Shen Xiaoyan expressed understanding, but she wondered why Sima Han had stopped her.
“It’s already troublesome enough for you to accommodate me and Xin Xin, so how can we possibly share a room with you? I heard from Ah Wei that the west annex isn’t occupied. We can stay there,” Sima Han explained.
“But the west annex has no furniture,” Zheng Wei stated the situation, not necessarily disagreeing.
Unexpectedly, Sima Han smiled indifferently, “Ah Wei, if you don’t mind, then move the furniture from the west room to the west annex. If you do mind, then we’ll do without furniture and elders.”
Zheng Wei also smiled, “What are you saying, Brother Han? We’ll move them right now.”
With that, Zheng Wei walked towards the west room, and Sima Han followed him with a hearty laugh.
Shen Xiaoyan and Yue Qingxin didn’t follow, nor did they intend to help.
Firstly, Yue Qingxin didn’t have much strength, and all the furniture was wooden. She wouldn’t be much help.
Secondly, there wasn’t much furniture. The two of them would finish moving it soon and wouldn’t need others’ help.
Shen Xiaoyan pulled Yue Qingxin into the inner room of the east annex. She opened the wardrobe and took out two sets of Zheng Wei’s new clothes. She said to Yue Qingxin, “These are new clothes Ah Wei made, he hasn’t worn them yet. Take them and let Brother Han wear them first. When we go to town tomorrow, we can get a few sets of clothes made.”
“Get clothes made in town?” Yue Qingxin asked, confused.
“Yes, all our clothes are made to order in town. I can’t sew, and I don’t want to learn,” Shen Xiaoyan quickly shut down any possibility of Yue Qingxin teaching her embroidery.
Yue Qingxin chuckled, “What are you in a hurry for? If you don’t want to learn, I won’t force you. I still want to learn martial arts from you, remember?”
Shen Xiaoyan put her right index finger to her lips, “Quietly, don’t let them hear.”
Shen Xiaoyan found some other small items Yue Qingxin might need, such as new toiletries, towels, and combs. When the two of them finished tidying up and came out, they saw Zheng Wei and Sima Han carrying a large wardrobe out of the main room.
They both walked into the west room and found that more than half of the items inside were gone. Chests, cabinets, and tables were all gone, with only a few wooden stools and chairs remaining.
Shen Xiaoyan picked up a wooden chair with one hand and walked out. Seeing this, Yue Qingxin also picked up a wooden stool and walked out.
All of this was made of solid wood and was quite heavy. For a delicate girl like Yue Qingxin, she could only move one at a time.
The few of them worked for half an hour before the west annex was arranged. Then they fetched water to wipe down all the furniture and sweep the floor.
Shen Xiaoyan brought out her custom-made spare curtains and hung them on Yue Qingxin’s kang bed.
This set of curtains was light pink, which perfectly matched Yue Qingxin’s overall temperament. Yue Qingxin liked it very much.
That day’s dinner was much more sumptuous, with braised mountain rabbit and young chickens stewed with mushrooms. The wild boar and roe deer were not processed, as they planned to transport them to town to sell the next day.
It wasn’t that they were unwilling to eat them, but as the weather gradually warmed up, neither a wild boar nor a roe deer could be consumed in a short period. If they were processed and then sold, the price would drop. So, it was better to sell them directly and save trouble.
After dinner, everyone sat together and talked. Shen Xiaoyan told Shen Xiaoming that Sima Han and Yue Qingxin would be staying at their home from now on. Shen Xiaoming did not object to this; in fact, he felt that the two of them were quite good.
The next morning, after breakfast, Shen Xiaoming went to school. Shen Xiaoyan and the other three went to town together, although they did not go at the same time.
Zheng Wei and Sima Han drove the large cart with the wild boar and roe deer to town before dawn, wanting to take advantage of the morning to sell them at a good price.
Shen Xiaoyan and Yue Qingxin, after Shen Xiaoming left for school, locked the main door and slowly walked towards town together.
Not even halfway there, they saw Zheng Wei and Sima Han driving the cart towards them.
“Get in.” Zheng Wei tightened the reins, stopped the mule, leaped off the cart.
Sima Han also jumped down from the other side and extended his hand to lift the curtain.
After Shen Xiaoyan and Yue Qingxin got in and sat down, Zheng Wei and Sima Han got back on the cart. The cart turned around and drove towards town again.
Tongling Town was not sparsely populated. There were many surrounding villages, so there were many people coming to the market every day. Therefore, the cart moved very slowly on the road.
Their first stop was to go to the clothing store to order some clothes for Yue Qingxin and Sima Han.
However, at the clothing store, Yue Qingxin refused to order clothes to be made there. Instead, she picked out fabric scraps, embroidery thread, and measuring tools, saying she would make clothes herself when she got back. She even offered to make all the clothes for Shen Xiaoyan and the other two in the future.
Yue Qingxin’s actions made the shop owner heartbroken. This was clearly stealing business! But he couldn’t complain. Fortunately, the fabric was still bought from him, so at least he got some profit.
“Sister, isn’t this too much? Why don’t you just make clothes for yourself and Brother Han? Making clothes for so many of us is really too much,” Shen Xiaoyan disagreed somewhat.
Even though she couldn’t sew, she knew it wasn’t an easy task, especially on such a large scale.
“It’s alright. Once you see my craftsmanship, I guarantee you won’t want to wear clothes made by others,” Yue Qingxin said confidently.
“It’s fine, Xin Xin knows what she’s doing,” Sima Han also said from the side.
Seeing that both of them had said so, Shen Xiaoyan didn’t say anything more. At worst, she would learn to embroider herself. Making clothes for her own husband was indeed a good thing.
After buying these items, the group came out and went to the ironware store.
They needed to buy some farming tools and order scissors for pruning branches.
After all these tasks were completed, they sat in the large cart and returned home.
They arrived home before noon, and it was time for lunch.
The four of them worked together and finished lunch before Shen Xiaoming got home from school.
Shen Xiaoyan’s plan from yesterday to plant fruit tree saplings today could only be implemented after waking up from her nap.
Carrying shovels, wooden buckets, and a cart full of fruit tree saplings, the four of them went to the back of the courtyard together.
“These fruit tree saplings, each bundle is a variety. When we plant them, we’ll plant them together. This way, it will be convenient to pick the fruits later,” Shen Xiaoyan said to the other three.
The three nodded in agreement. Then, they divided into two groups. Zheng Wei and Sima Han planted from west to east, while Shen Xiaoyan and Yue Qingxin planted from east to west.
The reason for this division was that Yue Qingxin and Sima Han had no experience planting fruit trees.
With Shen Xiaoyan and Yue Qingxin, Shen Xiaoyan dug the pits, then Yue Qingxin placed the saplings in them, and filled and tamped the soil.
While digging pits, Shen Xiaoyan also glanced at Zheng Wei’s side. Seeing that Zheng Wei was also digging pits, she felt a sense of competition and her movements involuntarily quickened.