"Mistress, if I get married, can I still stay by your side?" This question was very important to Xiu’er.
For a servant, the most important thing is to follow the right master. This doesn’t just mean having a good master, but also one who understands and appreciates their subordinates.
Now that she was with Yang Chuxia, she was quite content and her duties were not too demanding. She didn’t want to lose her position just because she got married.
"Of course you can, why not?" Yang Chuxia looked at her with surprise and said, "If you don’t want to serve me, I won’t force you. If you want to stay, I’ll naturally be happy to have you."
Hearing this, Xiu’er nodded her head.
"Oh, and one more thing. You should stop considering those who are already married."
"Mistress, this servant understands."
Yang Chuxia nodded her head, knowing that it was for the best. She wanted to play matchmaker, but if it ended up breaking up someone else’s marriage, that would be a sin.
Just as Yang Chuxia finished her breakfast, Yang Dachuan came over, discussing matters about house construction with Brother Li.
After a while, Uncle Old Gen came too, and brought some tile workers with him.
Yang Dachuan had also invited some villagers to help, and they began digging the foundation in the morning. In the afternoon, Yang Dachuan and Brother Li went to the brick kiln workshop to buy bricks and tiles.
Meanwhile, Yang Chuxia organized a team to go into the mountains to chop wood. After cutting the wood, it still needed Yang Dayong’s help to dry it.
For several days in a row, Yang Chuxia was busy with the construction at home. Maybe because she was so busy during the day, she would sleep early at night, so the loneliness caused by Ye Zi’an’s absence was somewhat lessened.
The first floor of the front building was just finished, while the second floor had not yet begun. The entrance to their home was bustling with activity every day.
"Xiu’er, tomorrow is Chongyang Festival. After tomorrow, we have to harvest the sugarcane in our fields. The house is being built now and it’s very noisy. Sister-in-law Li has been busy with the kitchen lately. When we go to the fields the day after tomorrow, you should let someone keep an eye on our storeroom to make sure that nobody with bad intentions sneaks in."
"Yes, Mistress, I will inform Sister-in-law Li." Xiu’er responded and then asked, "By the way, are you going to the fields too, Mistress? Sister-in-law Li and I can handle it."
"I want to go and see for myself, and take a scale with me to see how much we can harvest from the two acres. Besides, there’s not much to do at home anyway, so it’d be nice to go out for a bit."
As Xiu’er and Yang Chuxia were talking, Sister-in-law Li came over. She was a very neat and tidy woman, around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. Perhaps because she had been in the Capital City with Mother Li before, her demeanor was a notch above ordinary servant women.
"Is there something you need, Sister-in-law Li?"
"There’s nothing urgent, I just wanted to ask if there are any other tasks that you need me to handle right away. If not, I saw some chrysanthemums behind our house earlier, and I’d like to pick them to make some chrysanthemum cakes. Tomorrow is Chongyang Festival, and we used to make them every year in the Capital City. I want to make some for you to try this year."
When Yang Chuxia heard this, she didn’t see any reason not to agree.
"Of course, that’s fine. There’s nothing urgent for you to do right now. However, the chrysanthemums in our backyard aren’t very good. Let Xiu’er go to my mother’s place to help you pick better chrysanthemums. When you make the cakes, make extra to share with our relatives in the village. Before now, we hadn’t heard about making chrysanthemum cakes for Chongyang Festival in this area, so it’ll be a nice change for this year."