An family had only been settled in Hongcheng for a few days when An Mantun and his daughter An Xian came to visit. They had inquired about the place along the way.
The An family was the only one who could settle down in the southern suburbs, so it was easy to find out about them.
Standing in front of the main gate of the An family mansion, An Xian stared in astonishment at the grand mansion before her.
Above the bright red lacquered gate hangs a plaque made of black Phoebe zhennan wood, inlaid with two large characters in bold, vigorous strokes—
——Anzhai.
The handwriting was perfectly round and smooth, and even An Xian, who could barely read, could recognize the two characters at a glance.
Pointing to the imposing vermilion gate in the wall, An Xian stammered, clearly in disbelief.
"Dad, is this...is this really Uncle's house? Have we come to the wrong house?"
Anmantun swallowed hard, still somewhat uncertain.
"Maybe...maybe we went to the wrong place, maybe—" we should ask someone else.
Before he could utter the last few words, a carriage arrived and stopped in front of the main gate. A figure emerged from the carriage, and the familiar sight made Anmantun swallow his words.
Not only did An Mantun see it, but An Xian also glanced to the side and naturally saw An Le as well.
"Anle?!"
So, this place... really is my uncle's house?
An Xian gasped in surprise, staring at An Le in disbelief.
"This...is your house?" An Xian pointed to the front door, her voice still filled with doubt and surprise.
The question was naturally directed at Anle.
Anle raised an eyebrow, clearly disliking the father and daughter.
"Oh, what brings you all here?" he said, jumping off the carriage.
Yu Rong stepped forward, pushed open the main gate, removed the crossbeam on the threshold, glanced at An Le, and then pulled the carriage inside without waiting for An Le.
The gate was large enough to accommodate the next carriage.
Anman licked his lips, his eyes filled with shock.
"Le boy, is this the big house your family bought?"
Anle nodded calmly.
"Second Uncle, is there something you need?"
Anmantun shook his head blankly.
"No, it's nothing, I just came to take a look and get acquainted with the place."
Anle said in a lukewarm tone, "Grandpa and Great-Grandpa are both here. Let's go inside and talk." After saying that, Anle went inside first, not wanting to say anything more to Anmantun.
Anxian followed Anmantun, walking behind Anle in a daze, still feeling a bit unreal.
I really can't figure out where they got the money to afford such a large mansion.
In her mind, such large mansions were places where only prominent, influential, and prestigious families could live.
She never imagined that one day her uncle's family would move in.
This house is so grand that it surpasses even the mansions and residences of the prominent families in Jincheng.
Following Anle, I entered in a daze. Everywhere I looked, there were artificial hills, ponds, pavilions, gardens, and forests. It was dazzling, and every place exuded the luxury that only a prestigious family could afford.
Walking on the winding stone steps, the twists and turns can easily make one lose their bearings.
An Xian clutched her pounding heart, feeling somewhat excited. She had never been inside such a large mansion before, nor had she ever seen anything like it.
The flowers here are so beautiful, the courtyard is so spacious, and the landscaping is exquisite.
This place is so much better than her older cousin's house in her town. The courtyard alone is several times larger than her cousin's house, making it look much bigger.
After winding and turning for who knows how long, An Mantun and his daughter were still reeling from the shock of seeing the An brothers, An Dafeng and An Dalin, in the front hall.
"Didn't your father come to see you?" An Dalin asked, looking at An Mantun, who looked a little dazed. He picked up the porcelain teacup with the lid, stirred the tea leaves floating on the surface with the lid, and took a sip of tea.
An Mantun snapped out of his daze and paused. "Father hasn't been feeling well lately, and the journey is quite bumpy, so we didn't let him come." But now he regretted it. He really should have brought his father along to see what kind of place his eldest son was living in and what kind of life he was leading!
An Dafeng nodded.
"It's a bit too much for me. If I hadn't come by carriage, which was relatively safe on the road, my old bones definitely wouldn't have been able to take it."
If they don't want to come, they don't have to.
Anmantun looked around the front hall, then glanced at the chair he was sitting on, his eyes lighting up—
He works in a carpentry shop and knows a lot about wood. This chair is made of rosewood, or black rosewood in the local dialect of his town.
He had only ever seen a small sample of this wood at the shopkeeper's place, and had never used it to make anything for anyone.
Because it was too valuable, no wealthy family in the town could afford to use it.
It's likely that only a very few families could afford it; at least in Jincheng, he hadn't seen any wealthy or prestigious families using this large-leaf sandalwood.
The value of this one chair alone exceeds the value of his entire house in town.
“This chair—” Anmantun touched the armrest of the chair with great affection. It was the first time he had ever touched such a finished product.
"Oh, you mean the furniture and belongings here? They don't belong to us. They all belonged to the original owners. They just came over to move them out these past few days," An Dalin explained casually.
His granddaughter said that after the original owners have moved all these things out, they will buy some new furniture and items to move in.
"Aren't the carpenters' shops in this town going to be demolished? Even if they asked you, you wouldn't be able to take the job. Lewa has already found a carpenter's shop in the city and ordered the whole set."
Even if I could order from you, it's inconvenient to deliver since we're in different cities.
Upon hearing An Dalin bring up this topic, An Mantun readily picked up on it.
"I came to Hongcheng to find a carpenter to do some work. The carpenters in the town are going to be demolished, and the shops in Jincheng are also going to be demolished."
There's simply no work to be found in our city, let alone in other towns; everyone's suffered.
Even food and drink are a problem, so where would anyone afford to spend money on furniture and other items?
Business is slow in every carpentry shop in this town, let alone hiring carpenters. It's good enough if they don't fire anyone.
An Dafeng frowned and asked a question.
"How's the search going?"
"I asked a few places on the way here, but as soon as they heard I was from Jincheng, none of them wanted to keep me. It seems difficult for me to stay and work here," An Mantun sighed, his face full of worry.
The brothers An Dafeng and An Dalin never went out and were unaware of the treatment and market rates for Jincheng people in Hongcheng.
They were completely unaware of the fact that Hongcheng was excluding people from Jincheng.
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