Ji Xia's beautiful almond-shaped eyes sparkled with a hint of pleasure: "It's not cheap. This two-courtyard house, about 500 to 600 square meters, will cost about 80 to 100 yuan in rent."
However, she bought the courtyard house, paying the full amount upfront, so of course she didn't have to pay rent.
Afraid of making them uncomfortable, Ji Xia didn't mention that she had bought it herself. Instead, she smiled and reminded them, "Never mind that. Let's find a room to put down our luggage first, and then get some water to take a shower. We haven't showered for days on the train. We've turned into pickled fish, sour, bland, and unnecessary."
Chen Qiuyu chuckled: "Yes, I need to take a shower. I feel like I smell bad."
The two girls immediately forgot about the rent and asked with concern where there was water.
"There's water, there's water in both the front and back yards, and there's a bathroom. There's an old well in the front courtyard, and the water is so sweet, you can drink it straight from there."
"Water pipes have been laid in the backyard, and the water is drawn from the well in the front yard, so we don't have to go far to fetch water, which is very convenient."
Wang Yuan enthusiastically led them through the covered corridor, explaining things to them as they walked.
These two girls were the boss's sisters and fellow villagers. Although they looked a bit disheveled, they had delicate features, slender figures, and were still young girls. Wang Yuan's enthusiasm immediately found an outlet.
Unfortunately, his enthusiasm was quickly met with strong suppression. Chen Jing rudely told them to leave: "Alright, this is my home. I'll introduce them to you. Go find a restaurant nearby and order some food. We'll take a shower and tidy up, and then we'll have lunch together."
"Alright, bro, I'll take care of this."
Wang Yuan put his luggage in the main room and left with Zhao Hui and his two underlings.
Anyway, the boss plans to stay here and develop his career; they have plenty of time.
After seeing off his four underlings, Chen Jing closed the front gate and returned. The three girls had already taken their changes of clothes, towels, and soap to the bathroom in the backyard.
Chen Jing and Hou Fang stayed in the front yard.
The three of them passed through the covered corridor and the hanging flower gate, and walked into the backyard.
The courtyard is planted with many flowers and plants, and the walls, eaves, window frames and roof have all been renovated, exuding a serene and elegant atmosphere amidst its antique charm.
The three were amazed and then hurriedly searched for a bathroom in the backyard.
The bathroom was converted from a side room behind the main house. It was tiled, and a water pipe ran through the window and was nailed to the wall. When the tap was turned on, cool well water gushed out from the tap and splashed cool water droplets on the tiled floor.
In the hot summer, taking a shower with cool water is very refreshing. The three of them took their change of clothes and took turns going into the bathroom to shower and wash their hair.
Half an hour later, Ji Xia changed into a refreshing light green silk dress and came out with her long, wet hair draped over her shoulders.
"Have you already tidied up the room?"
As she looked around each room, she asked with concern, "Which room did you choose?"
"We chose the east wing over there, planning to stay together, so we'll have each other's company," Chen Qiuyu said with a shy smile.
Both of them knew that this large courtyard was also their workshop, and the empty rooms would be converted into warehouses and workshops. Therefore, it was best for the two of them to live together to save on room space.
As for why they lived in the east wing? Of course, it was because the east wing was farther away from the main house, so as not to be too close to Ji Xia and Chen Jing's house, where they would hear some embarrassing noises at night.
Chen Jing walked out of the main room clutching a dry towel. His hair was still damp, and the collar of his gray T-shirt was also wet with water droplets. Because it was so hot, the hem of his T-shirt was rolled up, revealing his six-pack abs and lean, muscular waist.
"You just washed with cold water, didn't you? Your period just ended, aren't you afraid of stomach discomfort?"
As Chen Jing spoke, he casually moved a recliner over for Ji Xia to sit down, while he sat behind her and naturally used a towel to dry her wet hair: "Let's see if we need anything later. After lunch, we'll go to the department store and buy everything we need."
"Well, besides some essential daily necessities, there are also kitchen utensils and dishes. We can't eat out every day."
They came over in March and ate out every day because they were only renting the place for a month.
Now that I'm planning to stay here longer and have my own house, of course I need to prepare the kitchen.
Ji Xia considered what she needed to buy, then looked back and saw that Hou Xiaolian and Chen Qiuyu had entered the bathroom together at some point.
With their hair half-dry, Ji Xia and Chen Jing toured the backyard with great interest.
There are thirteen rooms in the backyard, including the main house, east and west wing rooms, rear room, and covered room, all of varying sizes.
Apart from the main room and the east wing, which were equipped with large beds, wardrobes, and dressing tables, the other rooms were empty. As requested by Ji Xia and Chen Jing, moisture-proof floor tiles were laid and lime water was applied.
This was something Ji Xia and Chen Jing had discussed beforehand. All the furniture in these empty rooms in the backyard was removed, and then shelves were placed on them to serve as raw material warehouses, semi-finished product warehouses, and finished product warehouses, respectively. The small room at the far end of the west wing was set up as an office.
There are also more than twenty rooms in the front yard, with the larger rooms being thirty or forty square meters and the smaller rooms being at least ten square meters.
Three or four rooms were left to be furnished, while the rest were left empty and set up as garment workshops and cutting rooms.
The large room can hold at least ten sewing machines, and the small room can hold four or five overlock machines. With so many rooms, it would be enough even if they expanded their small workshop into a small factory with one or two hundred people.
When they want to expand, the small workshops will probably have made money, and then they can buy some land, warehouses, factories, etc. to build garment factories and expand their scale.
As the two toured the yard, they discussed its uses, then looked at the empty space in the middle: "What do you think we should plant in this yard? Vegetables? Fruit trees? Or flowers?"
Besides the four houses, the central courtyard also occupies a considerable area. It was estimated that there used to be artificial hills, streams, and gardens, but during those ten years, the courtyard was also occupied by a lot of miscellaneous items, and the garden scenery was completely abandoned.
Master Lin tidied up the yard and restored it to its original layout. He recreated all the paths and bluestone trails, but while the soil in what should have been flower beds had been replaced, the flowers and plants were not brought back.
Ji Xia pondered for a while: "Let's plant some fruit trees. Plant apple, pear and other fruit trees along the courtyard wall, and plant grapes along those paths. Build a canopy on top to make it a shady path where we can cool off in the summer. When the grapes are ripe, we can sit under them and pick them to eat. It's quite refreshing. If we can't finish them, we can make wine."
Chen Jing raised an eyebrow: "Wine? That sounds like something foreigners do. Do you know how to make it?"
Ji Xia is really good at it. She even tried making it a few times in her previous life. Although it can't compare to winery production, the wine she makes according to her own taste and certain proportions doesn't need Sprite. It has a lighter flavor and tastes quite good.
She raised her chin smugly, a beautiful smile curving her lips: "Looking down on me, are you? If you don't believe me, just try it. As long as you buy enough grapes, I'll make a jar of wine for you to try this year."
"Great! It's grape season now. Let's go buy some grapes this afternoon. How many do we need?"
Ji Xia proudly raised her jade-like chin: "Let me think about it, how about thirty pounds?"
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