Chapter 967 Fleeing Famine? There's No Way to Escape (14)
Ning Yan: "This courtyard has been uninhabited for at least three years."
And it wasn't that big; although it was a brick house, the style wasn't particularly modern.
After saying that, she walked forward and casually pushed open a door.
Village head: Huh? Wasn't that room door locked? How come it opened so easily? Where's the lock?
"The windows are all broken, and all the paper has to be re-painted. The furniture inside has also been moved out. If we want to move in, we have to buy all new furniture."
After saying that, he turned around and left the room. There was a well in the front yard and another well in the second courtyard.
Ning Yan pointed to the well opening and said, "The well needs to be cleaned again, otherwise it's unusable."
The osmanthus tree in the yard is growing well and is in full bloom.
Further in, the third courtyard was overgrown with weeds. This time, Ning Yan didn't say anything, but simply pointed to the patch of grass and asked, "Lord of the village, please give me a definite answer. How much silver does this house cost?"
Village head: ...
Finally, the house was acquired for 175 taels of silver, and the village head was also responsible for finding someone to help them clean up the house.
As Ning Yan said, the house became less and less valuable the longer it sat idle, and no one in the village had the means to buy it. So when someone was willing to buy it, the village headman quickly sold it.
The butler who had come with the Lu family saw that the house matter had been settled, so he bid farewell to Ning Yan and went back to report.
Watching Steward Lu leave, Old Madam Ning pulled her granddaughter back to the courtyard. She was now completely content looking at her granddaughter. "My little Yan'er has grown up." She's worth several men. After all, all the men in the family combined couldn't earn 125 taels of silver in several years.
After saying that, he looked up at the Ning family, young and old, and said, "Alright, the house has been bought. We'll be resting here tonight. All of you get moving. Buy what you need to buy, and tidy up what you need to tidy up. Be quick and efficient. No one is allowed to slack off."
The village headman only hired people to clean the house and repair it; everything else had to be done by his own family members.
Ning Laoda plans to make a few pieces of furniture himself to tide him over, and he'll go find some wood today.
Ning Song chose the furthest job, as he needed to travel by train into the city to buy bedding, fabric, window paper, and daily necessities. The farther he traveled, the more rewards the system would give him.
The women were also busy, cleaning and tidying up room by room.
Even the wells were inspected by a specialist, and the results were very encouraging: both wells had water, and the water was very clear.
Second Aunt exclaimed, "We've got it! These two wells have saved our family at least twenty taels of silver!"
This is truly a wealthy family; they have two wells. Back in their hometown, there weren't even two wells in the entire village. Everyone shared the water from the village's main well, and they did their laundry by going to the river.
Ning's mother was also very happy: "From now on, we will never be afraid of not having water to drink again."
The memory of this drought is too deep for the Ning family, especially the feeling of being so thirsty that their throats were dry and painful, making it impossible to swallow or even speak. They really don't want to experience it again!
Soon, the village head led about thirty villagers to help the Ning family. These people were specially selected by the village head; they were quick and efficient and hardworking. They arrived and immediately got to work without saying a word, and the house became visibly lively.
About an hour later, Ning Song returned from shopping, but a convoy followed behind him. A man jumped out of the lead car; it was none other than Steward Lu, who had left earlier.
Ning Song explained to the old man as he entered, "The Lu family stopped me halfway there. They let me choose what I wanted to buy, but they wouldn't let me spend any money. I had no choice..."
Butler Lu smiled and bowed to Old Master Ning, "Old Master, our master asked me to send some things over to your family as a settling-in gift. Among these things are some items personally selected by our young master. Please be sure to accept them."
Old Master Ning panicked a little: "This is unacceptable! Master Lu has taken care of us all the way. If anyone should thank Master Lu, it should be our family thanking him."
The butler said, "Master, please don't stand on ceremony. We're all family here. You wouldn't want my young master to cry again, would you?"
"You know perfectly well that my young master gets sick whenever he cries, and no one can soothe him." We're all family, no need to be so polite.
Grandpa Ning: "..."
Ning Yan said, "Grandpa, we've already bought the things, and the Lu family won't use them anyway, so let's just accept them. We can prepare some gifts to return them someday."
Butler Lu immediately smiled and said, "Miss is right, so please accept it without worry."
Grandpa Ning couldn't refuse, so he finally nodded.
Once he received confirmation, Steward Lu immediately directed his servants to move things inside—rice, flour, cooking oil, mahogany furniture, fabrics, quilts, and even more than a dozen servants—all to help the Ning family tidy up the house as quickly as possible.
Grandma Ning watched as these people carried their belongings into the house, then glanced at Butler Lu, who was speaking kindly to her husband, and sighed slightly. Her granddaughter nodded; it seemed that something had happened on their journey south that they were unaware of.
Butler Lu left with his men before dark.
The mansion, which had been uninhabited for three years, had now been completely renovated.
“The Fulin Courtyard to the east belongs to our Yan Yan. The eldest son lives in Anxin Courtyard, the second son lives in Hemu Courtyard, Da Niu and your family live in Xingjia Courtyard, Song Ge and your wife live in Shiliu Courtyard next to Anxin Courtyard, and the two of us old folks live in Changshou Courtyard next to Yan Yatou.”
The name of this courtyard was given by Old Man Ning. Although it sounds rustic, it's convenient to have a name to call out.
After saying that, the old lady waved her hand and said, "Alright, let's eat. This is the first meal our Ning family has had since settling down in Xiaoyu Village. Everyone, eat more. From now on, let's work together as a family and put our efforts into it. Good days are ahead."
Old Man Ning: "Listen to your mother, but you mustn't learn from those brainless people who fight over every single rafter in the house. The siblings fight like chickens covering their eyes, and even their own mothers and grandmothers are scolded to death. They don't realize it, but everyone in the village laughs at them."
The old man was referring to the Sun family, a large family in their village.
The Sun family had six sons. The old couple worked hard to raise them, build them houses, and help them get married. However, once the children got married, they each had their own agendas. Everyone was afraid that the other family members would take advantage of them. No one did the work, and they fought over the food. The whole family, which should have been the closest of relatives, became enemies.
On the way to escape famine, everyone in the village stayed together, but the Sun family was still cursing and arguing over who got an extra sip of water. The eldest son's family sold the children of the third, fourth, and sixth sons to buy grain.
The fourth brother and his wife stole all the food from the eldest brother's family, and all eight members of the eldest brother's family starved to death.
The sixth brother knew a few words and learned to recognize some medicinal herbs from some book. He secretly picked them and boiled them in water. The whole family became dehydrated and couldn't even walk. In the end, only he, his wife, his son and daughter-in-law, and the second brother's family of four, who had never done anything before, were left. Everyone else was gone.
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