For the first 17 years in Chu-nan, Wu Te-kuei worked in the office of an architect, mastering all the various skills of the profession from design, drafting and cost assessment to construction. Walking along the streets of Chu-nan, Huang can point out the buildings and walls that her husband built.
前十七年，吳德貴都在一家建築師事務所服務，從設計、繪圖、估價到監工，十八般武藝樣樣通，走在竹南街上，黃素妹都可以指出哪一棟建築、哪一堵圍牆是出自於丈夫之手。