Chapter 26: Starting a New Life in the County Town
The new bed was much more comfortable to sleep in than the bamboo bed. He slept soundly through the night without any dreams. When he opened the window, a cold wind carrying large snowflakes hit Guo Baiwen's face, which melted quickly, leaving a cool and refreshing feeling.
This is the first snow of the year.
The county town was much warmer than Guojia Village. Looking at the snowflakes falling outside, I figured it would stop falling in a little while.
Guo Baiwen looked at the falling snow, then glanced at his watch which showed 7:30, and couldn't help but yawn again, before closing the window tightly.
I got an electric blanket from yesterday's sign-in event, but there's no electricity right now, so I can't use it.
Guo Baiwen simply cut off the exposed plug cord with a pair of scissors. The electric blanket itself was quite warm, so he simply used it as a mattress pad.
Place the previous faux rabbit fur blanket on top, and you'll have a soft and warm bedding.
The remaining plug cord was simply recycled using the one-click recycling feature.
Perhaps because there is metal inside the wire, the recycling price is a bit higher than the previous two plastic bottles.
Two coins.
I can also buy a pickled vegetable steamed bun to eat.
Not bad, not bad.
Compared to this electric blanket, the LED nightlight by the bedside is much more useless; it's completely pointless. If it were a solar-powered one, he could at least secretly place it under the window to charge it every day.
So they recycled it and exchanged it for five coins.
It was at this moment that Guo Baiwen realized the benefits of the system's update function. There were too many things that were unusable and difficult to deal with. Although the recycling price was very cheap, it was still better than figuring out how to destroy the evidence and wasting things himself.
Since it was still early, he decided to check in for the day as well.
[Full-coverage cotton slippers, powder x1]
[Bamboo hiking chair stick x1]
[Folding Square Table x1]
Hehe!
Could it be because he moved to a new house? He felt that his luck in signing in today had suddenly improved a lot.
He took out the slippers and looked at them. They were similar to the shoes he wore at home in his previous life. They were made of cloth and didn't have many patterns. They looked better than the cloth shoes he had bought from the clothing store before. But they were light pink and size 36.
Let's find an opportunity to give it to Guo Xiaohua.
He then looked at the chair stick. It was quite convenient. Although it was made of bamboo, a small piece of iron was wrapped around the bottom, making it easy to stick the cane directly into the ground so it wouldn't easily fall over.
The armrests can be opened up, and when laid flat, they reveal a rather oddly shaped chair seat.
It didn't look very good, so he planned to try it out himself first. If it worked well, he would then give it to Grandma Guo.
As for the remaining folding square tables—
The custom-made furniture for the main room isn't finished yet, so this table is temporarily placed in the kitchen, which is fine.
If you feel it's taking up too much space later, you can just put it away.
Besides the five taels of silver he gave to Grandma Guo, he now has ninety taels and twenty-two cash in his hands. He thinks that the days ahead will not be as difficult as those in Guo Family Village.
It was rare that all three items he had drawn up today could be used. Guo Baiwen stretched for the first time in a long time, changed the dressing on his back wound, and then went downstairs.
Grandma Guo had already prepared breakfast for today. Seeing how neatly he was dressed, she asked, "Wen-zai, are you going out today?"
Guo Baiwen nodded. “Grandma, I see that the storefront in front of this courtyard is just sitting empty. We’ve already paid the rent, so why don’t we start some small business?”
"I'm going out for a stroll today to see what kind of business is profitable in this county."
Upon hearing that it was for important business, Grandma Guo nodded in agreement, "That makes sense. There were quite a few people outside last night, so it would be good if we could do some business ourselves."
She handed over a bowl of noodles, topped with greens, dried tofu, and a fried egg. "Xiaohua is still sleeping. I'll have to wake her up in a bit."
"Even in winter, you can't sleep this late every day."
Watching Guo Baiwen eat noodles, she still gave him a few more words of advice, "Be careful of the injury on your back when you go out. It's okay if you don't think of anything to sell, just come back early."
"I know." Guo Baiwen was eating his noodles when he remembered something. He put down his chopsticks and instructed, "Grandma, don't keep the milk powder I gave you before. If you keep it for too long, it might taste bad and it will be a waste."
"Okay, Grandma just made her a bowl of hot water to drink this morning. We'll wake Xiaohua up later and then clean and wipe the front of the shop. After that, we can see how to put her in."
"I know."
Even without chili sauce, a bowl of noodles can make you feel warm all over.
Guo Baiwen put down his chopsticks, and this time he didn't carry a basket on his back, but just carried a shoulder basket before going out.
After leaving his house, he greeted the butcher next door who had already opened his stall, and headed straight for the north gate of Xiuning County. He planned to check on the land he had previously purchased and meet with the tenant farmers.
So that you won't be at a loss when it comes time to pay rent.
Once he was on the oxcart, Xiaohua finally woke up in the new house to her grandmother's calls.
Grandma Guo looked at her disheveled hair and couldn't help but sigh, "Why did you come downstairs like that? You didn't even bother to comb your hair properly."
"Everyone is at home, so only Grandma and Brother can look after me. I'll go back and comb my hair after I finish eating."
That's what she said, but Grandma Guo couldn't stand it anymore, so she took a comb and started combing Xiaohua's hair.
She didn't know many hairstyles, so she simply combed her hair into the most common double buns as usual. However, when she tried to tie a red ribbon in her hair, Guo Xiaohua refused.
"Grandma, don't tie your hair up yet."
"What's wrong?"
Guo Xiaohua finished the last bit of soup, wiped her mouth, and said, "I said yesterday that I'm going to use scraps of cloth to tie my hair into a flower today."
Upon hearing this, Grandma Guo patted her back in annoyance, "All you do is mess around with those hair flowers all day long. Your hair is so yellow and sallow. Do you think wearing pretty silk flowers will make your hair look better?!"
"Grandma—"
“Calling me ‘Grandma’ won’t help,” Grandma Guo put down her comb and helped the person face her. “I’m asking you, how old are you now?”
Guo Xiaohua counted on her fingers, a little happy, "I'll be ten years old after the New Year."
“Yes, you’re nine years old now—” Grandma Guo sighed. “Before, back in Guojia Village, it was understandable that you slept late every day, but we figured it was winter and there weren’t many chores to do at home.”
“Your brother went out early this morning to busy himself with things at home,” Grandma Guo tapped her nose. “He’s only six years older than you, and he’s already thinking of ways to take charge of the family. What about you?”
"...What did I do?" Guo Xiaohua asked, feeling a little guilty.
Grandma Guo sighed, "I don't expect you to shoulder the responsibility of supporting a family as early as your brother. But Xiaohua, at your age, many families are already starting to help you find a husband. Although I don't intend to marry you off anytime soon, you should know that you're a grown woman now—"
"I'm not saying you can be of much help to the family, but you shouldn't spend all your time being vain and playful."
"I don't dress up every day—" Xiaohua couldn't help but retort, but still nodded gently, "I understand."
Grandma Guo, fearing she might have spoken too harshly, said, "Grandma isn't blaming you, it's just..."
"Grandma—I understand."
The two cleaned up the kitchen, and the little incident from the morning was considered over.
The water bucket for the well in the new house is quite special; it's made of iron. When Grandma Guo was drawing water, she couldn't help but tap it, but after being startled by the cold well water, she threw the bucket back.
Two hens and a rabbit were also brought over. There was still some feed left, enough to last them another ten days to two weeks. But we still need to build them a simple shed in the yard to protect them from the wind and rain.
The snow came suddenly this morning, and the rabbit and the hen huddled together for warmth.
I don't know if it's because of the cold, but I didn't find any newly laid eggs this morning.
Grandma Guo glanced at the chicken coop and rabbit cage, feeling a little worried, and decided to build them a shed first.
Finding the two old wooden washbasin stands that she had brought yesterday and the leftover coarse cloth, Grandma Guo also pulled out a cloth and a broom and handed them over, saying, "Xiao Hua, tidy up the front of the storefront. Grandma will build a shed for them first, so they won't freeze to death tonight."
"I know—"
That's what they said, but the door panel and the long wooden planks on the door were still quite heavy. Grandma came over to help and removed them piece by piece, and the Xiuning County of the daytime was completely revealed to the two of them.
The tofu shop across the street closed early yesterday, but I saw it open today, which made me realize that someone has already moved into the house across the street.
At first glance, he realized it wasn't the delivery boy who had brought peanuts and melon seeds to his house the other day, so he couldn't help but greet him and ask.
After greeting her with a smile, Grandma Guo also offered a brief explanation. After a few words, she had exchanged greetings with her neighbor across the street.
When she went out last night, it was already late, and all the shops in the vicinity were closed. She only found out this morning that there was actually a butcher shop, a tofu shop, and a pharmacy near her home. This made it much more convenient for her to buy things and see a doctor.
Just then, the snow stopped falling. She poked half her head out to look around and saw that there were quite a few pedestrians outside, making it even more lively than at night. So she pulled her head back in.
"If anything happens to you up front, remember to call out loudly for Grandma. Grandma is listening in the backyard."
"Uh-huh."
Guo Xiaohua had just been assigned to clean that morning, so she was cleaning very diligently at the moment.
Not only did they wipe away the dust from the three walls, but they also wiped both sides of the removed wooden planks.
When she had almost finished tidying up the planks, she saw that her grandmother had also finished setting up the shed in the backyard and came out to help.
It was tiring to lie on the ground, but fortunately the floor was a plain gray earthen surface. I just needed to sweep the floor dry with a broom, then sprinkle some water with a ladle, and after the water mixed with a lot of dust, I could sweep it again.
While the grandfather and grandson were working enthusiastically, Guo Baiwen happened to be returning with his basket and an oxcart following behind.
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