Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Zhang Xixi came over to check on the progress of the house construction and found that water supply was inconvenient, so she made another request.

"Master Zhao, do any of you know how to dig a well? I want to dig a well in my yard."

"Yes, but we need to have someone check if the yard is suitable for digging a well first."

"Then I'd appreciate it if you could make the arrangements, Mr. Zhao. We'll pay for the well-digging together later."

After Master Zhao nodded in agreement, he went to find a dark-skinned, chubby young man to inspect the yard.

My yard must have a water source, otherwise I will have to use bamboo to fetch water from the mountains, which will cost a lot of manpower and money!

Not long after, good news came: a well could be dug in the yard near the kitchen, and it could be dug tomorrow.

Upon hearing the news, Zhang Xixi happily went back to continue mowing the lawn.

Sigh! It seems that this is the only thing she can do right now.

Da Bao and Er Bao, however, would carry their sharp-beaked chickens every day, one leading a mule and the other a horse, happily going out to play with their friends, even neglecting their stick-fighting practice before dinner every day.

In fact, many people in the village no longer practice stick fighting, including Zhang Xixi. They are too busy and tired from clearing land and finding food, and they simply don't have the energy to practice martial arts.

Every day after I get home and finish dinner, all I want to do is lie down and sleep soundly until dawn.

Zhang Xixi felt that she still couldn't relax, so she decided to lead her family in practicing stick fighting after moving into the new house. Life is about movement, and only through exercise can you stay healthy. Health is the foundation of everything!

Five days later, most families in the village moved into their new houses. Although they were all mud-brick and tile houses or mud-brick and thatched houses, they were still their own homes.

As the saying goes, there's no place like home!

On moving day, the women in every household used their culinary skills to prepare a delicious meal to celebrate the completion of their new home, and the whole family enjoyed a wonderful meal together.

From that moment on, Zhoujia Village became a thing of the past, and the villagers truly considered themselves people of a deserted village. Indeed, only a house can give people a sense of belonging!

The Zhang family's house has been built, but it's still unfurnished. So, Mrs. Chen plans to go to town tomorrow to buy some furniture and kitchenware before moving in.

The well in Zhang Xixi's yard has been dug, and the outer wall is still under construction. It is estimated that it will be several more days before they can move into their new house.

However, she could prepare in advance, so she decided to go to town with the Chen family to buy all the furniture first.

That evening, Zhang Xixi took out all the money she had and counted it. The total amount of silver notes, loose silver, and copper coins was 425 taels and 3 mace. After the house was built, she would probably have to pay more than 100 taels. In addition, the wages and food would cost at least 20 taels a month. There were still many places where she needed to spend money!

The next day, Zhang Xixi and her friends were selecting furniture at a furniture shop in town. The first thing they looked at was beds. The shop sold canopy beds, with prices starting from one or two taels and the most expensive costing more than ten taels. The price varied depending on the material and style.

After careful selection, Chen and his wife bought five of the cheapest beds and a set of round tables with ten stools. They didn't plan to buy anything else, intending to go up the mountain to cut wood and have the villagers make it for them when they had free time.

Zhang Xixi bought five camphor wood cabinets and asked the shopkeeper to deliver them to the deserted village along with the ones Chen and the others had bought.

For her own family, she ordered three beds, a dressing table, several cabinets, and two sets of tables and chairs, asking the shopkeeper to deliver them to her as soon as they were ready.

"I've bought everything, let's go!" Chen said, seeing that there was nothing else to buy.

"Let's go!"

Zhang Xixi and Xiao Chenshi linked arms with Chenshi and headed out to the ceramics shop. Zhang Dacheng and Zhang Wenbo exchanged a helpless glance and followed closely behind. The two of them were only there to make a show of things and act as porters; the women in the house decided what to buy themselves.

Finally, Zhang Xixi and her group bought some bowls, plates, and food, filling the horse-drawn carriage and mule cart almost to the brim before heading home.

Of course, most of the things on the vehicle were bought by Zhang Xixi. After all, there were still twenty strong men to support at home, which consumed a lot of food, so Zhang Xixi accidentally bought a lot.

When they got home, the furniture delivery truck was already waiting in the deserted village. Led by Zhang Dacheng and the others, they drove the truck to the Zhang family's new house.

The installer greeted Zhang Dacheng and his team, then had his workers unload all the furniture before heading to the house to install the bed.

After the bed was set up in the afternoon, Chen asked Zhang Dacheng to take Fubao while she, along with Zhang Xixi and her two daughters-in-law, came over to clean the house. Seeing the cabinet on the floor, she said:

"Daughter, have your two older brothers move this cabinet over for you later."

Zhang Xixi quickly waved her hand, "Mom, no need, this cabinet is for you, it's a housewarming gift for you!"

Mrs. Chen was stunned for a moment. If she had known it was for them, she would have let her daughter buy the cheapest furniture at the furniture store.

Now that the daughter has said it's a wedding gift, it's not good to refuse it in front of the two daughters-in-law. The daughter still doesn't know how to manage money!

"Why waste so much money!"

When Xiao Chen and Zhou heard that such a nice cabinet was for them, they were overjoyed. Their little sister was so generous!

"Little sister, you're too kind!"

Zhang Xixi smiled and said, "Moving into a new house is a joyous occasion, how can we come empty-handed!"

With Zhang Xixi's help, the house was quickly cleaned up, and they were just waiting to move in the next morning.

After the Zhang family moved to their new home, they invited Zhang Xixi and her family over for a reunion dinner as a way to celebrate their new home.

A few days later, Zhang Xixi's furniture was also delivered, and they were also asked to deliver it to the yard that was not yet built.

Zhou Yujie was in charge of cutting grass for the cattle these past two days because Zhang Xixi was busy inspecting the new yard. She asked Master Zhao to fix any flaws she found. Only after the house was finished did Manager Qian come over to settle accounts with Zhang Xixi.

As estimated earlier, Zhang Xixi ultimately gave Manager Qian an additional 118 taels of silver.

Looking at the courtyard that had cost over three hundred taels of silver to build, Zhang Xixi was very satisfied.

Upon entering, there is a large courtyard. There is a wall in the courtyard, with livestock living on one side and an open space on the other side that can be used as a vegetable garden to grow some vegetables and fruits. In the middle, there are two paths paved with blue bricks leading to the main house and the kitchen respectively.

This way, the shoes wouldn't get dirty when it rained. A road paved with blue bricks led directly to the Zhang family's house outside the gate. This road was a little wider, enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through.

After Cuihua finished cooking lunch, she came over to help Zhang Xixi tidy up the house. The two of them finished tidying up the house in one afternoon, but left the yard untouched, as Zhang Xixi wanted to plan for it after moving.

That evening, Zhang Xixi went to her parents' house to ask them to come and help her move the next day, and then returned to her tent.

The next day, Zhang Xixi brought the grains and cereals into the new house first, and the rest of the people followed behind to bring their things in.

Zhang Dacheng and the others carried the firewood they had chopped to the yard and piled it up, while Chen's mother and daughter-in-law helped Zhang Xixi put away her luggage and food.

"Daughter, should we leave your cattle down there?"

Zhang Xixi thought for a moment before replying, "Mother, I originally wanted to keep it downstairs, but it's not safe since there are no patrols in the village at night. Let's bring it upstairs and keep it locked up. We can have Wang Daniu and the others bring it up every day."

Mr. Chen nodded in agreement. More than ten cows was no small amount; if they were lost, there would be no one to blame but himself!