Xiao Zhu, standing by, truly felt happy for Aunt Tong. Seeing her stand there dumbfounded without a reaction, he quickly nudged her, "Aunt Tong, you should quickly accept."
Aunt Tong ca back to her senses, her eyes red. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and choked up, "Miss Mo, there’s no need for so much, really. You are willing to give an old body like mine steady work—that in itself is a great kindness to the Tong family."
Mo Yan smiled and said, "Aunt Tong, one or two pieces of silver a month is not too much, especially since the orchard is so large. Even when there’s not enough work for hiring others, you’ll have to clear the weeds and miscellaneous trees. It will be quite tiring then."
Xiao Zhu also persuaded her for a few sentences, and Aunt Tong, with tears in her eyes, finally accepted, though she still felt uneasy inside, thinking her labor wasn’t worth one or two pieces of silver.
With the matter settled, Aunt Tong couldn’t stop worrying about her ho, so she was anxious to return. Just as Mo Yan was about to get up and see off the guest, Xin Er’s voice ca from outside the door, "Sister, do we have visitors at ho?"
As soon as Xin Er finished speaking, she walked into the main room, holding Zhenzhen’s hand, followed by Aunt Lixiu’s nephew. They had all gone to the embroidery workshop to deliver the embroidery and had just co back from the street.
"Hello, Little Brother Zhu, and greetings to you, ma’am."
Seeing Xiao Zhu and Aunt Tong, Xin Er and Zhenzhen hurriedly greeted them politely.
Aunt Tong looked at the siblings who seed like little immortals and liked them a lot. But looking at the delicate and pretty Xin Er, she felt a sense of déjà vu. It wasn’t just this young girl who seed familiar; she had felt the sa when she first saw Miss Mo too—as though she resembled soone.
After thinking hard, Aunt Tong still couldn’t figure out who the sisters resembled. It wasn’t until she walked out of the Mo Family house that she suddenly slapped her palm and widened her eyes, her voice filled with a strange intonation, "They resemble her!"
Xiao Zhu, sowhat dumbfounded, asked, "Aunt Tong, what are you talking about?"
Aunt Tong, preoccupied, shook her head and muttered to herself, "It must just be a coincidence!"
Confused, Xiao Zhu shook his head and followed her.
A couple of days later, Aunt Tong’s family moved to the orchard and settled into the two rooms that had been built not long ago. With the two orchards adjacent to each other, it was quite convenient for the Tong family to take care of them.
Aunt Tong indeed dedicated herself to the work. After getting to know the orchard, she suggested that Mo Yan plant hawthorns around the orchard to preserve the soil and water, and additionally, to protect the fruit trees from thieves once they began bearing fruit.
Without much consideration, Mo Yan accepted her suggestion and hired many villagers to dig up hawthorns from the mountains to densely plant around the orchard. When the fruit seedlings grew larger, they could also release the chickens from the Space to roam, without fear of them running away.
Moreover, these hawthorns wouldn’t just be planted around the orchard; she also wanted to plant a circle around the new house to protect against wild beasts and any ne’er-do-wells.
With Aunt Tong’s family looking after the orchard, Mo Yan completely beca a hands-off shopkeeper, visiting only occasionally to water the fruit seedlings with Spirit Spring Water. The new house also progressed into the decoration phase. With fewer things to manage, Mo Qingze could handle it alone without Mo Yan worrying.
Furthermore, as things quieted down at Lao Mo’s House, and with the examples set by the likes of Wang Dali, the villagers who were envious of the Mo Family’s fortunes no longer dared to harbor ill intentions. Without these troubles, Mo Yan lived a very leisurely and comfortable life.
"Yan girl, here are the revised blueprints from Mu’s Shop; take a look and see if there’s anything else that needs changing."
Lizhong returned from Mu’s Shop and imdiately handed over a stack of blueprints to Mo Yan.
There were about forty blueprints in total, all for furniture like tables, chairs, beds, and cabinets. The outlined patterns on them were simple and elegant without being monotonous. Mo Yan carefully reviewed them and finally nodded in satisfaction, "Grandfather Li, these are very good. Let them go ahead according to these!"
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