I trade in both worlds

Xu Xu folded up the clothes Zhang Yunxiang left behind and put them together with Xu Jizu's clothes. The box was almost full, so he closed the box and pushed it back under the bed. The remaining things continued to be stored in the chest of drawers.

Xu Xu decided not to put the books back, so he prepared to clean up a study room, build a bookcase, and put the books in it. But before the bookcase was built, he still had to find another box to store the books.

The west wing is filled with grain and some jars and pots. The things here are used daily and do not need to be cleaned up.

Xu Xu planned to clean up the second room on the left side of the main hall and use it as a study. In two years, the twins would move in here. The back window of this room faced the vegetable garden, so the light was very good.

The second room on the right side of the main house is bigger and has good lighting, but the stove here is rarely used. When the two of them grow up and need to sleep in separate rooms, someone can also live here.

Time always flies when working. Xu Xu was still cleaning up when Xu Zhun came over and said he was hungry: "Sister, when are we going to eat? I'm hungry."

When Xu Xu saw that it was already past noon, he quickly washed his hands and went to make lunch. There were many children at home and they couldn't stand being hungry.

Xu Xu first took a look at the pig's trotters stewed on the stove, and when he opened the lid, the aroma hit him in the face. He picked up a piece with chopsticks, and the meat was immediately separated from the bones. The pig's trotters were braised to perfection today.

Xu Xu started boiling water and washed a handful of green vegetables. When the noodles were almost cooked, she put the green vegetables in to blanch them and then scooped them out. Xu Tiantian still cooked them a little longer as usual.

Except for Xu Tiantian, her diet is now mainly low in oil and salt. Xu Xu scooped a small spoonful of pig's trotter juice and mixed it with half a bowl of water. This way it would not be tasteless and unpalatable, and she would not consume too much salt.

Other people’s bowls of noodles all had a piece of braised pig’s trotter, a braised egg, and a spoonful of pig’s trotter juice. When they mixed it with the noodles, it smelled so delicious that they forgot everything else and just focused on chewing the meat and eating the noodles.

After lunch, Xu Xu saw that there were still three small pieces of braised pig's trotters in the jar and not much soup. Thinking that Xu Jin liked to eat dry rice, Xu Xu decided to soak the dry rice in the pig's trotter soup in the evening.

Before, Xu's mother dried a lot of dry rice and put it in a jar. In the evening, she added some water to heat the braised pig's trotters. She put a handful of dry rice in each person's bowl, and then scooped a large spoonful of pig's trotter soup to soak it and it was ready to eat. The main feature was that it was fast.

After the children went to bed for a nap, Xu Xu started to clean up the utility room. The first small room on the right side of the main hall is a utility room. The windows are small, so the light in the whole room is not bright enough. There are really a lot of clutter in the room, and I don’t know if I can finish cleaning it today.

Xu Xu could only open and pack up the various boxes near the door one by one, intending to throw away all the unusable things, pack together all the things that could be put together, and clean up a few more wooden boxes to store things.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain. My right thumb was cut by something. The wound was not deep, but a lot of blood was flowing out.

Looking at his fingers, his hands were covered with black dirt. Xu Xu planned to wash his hands, find a piece of cloth to bandage them, and then come back to continue cleaning up.

Turning around and walking to the threshold, Xu Xu tripped and subconsciously held onto the door frame. She did not notice that the blood on her hand was being absorbed by the door frame. She only felt a black screen in front of her eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, Xu Xu was still holding the door frame, but outside the door was no longer the Xu family's main hall, but a modern, neo-Chinese-style small courtyard.

Opposite the courtyard is a room without a door. There is a pillar in the middle but no partition. The wall behind is wavy, and I don’t know how it was made. There is also an iron railing on the top of the room.

There is a rectangular wooden table and several chairs in the middle of the yard, and a big umbrella in the middle. Where is this?

There was a big door on the right, which looked neither wood nor iron. There were also several potted plants around the yard. Xu Xu didn't know what kind of plants they were. On the left was a two-story house with large windows made of glass. Xu Xu had never seen such large pieces of glass without impurities. Only a very wealthy family could afford it.

Suddenly, a voice was heard, which frightened Xu Xu so much that she felt as if the blood in her body had frozen. She hid behind the door with trembling legs and listened quietly to the voice coming from far away and then slowly going away.

It took Xu Xu a long time to react. The sound just now came from outside. If he listened carefully, he could occasionally hear a dripping sound. Xu Xu didn't know what the sound was. He was scared and wanted to go back but didn't know how to go back. He was very anxious.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, noises from outside could be heard from time to time, but the house was always quiet. After Xu Xu mustered up the courage to walk out the door, he looked around and confirmed that this should also be a storage room. There were several wooden shelves inside, which were piled with things.

Apart from some glass jars filled with things, Xu Xu didn't recognize any of the rest. There were also a few jars on the ground, and he didn't know if there was anything in them.

There was a window against the outer wall of the utility room. It was also a large glass window with iron railings inlaid on it. Through it, one could see the building opposite. Xu Xu wanted to go over and take a look, but he was too scared to move, fearing that there would be any noise and he would have nowhere to hide.

He turned around and stuck his head out the door again, took a quick look and then retracted his head. He didn't know if there was anyone inside. Xu Xu was afraid of being discovered, so he went back and forth several times. The yard was still quiet. Xu Xu encouraged himself not to be afraid, went out to take a look, tried to put one foot out, waited for a while, and when he heard no movement, he stepped out with the other foot.

In this way, Xu Xu stood at the door for two or three minutes, and she was finally able to confirm that there was no one in the room.

Xu Xu walked around the yard and came to the big window of the main house. There was a piece of cloth hanging on both sides of the window. The cloth looked very thick, and a bit like linen through the window, but it looked softer than linen. It was such a waste to hang such good cloth on the window like this.

Through the glass window, Xu Xu saw the wooden stool inside. Next to the stool was a tall, silver-white cylinder. He didn't know what it was made of or what it was used for.

Also, the stools here look much more beautiful than those in Dayunchao. Xu Xu turned around and saw a black rectangle hanging on the wall. He wondered what it was used for.

Xu Xu walked to the gate of the courtyard and wanted to go out and take a look. After studying for a long time, he still couldn't figure out how to open the door. He was also a little scared, so he gave up in the end.

Xu Xu thought of the window in the utility room. She could actually look out through the window, and she didn't have to open the door to go out. If she went out and the door was locked, wouldn't she be unable to go back? Thinking of going back, she began to think about how to go back. She was also worried about the children at home. If they couldn't find her, would they cry?

As he walked towards the storage room, he was wondering what had just happened to bring him to this place. What was this place? Was there anything different between the outside and Xuzhuang?