Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 1285 - 402: Omen, The Death of Master Du Jie_3

Chapter 1285: Chapter 402: Omen, The Death of Master Du Jie_3

Having bid farewell to my parents and sisters, along with the four maids we had purchased who also left with them, the house seemed to have emptied by half. Mo Yan initially felt somewhat uncomfortable, but as household matters increased, she gradually stopped missing her two sisters.

One day, while Mo Yan was checking recent expenditures, Yuan Yue knocked and came in, saying, "Miss, there’s a master at the gate claiming to be from Bao Hua Temple. He says he has important matters to discuss with you. Would you like to meet with him?"

"Bao Hua Temple?" Mo Yan set down her pen, slightly puzzled. "Please invite him into the main hall, and I’ll be there shortly."

"Yes!" Yuan Yue replied and turned to leave.

Mo Yan stood up and, after making sure her attire was proper, she headed to the main hall and asked another maid, Er Mei, to serve tea and refreshments.

Soon, Yuan Yue led in a monk dressed in grey monk’s robes. The monk appeared to be no younger than in his forties.

Upon entering, he pressed his palms together in a greeting to Mo Yan and then took a small wooden box from the small bundle he was carrying.

The appearance and material of the small wooden box were very similar to the one Master Du Jie had given Mo Yan that day. Seeing this box, Mo Yan’s eyelid twitched violently, and a bad premonition suddenly rose within her.

Indeed, what the middle-aged monk said next confirmed Mo Yan’s suspicion!

"Benefactor Mo, the Great Master Uncle has recently passed away. Following the Great Master Uncle’s last wishes, my teacher has sent me to deliver this item to Benefactor Mo," said the middle-aged monk, struggling to hold back the tears in his eyes as he placed the small wooden box on the table.

Mo Yan stared blankly at the small wooden box, unwilling to believe the truth of what she heard. The day she saw Master Du Jie, he looked younger than Abbot Liaokong, not at all like someone nearing death. Now, in just a few short days, how could he suddenly be gone?

"Birth, aging, illness, and death are the laws of nature, the natural order of all things. The Great Master Uncle has left behind no regrets. Now, having accomplished his merit, serving beside the Buddha was his heartfelt wish. I hope Benefactor Mo will restrain her grief," the middle-aged monk advised, seeing no response from Mo Yan. He let out a sigh and slowly exited the main hall.

Mo Yan, who was grateful for Master Du Jie’s kindness in bestowing the Shariputra, found it hard to accept the news of his passing. It took her a long time to regain her composure.

Looking at the inconspicuous wooden box on the table, a glimmer appeared in her eyes, and her hands trembled slightly as she held it. She stared at the small wooden box for a long time before placing it inside Space.

In Space, Xuetuan silently received the wooden box and placed it with the wooden box previously given by Master Du Jie, and for the first time, a trace of moisture appeared in Snail’s eyes...

The death of Master Du Jie plunged Mo Yan into dejection for several days, until domestic matters accumulated to a great extent and she could no longer ignore them, compelling her to muster some spirit.

Currently, the houses for another batch of retired soldiers had been completed in the orchard, and a small courtyard in the medicine garden had also been repaired. In a few days, when the damp within the houses had dissipated, Mu Bo would move in, and those children rescued from Jinxiu Textile would be brought over to live there, learn from Mu Bo, and help manage the medicine garden together.

The second batch of retired soldiers was about to arrive, and Mo Yan entrusted this matter to Uncle Huang, asking him to make arrangements. This batch consisted of a thousand men; three hundred would be assigned to manage the winery, two hundred added to the orchard, and the remaining five hundred were all allocated to the estate to take responsibility for its thousand acres of land in the future.

After Uncle Huang left, Lizhong came in carrying two large bamboo baskets, which contained several dozen small porcelain bottles. He placed the baskets on the table and took out one bottle after another, placing them in front of Mo Yan: "Yan girl, these are the samples I took from the wine jars. Take a look and see if they’re fit for bottling."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yan casually picked up a small porcelain bottle and removed the stopper, instantly smelling a fragrance of wine mixed with apple. Her eyes brightened, and she took a small sip, closing her eyes to savor it. Then, she opened her eyes with a smile and said, "This batch of apple wine is of superior quality, Grandfather Li can proceed with bottling."

Bottling meant transferring the qualified wine into specially made bottles. The shape of the apple wine jars, for instance, was designed like apples, which looked novel and exquisite.

This batch of wine was the first, and no one was clearer than Mo Yan on how to differentiate the quality. Hence, she took on the role of quality inspector, assessing the quality and sorting it into superior, medium, and inferior batches. Naturally, the price of the superior batch differed from that of the medium batch, while the inferior batch, being unqualified, would ultimately be discarded.