bayedsolid Chapter 54 Buying a House (2)
Chapter 54 Buying a House (2)
After viewing five houses in the south of the city, Wen Yuxia finally asked Xiao Zhang to take her to see the two-courtyard house with five acres of vegetable garden.
Stepping through the vermilion gate, a neat little courtyard appeared before Wen Yuxia. Apart from a well and two jujube trees, the entire area was paved with bluestone slabs. The courtyard was quite nice and tidy.
There are two side rooms on each side, with the main entrance on the right. To the left of the main entrance are four rear rooms, and to the right is one rear room. Judging from the layout, these are servants' quarters and guest rooms.
The master bedroom should be in the backyard. Wen Yuxia stepped into the backyard, which was a typical courtyard house layout, with five main rooms, five side rooms on each side, and a second gate in the center, with two rooms on each side of the gate.
Then Wen Yuxia went through the small gate on the left side of the backyard and arrived at the vegetable garden she had been looking forward to. The five acres of vegetable garden were completely surrounded by a brick wall.
A row of livestock sheds was built along the left wall, and a small door was opened just big enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through.
Xiao Zhang, with his keen observation, said, "Besides growing vegetables, Grandpa Li and his wife also raise pigs, chickens, and goats. Oh, and they even raised spotted cattle..."
Wealthy families in the city usually turn their vacant land into gardens, plum groves, or bamboo forests; very few people grow vegetables in their own yards. Old Master Li, with his five acres of vegetable garden and over a dozen livestock sheds, is probably the only one of its kind in the entire county.
Growing vegetables and grains in the courtyards of county towns is tax-free; five mu of land can save a considerable amount of money in taxes each year.
Living in the county town, farming and raising livestock, selling sheep, chickens, eggs, milk, and vegetables, while also achieving self-sufficiency in pork—Old Mr. Li is truly a bold and daring man.
Wen Yuxia stared at the row of livestock sheds with shining eyes, thinking to herself that it was time to move the goats in the space to a new place.
After inspecting the property, Wen Yuxia quickly decided to buy it. The purchase price, including the legal deed and brokerage commission, came to 247 taels of silver.
After completing the deed for the house, Wen Yuxia also processed the household registration for her and her brother. Then, without pausing, Wen Yuxia went to the real estate brokerage.
"Brother Zhang, I'd like to buy four servants, three men and one woman... Could you introduce me to some?" Wen Yuxia simply stated her requirements.
The women must be no older than forty and are responsible for sewing, cooking, and housework. The gatekeeper must be no older than fifty and must be skilled at driving a mule cart. The other two men must be no older than thirty and be adept at tending the crops.
After a moment's thought, Xiao Zhang said, "We have a family here that fits your criteria. I'll have them come out so you can take a look."
Actually, there are many honest and hardworking people in the brokerage business. The reason why Xiao Zhang only mentioned this family of four is because he sympathized with their plight.
The man's mother, two daughters-in-law, and three grandsons all died on the journey of fleeing famine. After finally reaching Xinchuan County, his elderly father fell seriously ill.
A man, along with his wife and two sons, sold themselves into servitude to save their father. However, even after spending all the money they earned, the elderly father couldn't be saved.
Xiao Zhang had overheard the man tell the broker that he hoped to sell the entire family as a package to the same owner, so he decided to give it a try and called the family of four out.
Looking at the four somewhat reserved people in front of her, Wen Yuxia asked gently, "Where did you escape from?"
"In reply to your question, young lady, my family fled here from Pingyuan Pass," the older man replied in a low voice, bowing slightly.
"Can any of you three drive a cart? Can you do farm work? And you, are you a good cook? Can you sew? Show me your hands," Wen Yuxia said casually as she walked forward.
He circled around the group, his sharp eyes scanning them. Their clothes were old but clean, the woman's fingernails were spotless, and the man's hands were calloused and rough, suggesting he was skilled at farm work.
The older man answered again, and he said respectfully, "To answer your question, young lady, my two sons and I can all drive carts. Back in our hometown, we were farmers who toiled in the fields for a living. My wife can cook, and she sews all the clothes that our family wears."
……
After talking with the older man, I learned that his name was Lu Zhijian, a skilled farmer, and his wife, Lu Lushi, whose father was a veterinarian, also knew how to treat livestock. Their eldest son, Lu Xiaosong, and second son, Lu Xiaogang, had attended a private school for a few years, so writing and doing accounting were no problem for them.
Wen Yuxia was very satisfied with this family. After bargaining with Xiao Zhang, she finally spent 38 taels of silver to buy back Lu Sihai's entire family of four.
He took Lu Zhijian and his family to a cloth shop and bought two bolts of coarse cloth and thirty catties of cotton. Then he went to a pharmacy to have a doctor examine them. After confirming that they had no other problems besides malnutrition, he felt relieved and took them back to his home in the south of the city.
"My family also fled here from famine. My grandfather led the family to build a new house in Xinghua Village..."
Wen Yuxia had her reasons for telling Lu Zhigang about her relationship with Wen Dashan and others.
The siblings were young, and in order to prevent Lu Zhigang's family from having any bad intentions, they had to let the Lu family know that there were adults in their family.
"Young lady, would you like us to go to Xinghua Village to help?" Lu Zhigang asked quickly.
She bought them cloth to make clothes, and even had the doctor prescribe medicine to help them recover. She also forbade him from referring to himself as "little" and made him use the first person. Wen Yuxia treated their family very well, and he wanted to work hard to repay her.
“You don’t need to help with building houses in Xinghua Village. There’s plenty of work waiting for you at your home in the city,” Wen Yuxia told Lu Zhijian about her plans to grow greenhouse vegetables and develop animal husbandry.
Lu Zhijian nodded happily and replied, "It's good that you have something to do, it's good that you have something to do."
"Grandpa Lu, you and your wife will stay in the room on the right. Uncle Lu and Second Uncle Lu will stay in the first room on the left. The small kitchen in the corner is for you to use. You can get rice, flour, meat, and vegetables from the kitchen in the backyard."
Upon entering, Wen Yuxia clearly outlined the arrangements for the Lu family, then instructed Lu Lu's mother not to go to the backyard to cook for her and her siblings for the next two days, but instead to first finish making clothes for the family.
Seeing Wen Yuxia leading the Lu Xiaosong brothers towards the backyard, Lu Zhijian knew they were going to work in the fields. Unable to stay idle, he cheerfully gave Lu Shi a few instructions, then happily followed his two sons to the fields.
During the days she was sold into slavery, what Lu Lushi feared most was that she and her husband, mother and son, would be sold to different buyers. Now that the family could finally stay together, Lu Lushi raised the corners of her mouth slightly and deftly cut the coarse cloth.