Country Maiden: Fields and Fortune

35, Settling Down

With these thoughts, Old Lady Ni could not help but feel some emotion. People are so pragmatic, always putting themselves first.

“Someone is coming into the village!”

Old Lady Ni turned her head and immediately recognized Donghua. She quickly stood up.

Donghua had the mule cart stop and jumped down, “Grandma!”

Xie Zhinuan lifted the curtain and looked at Old Lady Ni with a smile, sweetly calling out, “Grandma!”

“It’s good that you’re back!”

She bid farewell to the villagers and went home.

Upon arriving home, she had Xie Zhinuan move all the things into her own room, then went to boil water for tea, also asking the neighbors to help call for Old Yuan.

Xie Zhinuan moved everything into the room and let Routuan out to relieve itself before going into the kitchen to help with cooking.

“Are you going to keep a little dog?”

“Mhm, it looked pretty cute so I bought it to keep me company in the future!”

Old Lady Ni pursed her lips and in the end didn’t try to persuade her out of anything.

This child had her own mind; she was not someone Old Lady Ni could influence!

Old Yuan came back, and Donghua quietly whispered to him a few words, all messages from Yuan Cheng, almost all concerning Xie Zhinuan.

Xie Zhinuan was well aware of this, but she did not care.

Everything under heaven thrives in pursuit of benefit; it comes and goes for profit.

In the afternoon, Xie Zhinuan took Routuan outside. Standing at the entrance, she surveyed the village, noting that many households lived in thatched cottages. Like Old Yuan’s residence, made of green bricks and black tiles, there were only three or four households, pitifully few.

It seemed that wealthy families were not many after all.

“Hey!” Liuwang greeted from a distance with a beaming smile, approaching, “You’re back!”

He had thought that Xie Zhinuan would not return, which upset him greatly, to the point where he had no interest in escorting caravans anymore.

Fortunately, she had come back.

“Mhm,” Xie Zhinuan responded indifferently and then asked Liuwang, “Is it difficult to register as a resident in this village?”@@novelbin@@

“Not at all. You just need to see the Village Head and the clan leader. As long as they agree and you go to the Governor’s Office in town to get your household registration taken care of, you’ll be one of us from Xiaohe Village. But you’ll need silver for bribes. Do you have any silver? If not, I could…”

“I have!” Xie Zhinuan said softly before asking, “How much can one tael of silver buy?”

“A lot, you have to know, many families cannot save up even one tael of silver in a whole year!” Liuwang explained, wanting to tell Xie Zhinuan that he had more than a hundred taels of silver.

“Oh…”

Routuan ran over, and Xie Zhinuan squatted down to embrace it, gently rubbing its head before holding it in her arms.

“Is this the dog you’re keeping? It’s really cute!”

Liuwang made small talk, to which Xie Zhinuan somewhat helplessly responded, “…”

Holding Routuan, “I’m heading back home now!”

Liuwang wanted to say something, but Xie Zhinuan, carrying Routuan, had already left.

“…” Exhaling gently, Liuwang watched Xie Zhinuan’s retreating figure, his eyes full of infatuation, tinged with some lascivious thoughts.

The next day, Donghua left, and Xie Zhinuan thought about visiting Doctor Wang’s house, giving the silver as agreed, then going to the Village Head’s house to discuss the household registration. Old Yuan naturally agreed, accompanied Xie Zhinuan to Doctor Wang’s house, and the silver was handed over as he was present.

Xie Zhinuan did not want to linger, and as she was leaving, Wang Shaoyu emerged from the house and called out gently, “Miss Xie!”

He also called out to Old Yuan.

Despite harboring romantic notions, he remained a polite and gentle young master, hiding his feelings very well and courteously saying, “Take care!”

On the way back, Xie Zhinuan mentioned that when visiting the Village Head and the clan leader, she should bring gifts, not go empty-handed. After all, her origins were unknown, and if she wanted to settle down and register in Xiaohe Village, she should at least win over the Village Head and the clan leader first.

Although she was a cold person by nature, she understood the ways of the world well enough.

“That makes sense what you’re saying!”

Back at home, she organized her belongings and took some fabric with her to the Village Head’s home.

Chapter 37