TFWYH – Chapter 529 Repairing a Street

Ling Yue only brought Ye Si with her and rode in a carriage to meet the head craftsman.

The craftsman’s surname was Jia, and he lived in a narrow alley in Weng City.

The alley was too tight for a carriage to enter.

Fortunately, it was right across from Zuixian Tower, so Ling Yue and Ye Si had no choice but to leave the carriage there and walk the rest of the way.

When Ling Yue arrived at his house and knocked on the door, Master Jia quickly came to open it.

Seeing that it was Ling Yue, he immediately welcomed her inside warmly.

After exchanging a few polite words, Ling Yue got straight to the point:

“Master Jia, have you made your decision? To be honest, after settling things with you, I still need to go to the capital, so I’m a bit pressed for time.”

In other words, stop putting on airs—just tell me whether you’ll take the job or not, and name your price.

If we can make a deal, great. If not, I’ll find someone else.

Master Jia was taken aback. “You’re going to the capital? Then what about things here?”

Ling Yue smiled. “I’ve already arranged for someone to oversee things. Of course, it’s not that I don’t trust you—I’m just worried that if you run into problems, you won’t have anyone to discuss them with.”

“I understand,” Master Jia nodded. As a craftsman, construction ultimately depended on the owner’s wishes. Having someone to consult would be best, in case something was built wrong or didn’t meet the owner’s expectations, causing conflict later.

Ling Yue asked, “So, Master Jia, have you discussed the wages?”

Master Jia thought for a moment before speaking:

“This job is too large. It’s not just building a house—it’s practically constructing a whole street. Besides material costs, I don’t have enough workers and will need to hire more…”

At this point, he looked at Ling Yue nervously and gritted his teeth as he named a price:

“Five thousand taels!”

Ling Yue was surprised. “Five thousand?”

“If you think it’s too much, we can negotiate…” Master Jia hurriedly added, afraid of losing such a big deal.

But Ling Yue shook her head with a smile. “Master Jia, I’m not saying it’s too much—I think your price is very fair.”

She had already inquired beforehand: building a three- to four-story house cost between 220 to 300 taels.

And in her design, there were more than twenty such buildings.

Five thousand taels wasn’t expensive at all—in fact, it was quite cheap!

She had originally expected it to cost around six thousand, or even more.

Without hesitation, Ling Yue took out two banknotes worth one thousand taels each and handed them over.

“This is the deposit. Master Jia, should we draw up a contract? Just to go through the formalities—please don’t take offense.”

“Not at all, not at all—that’s only proper!” Master Jia was overjoyed and quickly went inside to fetch paper and brush.

The two drafted the agreement, and only then did Master Jia accept the money. Beaming, he said:

“Miss Ling, don’t worry—I’ll make sure everything is built beautifully. When will you return to Weng City?”

Ling Yue asked, “About when do you expect to finish?”

“Hmm… at most, it will be completed within a year.”

“In that case, I’ll come back in a year. If you finish earlier, you can inform the person I’ve arranged here—he’ll find a way to notify me.”

“Alright, it’s settled then!”

…

After seeing Ling Yue out, Master Jia stood at the door, watching her departing figure, and sighed.

Young ladies from wealthy families really were different from ordinary people.

Just look at her—so young, yet already so decisive.

Spending thousands of taels without even blinking.

He had worked hard his entire life and had never seen that much money before!