Su Tang directly made this request in an aboveground and straightforward way. This was just the kind of person Su Tang was. When doing business, she was always sharp and adhered to that old saying “In business, first play the villain, then the gentleman”. If anyone had any complaints about her, then they needed to make it clear upfront, not wait a while and talk a bunch of nonsense halfway through. She didn’t have a good enough temper to tolerate that sort of thing.
Of course, Su Tang said all this to Su Yongqiang very politely, but her meaning was also very clear. She was the one taking out money to hire people to do a job. She had the money in her hands, so if she could ask the Su family to do the work she could also ask someone else. Thus, the Su family needed to do the job properly.
She was willing to hire these members of her family because she was a member of the family, and doing so could be regarded as her helping her family, but since they were working for her and taking her money, they had best not use her bowls and eat her food but then immediately turn around after they put down their chopsticks to start cursing and scolding her.
If that were to happen, they shouldn’t blame her for what she might do. After all, she wasn’t some sort of saint. Although family was important, if they were still going to act like ingrates even after receiving benefits from her then it would be difficult for her to ever grow her voice within the family, and there might not be a need to stay in the family at all.
Su Tang wanted to make these things very clear in advance, because if any contradictions really did appear she didn’t want Su Yongqiang to think that she was the one being unreasonable.
Apologies, not only did she have the so-called “adverse fate”, but she also had a very bad temper. If anyone wanted to make her unhappy, she would definitely take the lead to make them even more unhappy!
Naturally, Su Yongqiang and Madam Zhou could hear the underlying meaning in Su Tang’s words, and also the unyielding firmness of her attitude. They were a bit shocked, but then when they thought about how she had managed to talk with Second Young Master Luo and even set up a cooperation with him, it no longer seemed as shocking. Su Tang really wasn’t just an ordinary peasant girl anymore.
Moreover, there was nothing wrong with Su Tang’s request. Su Tang and her brother had been thrown into the Qing River as sacrifices but didn’t die in the end, which had caused a lot of talk. Su Yongqiang was well aware that many people in the village were secretly whispering that Su Tang and her brother had been touched by some sort of evil, and even some members of the Su family also believed it.
But these people were in the minority. After all, Su Tang and her brother were also members of the Su family at the end of the day. And since they were all the same family, they would always show a certain amount of unity.
“Don’t worry. I’ll personally handle this matter. Any people who don’t properly understand things definitely won’t be used.” Su Yongqiang solemnly promised without even trying to speak up for those people. After all, someone was coming to give them work and pay them but they still wanted to curse that person? Even if they were from his family Su Yongqiang couldn’t stand that sort of person.
Su Tang then nodded, “Since Brother Qiang has promised me, then I can rest assured. Since this is the case, I’ll just wait until the spring plowing is down and the men are more idle to start building the courtyard. I’ll find Brother Shun and ask him to gather people and, so long as they follow the rules properly, I definitely won’t let them suffer. Also, I want to go bring back my brother’s family to the ancestral grave, I wonder if Brother Qiang has any advice?”
Su Tang knew it would take at least another month before the farmers were idle again, so she wasn’t in any hurry. She could just decide things like this for the time being and iron out the details later on.
Su Yongqiang nodded along, but when he heard Su Tang’s final words about bringing back her brother’s family, his expression changed and he said slowly: “The weather is already getting warmer, so I’m afraid it’s not convenient to bring them back at this time. Also, Tang’er, you want to build a big courtyard, but do you plan to use bricks?”
Once Su Yongqiang asked this question, it was actually Su Nuo who answered: “Brother Qiang, we are going to build a big house with front and back courtyards, and the surrounding walls and buildings will be made of bricks.”
Su Tang had already told Su Nuo that he could choose how the new house would be, and he had already told her that he wanted a room with a big study this time so that he could entertain his friends from the village in his home in the future.
After all, although Su Nuo had been living and studying in town for a while, he still wanted to come back and live in Sujia Village, mainly because he wanted to play with his old friends like Dongzi and Huzi.
Thus, when Su Tang had told him he could decide how the house would be built, the little guy had been the most excited of anyone.
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