Chapter 41
"It's very dangerous! Your house is the closest to the island forest in our village. If you pay close attention, you'll notice a black mist occasionally rising from the forest. That's miasma."
Village Chief Wu said solemnly with a serious face.
"Although the government says the miasma will dissipate once the forest is cleared and logged, it's impossible to cut down all the trees in Dayu Forest and use the land as farmland right now. Even if you want to reclaim ten acres of land, you can't do it alone. Tell me when you have the chance, and I'll send someone to help you."
"As for normal times, if you see the black fog appear, avoid it if possible. You're not a hunter, so there's no need to enter the forest."
It seems that the government of the Dasheng Dynasty also knew about miasma.
Gu Ran nodded, indicating that he would remember Village Chief Wu's earnest instructions, and borrowed some daily necessities from Village Chief Wu, such as a set of summer clothes for changing, as well as flint bath beans, candles and other miscellaneous items.
After all, they were escorted to Xiaxi Village by officials, and they were not given time to do anything on the way.
As the person in charge of taking in new villagers in Xiaxi Village, Village Chief Wu certainly knew Gu Ran's general background, so he was very considerate and lent her all the items she wanted, and took the initiative to give her some mugwort and lemongrass to put in the house to repel mosquitoes.
She also repeatedly reminded her that Xiaxi Village was hot and humid with many mosquitoes and she must be careful and prevent them, for fear that she, a woman exiled from the north, would not take this seriously.
Taking the things he had asked for from Village Chief Wu, Gu Ran officially moved into the property he had purchased in Dasheng Dynasty.
This is a small house with three rooms and one landing, similar to the small courtyards in the capital.
Entering through the saddle wall is a patio, which is a small courtyard. On both sides are two-story beech houses - that is, small two-story buildings, locally called corner houses, also known as upper and lower houses. The two small rooms on the lower floor are used as a kitchen and a toilet respectively, and the two small side rooms on the upper floor are used for living.
The courtyard used to be the main hall, where people lived daily, with two large rooms on both sides of the main hall.
Including the two small side rooms in the front corner building, this small house has a total of four rooms.
It's enough for a single lady to live in.
Gu Ran was also very satisfied with his new home. As soon as he moved in, he started to clean and settle in.
As the host, he naturally had to live in the main house. Gu Ran chose the east wing to live in. As for the west wing, it could be used as a guest room or as a warehouse.
Village chief Wu said that after the previous family left, she locked the house and left the things inside untouched, keeping most of them in their original state.
After entering the house, Gu Ran checked it over. Whether it was the kitchen, the bathroom, the main hall or the wing rooms, all the basic necessities were complete and one could move in with just a suitcase.
It is said that many of the furniture in the house were made by carpenters called by Village Chief Wu.
Gu Ran immediately lit the mugwort and lemongrass he had obtained from Village Chief Wu, and fumigated every part of the house, especially the wing where he was going to live, to repel mosquitoes. Then he found a bucket in the kitchen, fetched water from the stream, and first soaked all the pots and pans that had not been used for a long time in water, and then found a rag to clean the house.
After wiping off the dust on the furniture, I could see that, just as Village Chief Wu had said, everything was still brand new.
Especially in the east wing, there is everything you need, including a carved bed, boxes, screens, dressing tables, etc.
Therefore, Gu Ran was also very satisfied with her boudoir.
However, there were furniture, but there were no bedding or anything like that. It was estimated that the family in front had taken away all their valuables when they left, so they could be used on the road. Gu Ran was unwilling to use the smelly bedding he had slept on during his exile, so he decided to ask Village Chief Wu tomorrow for directions to the county.
She wanted to go to Yongchang County to buy new bedding and daily necessities, and it would take two hours to get from Xiaxi Village to Yongchang County by donkey cart, which means four hours for the round trip. If she walked, it would take even longer, which was not cost-effective. She decided to take the donkey cart!
I have to ask Village Chief Wu where I can take the donkey cart.
Fortunately, it is summer now and the weather is getting hotter, so it is no problem to sleep on the bed.
But before that, she had to take a good shower.
After leaving Quzhou, I lost my only chance to wash myself. I didn't stop to wash myself during the whole journey. As the weather got hotter, I would become more and more smelly.
Fortunately, she opened a space grid number 10, which was used to store ice before the spring and when snow accumulated. She walked along the way and quietly collected a full space grid of ice.
Take some out from time to time to cool down on the road so that you don’t get too smelly.
Now that I have the conditions, of course I have to wash myself thoroughly from head to toe first.
But first, there needs to be water.
That's not a problem.
The house was built a hundred meters away from Xia Creek. She just carried two buckets of water to the creek and fetched it back.
There is no problem of not being able to carry it due to lack of strength.
Because she could just put all the buckets filled with water into the workshop and take them out when she came back.
If one time is not enough, you can try it a few more times.
This is how Gu Ran cleaned the several large water tanks outside the kitchen at home and filled them with water.
Second, boil the water.
That's not a problem either.
There was still some firewood left in the house. It had been dried out for a long time and had cracks on it. It must be very easy to burn.
After wiping the large pot for boiling water clean and filling it with water, Gu Ran took out the flint he had asked for from Village Chief Wu, lit the firewood, and quickly brought the pot of water to a boil.
After adding cold water and testing the temperature, he used the workshop to bring warm water into the room and carefully scrubbed away the old mud and dust that had accumulated during the period of exile. This took four buckets of water, and the originally pitch-black water finally became clear.
When rubbing his wet hair clean, Gu Ran checked it to make sure there were no lice and breathed a sigh of relief. When he couldn't comb his hair with a comb, he found that his hair had grown tangled, so he simply took out a pair of scissors and cut off half of the length of his hair.
Ever since she came here, she has been wearing a bun hairstyle like a woman.
This hairstyle is simple. Part your forehead in the middle, pull the hair on both sides back loosely, gather all the hair ends and tie them into a bun at the back of your head.
If all the hair is hidden in the bun like this, who knows whether the black hair is long or short?
Gu Ran knows how to have this hairstyle. She decided to wear this bun in the future. She would cut her hair when it grew longer. It was easy to manage and made people feel refreshed and not in the way.
The clothes I borrowed from Village Chief Wu were linen clothes, which were a bit big, but they were light and thin, perfect for wearing in such hot weather.
After Gu Ran washed up, he felt like a new person. He then disposed of his prison uniform and quilt: he found a porcelain basin in the kitchen, put the clothes in it, and burned them all with the fire in the stove to get rid of the bad luck.
While burning the prison uniforms, she also sorted out her luggage: she kept what was still usable and threw away what was not.
Things that can be used: wooden bowls, bamboo tubes, linen clothes, double-layered clothes, cotton shoes.
There are two pairs of cotton shoes.
When the weather got hot, Gu Ran started wearing the straw sandals that he had asked the officials to buy for him when he passed by a small county town, and put away his two pairs of cotton shoes.
Gu Ran looked at the two pairs of cotton shoes.
Both were dirty, but the old pair had a tear in it, while the new pair was intact except for the dirt on the top and soles.
Gu Ran kept the new cotton shoes and threw away the old ones along with other unwanted things.
After packing up his luggage, he moved the tangerine out of the workshop, loosened the soil in the pot, watered it, looked in several corners of the house, and finally placed the tangerine at one end of the patio.
The patio is open and has plenty of sunlight, which is good for orange plants.
After doing all this, it was already dark and I felt hungry, so I took out the last two steamed buns that were hidden in the refrigerator in the workshop, went to the kitchen to clean a ceramic jar, boiled some water, and while the water was boiling, I put the steamed buns in the stove to roast them. When they were soft, I ate them bite by bite.
The first warm meal after moving into a new house was thus prepared.
Gu Ran waited for the boiled water to cool down, poured some into a bamboo tube, then lit a candle and returned to the dormitory.
He lay down on the bed he had cleaned, his limbs limp, and he fell asleep.
When he heard the call of the titmouse, Gu Ran woke up in a daze. In a trance, he thought he had returned to his first life, when he was studying at the Academy of Fine Arts.
When I was studying painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, I lived on the university campus. There were many birds living on the hill behind the girls’ dormitory, and I basically woke up every morning to the sound of birds singing.
Gu Ran opened his eyes and lay there for a long time before he gradually regained consciousness.
Although the smell of the dried wormwood and thatch burned yesterday has faded, it still lingers in the room.
Originally, because the house was vacant and no one lived there, there were fewer mosquitoes than in other places. Now, after fumigating it, the insects that were hiding in the hidden places also ran away, and TOEFL had a good sleep.
Gu Ran opened the door and stretched.
This is the first good sleep I have had since coming to the Great Sheng Dynasty.
After going to the kitchen, he cleared out the stove ash from yesterday, then picked up a few thin branches, lit the firewood, put the pottery jar for boiling water on it, and then went to the patio outside to wash.
I used to brush my teeth with the willow branches I broke off on the way here. After I get to the city today, I will go and see if there are any brushes for sale.
Since there was no handkerchief, she just used the gourd ladle to scoop water from the water tank, scooped it up with both hands and washed her face, and poured the water into the red orange basin beside her.
After the water boiled, Gu Ran didn't bring any food with him, so he had no breakfast. After washing the fire and waiting for the water to cool down, he went back to the room to count the money.
We are going into the city today and have a lot of things to buy, but we have very little money, so Gu Ran has to spend it frugally.
After deducting the twenty taels of silver she used to buy the mansion, she only had twelve taels of silver left, plus two hundred coins.
So poor!
Because I spent most of my wealth yesterday.
However, thinking that he had bought the house he lived in now for twenty taels of silver, which was a great value for money, Gu Ran became excited again.
Twelve taels of silver can last a person a long time if he spends it frugally!
Gu Ran took the gold leaf worth ten taels back to the workshop and regarded it as a fixed savings as his last asset. He planned to spend only two taels and two hundred coins this year, and on this basis, find a way to save enough for next year's snacks.
In that case, I have to think carefully about what to buy.
Don’t buy unnecessary things, only buy the necessary things. Gu Ran thought about it and quickly made a list. If there is anything else needed, he can add it temporarily.
Holding the list, Gu Ran went to find Village Chief Wu.
I heard that Gu Ran asked if anyone in Xiaxi Village had a donkey cart they could rent to go to the county town. Village Chief Wu pointed her to another route and said, "If you want to go to the county, go to Donglin Township and take a boat."
Donglin Township? Where is it? There's a ferry there?
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