Traveling through ancient times: living a different life

We agreed to meet at the gate of the county government office in the afternoon, and then went in to complete the transfer procedures.

After handing over the key to the store, the three of them separated and went in through the back door. They parked the car in the backyard and entered the store. The storefront was more than a dozen square meters and was very clean. There were also some tables, chairs, and benches, but they were a bit old and looked like they needed to be replaced. The grandmother walked around the store to see what needed to be purchased, then said something to her granddaughter and went with Guan Changqing in a horse-drawn carriage to buy some new tables, chairs, and benches, as well as pots, pans, and utensils for the stove. It might take two trips.

Biyue stayed alone in the store and went to the bedroom. Each room was about 10 square meters and was cleaned very cleanly, but it was empty inside, without a bed, so she ordered a 1.5-meter single bed, a bedside table, a low cabinet 1 meter high, 1.5 meters long, and 60 centimeters wide in the system, which could be used as a table on top and clothes and quilts on the bottom. After all four rooms were arranged, she went out to the kitchen to take a look. The kitchen was quite large, with four stoves, and the iron pots on top were empty. Ironware was expensive in ancient times, and the previous store owner would not leave the iron pots to the next store owner.

After half an hour the carriage came in from the backyard with a few new tables, benches, and chairs, and there was another carriage behind that was delivering pots and pans, but after the delivery man left, everything was temporarily placed in the lobby until the kitchen was tidied and installed.

Grandma asked Biyue to go out with her and said they were going to find a decorator. The three of them closed the door and asked at the grocery store next door where the better decorator in the county lived, as my family wanted to ask him to help renovate the house.

The shop owner told grandma that there was a vegetable market in the south, the owner’s surname was Yang, but he forgot the exact location, and that if she could just look for it, she should be able to find it. Grandma thanked the owner.

So the three of them drove all the way to the south of the city to look for it. After asking a few people nearby, they finally found it near the vegetable market. They entered an alley with three families in it. The door of the first family on the left was half open, so Guan Changqing went up and knocked on the door. A man in his forties, wearing coarse cloth clothes and trousers, with a medium build, came out. He opened the door with a serious face and said to Guan Changqing, "Who are you looking for?"

Guan Changqing said: "We are here to find a decorator. Someone introduced us to him. His last name is Yang, so we are asking if it is your house."

When Master Yang heard that they were looking for work for his family, he immediately welcomed them in with a smile and asked the three of them to sit down first. The boss and his family were there, so grandma explained her purpose and negotiated the price with Master Yang. She showed the other party the decoration drawings and asked Master Yang to do it according to them. She asked Master Yang if they could start work tomorrow. Master Yang agreed and said he would go and take a look later.

The four of them drove the horse-drawn carriage back to the store. Master Yang looked around the store for a while, told everyone to come back the next morning, and was about to leave. Grandma offered to send him off, but he said no, as he was familiar with the area around here.

Grandma and Guan Changqing went out to buy some quilts and daily necessities, first for two rooms, and then more as needed.

I finished my work at 5pm and went to the nearby store to have dinner.

The next morning, at around seven o'clock, Grandma and Guan Changqing got up and opened the back door. After a while, Master Yang came in from the back door with three people.

Grandma opened the door of the shop to make the room brighter, and then took Biyue and Guan Changqing to have breakfast diagonally opposite her own shop.

After the meal, grandma said, "Changqing, you stay in the store and go to the carpenter to make a plaque. I will come over in two days. We are ready to open the store."

"Okay old lady."

Grandma left him 20 taels of silver and told him to do what he wanted.

Then the grandparents drove the carriage and prepared to go home.

We drove to the gate of Zhiyuan Academy and asked the doorman about Qinghui and whether we could ask him to call someone out.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, he finally came out. Qinghui said, "I was eating in the cafeteria, and the concierge said that an old man and a young man were looking for me. I guessed it was you two. Why are you here? Is there something wrong at home?"

"The family is very good. We came to the county town yesterday to look at the shop. We have already bought it. Guan Changqing is watching it. It is being renovated. It is on the west side of Lihua Road. If you don't know, I will take you there next time. We will go back soon and come here in two days. What do you want to bring?"

"No need, mother, I don't need anything, just go slowly on your way."

After parting, the grandfather and grandson drove back in the carriage.

After drinking the spiritual spring water, Ma Hongyun felt in great shape. When running on the road, he basically didn't need to be called out and he could run forward at lightning speed. Sitting in the car was not bumpy at all.

It took more than an hour to reach the village. When the family saw the grandparents and grandchildren coming back, Xiang Yuanzhi took the initiative to lead the horse and drove it to the backyard.

Grandma sat in the main hall and told her family, "It cost 270 taels to buy the shop. Xia Changqing has been in the county town these days to oversee the decoration. The shop will be open in two days at most."

"Then who should be assigned to the store?" Grandpa asked grandma.

Grandma glanced outside the main hall and saw Lu Yiping. She hurriedly called her over, looked at her face and said, "The scars on your face have faded, only a little bit. I want you to go to the county town to be a shopkeeper. You can read and write, so you can't be buried. We will leave the day after tomorrow, so you can pack up in the next two days."

"Thank you, old lady, and thank you even more, young lady. She is really a miracle doctor. I thought I would have to live with this disfigured face for the rest of my life. As long as I didn't go to that dirty place, I would be happy to be ugly. I didn't expect that I could be cured here. I don't know how to thank you." After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed to Biyue and Old Lady Liu.

Grandma quickly helped her up, "You still have to thank someone. He asked you to come to my house. I can see that he likes you. What do you mean to him?"

"I..." she blushed.

Seeing her blush, grandma quickly changed the subject and said to grandpa, "Two people are definitely not enough to run the braised food store in this county. I can't decide whether to let Lu Gensheng or Xiang Zhigao go."

"Bring them with you the day after tomorrow and let Qinghui pick one to be his servant. If the wine shop in town is short of staff, we can hire one or two more. What do you think?"

"Choose from relatives or from the village. Ask the second daughter-in-law first. Last time it was the eldest daughter-in-law's brothers."

Bi Yue thought to herself: This requires treating everyone equally.

Grandma called Li Sumei and told her that the town was hiring a worker, and asked her to ask her family. The first month's salary for ordinary employees over the age of 15 was 800 wen, and only one person was being recruited at the moment.

Second Aunt happily agreed and went to find Second Uncle. The couple drove the carriage to her parents' home.

Bi Yue was also tired and went to her room to rest for a while.

My second uncle and aunt didn’t return home until after four o’clock in the afternoon and went to my grandparents’ room.

After dinner, Biyue couldn't wait to know the result, so she went to ask her grandmother about the situation. Old Lady Liu told her granddaughter that she wanted both husband and wife to go, which was definitely not possible. Later, when the deal failed, she said that growing potatoes and raising fish at home would also be fine.

Biyue suggested selecting literate people around 15 years old in the village, and have them come to her house to apply for the job tomorrow, and then post a notice recruiting two workers at the entrance of the winery.