Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Buying People? (Happy New Year)
216 Buying a servant?
Sun Youcai kept apologizing, "Aiyah, it was your Younger Uncle who was wrong. Your Younger Uncle shouldn’t have doubted our Tongtong. Your Younger Uncle apologizes to Tongtong. From now on, whatever Tongtong says, your Younger Uncle will listen to you, alright?"
Zhao Zhitong finally grinned, revealing two adorable dimples, and nodded. "Okay, Younger Uncle said it. From now on, you’ll listen to Tongtong."
...
A three-color peony flower had completely conquered her Younger Uncle.
He followed Zhao Zhitong’s suggestion and grafted three of the peony flowers in the field, along with five ordinary peony flowers. Sun Youcai had originally wanted to graft all of them into three-color peonies but was stopped by Zhao Zhitong.
These peony flowers were all irrigated with my space’s Spiritual Spring water, and the seeds they produce will definitely be good. I want to save some for propagation.
Sun Youcai now listened to whatever Zhao Zhitong said.
To prevent others from coveting the peonies when they bloomed, Sun Youcai also erected fences around the field and checked on them several times a day.
The peony field was very close to their orchard, both situated on the same slope.
The fruit trees in the orchard had been watered twice with Spiritual Spring water and had grown considerably. Her father said that in another two years, they would bear fruit.
Zhao Dong had also gradually planted Sichuan pepper trees around the orchard.
But this still isn’t safe, and Younger Uncle’s peony garden is also unsafe.
So, upon returning, Zhao Zhitong found Zhao Dong. "Dad, should we buy a servant?"
Zhao Dong was stunned. "Hmm? How did you suddenly come up with this idea?"
Just a few days ago, the little girl was mocking Qiao Muchen for always having a young page following him. Why does she suddenly want a servant now?
Zhao Zhitong said in a childlike voice, "Dad, Younger Uncle’s peony garden will bloom soon. What if someone picks the flowers? And our orchard needs someone to look after it too."
Zhao Dong fell into deep thought. He had also considered whether to hire a few servants to guard their home.
But it doesn’t feel like the right time.
We’ve only just built such a large house; if we were to hire servants now, it would indeed be a bit too ostentatious.
At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared in his mind, and an idea struck him.
"Dad?" Seeing Zhao Dong in a daze, Zhao Zhitong tugged at his sleeve. "Dad, what are you thinking?"
Zhao Dong came back to his senses and smiled. "I think Tongtong is right. We should find someone to help us look after the orchard and the peony garden."
「In the following days,」 her Younger Uncle still nervously went to the field every day to check on it.
Zhao Dong also went to Wu Da’s house. Wu Da still lived next to the cemetery on the back hill, making a living by hunting daily.
When Zhao Dong arrived, Wu Da happened to be returning with two rabbits. Seeing Zhao Dong, his usually unsmiling face unconsciously revealed a stiff smile. He immediately put down the rabbits, rushed into the house, took out two rabbit pelts, and stuffed them into Zhao Dong’s arms. "For you."
He was a man of few words; when interacting with Zhao Dong, he often spoke only a few words at a time.
Zhao Dong didn’t refuse and happily accepted them. He then handed a bag of flour to Wu Da, smiling. "Wu Da, you must have heard that I’ve planted fruit trees on a few mu of our sloping land, right? I need someone to help me look after the orchard now."
"After thinking it over, I thought of you. I feel this job would be perfect for you. I’d like to hire you to watch my orchard, and I’ll pay you a salary of 600 copper coins per month. What do you think?"
Wu Da shook his head. Just when Zhao Dong thought Wu Da was not interested, Wu Da said, "I don’t want copper coins."
He glanced at the bag of flour and said, "Food is enough."
Zhao Dong was taken aback at first, then chuckled. "Don’t worry about that. If you watch the orchard for me, I’ll not only give you copper coins but also provide you with three meals a day."
Wu Da shook his head, unwilling to accept the copper coins. "I... I have no use for those copper coins."
Zhao Dong insisted on giving him the copper coins. "Hey, don’t be silly. You can’t always live like this. You need to save up your copper coins, find a decent place, build a house, clean yourself up, find a wife, and live a good life."
Unexpectedly, Wu Da, a big, burly man, actually blushed upon hearing about finding a wife.
Finally, with Zhao Dong’s persuasion, Wu Da agreed.
However, Zhao Dong still decided to build a small cabin between the orchard and the peony garden so Wu Da could stay there at night.
After all, many people do bad things at night.
With the matter settled, Zhao Dong immediately took action. He first found Zhang Jinbao and asked him to help order some bricks and tiles.
There was no need to buy the land from the Village Chief; that plot was within the reclaimed area. He just needed to ask the Village Chief to register it under his name. Later, by clearing it further, he could expand it into a fruit tree grove.
Since it was just a small cabin, the construction wasn’t a large project and was completed in less than half a month.
By early June, Wu Da had moved in, and Younger Uncle no longer had to go to the field to check on the peonies every day.
However, by this time, the peonies were almost past their blooming period. But because their field was irrigated with Spiritual Spring water, the peonies there were still blooming with remarkable vibrancy.
Especially the three three-color peonies; they were incredibly beautiful.
Sun Youcai was so excited these days that he walked with a spring in his step.
When it was time for Zhao Zhitong’s break from school, they arranged to go to the county town to sell peony flowers and, on the way, visit embroiderer Yunniang in Shili Village.
This time, the group heading to the county town was a veritable procession.
News of Younger Aunt’s divorce had spread throughout the village. Many gossipy women were pointing fingers and talking about Younger Aunt behind her back.
Granny Guan, Sun Ma’s wife, in particular, having finally found a way to get at Grandmother, would deliberately mock Younger Aunt loudly at home.
Hearing those idle rumors made Younger Aunt very despondent.
Sun Youcai wanted to take Younger Aunt out to cheer her up.
Secondly, Sun Mei wanted to find an embroidery master for Zhao Ya. She had heard from Zhao Zhitong that Younger Aunt knew an embroiderer whose skills were exceptional, so she wanted to take this opportunity to seek her out.
As for Sun Daqing and the other young children, every one of them pestered to go as well.
However, with so many children, Grandmother naturally disagreed. In the end, Sun Daqing pitifully appealed to Zhao Zhitong for help, and Grandmother finally relented, "Alright, alright. There’s a big temple fair in the east of the city these days. The children didn’t get to go to the small temple fair at the marketplace this year, so let them all go have some fun, get some fresh air, and broaden their horizons."
Hearing they could all go, the little ones instantly became ecstatic, jumping for joy, utterly unable to express their delight.
At this point, Grandmother suddenly announced, "Eldest Aunt, Younger Aunt, you go too. Everyone go have some fun, and make sure to keep an eye on the children."
Eldest Aunt’s and Younger Aunt’s faces immediately bloomed with smiles. "Thank you, Mother!"
They probably hadn’t been to the county town in a long time either.
Zhao Zhitong then blinked at her grandmother. "Grandma, Grandpa, you and Grandpa should come too! My mother said the temple fair is really lively, with opera performances and lots of snack stalls. They even have your favorite pea-filling pastries!"