Chapter 67: Arrangements
Zhang Zhaodi stayed behind to settle Zhang Pandi and her daughter, as well as Zhang Yingdi and her husband, while Su Yaoguang and Jiang Jing went next door to tally the flowers.
Aunt Li, seeing how meticulously Su Yaoguang was looking, asked nervously, "Yao Guang girl, is this okay?"
Su Yaoguang glanced at a few baskets and said with a smile, "Auntie always does things well. Is this all there is? Is there more in the back?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Mrs. Fang replied from the side, "My mother was worried it wouldn’t meet your expectations, so she insisted on showing you first before collecting more. If you say it’s okay, we’ll call them over to bring the rest immediately."
"Then you collect them first, we’ll go back and tidy up to make some space to store these petals."
Su Yaoguang and Jiang Jing discussed the number of flower petals at home, realizing their cramped space was already full of people. Now only the kitchen and the outhouse were unoccupied, leaving no room for those petals.
"I have an idea, but I’m not sure if it would work." Zhang Zhaodi said, "Our place is too small, barely enough for people to squeeze in, but not for work. Now that we have some spare money, why don’t we see if the village head will rent us the old house by the river for a month? It’s shabby, but with some tidying up, we could use it. We can come back here to eat and sleep, while that house can be used for work."
"Does the house have sleeping rooms?" Scholar Wang asked.
"That house originally housed a family of seven, with three rooms in total. Later, that family became prosperous and the house was vacated. There are rooms, but the furniture is all broken and unusable."
"No matter, it’s only for twenty days, not for long, just having a place to stay is fine. My wife and I will stay over there, providing two benefits: it saves you from being cramped, and someone will be watching the place, preventing prying eyes." Scholar Wang spoke at length, then started coughing again. "It’s close to a water source, making it convenient to wash things. Besides, cramming all of us in here, even if just for twenty days, isn’t great. Since we’re renting a place, we should make full use of it and not waste it."
"Brother-in-law has a good head on his shoulders." Zhang Zhaodi said, "I only thought of renting the house for business, not that it could also house people. This way, we don’t have to be cramped. Daughter, I’ll go see the village head later, you find some people in the village to help with the cleanup. We need to get that place ready as quickly as possible; we can’t delay."
"Jing’er, go find Doctor Lin, ask him how the herbal arrangements are coming along. If he says they have been coordinated, give him your herbal list and ask him to help purchase them. Once he gets the herbs we need, we’ll give him a fee for his trouble. This way, someone is responsible for the herbs, and we don’t have to worry about it."
"What about us? What should we do?" Zhang Pandi asked.
"You prepare the ingredients; tonight we’ll have a reunion dinner and enjoy ourselves." Zhang Zhaodi said, "Little sister, you and your husband take a rest."
Zhang Pandi and her daughter, along with Zhang Yingdi and her husband, felt a bit awkward for not being able to help.
Seeing their expressions, Su Yaoguang said, "Second Aunt, Little Aunt, Uncle-in-law, cherish the leisure now; tomorrow we’ll start getting busy."
They laughed at her words.
Zhang Zhaodi went to see the village head to rent the house, and the head was very amicable, charging her only fifty cents.
After leaving the village head, Zhang Zhaodi went to find Carpenter Li. She asked him to make four sturdy big beds first, then ordered a big bathtub, a big table, several stools, and three cabinets. The three cabinets were for her, Su Yaoguang and Jiang Jing, and Zhou Wangshu.
Once Su Yaoguang saw the arrangements made on Zhang Zhaodi’s end, she immediately invited several diligent village women to clean the old house, and found a few strong villagers to build high walls there.
Zhang Zhaodi asked, "Daughter, building walls costs money, we’re only staying for a month, no need to spend so much. We can move the bed, but the wall can’t be moved."
"Uncle-in-law’s words reminded me." Su Yaoguang said, "We’re rushing to complete twenty days of work, won’t the villagers inquire? Instead of spending time dealing with them, it’s better to spend money to build tall walls and block them out, isolating their prying eyes. No worries, compared to the big order we have, this cost is nothing."
They hired ten people for the wall and couldn’t finish it today, needing a second day. Su Yaoguang agreed that payment would be made once completed, fifteen cents for each.
Five people were hired for cleaning, each receiving ten cents, and payment was cleared once the cleaning was done. The women were very pleased, asking Su Yaoguang to call them again if there’s work. Living in the village, besides selling eggs for money, they had no opportunity to earn money. Now earning money through cleaning, they couldn’t feel more exhilarated.
Today they couldn’t rush the goods; all the preparations exhausted them. From morning till night, they didn’t stop, yet the progress on the work front was zero.
Of course, once the initial flowers and herbs were prepared, no hurdles remained. Additionally, they had to retrieve the porcelain bottles they previously ordered.
In the evening, several families gathered together, their table laid with eight dishes and a soup. These were cooked by Zhang Pandi and Jia Chunni.
"I’m not sure if you’ll like it, have a taste. If it’s not good, I’ll make improvements next time." Zhang Pandi said cautiously.
"Improve what? It’s a blessing to have food, whoever complains will get a punch from me." Zhang Zhaodi waved her fist, mock-threatening Su Yaoguang.
Su Yaoguang knew this was all for show, also indicating her attitude, helping Zhang Pandi to relax and not be so tense.
Su Yaoguang quickly pleaded, "I wouldn’t dare! Cooking is tiring, Second Aunt and Cousin have prepared everything for us—it’s all we can do to be grateful!"
Zhang Yingdi also added, "I’m the worst at cooking, Second Sister is way better than me."
Zhang Pandi’s eyes started to moisten, and she smiled, "As long as you don’t mind."
Jia Chunni also breathed a sigh of relief.
Even now living at her aunt’s, with her aunt and cousin being so amiable—unlike her grandmother and uncles at home who’d beat or scold them—she still feared being disliked. If they deemed her unwelcome, and sent them back home, she and her mother would have to continue their laborious lives.
This place was so nice, with meat to eat, money to earn, living on refined wheat or white rice. Such a life she hadn’t seen since birth.
Zhang Pandi had excellent culinary skills, clearly someone who cooked regularly. After everyone ate for a while, they began discussing the work for tomorrow.
"Earlier we told the wicked mother-in-law of the second brother that we’d pay the second sister and Chunni twenty cents a day, but that was a lie. You’ll each earn fifty cents a day." Zhang Zhaodi said, "Do you think that’s reasonable? If not, we can negotiate further."