Chapter 113

Bringing the colorful flowers home added a lot of vibrancy to the house.

Although Mu Jin felt a pang of regret for the money she had spent on flowers, she couldn't hide her joy as she looked at the hibiscus flowers blooming freely before her.

He only weakly said, "Don't waste money like that next time."

He then asked Zhou Lin to move the flowers to a corner of the courtyard gate, where he admired them carefully.

Zhou Lin smiled and said, "The nurseryman said that if we transplant it into the yard, it will grow bigger and bloom more flowers."

Mu Jin smiled and said, "I'll transplant it into the yard next spring."

Zhou Lin was indifferent to the situation, but his sharp eyes spotted the night owl running over excitedly, and he raised his leg to mark the potted plants as its territory.

He quickly gave a soft rebuke, "Night Owl, no way!"

The owl grunted, being a non-stubborn dog, and turned to patrol its other territories.

Mu Jin chuckled and shook her head.

When the family members woke up, they kept circling around the flowers Zhou Lin had bought. It's rare to find a boy who doesn't love flowers.

"Brother-in-law, when did you go to buy it?"

Zhou Lin smiled and said, "I bought them on the way back from Gujia Village when I went there to get breeding pigs."

"Oh? I should have known better than to rest at noon. I haven't even seen two pigs 'wedding night' yet."

Zhou Lin: "..."

That's not something you unmarried guys should be watching.

Hibiscus, with her eyes crinkled in a smile, glanced at the butterflies fluttering around, drawn by the fragrance of the flowers, and felt a happiness welling up inside her.

Early the next morning, the town's drivers arrived in the village.

Zhou Lin picked them up from the village entrance and took them home. The summer morning sun shone through the dense leaves, warming them without being scorching.

The roof tiles were recently purchased, so they had to be carefully removed from the roof and piled up in the yard for later use.

Zhou Lin didn't throw away the bamboo strips in the house either; he took them down and piled them in the woodshed, thinking they might be useful later.

Mu Sheng was brought there early in the morning by Mu Nianjun, and on the way, he encountered Mu Zhaoye and Mu Lingyun.

The three of them exchanged a smile and quickened their pace.

Bai Qiqiu and Mu Jin rested for two or three days. Today, the dye shop reopened, and all the brothers in the family were busy working there.

Mu Youyu and Lin Huzi don't need to worry about building a new house; they can focus on tending to their vegetable garden, fields, and livestock.

The rented house naturally had a chicken coop and a pigsty. Families in the village with some money would raise some poultry and livestock for their own consumption and to sell for money.

The Qian family was one of the most prominent families in the village, and their chicken coop and pigsty were quite large.

There are two sheds in the backyard, and you can tell from the clean feeding troughs and water troughs that they are used to raise cattle or mules.

The ox that we just bought quickly found a good place to live.

To avoid disturbing the poultry and livestock during the move, Zhou Lin cleaned up the pigsty and chicken coop and brought them over early in the morning.

Now fully adapted to its new home, the hen, which hadn't laid an egg all day yesterday, started clucking again after being startled by the change of scenery.

With the dyeing workshop business nearly finished, Mu Jin glanced at the abandoned vegetable garden in the yard.

Thinking that there were still quite a few vegetable seeds left, and it really hurt to see the land lying fallow, I went to the woodshed, picked up a hoe, and went to the vegetable garden.

Bai Qiqiu had just hung the last piece of dyed cloth on the drying pole when he looked up and saw Mu Jin digging at the ground.

"Oh dear brother, can you take a break? You've just recovered, how can you keep pushing yourself like this?!"

Mu Jin stopped and said helplessly, "I'm fine. Doctor Mu also said that resting all the time isn't good; I still need to move around."

Bai Qiqiu shook his head in disapproval, "Doctor Mu wants you to walk around a bit, certainly not for you to do farm work."

Wen Zhaoran walked over at some point and sighed, "Brother, we have so many vegetable gardens at home, that's enough."

"It's a shame to leave the vegetable garden here uncultivated."

Upon hearing this, Bai Qiqiu rolled up his sleeves and said, "I'll do it! Big brother, you go and rest over there."

Lin Nuoben and Wang Li, who were tending the fire in the kitchen, also ran out when they heard the commotion.

"Brother Jin, I can do it too!"

Mu Jin felt both helpless and tender-hearted.

The vegetable garden in the Qian family's courtyard was about two fen (a unit of land measurement), which was considered quite a large piece of land in the family.

Mu Jin thought that now that her family owned cattle, weeding and turning over the vegetable garden would be a piece of cake.

Asking Bai Qiqiu to fetch the yellow ox from the backyard was a bit of a waste of his talents, but it did save him a lot of trouble.

While he was busy expanding his vegetable garden, Zhou Lin was also extremely busy at home.

With many hands making light work, the roof tiles were all removed in no time.

At noon, Bai Qiqiu and Wen Zhaoran carried over two large baskets full of food using a thick wooden stick.

There were plenty of coarse steamed buns, and two large bowls of mixed vegetables stewed with fatty pork that Mu Jin had specially reserved.

It doesn't look very appealing, but it tastes delicious and is very filling.

A slightly plump man smiled at Zhou Lin and said, "Brother Lin is lucky. Your husband's cooking skills are no worse than those of the chefs in the restaurants in town."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lin couldn't hide the joy and pride in his eyes.

Mu Sheng laughed and said, "Brother Feng, judging from your blessed appearance, your wife's cooking skills must be exceptional."

The fat man smiled and waved his hand, thinking that everyone in his family, young and old, was chubby, which was indeed all thanks to his wife.

"Your sister-in-law is the one who's most generous with oil when she cooks. It's so fragrant, and she eats a lot, so no wonder she's gained weight."

Everyone laughed. Those with families talked about their spouses, while those without families could only turn their envy into appetite, picking up a few more bites of food while the others were talking.

The shrewd-looking man finished the last bite of his steamed bun, dipped it in the vegetable soup, and glanced at Zhou Lin.

"Brother Lin, the tall guy who just delivered the vegetables, is he your brother-in-law?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lin choked and coughed several times before he could stop.

Mu Sheng laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight, and pointed at Mu Zhaoye, whose face had fallen a little, and said with a smile, "My husband is right here."

The man smiled awkwardly at him, then said, "Is the other brother your brother, Brother Lin?"

Upon hearing this, several unmarried men immediately perked up their ears.

When Wen Zhaoran first entered the door, not only the unmarried men, but even those with families were practically glued to her.

Zhou Lin's smile faded. "Yes and no. He is my husband's fiancé, the younger brother of his wife's family."

Mu Sheng quickly added, "Zhao Ge'er's fiancé is a student from our village. He is currently studying in town and has already achieved academic success at a young age. His future is limitless."

Mu Zhaoye glanced at them, his face not darkening, but he stared at them expressionlessly, the scar on his face making him look quite intimidating.

The group chuckled awkwardly. "Indeed, only a talented man like Brother Lin's husband and his wife's younger brother could be worthy of such a young man."

"A talented man and a beautiful woman."

"A handsome young man with striking good looks."

Mu Sheng chuckled, changed the subject, and started chatting enthusiastically with them again.

The atmosphere warmed up again, and the man who realized he had spoken out of turn secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Asking about an unmarried man in front of someone's brother-in-law is truly embarrassing and impolite.

With about ten days left in May, Zhou Lin finished dinner, thought for a moment, and called out to Mu Zhaoye, who was about to go home.

"Zhaoye, I still need to stay home for a while. I'll go back to the carpenter's shop in early June."

Mu Zhaoye nodded. "If the workers in town are too busy, I'll have Master Heng bring the timber back for you, and you can do the work at home."

Zhou Lin looked at Mu Zhaoye with gratitude in his eyes. Thinking about it, since marrying Mu Jin, he had only encountered good people and good things.

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and the cycle repeats itself day after day.

While Mu Jin was busy at home, Zhou Lin was at the old house, helping the craftsmen tidy up the wood.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, life becomes increasingly well-organized.

Many villagers were envious and jealous, but there was nothing they could do but watch as Mu Jin and Zhou Lin's lives became more and more prosperous.

Hibiscus yawned and slowly walked out of the house, clearly still half asleep.

After washing up, I saw several of my brothers standing at the gate of the courtyard, craning their necks and looking at something.

"What's wrong?"

Hibiscus walked over gently.

Bai Qiqiu's eyes gleamed, his face full of schadenfreude.

The other guys, except for Wang Li and Lin Nuo who weren't very sensible, all had the same expression as him.

Mu Bai tugged at him, laughing, "Big brother, look! Ming's family is arguing!"

"We've been watching for a while now. Oh dear, it's true what they say, money corrupts men. Zhou Ming has taken another girl outside, and she claims she's pregnant. They've come to make trouble at our door."

Mu Jin was surprised, "You could hear me clearly even from this far away?"

All he could see was a large, dark crowd gathered in front of Zhou Ming's house.

Wen Zhaoran laughed and said, "That's because you were sleeping soundly, brother. You were making a huge fuss just now, and the noise was really loud. Not to mention us, your husband probably heard it all from the foot of the mountain. His family and relatives have all come here, demanding an explanation from him."

That's an exaggeration. Zhou Lin was completely oblivious to what was happening outside the courtyard; he was focused on building his new house.

Hibiscus peeked out and felt a surge of excitement, wanting to go and take a look.

Bai Qiqiu and Wen Zhaoran naturally wouldn't let him pass; one reason was that they were afraid of bumping into him with so many people around.

Right now, the Zhou family and the Mu family are both furious. If he goes over there now, Zhou Wushi will probably take her anger out on him.

It's better to just admire from afar than to get yourself into trouble for nothing.

The boy Zhou Ming was raising was frail and thin, with fox-like eyes and a sly look on his face.

She leaned gently against Zhou Ming, looking utterly aggrieved.

“Minglang, why are you so fierce, brother? Ling’er just wanted to come home and serve you properly with him. Besides, I am now carrying your child. For the sake of the child in my womb, I can no longer live in town without a name or status.”

Mu Qing was furious. She grabbed a broom from the side and was about to hit Qi Ling with it.

But Zhou Ming stopped him, snatched the broom from his hand, and threw it aside.

He yelled at Mu Qing, "Have you made enough of a scene?!"

Mu Qing stared at Zhou Ming with red eyes in disbelief.

Zhou Ming looked away somewhat guiltily. "Things have come to this point, so you have no choice but to agree. Ling'er will be joining the Zhou family today."

Mu Qing's earlier madness vanished in an instant.

She was both crying and laughing. "You yelled at me for him, some jerk who appeared out of nowhere... Hahaha, yelled at me?"

After saying that, his eyes instantly turned fierce. "I'd rather die right here than let him step into my house!"

Everyone was stunned by Mu Qing's ruthlessness.