Chapter 93: Two Yuan Yuans
“Of course.” Shi Tou understood and smiled, greeting the four to sit down. “We agreed on it. Eating with the family, why split into two tables?”
Ma Jieyong smiled awkwardly and quickly sat down with them.
The people on both sides weren’t very familiar, but with Shi Tou, the talkative one, there, the atmosphere at the dinner table was still lively.
After the meal, Shang Wan took the new house sketch drawn by Lu Chengjing and showed it to He SIZhi.
“Master He, take a look. Can it be built according to this blueprint?”
He SIZhi put down his tea bowl and took the blueprint to examine it carefully.
After Shi Tou brought the four people home, while it was still not dark, the master and disciples didn’t even unpack their luggage. They first circled the foundation of the old house, checked the salvaged materials that could be reused, and the red bricks and lime that Shang Wan had brought back, getting a clear picture of the general situation.
Now looking at the blueprint, He SIZhi pondered for a moment, pointed out several unreasonable places, looked up and asked, “Can this blueprint be modified?”
“Of course it can.” Shang Wan said, “Feel free.”
With permission, He SIZhi then took out a short thing like a charcoal pencil from his sleeve, with a dark green cloth cover on the outside so it wouldn’t dirty his hands when using it.
Relying on his experience, He SIZhi modified several eaves corners and connection points of the house, added a flue to the kitchen, marked the position of the heated wall, the position of the door opening, the internal partition settings… Although the drawing was rough, after his modifications, the places that Lu Chengjing had glossed over in the blueprint instantly became clear.
Ordinary bricklayers didn’t have He SIZhi’s skill. High wages indeed had their reason.
Shang Wan glanced at Lu Chengjing, who looked at the blueprint and spoke slowly, “Master He, have you studied drawing before?”
“The family was poor, where was there spare money to learn that?” He SIZhi put away the charcoal pencil and smiled, “These are all things I fiddled with myself. Rich families love this stuff, so I’m just catering to their tastes.”
Lu Chengjing inexplicably felt an arrow hit his knee.
Shang Wan held back her laughter and discussed a few house-building issues with He SIZhi. She kept asking until the topic of mud, when He SIZhi finally stopped and said amiably, “I use a family secret recipe.”
Meaning it wasn’t to be shared outside.
Shang Wan was just curious and asked. Seeing He SIZhi’s difficulty, she skipped the mud topic and talked about other things.
Night deepened, and after everyone washed up, they returned to the shed to sleep.
The next day, the sky turned fish-belly white at the horizon, and the rooster crowed loudly, waking the entire village.
Shang Wan yawned, rubbed her head on the shoulder of the person beside her, and muttered slightly disdainfully, “It’s bony.”
Lu Chengjing, who had just woken up: “…”
His mood instantly soured.
Noticing the change in the person’s breathing beside her, Shang Wan reached out and randomly touched Lu Chengjing’s face, asking in a slurred tone, “You’ve drunk so much medicine. Has your body had any changes?”
Lu Chengjing ignored the hand randomly touching his face, lowered his eyes to look at the person with half his face buried in the bedding, and calmly countered, “What changes?”
Shang Wan looked up at him, “Am I asking you or are you asking me?”
“When sitting or lying down, my legs don’t hurt anymore.” Lu Chengjing answered honestly, “However, my right hand still has no sensation.”
Shang Wan nodded lightly on his shoulder, “Hand tendons broken can’t be rushed; it needs slow treatment. Besides these changes?”
Lu Chengjing said seriously, “I sleep better than before, and my memory seems to have improved.”
His memory was good before, but not as good as now, almost photographic.
A guess flashed in Shang Wan’s mind: Could the spiritual spring water be transforming this guy’s brain?
She pressed, “Anything else?”
Lu Chengjing frowned slightly, “It seems… my strength has also increased a bit. Within a quarter of an hour after drinking the medicine, I can lift two Yuan Yuans with one hand.”
Thinking of her own child’s chubby little body, clear amusement flashed in Shang Wan’s eyes.
She asked, “What about after a quarter of an hour?”
Lu Chengjing said, “One Yuan Yuan.”
Shang Wan: “…”
Yuan Yuan, a new unit of measurement.
Perhaps feeling her parents mentioning her, a sweet, milky child’s voice came through, “Daddy! Mommy! Open!”
Small paws banged on the door panel.
The door panel couldn’t withstand her banging like that. Shang Wan quickly got up, picked up the little one and brought her in, placed her on the bedding, and reached for the neatly folded outer garment nearby to put on.
Yuan Yuan sat obediently, her two small hands folded in front of her, her big eyes following Shang Wan’s figure as they turned round and round.
Shang Wan turned to look at her, “Bedwetting again?”
Yuan Yuan: !!!
She didn’t say it, Aunt Xiao Huan didn’t say it either, how did Mommy know?!
Shang Wan bent down and pinched her little chubby face, chuckling lightly, “Good child, you have ‘bedwetting’ written all over your face.”
Yuan Yuan widened her eyes in surprise and quickly lifted her small hand to cover her chubby little face.
Cover it up, cover it up, Mommy can’t see!
Shang Wan was amused and laughed out loud. Even Lu Chengjing couldn’t hold back his laughter. He propped himself up to sit and touched the little one’s head.
Yuan Yuan puffed her cheeks, her little head unable to figure it out: How did Mommy and Daddy know she wet the bed?
Xiao Hui stared expressionlessly at Yuan Yuan: Is this your reason for disturbing a wolf’s sleep?
Yuan Yuan reached out to pet it, about to have more friendly interaction, when her little body was suddenly picked up.
“Wash hands and eat breakfast.” Xiao Huan carried her to the wellside to wash hands. Liang Liang happened to be washing up too. Yuan Yuan immediately waved her short arms enthusiastically to greet the little brother, “Lots!”
Liang Liang was stunned. Was she calling him?
Xiao Huan explained while washing Yuan Yuan’s hands, “Yuan Yuan is calling you older brother.”
Meeting Yuan Yuan’s big, bright eyes, Liang Liang gripped the towel for washing his face tightly, nodded quickly, then poured out the water in the basin and left as if fleeing.
Yuan Yuan scratched her little head in confusion. What was wrong with the little brother?
After breakfast, He SIZhi and his disciples didn’t delay a moment and took their tools to work.
Shang Wan and Shi Tou brought out the preliminarily processed herbs together and spread them separately on stone slabs to dry.
Sun-drying was also a step in processing.
Lu Chengjing steadfastly practiced writing with his left hand. Even if his right hand would heal, he had nothing else to do, so practicing calligraphy to pass the time was fine.
“Sis, I’m going to the field to check.” Shi Tou shouldered the hoe, preparing to turn over the land he had reclaimed at home again.
Today the sun would definitely be good, perfect for turning the soil underneath to sun it.
Villagers said letting the sun expose it more would make vegetables and grains planted in the field less prone to disease later.
Xiao Huan tidied up the kitchen, then carried the wooden basin to the riverside to wash clothes, and chat with everyone along the way.
She discovered that the washing area by the river was really a great place to hear gossip. No need to ask specifically; as they chatted, she learned all the village happenings.
Shang Wan rarely had free time. After playing with Yuan Yuan and Liang Liang for a bit, she sat to the side, petting the wolf while checking the spiritual field in the space.
The bok choy was growing well. At this rate, it could be harvested and eaten in at most two more days.
Shang Wan calculated silently in her mind: From planting the bok choy to harvest, it took about ten days, meaning the time flow rate in the spiritual field was at least three times that of the outside world.
This was much slower than Shang Wan had expected.
The plan to get rich relying on the spiritual field seemed about to die in the womb.
