42, Inquiry
“Alright!” the woman laughed and agreed.
She had originally planned to chop down these orange trees to make room for growing grains, but unexpectedly someone wanted to buy them, and for a good price too, so she immediately came over to make the deal.
“My orange trees are quite good, you know, they won’t be sour when they mature!”
Xie Zhinuan smiled, helped move them to the backyard, and planted them in the holes she had dug.
Two tall pomelo trees were also delivered and planted beside the orange trees, near the enclosing wall.
Xie Zhinuan took out some silver to pay the woman.
“You really have done a fine job with this house!”
Every room was spacious and bright, plus they were made with green bricks and large tiles, enough to make anyone envious.
But envy was useless; she would never live in such a place in her lifetime.
Xie Zhinuan smiled as she saw the woman out the front door, then she went to water the orange and pomelo trees. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but it seemed as though the trees perked up a bit after being watered.
Xie Zhinuan returned to the main entrance with Routuan in tow.
The house was renovated to her liking, designed just as she had wanted.
To the left were the kitchen and dining room, the central hall was in the middle, with a study on one side of the hall that could also serve as a guest room. On the other side there were two rooms; the outer room had a kang bed by the window and a wardrobe, desk, trunk, and shelved cabinet against the wall. The inner room contained a canopy bed and two wardrobes side by side for fabric and quilts, with a dressing table by the window. Next to it was a bathroom with a large bathtub and toilet, and a door that also led outside, next to the two rooms.
Xie Zhinuan cleaned up these two rooms for the maid and old servant she planned to buy.
The privy was in the back. She had dug a special pit so that waste, after fermenting, could be used to fertilize the vegetable garden.
Xie Zhinuan squatted down and hugged Routuan, “Routuan, this is going to be our home from now on!”
Routuan looked up at Xie Zhinuan with its moist big eyes, nuzzled her intelligently.
“When we get back, I’ll give you some nice water to drink!”
She would sneakily give Routuan a little Spiritual Spring water to drink every day; after all, she thought Routuan was the smartest dog she had ever seen.
Routuan barked happily in response, “Woof! Woof! Woof!”
“Such a good boy!”
Xie Zhinuan thought to herself, it was high time to move into the new house.
Not buying a maid or old servant wasn’t important; what mattered was having her own place to manage however she liked.
When to wake up and when to sleep was entirely up to her.
Whatever she wanted to eat, as long as the ingredients were in the kitchen, she could cook it any way she wanted.
During these days, she had sewn several sets of bed linens, pillowcases, and clothes. In short, she was ready to move at any time.
Before leaving, she went to the backyard to check on the orange trees again; they seemed even more revitalized.
“This afternoon, let’s start planting the vegetables!”
She had bought some pumpkin seedlings from the villagers with plans to grow more, as there were many dishes that could be made from pumpkins. She also intended to plant some taro, ginger, garlic, green onions, cilantro, mint, purple perilla, long beans, kidney beans, eggplant, cucumber, and she planned to also grow corn and soybeans. Therefore, she decided to discuss with Old Mrs. Ni as soon as possible about moving in earlier, regardless of whether she acquired a maid and old servant or not.
As she locked the gate to leave, she saw several carts arriving at the house across the street, carrying various items. Yuanbao saw Xie Zhinuan and immediately jumped down from the cart and ran over, “Miss Xie!”
“Hmm?” Xie Zhinuan responded, holding the dog and giving a slight nod.
She was somewhat curious, what was the background of Yuanbao’s master?
The people who came to deliver the items all arrived in horse-drawn carts.
“Miss Xie, when would you be moving? After you do, I can send over some rice, vegetables, meat, as well as eggs and fish on a daily basis. Would that work for you, to make your meals more plentiful?”
Fearing Xie Zhinuan might refuse, he quickly added, “Five taels of silver per month, the same rate as before!”
Chapter 44