She couldn't return the silver notes since she hadn't seen the person who delivered them.
Xiao Yunying stuffed the silver note into her bosom: "Keep it safe for now, we'll talk about it later."
After lunch, Xiao Yunying let Luo Xin play on the kang (a heated brick bed) by herself while she sat at her desk, conceiving ideas for the servants' living quarters and the furniture inside.
She plans to make the rooms similar to student dormitories, with two bunk beds and four people per room.
Each person has a small individual wardrobe, a shoe cabinet by the door, a table in the middle, and the toilet and washroom are built separately outside.
This design is sufficient for daily life.
These houses are specifically for single able-bodied men. In addition, several houses are built for two people to live in, specifically for single women, or for couples to live together.
I heard Chen Yuanyao say that apart from young children and young maids who were bought and sold separately, most of the women or old women who did odd jobs were married.
Xiao Yunying told Chen Yuancheng that if the whole family were honest people, it wouldn't be a problem if they all bought them.
Xiao Yunying chewed on the brush handle and muttered to herself, "There's also a kitchen for cooking and a canteen for eating. And the male and female dormitories should be separated by some distance, perhaps by two walls."
Especially for young women, they need their own privacy. Anyway, building two walls doesn't require many bricks and tiles, and she can afford it.
Hmm... she's such a thoughtful and good boss.
They revised and drew the house plans, finally settling on a layout of three courtyards, like three closely spaced rings.
The single woman lived on the side closest to her house, the married couple lived in the middle, and the man lived on the other side.
After finalizing the house plans and furniture designs, she first went to the Yang family's house, delivered the furniture designs, and explained the specifications and styles she wanted.
Uncle Yang was already used to her drawing style and quickly grasped the details, saying he would just wait to see the finished product.
After leaving the Yang family, she took a hundred taels of silver notes and house plans back to her parents' home. Since spring plowing had not yet begun and she herself did not know anything about building a house, she wanted her father and brother to help keep an eye on things.
Upon learning that their daughter wanted to hire someone to grow vegetables, Xiao Shanhai and Mu Lianrong, being short-sighted individuals, immediately expressed their support.
Xiao Shanhai accepted the blueprints: "I'll go talk to the village chief in a bit and tell him that I'll keep an eye on things when the house is being built."
Xiao Yunying reminded him, "Father, don't forget to remind the village chief that the method of using pipes to irrigate the farmland cannot be discussed until the spring plowing begins. If anyone wants to make ceramic pipes, they need to prepare in advance. It will be too late to discuss it after the spring plowing begins."
Xiao Shanhai said, "Father understands. By the way, after the snow melts in a while, I'll have your eldest brother and the others go and clear the land for you. More people means more work."
Mu Lianrong, who was sewing clothes nearby, said, "Don't be shy. They've eaten so many good things from you all winter. Their faces are getting rounder. It's not a loss for them to do some work."
Xiao Yunying joked, "I won't stand on ceremony. Why not use my own brother? It'll save me the cost of hiring two people."
Wang, holding her little daughter, sat down to the side and said, "Is Yunying going to start that... seedling cultivation thing in a few days?"
"Yes, it's not suitable to plant vegetables in the ground now. We'll start seedlings in advance and transplant them directly into the ground when the weather gets warmer, so we can harvest a batch of vegetables earlier."
Wang said, "Such a large piece of land, how many seedlings will you need to cultivate? When you start working, just call your second sister-in-law and she'll help you."
Xiao Yunying teased her little niece: "I don't intend to be polite with my second sister-in-law. I'll definitely ask her for help when we start cultivating seedlings. And my eldest sister-in-law, don't think you can shirk your responsibilities."
Zhang, who was tidying up the silk threads, said, "It's nothing, sister-in-law will definitely go."
After chatting with her family for a while, Xiao Yunying went home and quietly studied the instructions on the seed packaging.
The snowfall wasn't heavy; small snowflakes drifted intermittently for a day before stopping, and when the sun shone, no snow accumulated.
Over the next few days, Xiao Yunying carefully read through all the seed descriptions, grouped them by season, and created a booklet.
It details the growth rate and process of all seeds, the growing environment and various precautions, and also draws diagrams from seed to germination to final fruit maturity, making it simple, easy to understand and clear at a glance.
That's how it works in theory. You can just modify it if anything is wrong after you've planted the seeds yourself.
On the twentieth day of the first lunar month, Chen Yuancheng sent a message that Yunshan Academy would be giving a test to newly enrolled students on the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month.
Xiao Yunying immediately tensed up, and for some reason, she felt even more nervous than she did during her college entrance exam in her previous life.
She took the children to a bookstore in the city, and after asking Chen Yuancheng and the children for their opinions, she bought a lot of useful books, as well as a lot of ink sticks and white paper.
To Xiao Yunying's surprise, during these five days, Luo Chen and Luo Yang did not only focus on their own studies, but also called over their nephews and the Yang twins to tutor them.
Xiao Yunying felt quite gratified. She couldn't do anything else, but she could do her best to take care of the children's three meals a day and supplement their nutrition.
On the 25th, Chen Yuancheng specially sent two carriages to pick them up early in the morning and wait for them at the entrance of Yunshan Academy.
Xiao Yunying got off the carriage and leaned against it, saying to Ling Qi, who had come to pick them up, "There are quite a few people here."
Ling Qi sat in the carriage, swinging his legs, and explained to her, "Yunshan Academy is not only famous in Donglin City, but also enjoys a great reputation throughout Yicheng."
Many of these students came from other places, and there were too many for the academy to accept them all. Therefore, the entrance exam was slightly more difficult in order to reduce the number of applicants.
Hearing Ling Qi's words, Luo Li, who was already nervous, became even more so. With a pained expression, he said to Luo Chen, "Brother, what if I don't pass the exam?"
My mother has made so many delicious meals for them these past few days. If he doesn't pass the exam, will she stop making food for him?
Before Luo Chen could offer any words of comfort, Xiao Yunying lifted the curtain and said, "Don't be nervous, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just do your best. If you didn't pass, you didn't pass. You're young, you can try again next year."
Luo Li frowned: "What if I don't pass the exam next year either? Will Mother not like me anymore?"
Xiao Yunying pinched his cheek: "What are you saying? There's more than one academy in the world. We can always go to another academy."
Besides, with your two older brothers helping you with tutoring, are you worried about not getting good grades? Have some confidence in yourself, okay?
Luo Chen also spoke up: "After all, it's an entrance exam, so it shouldn't be too difficult. You answered all the questions I gave you yesterday. As long as you keep a calm mind and don't lose your usual level, you should be able to pass the exam."
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