Chapter 179 - 146: Lingering Fear

Chapter 179: Chapter 146: Lingering Fear

The pace of building Zhou Qian’s house wasn’t as rushed as when they built Huai Yu’s. After all, he was currently in the hospital, whereas she had been entirely homeless at the time. However, precisely because there was no rush, the requirements given to Liang Zhu were much more detailed.

For instance, as Huai Yu quietly watched for over an hour, they not only laid the foundation, leveled the yard, and plowed a full acre of vegetable garden, but even dug a well not far from the house.

It was 1.5 meters in diameter and 25 meters deep.

If ordinary people were to dig it without machinery, it would probably take days. But with the blessing of her Earth Ability, Liang Zhu simply flipped her palms, and the wet, deep-layer mud, along with the dry topsoil, was pushed up directly as if the earth itself had arched its back to heave it out.

Even without bricks lining the mouth of the well, the soil layer had already been densely compacted by her superpower.

Standing by the edge, Huai Yu peered down and saw muddy, yellow water already beginning to pool at the bottom—a clear sign that it would yield water.

As for the house, even though it was only a foundation right now, one could tell it was quite spacious. A glance at the blueprint in Liang Zhu’s hand revealed that this two-bedroom, one-living-room layout spanned eighty square meters.

It didn’t sound massive, but it was designed in the style of a traditional farmhouse courtyard. Sundries were usually kept in a separate shed, and the kitchen and bathroom were located on either side of the main house, not included in that eighty-square-meter count.

Huai Yu was instantly envious.

Even the septic tank under the bathroom was perfectly square and neat!

Taking advantage of the moment when Liang Zhu and her team were inspecting the quality again, she couldn’t help but ask, "Liang Zhu, how many points do you charge in total for all this work?"

Liang Zhu held up her fingers, counting. "A well is 500. A two-bedroom, one-living-room layout is a fixed 300—after all, it’s just the foundation!

"The kitchen and bathroom are 100 points. The kitchen also only needs a foundation and leveled ground, but the bathroom requires a relatively large, square septic tank.

"Leveling the yard is 100 points. Look at this yard I’ve leveled! Even though it’s dirt, all the rocks have been turned up to the very top layer, and the soil underneath is packed solidly. Even in heavy rain, it won’t easily turn into a muddy mess when stepped on..."

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but look smug. "Wow! I’m really skilled at using my superpower!"

She then proceeded to brag about the vegetable patch. "Plowing an acre of vegetable garden is 80 points. Look how finely crushed that soil is! If he needs it, I can even dig trenches and build ridges!"

As she spoke, Liang Zhu happily calculated the total. "I’ve collaborated with the Defense Army before, so I gave this job a 20 percent discount. It comes to exactly 860 points."

She pointed at the two people checking data nearby. "The three of us will split it. The designer gets two shares, the quality inspector gets two, and I get six."

Then, she patted Huai Yu on the shoulder and lowered her voice. "You should really reconsider the military academy I just mentioned!

"With a Wood Ability, if you train well, you can enter the Agricultural Department. By then, you could help farms accelerate vegetable growth, or start your own small fruit and vegetable business. You’d make quite a lot!

"Look at me—over 500 points in just half a day!"

She chuckled. "This is exactly what they mean by ’A horse doesn’t get fat without grazing at night, and a person doesn’t get rich without a side hustle!’"

Huai Yu was speechless. "Alright, I get it. We all know you scored a bit over 300 on your mock exam," she thought.

However, calculating carefully with her savings now nearing ten thousand points, Huai Yu had to admit, "That’s not expensive at all."

"It’s alright," Liang Zhu didn’t just paint a rosy picture, but told the truth instead. "You still have to be able to actually get orders.

"There are a lot of people in the Construction Department, but quotes aren’t standardized. My after-sales service and quality are the best, so I get more orders now.

"Huai Yu, if you ever want to develop your superpower and take on private jobs in the future, I suggest you find someone reliable to do the math for you. There’s an art to pricing.

"Take today’s job, for example. A while back, when Flower City just reopened, you could hire a laborer for 10 points a day. Even including meals, it would be 15 points tops. To achieve this scale, hiring a few more people to work for three to five days would be about enough.

"So, we keep our prices at just one-third higher than what it costs to hire regular workers. This way, we won’t get complained about for disrupting the laborers’ market, but we can also be quickly booked by people who are in an urgent hurry to build a house."

She looked at Huai Yu. "If you ever need anything in the future, you can also come find me at the Construction Department!"

Huai Yu instinctively turned her head and glanced in the direction of her own home.

Liang Zhu fell silent.

"Forget it, forget it," she immediately said, her confidence deflating. "That’s way too close to the Rose Corridor. I wouldn’t dare go. You’d better just hire regular workers."

Huai Yu recalled the words a laborer had told her back when she was checking them out by the roadside:

"Anywhere is fine, as long as it’s not the Rose Corridor."

She instantly fell silent again.

Fortunately, there was nothing that needed to be added to her house right now. After agonizing over it for a long while, she finally let it go.

Now, only one question remained.

"These eight hundred or so points—is the Defense Army paying for it, or is it coming out of Zhou Qian’s own pocket?" she asked, leaning closer to the Defense Army representative.

The man paused for a moment before answering, "Zhou Qian is paying for it personally, of course.

"However, while he covers this cost and the upcoming labor fees for building the house, all the materials, daily necessities, vegetable seeds, and so on... will all be provided by us. This is also a welfare policy written into the Defense Army’s regulations.

"It’s a pity. If he had chosen to take a position at the military academy, apart from his fixed monthly salary, the school would have directly allocated a dorm to him as well."

The representative sighed as he spoke, seemingly unable to understand why Zhou Qian would give up such an opportunity.

Huai Yu thought about it but quickly figured it out. Even civilian staff had to run ten kilometers every day. Zhou Qian’s body was already broken; what if he became an instructor and had to lead by example?

It was too hard! It was better not to go!

She had points and skills—she could support him!

However, this Defense Army housing welfare policy was genuinely excellent. She had only learned when building her own house that labor wasn’t worth much these days, but the new quick-drying materials for construction were exorbitantly priced.

For a small, fifty-square-meter cabin like hers, the material costs alone amounted to a staggering 3,000 points. If she hadn’t been truly homeless, and if someone else hadn’t been footing the bill, combined with Zhou Qian’s own sense of guilt...

He really would have taken his time building it with traditional materials.

Now that it was Zhou Qian’s turn to retire due to disability after meritorious service, the Defense Army’s benefits immediately kicked in.

Huai Yu did the math. Eight hundred or so points, plus the labor costs for building the house—even if it came out to a full 1,000 points, Zhou Qian should still be able to afford it!

From now on, she just needed to save up more food and vegetable seedlings for him!

Besides, the cost of his prosthetic limb was also covered by the Defense Army, right? But what about the follow-up maintenance and medication? With everyone from top to bottom being so poor right now, would those still be free?

While her thoughts were wandering, on the other side, Liang Zhu wiped a slight sheen of sweat from her forehead and let out a long sigh.

"Finally, we can call it a day."

Alas! This sweat wasn’t from exhaustion, but purely from anxiety, terrified that the Rose Corridor might get upset.

Who could understand?! Back when the Rose Corridor had silently slaughtered that group of escaped heavy felons, she had been holding her bowl and staring at the big screen, only to turn her head and barf everything up.

Ever since then, the lingering fear had never left her.

Next time there was a job this close, even if an acquaintance pulled strings, she wouldn’t take it so casually!