CH 120

Lu Junming had found a place to start the workshop in just a few days.

“Where is it?” Mo Yan asked anxiously.

Seeing her looking at him eagerly, Lu Junming was very relieved, “It’s at the south and used to be a woodworking shop. Its owner was getting old so he sold the place.”

“How much did it cost?”

“It was cheap for such a large courtyard, even in a rural area, only eighty silver taels.”

It would’ve taken a year for their store to save up that much money.

“Let’s go take a look later!”

“Okay, let’s settle Chi Jie’s residence as well.”

After eating, the three of them got into Chi Jie’s carriage and went to the workshop. The boy driving the carriage was called Ze Wu, and was Chi Jie’s personal attendant. Not only did his name sound good, he also looked very handsome.

The carriage got off the main road and stopped at the southernmost part of the city. It was on a narrow dirt road, with wheat fields to the south and a large courtyard to the north.

What Lu Junming said was correct. The yard was very big, but there were living quarters to the north and open sheds to the east and west. There was randomly discarded wood inside.

He said, “In the future, this yard will become a warehouse, so we don’t have to store large quantities of goods in Ms. Hua’s yard anymore, and the godmother has to watch over them.”

“So you won’t rent godmother’s yard anymore?”

“Of course we will, but we’ll have to modify our previous contract.”

“Let’s tear down the storefront!” Mo Yan smiled happily.

“I’ve never seen anyone who is so happy that a shop is going to be demolished.”

“You can’t cook an omelette without breaking a few eggs!”

Now that they bought the place, it couldn’t be left empty. The first thing to do was to start cleaning and repairing it.

Lu Junming led them into a room, “I only cleaned it roughly. If people want to use these as living quarters, they’d have to be cleaned better. I’ll ask Chuzi to help later.”

The room was very big, but there was only one bed and one table inside. Chi Jie asked, “Are you letting me live here?”

Lu Junming nodded, “Isn’t it sufficient for you to live?”

“It’s too simple, there’s no furniture. I don’t dare to live alone in the wilderness, so you’ll have to accompany me.”

“Isn’t Ze Wu accompanying you?”

“He’s even more cowardly than me, and is useless except for serving tea.”

Ze Wu just came in with the luggage when he heard his master saying he was useless, “Why am I useless? Aside from serving tea, I can also drive, cook, and do laundry!”

Chi Jie turned his head and stared at him, and Ze Wu immediately shut up. Lu Junming said, “See, he can take care of you.”

“I can’t stay here by myself, I’ll get lonely! Ze Wu can’t read or play chess, and isn’t a good conversation partner. If you can’t come, how about letting Mo Yan accompany me?”

“I’ll come to see you. I’ll go back and tell my mother and bring some things over. This place is spacious, and my horse can have more space.” [1]

Lu Junming returned to Jiaolan Courtyard, and took Mo Yan back to the shop. Ze Wu cleaned up as Chi Jie stood at the door to get some fresh air.

The yard was so big that the walls couldn’t hide the outside world. Looking over them, you could see the large green wheat fields, putting one at ease.

Lu Junming went thereas gone for about two hours, and he came back when it was almost dark. He guided his horse, which was carrying goods. Chuzi followed behind, with two food boxes in his hands.

Chi Jie greeted him, “Why were you away for so long? I thought you wouldn’t come back!”

“How could I? You came all the way here for me. Tell Ze Wu to help move the things in.”

Chi Jie called for him, and Ze Wu immediately ran out to help move things in. Chuzi carried the two food boxes into the room and put them down, and then came out to help.

Lu Junming walked in with a bedroll in his arms, and Chi Jie quickly hid to the side. Lu Junming said with faux disgust, “You should help me!”

Chi Jie dodged to the side again, “I can’t do manual labour like this.”

“Then you can go and make dinner!”

“Okay.” Chi Jie followed Lu Junming inside.

Chuzi asked Ze Wu, “Have the two of them known each other for a long time?”

“They’ve known each other for several years. When they were in the Upper Valley, they studied in the same academy, but they became very close last spring, when my young master fell off his horse.”

While the two of them were moving things in and settling the horse, inside the room, the two young masters were already drinking and chatting.

“Junming, in the Upper Valley, although I don’t have to worry about not being hungry, and there are people waiting on me, but they think I’m crazy. Here, I only know you…”

“In my eyes, you’re also insane, talking nonsense all day long.”

“In the future, you’ll know that every word I say is golden and worth a thousand silver taels.”

“Okay, then speak more, and let the yard be filled with gold, so we won’t have to bother to open a workshop here.”

Ms. Zhao was the only one left in Jiaolan Courtyard. Lu Junming was worried and asked Chuzi to return.

Lu Junming and Chi Jie were full and drunk, and fell asleep together. Ze Wu had no choice but to go to another place to rest.

They looked for craftsmen, repaired the rooms and bought utensils, and the workshop was very busy. Lu Junming supervised the work, and Chi Jie drew designs in his room, or the two would drink tea, play chess, and chat. In short, their days were very comfortable.

After the 15th day of the new year, Jiaolan Courtyard gradually became lively again. The girls in the city already considered it to be an excellent place to go. Ms. Zhao’s life became more interesting because of these girls.

These days, the spring breeze brought warmth and the sun was shining brightly, so Ms. Zhao took the girls to sit in the courtyard, chatting while embroidering and sewing clothes.

Suddenly, there was a sound on the door. She called Chuzi to take a look, but before he reached the door, it was opened from the outside.

Three dishevelled hooligans stood in the yard.

Chuzi stepped forward and blocked them, “What are you planning to do here?”

One of them said, “I heard this place sells clothing materials and teaches people how to embroider and sew clothes. We wanted to take a look.”

The girls gathered together one after another, and Ms. Zhao came over to say, “Gentlemen, I am the owner of Jiaolan Courtyard, and the people who come here are all ladies. I’m afraid it will be inconvenient for you.”

“I heard that clothing materials were sold here, but not that only women are allowed to. I have money, and want to buy good materials, so quickly bring them all out.”

Another hooligan said, “It’s too troublesome to take it out, it’d be much easier for us to just go in and pick the fabrics we want.”

The three of them agreed in unison, and were about to walk in. Ms. Zhao ordered Chuzi to take out the fabrics, but the three of them insisted on barging in. The girls in the courtyard went to hide one after another, and some of them had already hid in a side room.

Post-translation notes: I really think there needs to be a lot more Mo Yan action…as always, thank you for reading!

[1] The instantaneous change in response when Mo Yan is brought up. Damn Lu Junming, stop being so insecure.