Chapter 108

Wen Zhaoran glanced at Wang Li, who was sitting opposite him, obediently drinking millet porridge with a spoon, and sighed slightly.

Mu Jin ultimately softened her heart and allowed Wang Li to move in.

Although Zhou Fengnian and Zhou Chuxue paid for all his food, clothing, and shelter, it was still quite a lot of work to take care of him.

There were many people and eyes at the village entrance, and Mujia Village already had quite a few women and husbands who had married into it from Wangjia Village.

To avoid the Wang family realizing they've been tricked and getting entangled with him, it's best if Wang Li doesn't stay at Zhou Fengnian's place.

Even if there is a contract of servitude, if the Wang family finds out, they will inevitably try to cling to him.

As for Mu Fuhu, the reason he lent a hand was because Mu Jin's surname was Mu. If he really sent Wang Li to Mu Fuhu's house, he would definitely offend people.

After much thought, only Hibiscus is the most suitable place.

Because she wanted to take Wang Li in, Mu Jin didn't go to the county government to cancel his indenture, but instead put him in the secret compartment.

With this piece of paper, if the Wang family really comes to cause trouble, he will have something to rely on.

It's not too late to change Wang Li's household registration after he finds a good place to live.

With a smile, Mu Jin placed a large, fatty slice of meat from the stewed cabbage with Wang Li on her chopsticks.

She spoke softly, "Li-ge'er, have you been settling in well with Jin-ge these past few days?"

Although Wang Li is not mentally mature, he still has the intelligence of a four or five-year-old child, because Mu Jin talks to Wang Li as if she were talking to a five-year-old child.

Wang Li nodded gently, her cat-like eyes, watery and filled with a growing dependence on Mu Jin.

Although he was simple-minded, he could still tell whether others treated him well or badly.

When he arrived, Zhou Fengnian gave him many instructions and spoke highly of Mu Jin and Zhou Lin, the couple.

Wang Li believed everything Zhou Fengnian said, and as soon as he arrived home, he felt no resistance towards Mu Jin and the others.

Mu Jin smiled and placed the slices of meat she was holding on her chopsticks into Wang Li's bowl.

After breakfast, Zhou Lin carried the bundle that Mu Jin had packed for him the day before, which contained bedding, flatbread, and steamed buns. At noon, he rested at a shop in town.

After sending Bai Qiqiu to Mu Jin's place, Mu Zhaoye quickly took Zhou Lin to Mu Heng's house to pick him up, and the group went to town together.

After the New Year holidays, the carpentry shops in town reopened, and Zhou Lin and his colleagues were busy again.

The ground is not completely thawed yet, and we will have to wait a while longer to replant spring vegetables in our vegetable garden. It is estimated that we will be able to do so around the beginning of February.

The five bolts of cotton silk from the Zhao residence should be dyed and sent to Old Madam Zhao as soon as possible.

After finishing his meal, Wang Li obediently stayed at the dye shop, helping Mu Jin and Bai Qiqiu tend the fire.

Bai Qiqiu exclaimed, "He's quite an obedient young man."

Mu Jin nodded in agreement. Wang Li had been at home for two or three days, and he would do whatever she was told without ever running off. He hadn't left the house since he arrived.

Even when eating, they are very well-behaved, making people's hearts melt.

Because of this, although Mu Jin took him in out of pity, after spending two or three days with him, she now genuinely liked Wang Li.

Bai Qiqiu sighed and chuckled, seemingly lost in thought.

“Our home has almost become a refuge for homeless boys. I, Zhaoran, now have another one left.”

Mu Jin smiled and said, "It's a destiny preordained."

Wen Zhaoran's eyes were filled with tenderness and gratitude and admiration for Mu Jin.

He laughed and said, "We're all gathered here because of you, brother. By the way, brother, before the New Year, I asked Muzhou to help me find a craftsman in town. He drew a design of a wooden building based on the ideas we discussed earlier. Let's take a look later and see if there's anything we need to change."

Everyone was busy during the New Year, frying and stewing New Year's goods, visiting relatives and friends to exchange New Year's greetings. Zhou Lin said that he would build the wooden house after finishing the spring plowing at the end of spring, so he did not take it out.

"oh?"

Mu Jin wiped her hands. "Let everyone take a look."

Wen Zhaoran smiled and nodded, then turned and went back to her bedroom.

The cloth was soaking in a pot, and without anyone watching it, the boys went to the courtyard.

Wen Zhaoran spread out the sample drawing in the courtyard, and a two-story building drawn in ink appeared on the paper.

"It looks pretty good."

Wen Zhaoran was very excited and pointed to a spot on the paper, saying, "Brother, this is your and your husband's bedroom. This one is mine. This room is for Li Ge'er. This one is for my unborn nephew. The two rooms downstairs are for Si Ge and Qi Qiu Ge. The middle room between the upstairs and downstairs can be used as the main room. Upstairs, you can also look out at the scenery in the distance."

Mu Jin's eyes crinkled with a smile. "There are quite a few houses."

"And here's a design of the two-story main building, and these three too."

As Wen Zhaoran spoke, she unfolded two smaller sample images beside her.

“We’ll build the kitchen with bricks and tiles, it’s sturdy and doesn’t lose water easily. This is where we’ll put the water tank, and the cabinets will be here. This is the woodshed and dye house. We’ll build them bigger and replace them all with bricks and tiles.”

As Wen Zhaoran spoke, he unfolded the third sample image.

“This is the yard. The pigsty is still in the same place. The manure will easily rot the wood. The poultry pen can no longer be put in the backyard. It should be moved next to the pigsty. This way, it will be more convenient to feed them. We will plant some flowers, grass and fruit trees in the backyard, and pave the front yard with bluestone, which leads directly to the vegetable garden.”

Mu Jin was stunned. This way, it would cost much more money than what had been said before.

"Big brother, how are you?"

Wen Zhaoran looked at Mu Jin with bright eyes, her face full of pleading for praise.

Mu Jin said helplessly, "It's good, but how much silver will it cost to build it like this?"

"Brother, I've calculated it, it's at most fifty taels!"

That's right, really a great "that's right".

He and Zhou Lin worked hard for a year, but they only managed to save a little over fifty taels of silver.

Bai Qiqiu, who shared the same thought as Mu Jin, opened his mouth slightly.

“It’s obvious…”

Before she could speak, Wen Zhaoran interrupted, "Brother, I think you like it too. How about we build it like this? I can live more comfortably for the next two or three years before I get married."

Mu Jin sighed. Hearing Zhao Ran say that, it seemed to be for his own sake, but he knew in his heart that she just wanted him to live a more comfortable life in the future.

“Okay, but at this rate, the wood we stocked up at home before the New Year might not be enough, so we’ll have to go to the mountains and cut down some more.”

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhaoran immediately perked up, "Anyway, it will take some time to build the wooden house, so it will be enough."

Mu Jin smiled and looked at the sample drawing on the ground a few more times, truly becoming more and more delighted with each look.

Seeing the pigsty, I suddenly remembered that the New Year was over, and it was time to breed the sows at home.

There are no breeding pigs in the village, so I need to make time to go to Gujia Village.

However, it's still better to wait until the weather is warmer and spring planting is finished before going.

Before spring plowing, the brothers in the family, aside from working in the dye shop, spent the rest of their time collecting, drying, varnishing, and storing timber.

If Zhou Linruo returned early, he would rest for a while before going up the mountain to help transport the timber down.

Since Wang Li came to the house, Mu Jin has been constantly reminding him to stay with him and not to go too far.

These days, he has really helped a lot with small things.

The boy no longer lived in fear and lived a much more vibrant life.

In mid-February, Mu Jin followed Zhou Lin to town to deliver the dyed silk to the Zhao family.

According to Steward Zhao, Old Madam Zhao was very satisfied with the cloth she received, and immediately called the embroiderers in the house to sew several quilts.

Before Mu Jin returned, she gave him an extra five taels of silver as a reward.

That evening, Mu Jin touched the heavy silver and sighed, "Fortune truly comes from danger. Dealing with wealthy people is tiring, but it really makes money."

Wen Zhaoran laughed and said, "Even if a rich person just leaves a little bit, it's enough for everyone in our village to live comfortably for a year."

Mu Jin glanced at the five taels of silver, and finally felt relieved about the worries she had about the family's dye shop.

“Let’s just split this reward money directly, one tael each, and the rest into the public account.”

As she spoke, she gave Wen Zhaoran one tael of silver, and said that Mu Jin would give him the remaining one tael when Bai Qiqiu came over tomorrow.

Nothing makes people happier than earning money. Overjoyed, Mu Jin waved her hand and told Zhou Linming to buy two catties of meat from town to make shepherd's purse dumplings.

Zhou Lin smiled and nodded, his eyebrows curving slightly.

Grateful for the kindness of the Zhao family, and knowing that Old Madam Zhao loved wild game, Mu Jin carefully washed the wild vegetables she had dug up that day, filled a basket, and had Zhou Lin take it to the Zhao family.

Spring returns to the earth, and the fields are gradually turning green.

After the family's vegetable garden was turned over, Mu Jin quickly planted the spring vegetables. The rice noodle shop needed the most vegetables, so she planted several more plots.

Bai Qiqiu, along with Wang Li and Wen Zhaoran, went to the mountains and dug up a lot of wild vegetables.

Nowadays, Mu Zhaoye is mostly busy in town, and Bai Qiqiu spends most of her days at Mu Jin's place. Except for not sleeping at home at night, she is not much different from before she got married.

After clearing out the fields used for wheat, Mu Jin plans to plant cotton, millet, sorghum, and potatoes in the remaining fields.

Millet should be planted at a rate of one mu (approximately 0.16 acres) around the same time as sorghum and cotton.

Potatoes should be planted a little later, but it's not much different.

Zhou Lin bought all the seeds needed from the town, asked Mu Zhaoye for three days off, and helped Mu Jin turn over the fields.

After the fields were plowed, Mu Jin spread the composted manure she had collected over the winter into the fields, and then plowed the fields again.

Thanks to the fertilizer, this year's harvest from our fields will definitely be more than last year's.

The villagers gradually got busy, and before they knew it, the willows sprouted new buds, swaying in the wind, full of the spirit of spring.

The family doesn't have much land, but with the help of Mu Zhaoye's mules, they've saved a lot more money than last year.

Before we knew it, spring was coming to an end, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter.

The vegetable garden at home is lush and green, and we've finally made a big profit again.

When Zhou Lin went to the rice noodle shop at the end of the month to deliver vegetables and collect his monthly salary, he ran into Steward Zhao, who had come early for a treat.

The Zhao family had just opened a restaurant called the Northern Frontier Restaurant in town. The vegetables that Zhou Lin brought were fresh and clean, with glistening water droplets still clinging to their leaves.

For more than a year, Mu Jin had Zhou Lin send him many things; whatever the Zhao family had, he would also receive a share.

He had some ideas. He remembered that the restaurant had just opened, and the estate was mostly planted with grains and vegetables, which were mainly for the Zhao family's masters and servants. It was just right.

These past few days I've been looking for a few farmers who deliver vegetables, and when I got back home I mentioned it to Young Master Zhao.

Young Master Zhao had a good impression of Zhou Lin, so he nodded in agreement.

Now, there are more vegetables to be delivered to the restaurant in northern Xinjiang. The vegetables in the garden, which were originally surplus, are now in short supply.

Mu Jin was overjoyed, and with a wave of her hand, she opened up another half-acre vegetable garden next to her five acres of farmland.