The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 540 - 529: Decision

Chapter 540: Chapter 529: Decision

The agent immediately said, "Sir, I think the young master and the young ladies made sense, and the matters of ghosts and spirits are often rumors that spread through the neighborhood, so they may not be true."

But they may not necessarily be false either.

Mr. Zhuang glanced at the agent and said, "Please continue to help us look for other suitable houses."

"Alright, sir, please follow me."

Their time wasn’t abundant, and Yizhou City was unlike Luojiang County Town; it was vast, and even just the two or three streets near the prefectural school were no small area.

To find the empty ones that met their requirements was quite a task.

They looked at three in a row and were not very satisfied; either too small to live comfortably, too noisy, or the price too high.

The agent led them back towards the previous street to check another one when he couldn’t help stopping at an alley, saying to the group, "Sirs, please have a look inside, the one at the very end is the house I mentioned earlier. Shall we take a look?"

Mr. Zhuang frowned, turned his head to look at the main road not far away, and then forward to the gate of the prefectural school.

He then looked down, met the shining eyes of his three disciples, and hesitated in his refusal.

True, he did not want trouble, but deliberately avoiding it could send the wrong message to his three disciples.

Mr. Zhuang shook his head with a smile and waved his hand, "Fine, since we’ve come this far, let’s take a look."

The agent eagerly led them forward and enthusiastically introduced to Mr. Zhuang, "Sir, look, this alley is spacious, quite convenient for carriages to enter and exit, and it’s quiet due to the distance from the main road, yet not too far from it."

"Once on the main road, just follow it to the prefectural school, so the houses here are always in demand, especially this one." The agent opened the door for them to have a look inside.

Upon entering, there was a large Chinese parasol tree, casting shade over half of the small courtyard, offering a cool environment.

The courtyard was not small, with a stable, kitchen, and all the necessary furniture, and everything was quite elegant. Even Mr. Zhuang, who was initially not very satisfied, was somewhat moved at this point.

Seeing their reactions, the skilled agent immediately said, "To let the sir know, because the house is secluded and spacious, close to the prefectural school, and only separated by a wall from the Yan Family, it has always been in high demand by students from the school."

Mr. Zhuang asked, "Who has rented it for the past two years? The courtyard doesn’t look like it couldn’t be rented out."

"It has been empty for half a year now. Before that, a merchant rented it, and even before that, a student from the prefectural school."

Mr. Zhuang asked with a smile, "Did they all see ghosts?"

"No, the merchant moved out after three months, put off by the rumors of bad luck, and the student said he heard crying, but who has really seen a ghost?" the agent said. "There are other people living nearby, perhaps the crying he heard came from another house, right?"

Mr. Zhuang then turned to look at his three disciples and asked with a smile, "Do you all like it?"

Bai Shanbao and Manbao nodded vigorously, while Bai Erlang looked around hesitantly without moving.

Everyone turned their attention to him.

Bai Erlang asked, fingering his hands, "But what if there really are ghosts?"

Manbao said, "Then shall we go meet her?"

"All right, let’s settle on this house," Mr. Zhuang decided promptly and said to the agent, "However, we’re looking for a short-term lease, only about half a year."

"No problem, no problem," the agent was pleased. "The landlord is very easy to talk to. As long as it’s over three months, he’ll rent it out."

As long as he could rent the house for more than three months, the landlord had agreed to give him the first month’s rent as a reward, and from the tenants’ side, he would also get a commission.

The delighted agent led them back to the agency to take care of the paperwork. After they paid, he handed them the keys with a smile, "Rest assured, sirs, I’ll go and notify the Land Officer. You just settle in without worry."

Seeing his thoroughness, Mr. Zhuang gave a bow and said with a smile, "Thank you for your efforts."

"Not at all, not at all. Oh, and there’s no well in the courtyard," the agent said. "If you need water, there’s a man with a handcart at the entrance of the alley on the south side; just call him, or you can pick up water yourselves. The well is about a mile and a half to the south of the alley."

All three youngsters mentally exclaimed "that’s far" and decisively chose to buy water.

Mr. Zhuang also thought it best to buy water, and that task would be left to Daji.

They went back to the inn first to pick up Zhou SiLang and the carriage, then returned to their newly rented small courtyard.

Being older, Mr. Zhuang was exhausted from the day’s travels and barely moved after the three youngsters cleaned a chair for him.

Daji had already gone to fetch water, Zhou SiLang rolled up his sleeves to clean the house, and Manbao along with the other two naturally rolled up their sleeves to help.

It seemed the homeowner came by to tidy up occasionally, but the tables and chairs still had a good layer of dust; hence, everything, including the bedding, had to be cleaned thoroughly.

But since they were planning to stay for a while, they probably also needed to buy new quilts.

It was only March, and the weather was still cool; they definitely needed to use quilts.

With five people working together, by the time Mr. Zhuang opened his eyes from resting, it was already dark, and Daji had returned with dinner. The house had been cleaned, and even new cotton quilts had been purchased.

Zhou SiLang whispered to Manbao, "It’s a good thing our parents gave us money before we came, or it would’ve been too costly to buy all these things."

Manbao indifferently said, "I have money."

Zhou SiLang asked curiously, "How much money do you actually have?"

"I won’t tell you. Anyway, it’s enough," Manbao thought for a moment then said, "This time, Bai Shan and Bai Er are using their own money for the scholarly journey. Their family didn’t give them any money."

Zhou SiLang was astonished, "You all earn that much, huh? But wait, even though you earn the same, you only have half as much as they do, right?"

After all, Manbao had to give half of her earnings to the family.

Only then did Manbao become surprised, "Yeah, I forgot, I also turned in half to the family. They have more money than me."

Zhou SiLang: ... He turned and walked away.

Manbao followed behind him, trying to console, "Silang, don’t worry. Even if I only have half, it’s still enough. We can just spend a little less if we have to."

"Okay, we’ll spend less if we have to. Speaking of which, you guys go and have fun tomorrow, I won’t be joining you."

"Where are you going?"

"I’m going to check out the prices in the Yizhou City’s pharmacies. I brought a bag of ligustrum seeds and dried ginger from home. I want to see how much they sell for here."

Last year, wild ligustrum trees along with the fifteen cultivated ones on their mountain had all fruited, and with Lu Zhi’s expertise, the family processed the herbs even more proficiently, producing not only a larger quantity but also higher quality ligustrum seed.

Their family’s mature ginger, along with the ginger grown in Manbao’s small farm, had not only taken over the market in their county but also the neighboring one, with the surplus sold to the pharmacies.

However, last winter, Manager Zheng of the pharmacy had driven down the price.

He told Manbao that although they were friends, business is business.

So this time when Zhou SiLang left home, he brought these two items with him, wanting to check the prices in Yizhou.

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