Flowers in full bloom

He thought that he would have to look at a few more houses, compare and consider. Unexpectedly, a girl who was only eleven or twelve years old was so decisive. "Then let's sign a contract today, Miss Hua will pay a deposit first, and we will go to the government office tomorrow to handle the transfer procedures, and then Miss Hua will pay the balance, okay?"

"Okay, but can you give us the key to Qingyun Lane today?" "Okay, just make a note here." Manager Chen handed over the written contract, untied the key and handed it to Uncle Fu who was standing next to him. Hua Lei signed and paid two hundred taels of silver directly.

With the smiles on the faces of Manager Chen and Fang Youdi, Hua Lei walked out of the pawnshop and returned to Zuiyuelai Restaurant. After discussing with everyone, they all agreed that they could not leave the restaurant and go directly back to Qingyun Lane to save a few taels of silver. Hua Lei had no choice but to leave the restaurant, and everyone went straight to the house in Qingyun Lane.

When they arrived at the house in Qingyun Lane and got the key and entered the house, it was already 3:45 in the evening, and the sky was getting slightly dark. Hualei asked Uncle Fu and Xile to go to the restaurant not far ahead to buy some food, and the group had a simple meal.

He unloaded the mule cart, fed the mules beans and water, tied them up in the barn beside the west courtyard, put the luggage in the wing, tidied it up a little, took out the quilts he would use, and went to rest.

All the women slept on the kang in the east room and the side room, while the men made do with a few stools in the west room and the wing room for the night. Fortunately, it was not too cold in the capital these few days, so Aunt Fu and Aunt Song used all the quilts and bedding.

Maybe it was because they had been traveling for too long, or maybe it was because they suddenly calmed down, so no one felt cold and they fell asleep almost immediately.

When Hualei woke up the next day, it was already 2:45 in the morning. As she put on her coat, she secretly thanked herself for agreeing with Manager Chen to go to the government office to handle the transfer formalities in the afternoon. Otherwise, she would not have been able to sleep until she woke up naturally.

When I came out, I saw everyone was cleaning. Uncle Fu had brought Xile to the nearby grocery store to buy a wooden barrel and basin. At this time, Aunt Fu and Aunt Song were taking Xiaoxiao to clean the tables, sweep the floor and wipe the windows on the second floor. Several men had already cleaned the shop in front. They even took down all the door panels in front of the shop, cleaned them and reinstalled them.

The two courtyards were also cleaned up, and the few weeds in the corners were pulled out. The wooden shelves in the east and west wing rooms were also taken out and placed by the well to be cleaned.

Mrs. Luo saw Hualei coming out, and happily stepped forward and said, "Miss, there are seven pieces of coarse cotton cloth and three pieces of linen cloth on the wooden shelf in the west wing, as well as two large bags of scraps of cloth, which are perfect for making shoes. I took a look and found that the cloth has some mold and discoloration. I guess it was discarded by the cloth shop in front."

Hua Lei looked at the sky, then looked at Mrs. Luo and asked, "Mrs. Luo, have you had breakfast yet?" "Uh, not yet. We all cleaned up right away and didn't have time to have breakfast. Miss, you must be hungry. Then let my dad go buy some food? We can't cook here yet." Mrs. Luo wiped her hands and said a little embarrassedly.

"Okay, let Uncle Fu go buy breakfast. We are all hungry. We should eat well before doing anything else. There is no need to rush." ​​Hua Lei said, and Uncle Fu and Xile went to buy breakfast.

Hualei followed Luo Dasao to see the cotton and linen cloth placed on the west side of the main hall. The cotton cloth was probably exposed to the rain, so there were mold spots and pieces, but the fabric was still quite soft. The colors were blue, dark black, and one piece was egg blue. Hualei looked at it and said to Luo Dasao, "You can use these cloths to make a few clothes for everyone. Xiaoyuan and I don't need them because we are still in mourning. The scraps of cloth are also fine. You can use them to make shoes for everyone. It just so happens that everyone hasn't made new clothes for a long time."

Hualei sighed softly. Because of her grandfather's illness, she had not had a good year. In previous years, she would buy cloth to make clothes for everyone at the end of each year. This year, when her grandfather fell ill, everything became a mess, and many things that should have been done were not done. Mrs. Luo patted Hualei and said, "Everyone has enough clothes. Let's see if we should make some later." Hualei nodded.

After a long time, Uncle Fu and Xile finally came in with food. Mrs. Luo took a basket and asked, "Why did you take so long to buy?" Xile said quickly, "We wanted to buy some simple buns and steamed buns nearby, but there was no breakfast shop. The restaurant we went to last night didn't provide breakfast either. So we ran to another restaurant to the west. It had just opened, so we asked them to make some for us and bring it back."

Hualei's mind moved, and she asked, "There's no breakfast shop nearby." "Yes." Xile said, "At first we thought we didn't find the right direction, but later we asked the nearby shops, and there really wasn't one nearby." Hualei ate breakfast thoughtfully. Scrambled eggs with leeks, tofu soup, stir-fried Chinese cabbage, steamed eggs, leeks and Chinese cabbage were not fresh enough, probably because they hadn't prepared the food in the morning, so they just took what was left in the kitchen last night and fried whatever they had.

After everyone finished eating and cleared away the dishes, Hua Lei called everyone over and they found a seat in the main hall. Hua Lei said, "I have to go to handle the transfer of ownership this afternoon, so I'll make some arrangements for the urgent matters first.

Uncle Fu first went to the nearby area to ask if there were any bricklayers, and asked them to bring them over to have a look at our house to see what needed repairs and to clear the drains and such. Then he asked them to have a look at our shop. I planned to divide the shop into two, making two storefronts. We would continue to run a bookstore in one, so that the stock we brought from home would not be wasted. We could then slowly look for a source of stock here.

The remaining store may be relatively small, so we will decide when to rent it out or do it ourselves. The main thing is to let the bricklayer come and measure the size first, and it is not necessary to start today. No matter whether Uncle Fu finds it or not, he will come back after lunch and go with me to do the work in the afternoon.

Brother Ping'an and Brother Xiaoqun will go to the nearby area to see if there are any beds, tables and stools for sale. Let's order a few beds first. One for Xiaoyuan and me upstairs. And Uncle Fu and Aunt Song, you can take your pick. How many beds do you want in total? If there are ready-made ones, buy a few first. We just need something that is strong and durable. The same goes for tables and stools. You can buy them as you like.

Aunt Song and Brother Xile first went to a nearby grocery store to buy kitchen supplies, iron pots, clay pots, rice, flour, grains, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. Of course, they also remembered to buy vegetables, so that they could have dinner at home in the evening.

Aunt Fu, Aunt Luo, and Xiaoxiao, take the three children home to pack up the things we brought, and close the doors. Everyone is not familiar with this place yet, so don't run around and be careful." Everyone nodded, and several men took the mule carts and went out to do their own things.

Hua Lei saw that it was still early to go to the yamen in the afternoon, so she took Xiao Yuan to help clean the remaining rooms.

It was almost noon when Uncle Fu came back, bringing with him bricklayers they had found from a nearby market. There were four or five of them in total, all together. Hua Lei let them take a rough look around and found that the house did not need any repairs, as there were no leaks anywhere and it was in good condition. A few drainage ditches needed to be cleared, and then they went to the shop in front to measure the size according to Hua Lei's requirements, determined how many blue bricks to buy, negotiated the price, and left after agreeing to start work early the next morning.

Aunt Song and Brother Xile quickly bought the kitchen necessities and came back in an hour to prepare lunch for Hualei and the others. They said they would go back to buy the missing items in the kitchen in the afternoon after lunch.

After Hualei and Fu Bo finished their lunch, it was almost time for the appointment with Manager Chen. Hualei went to the second floor to sort out her banknotes, household registration and other things she would need in the afternoon, and put them in her cloth bag. She also changed into a clean set of clothes and went to the dental clinic with Fu Bo.