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72: Integration and Re-gathering

(Girls' Literature)

After Su Zhi's house and courtyard walls were completed, it was already the end of November and the weather was already very cold. Fortunately, although there was winter here, it did not come so early, and the weather was good. It had not rained or snowed in the past few days. The sun was always shining, and the wind blew from time to time. This was very good for a newly built house, as it could make the house dry quickly. Su Zhi did not want to live in a damp and cold house, and in order to move into the new house before the coldest time, Su Zhi not only burned the kang every day, but also asked Shen Zian to get charcoal to dry the bedroom.

Su Zhi's actions were very useful, and the house was finished very quickly. However, some people said that Su Zhi was wasting the family money. However, after hearing Su Zhi's reasons, everyone felt that what she said made sense, and now more people thought that Su Zhi knew a lot more.

The walls of the house were completed. Shen Zian paid the workers and said he would invite the villagers to drink house-warming wine in a few days. The house finally had some peace and quiet.

Su Zhi and Shen Zian walked hand in hand in their own home. Neither of them spoke a word, just smiling as they watched everything in front of them.

Su Zhi built this house in the style of a courtyard house, with a corridor in front of the house so that even if it rains or snows, you won't get your feet wet when you go to other rooms. There are a few places in the yard for planting flowers and trees, and the rest of the place is paved with stone bricks. All the pillars are painted, and the gate is also painted.

The room has been furnished, so it no longer looks empty, because the furniture is of good style. It doesn't look like a farmhouse at all, but rather a home. If a few calligraphy and paintings are hung on the wall, it will look even more like a home.

"Tomorrow is the market day again. Let's go to the market to buy some pots, bowls, and spoons. We need to buy more tea sets, so that when we entertain guests, we won't have anything to offer them water. Let's buy some cloth, and I'll make some curtains. Door curtains, window curtains, and covers for the beds on the kang. And there need to be cushions on the chairs, otherwise it's cold to sit on them in winter. There are too many things to make, and I'm afraid I'll have to ask a few sisters-in-law to make them, or we'll have to wait a month before we can have the housewarming wine. We can buy meat and wine for entertaining guests next time, or we can just buy a pig in the village, so that we can plan more... Zi'an, what do you think I'm doing?"

Su Zhi carefully thought about what to buy. There were still many things to do, but she was still happy to calculate, thinking about how to make it well and save money. After talking for a long time, she didn't hear Shen Zian's voice. She looked up and saw Shen Zian looking at her with a smile. Only then did she realize that she seemed to have said too much and felt a little embarrassed.

"Wife, please keep talking. I like to hear you talk."

Seeing that his wife had stopped talking, Shen Zian quickly said, "I think what you said about our home is very nice. Wife, please continue. Whatever you say is fine."

Su Zhi suddenly felt sad and thought that this kind of life was really good.

"Zi'an. Let's live well and stay together forever."

Su Zhi reached out and hugged Shen Zian. She knew Shen Zian was a good man and was touched by him. She thought that with such a good husband, what else could she ask for? She thought about spending her life with him. However, she couldn't deny that she had a crush on this man. She still felt strange about this time and space. Until this moment, she felt that she had really merged with this time and space, because of the man in front of her, she was willing to adapt to this place, willing to stay here forever, to accompany him, even if it was just to be a small peasant woman.

"Well, live a good life."

Shen Zian was a little overwhelmed by his wife's active hug, but he quickly calmed down. He put his arms around the woman, thinking that this was the family he had always longed for, the person he wanted to love for the rest of his life.

The two of them strolled around their yard intimately again. It would be more appropriate to call it a yard or a garden, after all, it was a large piece of land of more than 60 acres in circumference.

Su Zhi had someone use bluestone bricks to build a road between the house and the gate that was wide enough for an ox cart to pass through. This cost a lot of money, which made people smack their lips when they saw it, but Su Zhi didn't feel bad at all. She was thinking that next year, after digging the depression in the yard into a pond, she would plan the garden well, build a few more roads, and slowly build some other pavilions. This is her home, and she has the spiritual spring in her hands. By then, she will be able to keep even the most ordinary wild flowers, grasses, and trees fresh and clean. One day, she will plan this place into a beautiful garden like the Suzhou and Hangzhou Gardens!

But now this garden is still like a wilderness, with weeds growing everywhere. This is a good thing for the cow, as it is now eating grass freely and slowly, giving the place a pastoral feel.

The next day, Shen Zian took Su Zhi to the market on a ox cart and bought a lot of things, which made the villagers jealous.

"Sister Zhao, you've spent a lot of money!"

Dazhu's wife was buying cloth when she saw Su Zhi coming out. The couple were carrying large and small bags of cloth. Even the cloth shop owner came out to give them some. She felt so sad.

"Look at this bowl, it's made of fine porcelain, it must be two cents each, right? Why did you buy so many earthenware jars? Aren't you going to use them to pickle vegetables? It's a little late to pickle vegetables now! And there are so many cloths, I saw you bought a lot of cloth last time, why did you buy so much again? How many sets of clothes do you need to make? This quilt can't cover two people! Wow, this is really rich!"

Su Zhi smiled and said, "In a few days, my family will host a banquet, but we don't have any bowls. I thought it would be inconvenient to borrow some, so I bought some. This cloth won't go bad, so I bought more. Sister-in-law said we have money, but in fact, we have almost spent all our money. We need to build the house, buy the walls, and make furniture. The money on hand is flowing out like water. We are anxious, but the house has been built, and the family can't look shabby. We have spent all the money, and we still care about this little money, which will make people laugh. So even if we empty our wallets, we have to take this last step well. This is called starting well and ending well, sister-in-law, don't you agree?"

Su Zhi said these things simply to tell Dazhu's wife that they had spent all their money. She thought that Dazhu's wife was a big mouth and what she knew would be known to the whole village in no time. By then, others would not think that they still had extra money after selling the thousand-year-old ginseng, thus reducing the chance of being extorted.

"What the girl said is that we should be so generous when doing things!"

Dazhu's wife smiled and said that although she was jealous of Su Zhi for buying so many things, she wished that Su Zhi had no money at all. At least she still had some money at home, and at least she was not a spendthrift woman!

"Sister, wait for me for a while. I will go back to the village after buying the cloth. Can you give me a ride?"

Dazhu's wife took the opportunity to hitchhike, thus saving a penny on the fare!

Before Su Zhi could say anything, Shen Zian said, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry, this car is full. We have already made an appointment with Sister-in-law Shugen, Sister-in-law Li, and Aunt Jinhua to go to the town entrance and wait for them to return to the village."

"What will happen if one more person sits in there? It will just squeeze in!"

Dazhu's wife was not giving up. She thought it would be a waste if she didn't take the free car, and she could also listen to what Jinhua's aunt and several others were saying. She had always wanted to establish a relationship with Jinhua's aunt, but unfortunately she was ignored by them. This was an opportunity!

Su Zhi thought this man was really shameless. He refused her but still insisted on coming closer. She smiled and said, "There's really no room. Sister-in-law, you came with your elder brother, right? You two have to go back together. This car can hardly squeeze one more person, let alone two. We can't let you two separate, let alone one walking while the other takes the car. You should find another car to take. Okay, sister-in-law, it's getting late, we'll leave first."

After Su Zhi finished speaking, she climbed into the car and motioned Shen Zian to hurry up and drive away.

No matter how much Dazhu's wife waved, it was useless. She could only watch Su Zhi sitting comfortably on the ox cart and left. She cursed, thinking, "Even though she is rich, she is still a spendthrift! She lives in a big house but is still a peasant!" After cursing, she walked into the cloth shop with her waist twisted. Looking at the rows of bright cloth, she began to envy Su Zhi again, wondering how many beautiful cloths she must have in her cloth bags!

Shen Zi'an and Su Zhi arrived at the entrance of the town and picked up Sister Li, Sister Shugen and Aunt Jinhua. The three of them had heard that Su Zhi and her husband were coming, so they had agreed to come together in advance, but left separately.

"Hey, sister, you bought a lot of cloth. Should I make a quilt or clothes?"

When Sister Li saw that cloth was exposed from Su Zhi's paper packages, she asked, and said enthusiastically: "If you have too much to do and can't finish it, just tell me and I will help you. Although my sewing skills are not very good, they are worth looking at!"

Sister Shugen also echoed, saying, "Call me too, more people will get the job done faster."

Jinhua's mother smiled and said, "Then I'll go too. We can talk then. The kang at home hasn't been built yet, so I want to go to my niece's wife's place to warm up first."

Su Zhi was just thinking about asking someone to help her. When she heard that someone had come to her house, she immediately welcomed them and said, "I'm very happy that you three sisters-in-law are willing to help me. I have a lot of things I want to do, so I'm going to trouble you three sisters-in-law. But I'll take care of the meals and cook my specialties for you. I guarantee that you won't be tired. You might even gain weight! Don't forget to bring Huzi, Xiaosuo and Shuanzi with you. Let them play in my yard. When they have played enough, they can eat. They won't be hungry."

"That's great, we'll just wait to eat the girl's meal."

Mrs. Li said with a smile that she had eaten the meal cooked by Su Zhi once, and she still misses the taste!

Sister Shugen said, "It's just right for me to learn how to cook from you, so that my wife won't think my cooking is bad. The kids at home all said that your cooking is delicious and they are picking on my cooking skills!"

"That's right!" Jinhua's mother laughed and said, "Shuanzi wants to run to her every day. If I hadn't stopped him, I would have lost all my face!"

Several people laughed together, and there was laughter and joy all the way.

Su Zhi listened to them chatting about family matters with a smile on her face, looking at the scenery along the road, thinking that such a day was also good. At this time, she saw a figure in front of her and wondered if that was Liu Si Niang? (