141 5.30 A New House, A New Neighbour And A New Proposal! (1/2)
”Alright, kid. I'm off to the governmental District to check if the plot of land can be used to build another house or not. Then I drop by the architectural department, as they may have some blueprints I could borrow to see what type of design you would like for the new house.”
”I would then visit the carpentry at the trading district to see if he could give me some advice on the building of the house, the cost of the materials and manpower needed. I will see how the price goes and will try to negotiate with them.”
”Then, I'm going to make stamps for the 5 scents and I make sure Kuro-san had prepared the coins and I come back to collect the 60 [Refined Iron] plates and pass it to him. I'd bring back the gold coins for you later, ok kid?”
”You take care, hear me? Rest if you feel unwell. Don't rush on your work. Today is the last house you are going to clean, and then follow up by next week as well. See you at lunchtime then.”
Just at the break of dawn, he walked out and waved at me and I waved back as I sat there and took a steamed banana and ate while drinking a cup of green tea. Maybe I'm just too tired and does not have reserve energy right after I clean the house and then jumped into the Realm of Mind.
This whole week I had spent cleaning then back to the Realm of Mind and perform tasks over there and then back to the real world. There isn't much time for myself but if I didn't take the initial job to clean Hiko-sama's comrades' houses, then I do not have any silvers, to begin with.
I ate a steamed sweet potato and once I am done with breakfast, I cleared up the leftover skins and placed the basket of steamer back in the kitchenette. Once I had ”packed” the house, I then left for my task at Kami-sama's house with 10 pieces of hangers.
Once there, I started off with the laundry and followed by the kitchenette.
---Meanwhile, on Hiko-sama's part---
Hiko-sama walked past the flower shop and noticed Izumi and Riko were arranging the bouquets of flowers at the shop front. Riko saw Hiko-sama and greeted, ”Good morning, Hiko-dono! How are you today? Are you heading somewhere? Is Senpai with you?”
Hiko-sama looked at Riko and wondered why this girl is so bubbly and energetic in the morning. ”Ah, Yes... Good morning to both of you too. I'm fine and I'm heading to the governmental District to arrange some business stuff. Senpai is back home having breakfast and then he would be off to work. You had your breakfast yet?”
”Hmm... Hmm... Yes, we did, Hiko-dono. Yesterday, we didn't finish some of the suppers and we had it for breakfast today instead. See you later at dinner time, yes?” Riko called out to Hiko-sama as she was anticipating dinner tonight with us.
”Yes, do come for dinner. I see you both later.” Hiko-sama replied as he waved at the two girls and headed to the business district and then to the governmental District. People whom he met along the way bowed to him and he bowed back. Even though he was no more considered as a governmental employee, but people still recognised his contribution to the village and the country.
He walked up to the government building and was greeted by the guards standing at the grand doorway. Hiko-sama asked where he could find the architectural as well as the plot and land department and he was ushered to the office.
There were some people in the office and he asked about his plot of land and inquired about the taxes and other regulation that were required if he builds another house on it.
He was told that he had to pay additional taxes and the land and plot department would come and assess it yearly. He was told if he builds another floor to his existing house, the tax would be slightly higher than usual.
He was advised to go to the plot and land department to inquire about the building he was supposed to build as there were aqueduct and sewage line running underneath and it would be best that these people would mark out the areas and the depth so that the builders would not disrupt or destroy those lines underneath the ground.
He entered the plot and land department and informed the people there that he wanted to build another house in the plot of land. They then took out the plan layout belonging to his house after some time and passed a copy to Hiko-sama and was made to sign a loan form for the blueprint.
The blueprint of the layout shows the sewage and aqueduct line in red and blue ink. It was created by a draftsman some years back when they made the inner cluster for the employees of the militia, the imperial army as well as the samurai shogunate.
Each land was allocated on 10x10 meters of plot. The blue and red line was running parallel to one another and was marked to be about 2 meters apart. Their depth was also clearly marked. The water tower beside the present house indicates where the main aqueduct line was running and since it was buried some 5 meters deep, building a house on it would not hinder its operations.
After Hiko-sama had signed the loan form, he asked which is the best option for him to approach the building of a house. He soon was ushered by a bespectacled young man to another office called the designs department. He entered and an elderly man approached and Hiko-sama explained what he needed.
The elderly man rattled some places where he could go and get the house done and gave him some names in the trading district for the materials and manpower needed for the construction. He saw that one of the names given was the carpentry cum furniture shop that he had purchased the furniture from.
Hiko-sama thanked the elderly man and went out of the building. He walked down the district and went straight to the carpentry. He entered and after exchanging some pleasantries, Hiko-sama told him that he was recommended by the Designs Department of the governmental District to get some advice for him.
Hiko-sama showed the blueprint plan of the house and asked about making a similar building on the edge of the plot of land. The shopkeeper who happens to be the head of construction and buildings looked at the blueprint and said that they need to dig into the sewage system and install a pipe through there. With the pipe exposed on the ground, they could at least estimate on how much land they could use.
Based on the blueprint given, Hiko-sama was told the pipe extension into the sewage system would only take 1 to 2 hours at most. He explained that they would be using a goose-neck sewage pipe that would be an extension from the ground and from there, it would be smooth sailing.
The shopkeeper took out his sketch pad and asked the materials to be used. Based on the main drawing of the house, the shopkeeper made the following calculations based on fabricated products on hand.
The main house set up as follows:
1 sliding main front door
2 sliding bedroom doors
5 sliding windows 50 cm x 1.5 meters
2 kitchenette louvres 25 cm x 50 cm
1 bathroom louvre 25 cm x 50 cm
1 bathroom sliding door
Bamboo Reed roof (cheap and common)
Traditional King Post Roof Truss low elevation
Elevated floorings (standard)
Treated Wooden panellings
Treated wood floorings
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click visiting.
Basic bathroom setup:
Copper water piping
Copper tap
Brick water tub
Squat type water closet
1 corrugated washing board
Basic kitchenette setup:
Dirty kitchen area with a rocket stove
Clean kitchen area for food preparation
1 three-layer steamer
1 frying wok
1 frying pan
1 pot
1 ladle for soup
2 ladles for frying
1 tong for food
1 tong for firewood
1 set kitchen knives
2 cutting boards for meat and non-meat
1 Overhead cabinet
1 cabinet below the clean kitchen area
Cement Washing basin area
Copper water piping
Copper tap
Basic bedroom setup:
2 wooden chests for each bedroom
2 vanity table with mirror stand
2 full-sized tatami mats
4 Takamura