped his tea. A servant refilled his cup once. Yu Fengzhu finished her work and sat down next to Lu Xingzhou.
"Brother, what brings you to Zhengjiatun today? Have you visited my father and Uncle Wu yet?"
"I've seen them. I came here specifically to see them today, and I also wanted you to help me get something ready."
The rice, flour, and cooking oil consumed daily by the village were delivered by the Yu family's fleet every ten days. Yu Fengzhu was curious:
"Didn't you tell me what you wanted to buy every ten days? Why are you fussing over this?"
Lu Xingzhou grinned and pulled out the first shopping list:
"I've been thinking about this for the past couple of days. It's not really appropriate for this girl to be with me in such an ambiguous situation, so I was thinking of having a proper ceremony!"
Yu Fengzhu glanced at the lanterns, candles, wedding quilts, wedding clothes, gold bracelets, earrings, and other wedding-related items.
The total expenditure was 1,700 to 1,800 dollars, which was considered the best standard outside of the legal wife.
It seems that Miss Lin has taken good care of my younger brother.
He joked, "I'll definitely be there for your wedding! But, you've only just arrived back home and you've already taken a concubine. What if Miss Bai finds out? Won't she be upset? Hahahaha~~"
Lin Fengyi's background meant that, in the eyes of people of Yu Fengzhu's class, there was absolutely no possibility of her becoming a legal wife, and he never even considered that possibility.
When Lu Xingzhou asked someone to deliver the message, he inquired about the Bai family's situation.
Originally a prominent family in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty, they nearly fell into decline due to the early death of their parents.
Fortunately, Bai Xiuzhu's brother, Bai Xiongqi, had a good mentor: Jin Quan, a close confidant of Yuan Shikai, one of the cabinet ministers in the newly formed cabinet, and the rising Minister of Finance.
Not only did he stabilize the Bai family's decline, but he also became the director of a department in the Ministry of Finance. As long as he continues to work steadily, he is destined for a bright future.
Young ladies from such families are often not very reasonable.
"Haha~ No way! When you have the chance in the future, Second Brother will know she's a really nice person once he meets Xiuzhu!"
Yu Fengzhu looked at his younger brother with a strange expression, wondering where his confidence came from.
He's in his forties, and apart from his own sister who's considered good-natured, he's never met a proper young lady who isn't spoiled.
Lu Xingzhou knew this, of course.
Bai Xiuzhu has an exceptionally strong temper, but she can still say things against her will without batting an eye.
The reason is simple.
As long as expectations are managed well, even a pampered young lady won't get angry over something as trivial as taking a concubine.
In a few years, Lu Shuren will write that famous quote about the "demolition effect":
If the room is too dark, and you suggest opening a skylight, everyone will definitely object. But if you propose removing the roof, they will try to mediate and agree to open a skylight.
From the day Lu Xingzhou met Bai Xiuzhu, he was not a gentleman.
On the ship back, he even tried to have sex with the foreign woman several times.
Although Bai Xiuzhu thwarted their plans, it weakened her resistance to Lu Xingzhou taking a concubine.
After all, the concubines were under her control, but she had no say in those wild women outside.
There will definitely be some emotions involved, but we'll just have to comfort them then.
Some men see emotional entanglements with women as a nuisance, but Lu Xingzhou sees it as a source of fun.
They didn't find it troublesome at all; on the contrary, they enjoyed it.
The core issue that men are unwilling to be "simps" is not that they are unwilling to be gentle and considerate, but that they are heartbroken by women who are only willing to give and never take, like greedy little fairies.
His past good looks, wealth, and social status meant that his efforts would always be rewarded, so he was naturally happy to do so.
Yu Fengzhu was unaware of the details and still disapproved of Lu Xingzhou's dissolute behavior.
Whether she's a good person or not has nothing to do with you, Second Brother. Just be careful, don't let a small thing lead to a big loss, and end up with nothing!
China is a society that values officialdom above all else. Even if Lu Xingzhou had ten times more wealth, marrying into the Bai family would still be considered a step up for him.
Because of being unable to control one's lower body, one loses the opportunity to achieve great success, which is easily ridiculed in today's society.
Lu Xingzhou knew better than anyone else about the future of the Bai family.
Their glory was truly glorious, and their downfall was also truly downfall.
Besides, if he had to rely on social status to marry Bai Xiuzhu, he might as well just rob her outright.
"It's alright, let's not talk about that. I also have a few blueprints and two purchase lists, second brother, could you take a look at them for me?"
First, there is a blueprint for a large house with two floors, three courtyards, east and west wings, and a garden, which has more rooms than the Yu family mansion.
Yu Fengzhu took the blueprints and expressed his approval.
"Hmm~ The enclosure at the source of the Liao River is indeed a bit simple. If you plan to stay there for a long time, you should build a new house so you can feel at ease. However, such a large house costs a lot, and the construction period will take at least two or three years. You'll have to wait."
Construction is impossible in the Kanto region during winter, so the construction period is much longer than in the south.
It has nothing to do with whether or not you can spend money to exploit workers. Rather, it's because extremely low temperatures create frozen soil, which makes the foundation unstable and causes slight changes in the quality and properties of some materials. When the weather gets hot, the houses are prone to collapse. This is an objective condition that no amount of money can change.
"I know, I plan to build this house in three phases. I'll finish the main courtyard with three sections before the new year, then the east and west wings next year, and the garden the year after."
A patch of open grass was also left in the garden area. When the family has more members, a Western-style villa will be built, which will be a luxurious house that combines Chinese and Western styles.
"That's no problem, but the flush toilet, drain pipes, boiler water heating, and the positions for electrical wires and lights are all things that most craftsmen probably can't do. I'll have to go to Fengtian to find you a master craftsman."
This design was quite challenging for the Chinese construction industry, which was in the early stages of transformation, but Yu Fengzhu supported it, believing that these changes were more in line with the needs of modern life and that he was not so old-fashioned.
For Lu Xingzhou, the lack of electricity was bearable, but using a chamber pot every day was extremely uncomfortable.
He felt even more uncomfortable when he thought about the sight of the soft, fragrant Lin Fengyi squatting on the chamber pot to relieve herself and having to empty the chamber pot.
"Master chef? That's great! Money doesn't matter!"
"Hmm~ Your house is in a remote location. Building this house would cost at least 20,000 silver dollars. With the furnishings, the cost is indeed not low."
Chinese people value feng shui, and most of the time, the cost of building a house is less than one-third of the cost of decorating it.
Yu Fengzhu felt it was a bit pricey, while Lu Xingzhou remarked on how low the prices were.
"Hey, I'm not doing any luxury renovations, 2 yuan is a great deal!"
The two agreed on their points, and then they looked at the blueprints for the staff dormitory.
Upon seeing this, Yu Fengzhu immediately lost his composure:
"Dude! What are you doing? Are you trying to ruin your life?!"
If Lu Xingzhou were to spend an extra 100,000 silver dollars renovating his own house, he wouldn't feel like he was wasting money.
So this staff dormitory made Yu Fengzhu think that his little brother must have gone crazy!
A two-story brick-and-concrete villa with 50 square meters of living room and heating, housing a total of 50 households!
You're saying this is the workers' dormitory?!
Such houses are now only found in Fengtian, Harbin, and Lushun in the entire Northeast region, and the latter two places are not even considered Chinese territory.
Lu Xingzhou, who views things from a developmental perspective, doesn't see any problem with it:
"I was thinking that building a house like this would solve the problem once and for all!"
What he hates most is the cycle of demolition and reconstruction, which seems to save money at the time, but when you calculate it carefully, it's a huge loss.
Those who spend the government's money don't care, and they can always squeeze a little out of it each time, but they certainly can't do that when they spend their own money.
Yu Fengzhu remained silent.
"If you sell all the grain from your 2700 mu of land, you can barely build two houses like this. You really want to build four at once?!"
"Yeah, there's no other way. We have to start clearing land in July. The current enclosures definitely won't be enough to house everyone. Anyway, we have to clear all 7 mu of land that Grandpa gave me in the next two years. It's better to build it up sooner rather than later!"
Seeing that Lu Xingzhou had absolutely no awareness of being a spendthrift, Yu Fengzhu earnestly advised him:
"Brother, even if you have money in your pocket, constantly living beyond your means isn't a long-term solution!"
He understood his second brother's good intentions, but Lu Xingzhou felt that farming alone could barely cover the costs, but he wouldn't make much money.
With the Yi Yang Ding as his backer, he's sure to make money in the future, and even a lot of money.
Besides, he never intended to rely solely on farming to make money.
I didn't mention any plans to develop a side business.
Even a small gang like Dayanggou had a leader who had 8 silver dollars in his pocket, enough for the families of the farmhands in the enclosure to eat and drink for three years.
There are tens of thousands of gangs of all sizes in the Kanto region; aren't they just ATMs that can give him gold coins at any time?!
The money in the ATM is his money.
"Brother, I'm not short of money!"
"Sigh~~!"
Yu Fengzhu sighed deeply. When she saw the list of clothes and shoes to buy for the farmhands for spring and summer, her blood pressure rose a little.
"Tell me the truth, little brother, what are you going to do?!"
Other landlords would make their farmhands sleep in makeshift shacks, eat mixed noodles and wild vegetables, and not care about their clothing at all, and would deduct their wages at the drop of a hat.
But he's quite something.
He took care of the food and drink of the farmhands' families and built them Western-style mansions and dormitories.
They even care about clothes?!
Yu Fengzhu thought to himself, "This means the benefits might be increased again in the future."
Are you raising assassins here?!