After Wen Feng drove the horse away, she drove the carriage into the village, leaving the horse to Lao San. Before she could go find Xia Hua and tell her what had happened that day, she heard Village Chief Lin calling her to eat. Helpless, she could only eat first and talk about it later.
During the meal, Village Chief Lin came over and said, "Sister-in-law, the houses are all built now. The remaining doors and windows can be installed when Master Yang and his team come tomorrow."
An Shuyi nodded, "Then tomorrow, after they've all been installed, we'll take some time to clean it up, and then we can move in."
"Wenqing, tomorrow's wages for Master Yang and the others will come from your pocket. Also, Changwu, buy two more pigs tomorrow and make them into braised pork. Each villager in Xinglin Village will get one jin, each person brought by Master Yang will get two jin, and Master Yang himself will get six jin. We'll give them all together when we pay their wages."
Although no money is required, this is a joyous occasion for their village's relocation, and everyone should share in the happiness. Once the project is completed, their village won't need so many people anymore.
Lin Changwu and Lin Wenqing nodded, indicating that they understood.
After finishing their meal, An Shuyi pulled Xia Hua aside and said, "Hua Hua, I made it big today!"
"What, did you find some silver?" Xia Hua teased.
Seeing her teasing, An Shuyi said arrogantly, "What's picking up silver? Today I killed a few people who wanted to rob me. The final spoils were two estates, both with crops. Not only are there 600 acres of land in each estate, but one of the estates also has a hot spring. How about that? Isn't it better than silver?"
After hearing her story, Xia Hua didn't seem happy. Instead, she checked Xia Hua's body and asked, "Are you injured? How many people were there? I should have gone with you if I had known."
An Shuyi grabbed her hand, "Don't worry, I'm not hurt. How could those little trash possibly hurt me? Two brokers and eleven henchmen, I took care of them with a few slashes. They weren't even a match for me."
"The troublesome part was dealing with the corpses. They were heavy, and there were more than ten of them. They were piled up high in the carriage, and it was exhausting. I put the corpses in the carriage and rushed to dump them down the hillside."
"Although it's not ideal, there are bushes and trees there, so no one will find it for a while. By the time they do find it, it will have already turned into rotten flesh, and no one will know who killed it." It's just a pity that the land deed was not found.
Xia Hua was relieved to see that she was not injured. "It's good that you're not hurt. Next time you go there, let's go together. That way we can look out for each other. The horse Wen Feng brought, is it one of those people's horses?"
Shushu knew that she was going to buy a manor today, but she figured the broker wouldn't be so bold, so she didn't go with her.
An Shuyi nodded, "That's right. I brought the horse back after pushing the carriage down the hillside. Tomorrow morning we'll go to Jinnan City and change those two land deeds to ours." Although it's possible now, since the land deeds are in her hands, they are hers.
"I'll go tomorrow morning. I can check on the tenants in the estate and let them know that the estate has changed hands." I can also ask them how much they're getting paid.
She knew that tenant farmers in ancient times had relatively low incomes. They rented land from their masters and could only receive 30% of the grain, while the masters received 70%, and some even only received 20%. They worked for nothing all year, barely making ends meet.
Although those tenant farmers wouldn't starve, it was impossible for them to live a better life, given the low grain yields in ancient times.
An Shuyi said, "Then let's go tomorrow morning. We can also check out another estate. The broker said that there are not only houses there, but also hot springs. I have to go soak in one tomorrow. It's been so long since I've had a bath."
When she heard about the hot spring today, she wanted to buy it, thinking that she and Huahua could go to bathe there often in the future. Although she was robbed by those people, she was thinking that she might miss out on the hot spring. Unexpectedly, not only did she not miss out, but she also got it without spending a penny.
Hearing her say that, Xia Hua began to feel hopeful.
After they finished talking, they went to bed early, especially An Shuyi, who fell asleep the moment her head hit the bed.
The next day, after letting Village Chief Lin handle the village affairs himself, the two drove their carriage to Jinnan City. As soon as they arrived, they went to eat, as the village was used to eating only two meals a day.
Later, they said that this was bad for their health, so they changed to eating three meals a day. However, the meals were simple: porridge with steamed buns and an egg. But only the elderly and children ate them; everyone else said they wouldn't eat them.
As An Shuyi ate, she exclaimed, "These wontons are so delicious! I've been eating them here for four days now, and I'm not tired of them at all. I have to say, food without additives is really good."
People in ancient times were simple and honest. Even the meat used to wrap wontons was not only plentiful but also of good quality, and the flour was pure wheat flour, making them taste especially delicious.
She ate here for several days, and sometimes when it wasn't enough, the owner would add a few more. What a conscientious seller!
Xia Hua glanced at her, stopped eating her wontons, and said, "If you like them, you can buy some to take home, but I think you won't come back for more tomorrow after you finish eating them today."
"Next to the Flower Field City Inn, there is a noodle shop. You eat there for four days in a row and say you don't get tired of it and that it's delicious. But on the fifth day, you switch to eating meat pies and soy milk. You say it's delicious for the first four days, but you won't go there again on the fifth day."
"I see you like everything, but the shelf life is only four days. If it's more than one day, it's because you haven't found anything else to eat."
An Shuyi stopped what she was doing. "Huahua, do you have to be so observant? You know things that I myself don't even know."
"Hehe," Xia Hua glared at her, "It's not that I'm observant, it's just that I've been eating with you for four days and that's how I came to this conclusion."
This idiot, whenever there's something delicious, he'll call her to eat with him and won't let her eat anything else. He makes her eat the same thing for four days straight before he can change it, but she doesn't seem to mind at all, as if it's perfectly normal.
"Is that so? How come I didn't know about it?"
"If you knew, that would be really strange. Hurry up and eat. It's a good thing I didn't come with you the other day." Otherwise, she would have been eating wontons for four days straight.
Actually, she didn't think the wontons were good at all. She thought it would be better to eat noodles, which could have extra meat. The wontons had too little meat, and they didn't taste right.
An Shuyi nodded, "Then next time we go out to eat, we'll do whatever you say. We can't let your stomach suffer."
Xia Hua ignored her, quickly finished her wontons, and then sat there waiting for her.
After they finished eating, the two went to the yamen to replace the land deed with a red one bearing their names. They also gave the clerk some benefits before coming out. Looking at the newly issued land deed in their hands, they knew that the estate would belong to them from now on.
An Shuyi handed the land deed for the estate with the hot spring to Huahua, and then put hers in the box in the warehouse. After checking, she found that Huahua's 10,000 taels of silver was still with her, but she could give it to her later.
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