Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 1280 - 401 Abnormality, Yanyan’s Crisis_2

Chapter 1280: Chapter 401 Abnormality, Yanyan’s Crisis_2

Everyone knows that peach trees aren’t like pines or cypresses; they usually live for just twenty or thirty years, so a peach tree that survives for several hundred years or even longer would almost certainly be in a Feng Shui treasure land.

Peach Blossom Town was indeed such a treasure land; not only were the mountains and waters picturesque, but the people raised here were particularly good-looking. It goes without saying for the daughters—most had fair skin and delicate features—while the sons, too, had a feminine grace to their handsome features.

Luckily, the men here were inclined towards scholarly pursuits and were quite clever; nearly every household could boast a person of scholarly success. These accomplished individuals could easily find undemanding jobs, most of them traveling to Jing City to make a living, perhaps as teachers or accountants or the like, earning enough silver coins to comfortably support their families.

When Mo Yan first heard about Peach Blossom Town, she thought that these men, having never withstood the rain or worried about livelihoods, thus outshone others in appearance by far, possessing a tranquility and leisure unfamiliar to most.

Of course, these were not the main reasons that attracted the Mo Family to visit Peach Blossom Town.

"Sister, look, it really does seem that all the business here is done by women out in the open. There are hardly any men on the streets."

Two horse-drawn carriages proceeded one after the other on the not-so-spacious streets. By now, night had completely fallen, yet the shops in Peach Blossom Town remained open. Xin Er, lifting a corner of the carriage curtain, couldn’t stop looking out, surprised to see a continuous stream of women back and forth, even those soliciting business were women.

"Didn’t we talk about it before coming here? The men here focus on studying to achieve scholarly honors; it’s mainly the women who take care of household chores and work to support the family." Coming from a modern society where gender equality prevails and women also need to work to earn a living, Mo Yan obviously adapted quicker to this kind of situation.

The economic base determines the superstructure everywhere, and in Peach Blossom Town, the sons depend on their mothers and wives to study and attain scholarly status; for this reason, the status of women here is much higher than in other places. Some bold and unrestrained women even have husbands who must yield to their wives and abide by their rules.

It was precisely because of this that Peach Blossom Town had a very good reputation within the vicinity of Jing City.

Peach Blossom Town was small, with only two long streets aside from the residential area—one where villagers from nearby set up stalls to sell vegetables and food, and another lined with sundry shops, teahouses, inns, and restaurants.

Although the town’s permanent population wasn’t large, the number of villages under its jurisdiction was considerable, resulting in a good deal of daily foot traffic. Plus, being one of the main routes into Jing City, countless merchants and travelers stopped here for a break. Engaging in small business here to support a family wasn’t difficult.

The carriages did not stop, eventually arriving at one of the two inns in Peach Blossom Town. The inn was large, capable of accommodating two large groups of over a hundred merchants each, even during the busiest season, there was no worry about a shortage of rooms.

The Mo Family hadn’t booked any rooms in advance, and since it wasn’t the peak season, after comparing both inns, they chose the one further from the street. They smoothly secured three top-floor rooms. The room rates were not cheap, with a top-floor room costing 300 wen per night, which was forty to fifty wen more expensive than in Jing City.

After a bumpy afternoon in the carriage, the family was quite tired. Once they arrived in their rooms, they asked the waiter to bring hot water for baths, had dinner, and then went to sleep. Before sleeping, Mo Yan did not forget to release the Six Beasts, which helped them sleep more soundly, the only downside being that she couldn’t allow them to appear in front of others.

The next morning, Mo Yan stowed the Six Beasts back into the Space, and after freshening up, she left the room to join her family for breakfast in the main hall. Breakfast consisted of steamed buns, buns filled with chicken broth, millet porridge, and several dishes of pickled vegetables.

The steamed buns, mixed with buckwheat, were slightly sweet and soft; the small soup buns, bite-sized, were exceptionally savory; the millet porridge was fragrant, sweet, and tender, with a very nice texture, and even the unassuming pickled vegetables had a unique flavor. The Mo Family enjoyed the meal greatly, quickly consuming most of it.

At this point, the merchants who had entered the inn late the previous night also began to come downstairs in succession for breakfast, soon filling up the entire hall.

This group of merchants was quite large, nearly two hundred. They were robust, with deep-set features, and with attire and accessories that did not resemble those of Central Plains folks. The language they spoke was incomprehensible to Mo Yan, who couldn’t help but be curious, taking a few extra glances.