The capital was crowded, with no land left for new construction. Thus, there was no real estate market for new homes; the only properties sold by agents were second-hand. Brand new houses were almost non-existent.
"But even so, you don't need to make bricks, right?" Xu Huaiqian looked at Chen Liejiu's muddy hands, his heart aching. He didn't know how long he had been working out here in the cold.
"The houses I build will be different, so the bricks need to be different too!" Chen Liejiu tried to push his hair back with his elbow. "I'm planning to build small units, eventually reaching three or four stories high."
"Three or four stories?" Seeing him struggle to move the hair from his temple, Xu Huaiqian gently brushed it aside for him. His heart jumped hearing about multi-story buildings. Was it what he thought?
"Exactly, three or four stories." Chen Liejiu shared his observations. "I've noticed that houses in the capital are mostly single-story. Establishments like brothels, restaurants, and tea houses can have several floors, but those are made of wood and can't bear much weight."
"I've asked some inn owners. They said if you find wood and bricks strong enough, you can build three or four stories. Otherwise, two stories is the maximum."
"So I'm thinking, if I can develop a stronger brick," Chen Liejiu swallowed, "then I can build the properties I bought with rooms around one hundred square feet each!"
"I've calculated it. A space of about one hundred square feet, with enough rooms, can fully meet the needs of a family of three, even five or six people." Chen Liejiu explained eagerly. "A typical property here covers several hundred square feet. If you stack that over several floors, wouldn't that give everyone enough space?"
He had observed that many families in the capital were crammed into single properties, whole families living, eating, and sleeping in one room. As families grew, they had no space. To survive, they had to move to the outskirts, but leaving their livelihoods behind made starting over difficult.
In the capital, they couldn't afford a house, and there were no houses available for them to buy.
As more officials and powerful families settled in the capital, occupying more land, the living space for commoners kept shrinking.
The land area was fixed, but the population was growing.
Properties available through agents were either extremely good or extremely bad; the decent ones were snapped up quickly.
It was the middle-income group who suffered.
If he could solve this housing problem, he could definitely make money! With money, he could buy whatever medicine his little husband needed, without being stumped by a monthly medical bill of one thousand taels.
Xu Huaiqian looked at his wife, his throat moving. Was his wife transitioning from a coal magnate to a real estate developer?
"What do you think of my idea?" Chen Liejiu finished, looking at Xu Huaiqian expectantly. This was something he had pondered for a long time.
Xu Huaiqian was beyond impressed. He could only nod in agreement. "It's a very good idea."
"But the problem is I can't find bricks strong enough to bear the weight." Chen Liejiu sighed. Worried about violating regulations, he had even asked many government officials.
They said as long as he didn't build over five stories high in the capital, it wouldn't be a problem.
Furthermore, the areas he planned to build were not in affluent districts, but entirely in commoner neighborhoods, which was perfectly acceptable.
Besides, such houses wouldn't be sold to the wealthy in the capital anyway.
He had considered all potential issues. The only remaining problem was load-bearing capacity.
If this issue wasn't resolved and a building collapsed, he couldn't bear the responsibility for the many people living inside.
"Perhaps you could try adding things like iron powder or river sand?" Hearing his wife's problem, Xu Huaiqian immediately thought of reinforced concrete. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to make it, but he could suggest a direction.
Besides, for three or four stories, not thirty or forty—like the tube apartments from the 70s and 80s—such advanced materials weren't needed. Ensuring the quality of the bricks would be sufficient.
"Like you said before about adding coal cinders to bricks?" Chen Liejiu grasped the idea instantly, remembering Xu Huaiqian's past comment about using coal cinders in brick-making.
"Exactly!" Xu Huaiqian knew his wife was the smartest. "Try mixing different materials. You'll figure it out eventually."
"Mm." Chen Liejiu nodded. "I'll think about it. If it doesn't work, I can also find a master who knows how to fire city wall bricks. Those are sturdy too."
But he wanted even stronger bricks.
Xu Huaiqian's eyes shone seeing his wife's ambitious determination.
First, he enjoyed the benefits of being a coal magnate's husband, and now a real estate developer's husband? Was he destined to enjoy the perks of being married to the most successful business owners in the world?
"What about you?" Chen Liejiu asked, playing with the mud after settling his own matters. "How was the Palace Exam?"
"Great. The topic was Imperial Examination Reform." Xu Huaiqian also shared with Chen Liejiu. "Everything we've experienced on our journey here has been about the exam reforms. This question was practically handing me points!"
"So, are you aiming for Zhuangyuan or Tanhua?" Chen Liejiu's heart tightened. "What if you answered too well and get named Zhuangyuan?"
"Won't happen!" Xu Huaiqian said firmly. "I intentionally didn't write my best. The Shen Wennian in front of me was so serious; I saw he didn't even drink a sip of water the whole time, just writing non-stop. He must have written an excellent paper. The Zhuangyuan title is definitely his. You just wait to throw the scented sachet for me!"
No matter how well Chen Liejiu hid it, the house was only so big, and Xu Huaiqian had eventually found the scented sachet he bought.
Chen Liejiu laughed. "Alright!"
The two played with mud for a while. Noticing there was some clay among the soils Chen Liejiu gathered, Xu Huaiqian used it to shape a vase.
He knew a thing or two about ceramic craftsmanship too! Just not the finer details.
When Chen Liejiu later took his prepared brick mixtures to be fired, he included the ugly, barely recognizable vase-shaped object Xu Huaiqian had made. It was his little husband's creation; he had to try and see if it could be fired.
The Palace Exam results were announced three days after the exam. Those three days passed in a flash.
On the day of the announcement, Xu Huaiqian went to the palace gate early, eagerly awaiting the Grand Ceremony of Announcing the Results.