Sophia placed small orders online and, after receiving a call, drove to the village entrance to pick up the packages.
On her way back, she met Ronin and the village chief standing outside her house, talking and holding a blueprint.
Hearing her, they waved at Sophia.
She parked the car in the empty space next to her house.
Then Sophia remembered she had asked the village chief to help find construction teams. The blueprint work was left to Ronin.
"Boss, the village chief said he found two construction teams. When can you meet them?" Ronin asked as Sophia got out of the car.
Though Ronin didn't know much about construction, he had been discussing with Sophia about the style she wanted while she was on her business trip to the provincial city.
Sophia opened the door. "Village chief, Ronin, come inside and sit."
"Sophia, if you have time now, I can call the teams over," the village chief said, pulling out his phone.
Sophia stopped him. "Not yet. First, tell me which families these two teams have built houses for in our village and what projects they have done."
Sophia was young. Aside from being told she wasn't the real daughter of the Jiang family, she had faced no major hardships. Everything now was a trial and error.
The village chief started to answer, but Sophia went to get paper and pen.
Over the years, some villagers who made money began tearing down old houses and rebuilding. Original single-story houses were slowly replaced by five- or six-story buildings.
Some locals formed teams, while some outside teams came in. Those who worked for Zhangjia Village generally offered cheaper prices.
"Half of the buildings in our village are built by Zhang Bozi's team. The other half is by Zhao Lidong. Though he doesn't do much work here, he has many orders from other villages. His team now has dozens of people," the village chief said, then stopped, feeling he talked too much.
Sophia asked about the equipment each team had. Good equipment was important to do a good job.
She planned to build a warehouse, which was different from normal houses, so the needed tools might differ.
After asking the village chief, Sophia let him lead the way to visit the two teams. Ronin went with them.
The distance was short, so they rode electric bikes.
They planned to visit Zhang Bozi's house first, as he lived in the village, but on the way they met Zhao Lidong's team finishing work.
Ronin knew Zhao Lidong and called out to him.
The village chief tried to stop him, but it was too late. Sophia rode her bike to Zhao Lidong and asked, "Brother Zhao, I have something to ask. Are you free now?"
Zhao Lidong and his men worked in nearby villages but rested in the village at noon.
"Let's go under those trees," Zhao said, telling his men, "Go eat first and bring me a boxed meal."
Building houses in the countryside didn't need many people. Ten or so could build a whole building.
Wiping sweat from his neck towel, Zhao led Sophia and the others under the shade.
Standing under the tree, Sophia took out a pack of cigarettes and handed one each to Ronin and Village Chief Zhang.
Ronin didn't smoke but still accepted it.
Village Chief Zhang smelled the cigarette, recognized it as good quality, but didn't dare to light it.
Sophia spoke directly, "Brother Zhao, this time I came to you with a project. I want to build a warehouse and also a three-story small building. Each floor is about 300 square meters."
"Brother Zhao, can you handle this?"
Ronin asked, pulling out the blueprints.
Lidong didn't answer immediately. He took the blueprints and examined them carefully.
After a while, he said, "No problem, it's not difficult."
Sophia and Ronin exchanged glances, their eyes asking silently, Is that all?
Lidong said, "The building is no problem. Although it's bigger than other buildings in the village, your layout is pretty simple."
That was true. Sophia lived alone and didn't need complicated designs.
"But for the warehouse, it's nearly 2,000 square meters. I once worked on a 1,000 square meter one. Yours will need a freight elevator. With such a large space, what kind of business are you planning? I suggest you apply for special electrical power upgrades to handle the load all at once."
After explaining this briefly, Lidong said, "Leave your contact info. I'll prepare a quote for you in the next few days."
Ronin was experienced with pricing.
So Lidong added both Sophia and Ronin on WeChat.
With this settled, the three continued to Bozi's house.
But Bozi wasn't home.
They had to turn back.
"Village Chief, thank you for your help. I'll visit Uncle Bozi myself tonight," Sophia said.
Village Chief Zhang hesitated before saying, "Sophia, I should remind you, you really shouldn't have gone to see Lidong first today. If Bozi finds out, he might have some thoughts."
Sure enough, that evening after dinner, Ronin came to accompany Sophia to Bozi's house.
Bozi had just finished work and was drinking and eating with some villagers.
Sophia greeted when she entered. The room was thick with smoke.
Bozi glanced at her but ignored her. The others exchanged looks, clearly waiting to see how things would unfold.
Ronin stepped forward, "Uncle Bozi, if you're busy, we can come back another day."
He looked at Sophia's face, and they both left.
Outside, Ronin said, "After going back today, I asked my parents. They said Bozi is hard to get along with, very narrow-minded. If the village didn't build houses for him, he wouldn't associate with those people."
"He probably found out we saw Lidong today and is holding a grudge."
Sophia pressed her lips, "Don't worry about him. Whether it's Lidong or Bozi, we're not stuck with only them."
If money was tight, maybe it would be different. She needed to weigh her options.
She wasn't short on money now. If she couldn't stay in Zhangjia Village, it wouldn't be her biggest loss.
She could still go to Chenjia Village or Wujia Village. If she had money, no village would refuse her.
Ronin nodded, "Lidong has already sent a list of some materials."
Lidong didn't have a high education but was bold and hardworking. People rated his work well.
His cost estimates were a bit rough since his team wasn't professional.
They planned their next steps carefully.