Chapter 112

Zhou Lin and Mu Jin's move was quite a commotion. Some villagers, even though Mu Jin didn't ask them for help, saw it and quickly called their heads to come out and help Zhou Lin move the large furniture into the house.

In the past few days, Mu Jin has hired day laborers, bought cattle, and rented such a beautiful courtyard to live in. With the prospect of building a new house, the villagers' thoughts are incredibly complicated.

Zhou Wu was particularly affected. Standing in the crowd, she watched the robust yellow ox and the furniture that was being moved into the house one after another. The handkerchief that Bai Jin had just given her was almost torn to shreds by her.

The rented house had blue bricks paving the courtyard, and a large, lush persimmon tree stood there.

Mu Bai, who was being supervised by Zhou Ling and learning needlework, finally managed to escape and was overjoyed to see that her older brother had moved to a place closer to home.

After walking around the courtyard, Mu Bai sighed, "Brother, this courtyard is really big. When I come to stay here again, I can have my own room."

Mu Jin smiled and gently poked his little head.

"There aren't enough beds. If you're living alone, you'll have to sleep on the floor."

"Then I'll just bring my bed from home."

Mu Jin chuckled and shook her head. It had been a while since she'd seen the little guy, and she really did miss him.

"Are you staying at your brother's place tonight?"

Mu Bai nodded fiercely, "Yes, brother. You don't know how ruthless our father is. Look at me, my eyes are almost blurry from embroidering, and I'm only just getting him to be satisfied. This time, I'm going to stay here with you for a few more days before going back."

Mu Jin smiled and nodded. Just as she was about to say something, Mu Qing, carrying Xiao Suo'er, walked over with Zhou Wu Shi.

He first looked around the yard, his heart filled with jealousy.

"Big brother, your life is getting better and better. Now that you've made your fortune, don't forget to help your own brothers out, okay?"

Mu Jin patted Mu Bai, "Go play with your second brother, Wang Li and the others are there too."

Mu Bai didn't leave. He stood in front of Mu Jin, holding a small bundle. He was only up to Mu Jin's shoulder, but he looked as fierce as a little tiger.

"Oh dear, we're all family, why are you looking at my mother and me like enemies? Brother, you're the younger brother from my mother's side, you need to teach him some manners."

Mu Jin glanced at the two of them indifferently. Ever since Zhou Ming caught the eye of the steward of the new Zhao family mansion, Zhou Wushi and Mu Qing had been eager to strut around the village with their tails between their legs.

He naturally looked down on Zhou Lin, this honest man, and hadn't seen the two of them for a long time.

Why can't we just live our own lives peacefully and keep to ourselves? Why do we have to come here and annoy everyone?

"Second brother, what are you saying? What's wrong with Bai'er? He didn't say a word or do anything, so how is he lacking in manners? On the contrary, second brother, your elder brother is so busy, but I don't see him coming to lend a hand. If it weren't for the help of our friends, I don't know how long he would have been busy."

Zhou Wushi couldn't stand these words. In her heart, Zhou Ming was now one of the most capable men in the village.

"Your second brother is a very busy man. The important people in town can't do without him. How can anyone else compare to him?!"

“Mother is right. My second brother just said that he wanted A-Lin to help him out. That’s a joke. A-Lin does manual labor and works himself to the bone, but he only earns a pittance. He can’t compare to my second brother. He can make money just by talking.”

Mu Qing was speechless at these words. Logically speaking, Zhou Ming should earn more than Zhou Lin, so why did he only bring home about one tael of silver each month?

Mu Qing felt increasingly suspicious. This Zhou Ming had probably secretly hidden a lot of money!

Mu Jin didn't want to waste her breath arguing with them. "Mother, my second brother is busy at home and won't have time to take care of you. I'll go now."

After saying that, he took Mu Bai to find Wen Zhaoran.

"Big brother, Aunt Zhou and Brother Ming are still as annoying as ever."

"Keep your voice down, or others will criticize you for disrespecting your elders."

Mu Bai pursed her lips but didn't say anything more.

The owl frolicked around its new home two or three times, secretly marking many spots with its feet.

It was noon when they finally settled into their temporary new home.

Today, Mu Lingyun didn't look for the hairy pig, so before noon, Zhou Lin had to go to town and buy five catties of pork and about ten catties of mutton.

Zhou Si and the others didn't go back; instead, they had a rather lavish warm feast.

The lamb melts in your mouth, and a group of close friends gather together, chatting and laughing, feeling very relaxed.

“When I went to town to look for Uncle Qian, he was saying that it was a waste to leave the houses in the village unused. Houses without people would deteriorate quickly. He had been thinking of selling the houses in the village, but unfortunately no one wanted to buy them.”

Mu Zhaoye laughed and said, "Such a big house must cost at least sixty or seventy taels of silver. Few people in the village can come up with that much money at once."

Mu Jin took his words to heart and secretly considered it. It was a good house right there. If they bought it, it would be a perfect place for their children to have a new house when they got married.

Not too far from the village entrance, not too close. If he adds a few more acres of land, his son won't have to worry about not finding a good family to marry into.

Mu Jin had a good plan, but she didn't have that much money right now, so she had to keep it to herself and not mention it for the time being.

Mu Nianjun glanced at Mu Jin and felt gratified. As Mu Jin's family, they originally looked down on Zhou Lin.

A man who is blindly filial to his parents will make life difficult for anyone who follows him.

Fortunately, Mu Jin was resourceful, and Zhou Lin also liked her. After the family separated, the two of them actually started living a good life together.

He finally felt completely relieved, and even started to find Zhou Lin more agreeable.

Zhou Si smiled and said, "Brother, it's convenient for us to live here."

Mumian only tasted one bite of mutton, unable to eat more, picked up a piece of braised pork, and sighed.

"It's even further away from me now."

Everyone chuckled, while Lin Huzi, standing to the side, held a full bowl of meat and vegetables, his eyes brimming with laughter.

He pulled Lin Nuo to sit in a corner outside the kitchen and fed him some tender braised pork with his chopsticks.

Lin Nuo's eyes lit up, and she said softly, "Brother, it's delicious. I like Dongjia and the others."

Lin Huzi smiled and then fed him another bite.

With a smile in her eyes, she looked up and saw Mu Youyu holding a full plate of meat and vegetables but not eating them. Instead, he stared intently at Mu Bai, who was holding a lamb bone in the kitchen and laughing the loudest.

Wow, that's quite ambitious.

Lin Huzi shook his head secretly. The young master of Mu Laoqi's family was raised to be innocent and lively, and it was obvious that he was a boy who had been loved and pampered by his family.

There was also a second brother who had passed the imperial examination, and many families in the village with men of similar age were eyeing him.

Unexpectedly, Mu Youyu also harbored such thoughts.

However, he was probably going to be heartbroken. He had gone to town to look for work and ran into Mu Laoqi and Zhou Ling, who were returning from town.

After listening to their conversation, I realized that the two were talking about the butcher's youngest son in town. I guessed that they were looking for a family for Mu Baixiang in town. Although it hadn't been decided yet, it should be soon.

With a sigh, Lin Huzi fed Lin Nuo another bite of tender and flavorful mutton.

After lunch, Mu Zhaoye and the others who came to help chatted for a while before gradually returning home.

Zhou Lin called Lin Huzi and Mu Youyu over. Since no one was home, they needed to arrange for someone to stay and watch the house.

“Master, Tiger and I both live there. With more people, the thieves won’t dare to come.”

Zhou Lin nodded slightly. "There are two rooms, not in the place where the wooden building is to be built. You two pack up and move in today."

Lin Huzi and Mu Youyu nodded in unison, then turned and went home to pack their bags.

The wooden house builder that Zhou Lin hired from town will come tomorrow. With Mu Jin watching over things, he's not too worried.

I asked for another day off, and the day after that I went to work at the carpenter's shop in town.

Living in a brick house brings peace and security. Mu Jin has been very sleepy these past few days, and after lunch, she went back to her room to rest not long after.

Zhou Lin recalled what Mu Jin had told him last night: that it was time for the sows at home to be bred.

Back in the east room, she glanced at Mulan and saw that he was fast asleep. She gently took out the money pouch, turned around, and tiptoed out the door.

After deducting the money for buying the cow and renting the house, Mu Jin gave him eighteen taels of silver, leaving him with three taels and five mace.

In the neighboring Gujia Village, there is a family whose breeding pigs are famous far and wide. Each time they mate, they produce at least nine piglets, and the most, I've heard, is eighteen.

It became famous overnight, and the value of the breeding pig soared thanks to its brood of sons, making it twenty coins more expensive than other breeding pigs.

When Zhou Lin arrived, he was almost half a month later than the other families, and he was at home idle and had not been driven to the "bridal chamber" by his master.

Old Man Gu took a puff of his pipe and laughed, "We just happen to have some free time, let's go."

He stood up and brushed the cigarette ash that had fallen on him.

Gujia Village is far more lively than Mujia Village.

The flowerbeds are bursting with color, attracting bees and butterflies, truly a unique and beautiful sight in Gujia Village.

Zhou Lin suddenly felt that the house was lacking in color, and said to Old Man Gu, "Uncle Gu, wait for me a moment, I'll go buy two pots of flowers."

Old Man Gu waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. The flower garden at Brother Xi's house mostly gets its flower seeds from Nanfu City. We don't have any flowers like that here."

Zhou Lin smiled, and the closer he got to the flowerbed, the more fragrant the flowers became.

"Sir, this flower is called hibiscus. It's in bloom now and will last until August. And this red maple, don't be fooled by its ordinary green appearance now. Its leaves turn red in autumn and it's very beautiful. This camellia blooms in spring. This is a picture of this flower in bloom, which our owner specially commissioned to be painted."

Zhou Lin's eyes never left the pot of blooming hibiscus flowers, which looked very similar to the embroidered hibiscus purse that Mu Bai had given to Mu Jin.

After looking around, Zhou Lin chose two pots of hibiscus, one pot of crape myrtle, one pot of red maple, and one pot of camellia.

"Sir, these flowers grow bigger when transplanted to the yard than they did in the pots. Did you bring a cart? Would you like me to deliver them to your home?"

Zhou Lin thought for a moment, "Could you please help me deliver it to my home?"

"You're too kind. I'll go get someone right away. Please wait a moment."

Zhou Lin nodded. The flower garden was mostly filled with women, husbands, and children, and he, a man over eight feet tall, looked quite out of place there.

After what seemed like the umpteenth husband glanced at him and then turned to chat with others, the young man who had just gone looking for someone finally came over.

Zhou Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and called out to Old Man Gu.

One man pulled a cart full of flowers, another herded a breeding pig, and Zhou Lin led the way, arriving home before sunset.