CHAPTER 175: CHAPTER 175: HOUSEWARMING CELEBRATION

After Jiang Hu entrusted the task of delivering vegetables to Qixi, the household chores and farming duties significantly lightened, giving him at least two extra hours a day to manage family affairs.

Not long after the autumn harvest, the tax collectors arrived, and it was the old acquaintance Zhang Hu. Fortunately, Mr. Xie wasn’t with them this time, allowing Jiang Hu to breathe a sigh of relief, much to Zhang Hu’s amusement.

This year, the rice harvest was abundant yet reasonable. Zhang Hu couldn’t help but express his envy repeatedly while routinely asking Jiang Hu if he wanted to sell any grain.

Of course, even when he was turned down, he didn’t mind.

However, this year, people in Fu’an Village sold less grain mainly because they had earned some silver from selling a lot of corn and sorghum earlier, so they wanted to keep more at home.

Just as the tax collectors left, the seed buyers from nearby came.

With the intent to establish united and friendly relations with neighboring villages, everyone kept the best seeds they needed for themselves for next year and sold off the rest as much as possible.

As for other grains, although good, their yields weren’t as high as those specially set aside, so there was no need to deceive anyone about their quality.

Luckily, everyone was quite satisfied. Those who came late and couldn’t buy any seeds expressed their regret, asking to reserve some for them next year.

As autumn set in, the mornings and evenings became chilly, though the midday sun was still nice.

Now, Jiang Hu had plenty of time each day to work. Being tall and strong with nimble hands, his mother-in-law cut sweet potato vines while he dug up the sweet potatoes, occasionally carrying them back home.

Little Lucky Star and Iron Egg dutifully herded the ducklings and goslings to the water channels daily and rounded them up with the chickens by dusk.

As the house neared completion, Jiang Hu made a special trip to town to order a batch of custom-made furniture. There wasn’t much, but every room needed a bed.

The girls’ rooms each had a dressing table, and he even spent a fortune on three copper mirrors!

The boys’ rooms, of course, needed bookshelves and desks.

Additionally, there were stools, tables, and chairs—nothing fancy, just sturdy and practical.

These simple pieces were easy to make and on schedule.

Not only that, but Jiang Hu also picked an auspicious date and personally notified Shopkeeper Liu, Old Master Liu, and Old Man Ding, that November 1st was suitable for moving in.

By then, with the house built and the furniture moved in, they could relocate.

Before this, there was still much to do in the fields; after digging the sweet potatoes, they needed to cultivate rapeseed seedlings and plant wheat.

The only thing Jiang Hu felt embarrassed about was Liu Ze, the once pampered young master, who now lived like one of their own children.

He recalled that the first time he saw Liu Ze, despite looking sickly and pale, he exuded nobility in his fine clothes.

Now, in the mornings, Liu Ze joined them in the fields pulling weeds, cleaning freshly dug sweet potatoes, and even dared to catch insects.

Albeit he didn’t directly look at them, using a long stick to pick up the bugs and placing them into a bamboo tube, which he held far away, avoiding looking at it.

Occasionally, he helped sweep the floor, chop pigweed, feed the pigs, and even washed his own clothes.

Jiang Hu and his mother-in-law advised him to focus on studying, and if time allowed, perhaps even take the exam to become a scholar.

After all, Old Master Liu had previously mentioned that Liu Ze tested to become a child scholar at the age of four or five—an absolute genius!

Unfortunately, he was a talent that Heaven seemed to envy.

However, their persuasion seemed futile as Liu Ze didn’t invest much more time in reading.

In the end, Jiang Hu subtly reminded Qixi to inform Old Master Liu of Liu Ze’s current situation when visiting town.

However, there were seemingly no changes. Old Master Liu felt it was enough for Liu Ze to grow up well; nothing else mattered.

Apart from Liu Ze, the biggest change in the family would likely be Jiang Yu.

After half a year of schooling, he’s transformed remarkably.

His once lively and impulsive nature gradually matured and stabilized, and upon returning home, he began teaching Iron Egg to read, becoming more and more like a big brother.

On the last day of October, the Jiang family ceased their busy lives and went to town for a big shopping trip early in the morning.

Their guests were few; Jiang Hu invited people from the Tongfu Restaurant, along with Little Ding’s father, who owned the Big Water Buffalo.

Besides that, there were only Liu Ze’s grandfather and villagers invited.

The housewarming was a big event, and acquaintances would come to congratulate them. However, not every family in the village would come in full; typically, one member would represent the family, and only those with the closest ties would send more people.

Having been in Fu’an Village for several years, probably only Liu Yang’s family and the village chief’s family, being closest to the Jiang family, would come in full.

So, calculating all this, combined with a few aunts Second Aunt enlisted to help cook, preparing for up to ten tables of guests should suffice.

Ten tables aren’t much; the family already had chickens, fish, rabbits, and specially saved eggs.

There’s no need to sell much, but Jiang Hu couldn’t make up his mind on the purchases without his wife’s guidance.

Conveniently, today Liu Ze was also asked to visit his grandfather, hopefully resting for the night and returning with him to Fu’an Village by tomorrow, allowing them to prepare more winter supplies.

For this reason, Second Aunt especially arranged food for Liu Ze today and tomorrow morning, fearing he might find the family’s cooking unaccustomed and suffer.

Liu Ze, having been with the Jiang family for two or three months, behaved so well that Second Aunt treated him as her own child, being of similar age to Jiang Yu.

Of course, she only thought this in her heart, daring not to speak it aloud, lest she be laughed at for wishful thinking.

At this time, it was already early winter with limited fresh vegetables which the Jiang family mostly had, only buying some pork ribs, lotus roots, and, of course, wine.

This time, building the house on such a vast yard without spending a penny seemed like a windfall, so Jiang Hu wasn’t frugal about the housewarming banquet tomorrow.

It’s rare for such a happy occasion at home, so they naturally needed to celebrate joyfully.

The house was built for free, large enough that none could feel envious—who wouldn’t, with such good fortune!

Everyone just thought about keeping good relations with the Jiang family, especially with Little Lucky Star, which might bring some blessings in the future.

Didn’t the closely acquainted Liu family also prosper lately?

As the Jiang family improves, with Jiang Hu and Second Aunt’s kind hearts, who knows when they might even help the village?

With such thoughts, everyone was pleased; anyone familiar with the Jiang family congratulated them happily, while Jiang Hu and Second Aunt graciously thanked them.

Truly faces were full of the spring breeze.

The only concern, perhaps, was Little Lucky Star, who was both happy and slightly worried.

It was simply because everyone was so happy lately, all looking forward to moving into the new house.

Little Lucky Star didn’t want to dampen anyone’s spirits and planned to address other issues once they settled into the new home and everyone calmed down.