Country Maiden: Fields and Fortune

448, Unwilling (3 more)

The people who came to repair the house were quite numerous, reportedly over two hundred, but Xie Zhinuan didn’t bother to ask for specifics. She was only concerned with the completion of the house, the subsequent inspection, and settling the accounts. As for the number of workers, she didn’t care; she only interacted with the foreman.

Upon seeing Xie Zhinuan, the foreman was both polite and flattering, “Miss Xie has arrived. There is still some time before the auspicious hour, so we might discuss your requirements!”

“Hmm!”

Xie Zhinuan’s demands were neither particularly numerous nor few.

They were trivial but critical, and the foreman listened with great care and attention.

He had worked with Xie Zhinuan once before and found her to be extremely generous and amiable. As long as they met her requirements, she settled the wages promptly and would often pay extra.

“I was thinking of digging a cellar. Do you think that’s possible?”

“Certainly, certainly, Miss. Rest assured, we will take care of it neatly and adequately!”@@novelbin@@

The cellar was something Xie Zhinuan truly intended to use as a cellar, for storing wine and such.

The entire mansion was square-shaped, and the construction plan was roughly a square divided into four parts: one part was designated for the servants’ quarters. The remaining three parts were for the construction of the main residence, guest court, smaller courtyards, storehouse, garden, fishpond, thus everything was planned out without any space wasted.

When the auspicious time arrived, Xie Zhinuan dug a few strokes into the ground at the spot indicated by the feng shui master, followed by setting off firecrackers.

With a shout from the foreman, everyone sprang into action.

Xie Zhinuan called the foreman over, “I should have offered you all a meal, but since you’ve brought your own food, how about this? Tell everyone that I’m not preparing a meal. Instead, I’ll give each of you one hundred wen to buy whatever you’d like to eat. Does that work?”

“Yes, yes, thank you, Miss Xie!”

Having such a courteous employer was absolutely wonderful.

Moreover, if this mansion turned out to be impressive, they could potentially get more jobs in the future.

According to the contract, the house had to be finished within a month and a half: with the beams raised and the tiles laid. The timeline was extremely tight, and the foreman planned to hire a few dozen more people to dig the foundations. Once the foundations were dug, building the walls would be faster, especially since they were using blue bricks.

Xie Zhinuan was gracious, and her kindness gave the laborers inexhaustible strength.

After standing for a while, Xie Zhinuan had Duobao take her to check on the progress of the mountain land development and to see if there were any issues.

Along the way, Xiaoyuan asked many questions, which Zhinuan answered patiently. The carriage was warmed by a brazier, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant.

Frontier

Military camp.

Today was the day for Duobao to leave. He had thought about it for many days and knew that this trip was unavoidable.

Yuanbao had prepared his luggage well in advance. Having recuperated for several days, he was feeling much better. He had seen Yuanbao and the others training in Martial Arts and realized the gap between them and himself was vast.

Once, he had been their leader, the most skilled in Martial Arts. Yet, in just half a year, they had far surpassed him. He had asked Yuanbao about it, but Yuanbao wouldn’t say a word, only patting his shoulder and advising him to go to Fengping County and listen to Miss Xie’s commands attentively.

He suspected that their improvements in Martial Arts were related to Xie Zhinuan, but this was all conjecture.

No one could give him an answer.

Li Hengyi prepared some items for Duobao to take to Fengping County for Xie Zhinuan, along with a letter, “Make sure it gets to Zhinuan!”

Li Hengyi said, looking at Duobao.

The items weren’t exceptionally valuable, but if Duobao failed his task again, he would not be given another chance in the future.

“Yes!” Duobao responded.

Li Hengyi waved his hand, having Yuanbao see Duobao off.

This time to Fengping County, Duobao was going alone with not much luggage, just a small bundle, two Brocade Boxes, and a letter.

Chapter 450