Chapter 85
"Little Daddy, the tea shed!"
Zhang Fangyuan helped the two children change into clothes for going out. Ruili put on his clothes first, and couldn't wait to slide down Zhang Fangyuan's long legs like he was riding a slide. As soon as he landed, he ran out of the door to find Xu He.
"Your father is going to take you two to the tea shed?"
Xu He was wrapping duck eggs in mud and fermenting them to make preserved eggs in the corner of the yard. The long and round duck eggs were rolling around in the mud. Ruili's eyes widened as he watched, and he started rolling up his sleeves without saying a word.
"It's sunny outside, you should wear your little hat when you go out." Xu He stood up and arranged the errand in time to interrupt the kid's thoughts: "Go quickly, and remember to get a hat for your brother."
Ruili took another look at the duck eggs. Wenzi ruthlessly took the basin to the kitchen. He lingered and pursed his lips: "Okay then."
Tutu ran back again.
The two little ones learned to talk and walk much earlier than other children of the same age in the village. When they were a little over one year old, they could speak a lot of short sentences. Now at one and a half years old, they can run around and communicate clearly with their family members.
It may be that the two babies have more opportunities to talk when they sleep together, so they learn to speak faster. Ruili is like a little chatterbox. He would talk for a long time just pointing at a vegetable in the yard.
Ruijin spoke very little. He usually didn't talk unless he was asked. He didn't like it when people came to the house to tease him and he even pretended to sleep. When there were many relatives, friends and villagers who wanted to see the two kids, he would yawn and go to sleep after playing for a while.
Compared with the chatterbox, Ruijin's words are very seldom. People in the village gossip that Ruijin is a little mentally retarded and would not cry or talk since he was born.
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He were also worried for a while, and they took Ruijin to see the best doctor in the city. However, after a check-up, the child was found to be very healthy. They thought it was due to his personality, which made the couple feel relieved.
After a while, Xu He washed his hands, and the two little guys came out wearing tailor-made straw hats. Another of them carried a small gourd filled with water around his waist, and they were jumping around with joy.
The hats were made by his fourth uncle based on the measurements of the two little guys' heads, and Ruili would happily wear them every time he went out.
"Dad, shall we walk or drive?"
Zhang Fangyuan held one of them in each hand and said, "When did you go out? You either feel weak in the legs or you are afraid of stepping on the grass after taking three steps. Let's take Xiao Hei out."
"good!"
"You two wait in the yard first. Wuzi is not at home today. Daddy is going to harness the horses."
The family of four sat in the ox cart, Zhang Fangyuan was driving the horse in the front, and Xu He was looking after the two cubs in the back of the cart. In fact, the most important thing was to look after Ruili, and generally the elder brother would only help look after the younger brother.
Originally, they could have gone out in a sedan chair, but the two children didn’t like riding in a sedan chair in the summer because they felt it was stuffy and hot, and they couldn’t open the door to see outside.
Zhang Fangyuan had originally wanted to buy a horse-drawn carriage for summer use, which was cool and safer for carrying children than a cart. However, using such things in the village was conspicuous, and except for using them when taking children out, they were not very practical in daily life. So he gave up and saved the money.
"Erbao, there are a lot of people in the tea shed today, you can't run around. If you run around and get caught by human traffickers, you won't have a daddy or brother anymore."
"Yeah. Got it."
Ruijin also said for the first time: "Dabao will look after Erbao."
Xu He laughed and touched Rui Jin's face: "Our brother is the most obedient."
In more than a year, the tea shed on the official road has changed a lot.
A two-story guesthouse has now been built on the large open space where there was previously only a small tea shed. It is surrounded on three sides, with a large courtyard in the middle and a pavilion built in the middle, learning the Qushui Liushang style that is popular among the city's literati.
A winding ditch was dug in the open space under the pavilion to divert water when needed. Scholars would sit around the pavilion and put their wine glasses into the water. Whoever placed the glass would write a poem or article based on where the glass stopped.
Zhang Fangyuan was a rough man and had never experienced these kinds of games. He was only slightly interested in playing polo, unlike the entertainment of the clan gentry in the city. The reason why I created this Qushui Liushang game was that I heard a merchant in the city who had a scholarly son at home mention it while drinking.
In addition, three rows of small houses were built next to the guest house, divided into cubicles, for people to set up stalls to sell food or small items. They are specifically for renting out.
When it was first built, Zhang Fangyuan was worried that it would not be rented out, so he planned to just build a row of small stalls, or even six or seven stalls would be enough. However, I didn't expect that all the stalls in that row were booked as soon as they were repaired.
Mr. Huang, the owner of the tea garden, wanted one. He wanted to set up a small stall here to sell his tea and assign someone to guard it. Selling the tea was secondary. The important thing was to advertise the garden so that tourists would have fun. Representatives from the two villages of Hongshi and Tangjiaba came to rent a stall. The outrageous thing was that a stall was also booked by the Guanyin Temple to sell incense, candles, money and paper.
Later, Zhang Fangyuan built two more rows of stalls, and villagers from other villages might come to rent them in the future.
He charges money in the same way as the stalls at the other end of Tianjie, and can rent the property for a long or short period of time, starting from one day.
When I came here today, the guesthouse had been completely cleaned, and the room was tidy and comfortable. Although it was not as luxurious as the inns and restaurants in the city, it had a unique country village style.
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He checked each room one by one to see if it was clean and if things were properly placed.
The two little guys were led up and down the room. They were very excited at first, but they started to act like a spoiled child after walking through five rooms.
"There are so many rooms. I want to sleep."
"This is for guests to sleep in. We won't sleep in it."
"Well...but my legs say I can't walk anymore." Ruili broke away from Zhang Fangyuan's hands and squatted on the ground.
Ruijin was being led by Xu He. He pulled Xu He closer and touched the little brother's head: "Brother will lead you."
Ruili looked at his brother seriously and said, "He said he couldn't hold my hand anymore."
Xu He shook his head: "Just hold on for one more step, and Daddy will carry you in the next room."
Hearing this, Ruili immediately stood up and ran to the door of the next room in the corridor and squatted down.
Zhang Fangyuan laughed, went over and picked up the squatting shorty.
When they go out, the couple has become accustomed to Zhang Fangyuan taking care of the younger one and Xu He taking care of the older one. The little boy was really too noisy and his family fed him too much fat, so it wouldn't take long for his hands to get sore from holding him. Xu He felt that even digging the fields in the village for a whole day was not as tiring as holding a child.
Ruili leaned on Zhang Fangyuan's neck, his big eyes twinkling: "It's so lively outside, it seems there's an uncle selling big watermelons."
"Dad also sells dwarf winter melons."
Ruili turned around and hugged Zhang Fangyuan's neck: "Where to buy it?"
Xu He couldn't help laughing so hard that his shoulders were shaking when he heard that. Zhang Fangyuan didn't answer him either.
Ruijin was still being led by Xu He. He walked behind the little brother and raised his chin and said kindly, "The short and fat guy that Daddy is talking about is Erbao."
Ruili quickly turned around, hugged Zhang Fangyuan's neck and climbed up a little, then buried his head and looked at his brother: "Why! Daddy doesn't want to sell the short winter melon!"
"I've used all my private savings to buy you a big watermelon. What do you think I should do?" Zhang Fangyuan rubbed his doughy arms. "Then I can only sell short winter melons to make some money."
Ruili retracted his neck: "Then I'd better not eat the big watermelon."
After saying that, he turned his head to look at Ruijin: "Brother, don't eat the big watermelon either."
Ruijin nodded. Although he was not as fat as his younger brother, he was only slightly taller than his father's knees. He looked very similar to the long, round winter melon covered with white frost lying on the ground. He was also suspected of being a dwarf winter melon.
"The guesthouse is ready. I checked the almanac and the watermelon farm in Tangjiaba will open in three days. People have already checked the almanac and picked the date. We can save a lot of trouble and open it right away. In the past few days, people have come to ask when the guesthouse can be occupied."
Zhang Fangyuan led Xu He to the stalls at the other end. Although the guesthouse had not yet opened, the stalls in the first row had already been stocked with goods and were guarded by people.
Tea, incense, fruits, snacks, and the stall at the edge sells local sutras, which include local sutras of the surrounding villages, tea gardens, Guanyin temples, and forest farms. They provide detailed introductions to food, drink, and entertainment in small places, as well as local sutras for entertainment in the entire area.
This is the geographical map drawn by the people in charge of each village and recreational area during the Spring Festival. They raised money and went to the city to invite a gentleman to travel to the countryside to draw various places. Later, they found a workshop to print it out in batches.
This stall is particularly important, so a conspicuous location was specially chosen for it. It is the stall left by Zhang Fangyuan's family, but the village chiefs and leaders of each village will occasionally come here to check and supervise whether their land is secretly hidden and not sold, or whether the goods are sold out and not replenished.
"The two rows of stalls and other guesthouses in the back are now open for business, so I'm sure people will come to rent them one after another. Many people have inquired, but they all want to wait and see."
The couple was talking about business and didn't notice that when they passed by a watermelon stall, the two children huddled into their arms tacitly, closing their eyes and refusing to look at the big, red, juicy, sweet and thirst-quenching watermelons. The vendor who wanted to trick the children into eating watermelons was a little surprised. Why didn't he like him today?
Xu He was very pleased to see the crowds of people here and the business was two or three times better than when the tea stall first opened.
He thought that he had turned his life around, from being a poor and exploited vendor who rented a stall to someone who collected rent. How could he not be satisfied?
"I want three pounds of sauce. I also want ten jars of wine."
After inspecting the stalls, the two men were about to go to the tea stall to rest. Although it was cooler here than elsewhere, it was hot in the summer and there were more people here, so it was not as leisurely and comfortable as before. When I went there just now, I saw Madam Fei standing at the door with her hands on her hips, shouting at Wu Zi to get something for her.
Xu He said: "I think it's to prepare things for my second sister's baby's full moon celebration."
Their village is very convenient now. It is no longer like in previous years when they had to go to the city to buy anything.
Now, if anyone wants to do something, they can first go to Chen Si to order pork, and then they can buy it at a more affordable price than in the city and have it delivered to their doorstep.
If you want chickens and ducks, just go to Zhang’s poultry farm and catch as many as you want. Fish is even easier to get. There are fish ponds everywhere in the village. Maybe you don’t even need to buy fish from other families. You can catch fish in your own pond at home.
There are only a few main dishes for a wedding banquet, such as pork, chicken, duck and fish, which can be found in the village now. There are also many side dishes in the village. At most, we are short of some sauces, wine and other things. We don’t have to spend several hours traveling to the city. We can just turn around and buy them at the tea stall after leaving the village. In the past, if we wanted to buy a lot, we might have to make a reservation. Now that the guesthouse has been built, we can’t stock up more wine and other ingredients.
Except for salt, everything can be bought around the village now. For this reason, there are more and more small things happening in the village in the past two years. It is convenient to hold banquets, and everyone likes to have fun and wants to set up a few tables.
"When the baby was born, the family was busy, and I didn't have time to go there with these two guys. I'll send two jars of wine to Madam Fei later. My second sister gave birth to a son, and she will definitely be happy to receive it."
Zhang Fangyuan said, "Okay. I'll go with you to the full moon banquet. There's still some time left, so let's focus on the opening first."
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