Chapter 18: Buying a House
**Gu Village Chief’s Home**
The family had just finished dinner. Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, the village chief’s wife, Yang Shi, was weaving cloth in the courtyard, while their daughter, Gu Huaien, was learning embroidery.
Gu Village Chief was splitting bamboo strips. He planned to weave some baskets to use for holding grain during the autumn harvest.
Gu Zesen was reading under the eaves.
The family seemed harmonious and happy.
The courtyard gate was wide open.
Gu Shi called out from outside the gate, “Yangbin, Zesen’s mother.”
Xingnong and Xingqing also greeted them, “Village Chief Gu, Aunt Yang, Brother Gu…”
Seeing the visitors, everyone in the courtyard stopped their work and stood up.
Gu Village Chief: “Big Aunt is here, come in quickly!”
“Big Aunt, Xingnong, Xingqing, come in and sit down!”
“Grandaunt, Sister Xingnong, Sister Xingqing.”
Everyone exchanged greetings.
Yang Shi stepped forward and took Gu Shi’s hand, “Big Aunt, let’s go inside and sit. The courtyard is a bit messy, please don’t mind.”
Gu Shi hurriedly said, “No need, it’s fine to sit here. I’ll just chat for a bit and then leave.”
Gu Shi handed the meat in her hand to Yang Shi, “I didn’t bring much, just something to add to the meal for the children.”
Yang Shi quickly declined, “I can’t accept this! Big Aunt, why did you bring something? This is too much! Xingnong just left a bag of meat buns on the ox cart. This is too kind.”
Gu Shi didn’t know about the meat buns, but naturally, she wouldn’t take the meat back. She hung it on the bamboo pole under the eaves of the kitchen, “Xingnong bought this too. It’s a token of her filial piety. You should accept it as her aunt.”
Yang Shi still wanted to decline, but Gu Village Chief waved his hand, “Accept it! It’s the child’s thoughtfulness. Give the children some snacks later.”
Hearing this, Yang Shi stopped refusing, “Big Aunt, you really don’t have to do this next time. It’s too much!”
She thought to herself that she had brought back a lot of seafood from her parents’ home, so she would share some with Gu Shi later.
Gu Shi smiled and nodded.
Gu Village Chief: “Big Aunt, even if you hadn’t come, I was planning to find you. Your current house is really not suitable for living. Plum Blossom Village is not a place for decent people. Those people in Plum Blossom Village are all beasts.”
Gu Village Chief started ranting, like a flood breaking through a dam, unstoppable!
His gossipy behavior didn’t match his refined appearance at all.
Xingqing was dumbfounded.
Xingnong was already used to it. She had listened to him all the way here.
Gu Village Chief repeated everything he had said to Xingnong in the ox cart, adding fuel to the fire.
While talking, he winked at Xingnong, as if to say, “See, I told you so! If you followed my advice, your grandmother would come to me.”
Xingnong was both amused and exasperated.
Gu Zesen couldn’t help but glance at Xingnong.
The girl stood there quietly, listening attentively, looking particularly well-behaved and polite.
Sensing something, Xingnong turned her head.
Their eyes met.
Gu Zesen smiled, his eyes helpless, and whispered, “My father is a chatterbox.”
Xingnong smiled. Everyone has their quirks, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Gu Shi couldn’t listen anymore. If he continued, even their ancestors wouldn’t have peace. She hurriedly interrupted him, “Yangbin, I came here today to see your old house. Let’s pick a date to move in.”
Yang Shi was also afraid of her husband, so she hurriedly said, “Alright, stop talking. Hurry up and take her to see the house! If you continue talking, it will be dark.”
Gu Village Chief hadn’t finished his prepared speech yet. He reluctantly stopped, “…Moving is the right decision! I’ll have people repair the house in the next two days. It’ll be ready in three days at the fastest, then you can move in.”
The house was at the end of Peach Blossom Village. They arrived after a short walk.
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The house had a river in front and a mountain behind. Not far away was a large expanse of farmland and a lotus pond.
It was late summer, and there were still some lotus flowers blooming in the pond. The scenery was quite beautiful.
This large piece of land belonged to villagers from both Peach Blossom Village and Plum Blossom Village.
Xingnong fell in love with the environment at first sight.
As long as they renovated the house, planted some flowers, built some flower stands, pavilions, and a swing, she could sit on the swing and read, bask in the sun, and drink tea in her free time. Life would be so comfortable!
The village chief opened the courtyard gate, and they walked in.
The house was an adobe house. The courtyard was surrounded by a fence made of bamboo, quite spacious, and had some vegetables planted in it.
The vegetables in the field were growing well, showing that the owner had taken good care of them.
The village chief smiled, “The children’s mother planted vegetables in both the front and back yards. You can eat them directly when you move in.”
“That won’t do! We can’t take these vegetables.” Gu Shi quickly waved her hand.
Yang Shi and Gu Zesen were a step behind because they were packing things.
Gu Zesen walked in carrying a back basket. Dressed in a blue robe and a square scarf, he didn’t seem to fit in with the back basket.
He smiled gently, “It’s okay, my mother planted a lot, we can’t finish them all.”
Yang Shi nodded, “We can’t finish them all. We have another vegetable plot near our house, closer to the water source. I just have nothing to do, seeing there’s land, it’s a waste not to use it. I usually share the vegetables with the villagers. These are for you to eat when you move in. In a few days, many of them will be ready. Take some back home to eat this time.”
As she spoke, the village chief’s wife bent down and started picking some of the larger vegetable hearts.
Usually, the vegetables at the edge of the vegetable beds grow faster and are better.
“Big Aunt, let’s go inside and have a look.” The village chief led Xingnong and the others into the house.
It was a three-room, two-corridor courtyard house.
“Three rooms” referred to the three houses arranged in a row, with the middle one being the main hall and the two on the sides being bedrooms.
The main hall was long and deep, and the bedrooms on both sides were separated, making a total of four rooms.
There was a courtyard in front of the houses.
On both sides of the courtyard were two slightly lower houses, which were the “corridors”.
The windows of the rooms on both sides were small and high for security and privacy, so the rooms were quite dark.
One of the “two corridors” was used as a kitchen, and the other was a gatehouse, which could be used as a firewood shed and for storing miscellaneous items such as farming tools.
Although the house had been unoccupied for many years, it was obviously maintained regularly and was very dry.
Most importantly, both the front and back yards were quite large. This was perfect, as Xingnong had a lot of things she wanted to plant.
A little further from the main house, there were also a few low-rise chicken coops, pigsty, and cowshed.
“Uncle Gu, how much is this house?”
Hearing this, Gu Village Chief said, “No need for silver. We’ll give it to you. We don’t live in this house anymore. It’s been vacant for many years, it’s not worth much silver. Just live in it!”
Gu Shi quickly replied, “That won’t do. If you don’t accept silver, we won’t move in.”
Xingnong: “Uncle Gu, we can only live here with peace of mind if we buy it.”
Hearing this, Gu Zesen said, “Father, just accept it. When I return to the academy, I’ll go to the yamen and help Big Aunt get the land deed and house deed.”
“Then five taels of silver.” Gu Village Chief also knew Gu Shi’s personality. She just didn’t like owing people favors, so he quoted a compromise price.
