Painter

Chapter 170 Nineteen: New House

The two pulled the grass and cut the vines, chatted for a while in the dilapidated pavilion, and left along the original path of Kusama.

The old door creaked and closed again, and the broken lock was hung back again, guarding the abandoned garden that the thief didn't even bother to patronize.

The next day, Chen Haochu introduced Li Chan to get in touch with Wai Lang Yongmenzhou, a member of the Department of Household Affairs, and finalized the lease of the abandoned garden.

Speaking of which, in Yujing City, every inch of land is expensive, and there are others who have taken a fancy to this garden in Guangzhaifang, but after inquiring, they know that when the General's Mansion was built, Yuan Jian, the Sitian Supervisor, was walking by the garden. He stopped and watched for a long while, squinted his eyes to look at the sky, and said that the location of this garden not only violated the evil spirit of Yinjian, but also intersected with the evil spirit of Wujidu, which made the evil worse.Although few people could understand what those ghosts were, but since Yuan Jianzheng said that this place was a vicious place, who would want to live here?

Therefore, Yuan Jianzheng's few words turned this abandoned garden into a tasteless one.Rich merchants looked down on it, and ordinary people couldn't afford the repair fee, so it was abandoned for more than ten years.

Li Chan paid 110 four taels for the first year and leased the abandoned garden.When Wai Lang, a member of the household department, learned that the Gyeonggi tour envoy wanted to repair the abandoned garden, he enthusiastically recommended his nephew who worked as the head of the Ministry of Industry, but was declined by Li Chan.

After finishing the matter of dismantling the garden, Li Chan went to the Ministry of Rites again, handed over the documents from Shen Zha Si Youjin, verified his authenticity, and applied for the examination of Qianyuan Academy in the next spring as Li Dan of Qingling in Lizhou.

Walking back and forth, the past two days.

On the third day after entering Yujing, Li Chan took a scroll alone, pushed open the old door again, and entered the abandoned garden.

The abandoned garden is not big, covering an area of ​​about [-] mu. There are four homesteads, one old locust tree, one chess pavilion and one dry pond.

If this abandoned garden is to be reorganized and repaired, it will take at least a few days just to weed and clean.But when the painting scroll was unfolded, Song Wuji, the fire spirit, got into the weeds, and with a breath, the flames blazed.

The fire came fiercely, and then went out quickly, turning the weeds all over the garden into ashes, but the old locust tree and wisteria were not damaged at all.The bricks and tiles piled up in the garden and the bluestone in the dry pool have regained their luster after a fire.

All the monsters applauded, but the black donkey kept screaming with its neck straight, unwilling to let a garden of delicious food disappear in a blink of an eye.

In the following days, Li Chan lived in the mansion in Cangmi Lane to the south, and drew the blueprints for repairing the garden.

Under the cover of the mirage, the monsters worked day and night, building walls and pillars, adding bricks and tiles.

Carloads of beech and fir trees were transported into the garden. Although the nearby people were surprised that the ruined abandoned garden had an owner, they didn't know the changes in the garden.

But as the weather got colder and the locust leaves withered, several black tiles and hard hilltops gradually emerged from the old walls of the abandoned garden.

……

On the ninth day after Lidong, Yujing ushered in the first snow of the year.

The fine snow fell on the loess and black tiles, quietly melted, and condensed into a thin layer of frost shell, and half an inch of thin snow accumulated on the frost shell.

At the southwest corner of the snow-covered roof, the slender fingers held a piece of black tile and covered it to the last empty space on the gray back of the roof.

After covering the last tile, the young man withdrew his hand and jumped off the eaves.

Under the eaves, a thousand-year-old crow flies around the beam, Xu Da chases after it, one black and one white, flickering.Before the steps, Song Wuji nestled in a copper charcoal basin, and all the monsters gathered around the basin to keep warm and celebrate the completion of the new house.

Amidst the noise, Sao Qingniang glanced at the tile edge of the roof that was not yet covered with snow, and then looked around.The main house, the kitchen and firewood house in the east, and the study and guest house in the west have all been completed.The walls are made of old bricks that have not been pasted with paper, and the beams and rafters are made of new wood that has not been painted.Between the windows and the doors, the furniture is still missing.Only need to make up the objects needed for life, you can live in people.

The chess pavilion in the east of the garden has been cleaned, and the dry pool in the west has been dredged, and there was a layer of water in the pool, but now it has formed thin ice.Along the wall, many flower beds have been marked out by the red medicine. I bought some hibiscus, red lips, gentian and deer teeth and transplanted them. No flowering was seen, only a bit of green was dyed under the mottled wall. .

Sao Qingniang smiled and said, "I have been homeless for so many years, and now I have a home."

With the soil on the hoe on Hong Yao's waist, she looked at the flower gardens, full of joy, "This is even better than Ximoju."

Li Chan squatted by the fire, rubbing his hands, "In the future, when we have more money, we will buy this garden."

Tu Shanxi patted off the beech wood shavings on the cuffs and rafters, "I rented a garden to buy wood, and I spent all my money. There are no tables, chairs, bed cabinets."

Crow Qiansui flew to the new tile, Xu Da stopped chasing, jumped off the beam, and shouted: "As the saying goes, there must be a way for the car to reach the mountain, and when the money is used, you will hate it!"

Hong Yao corrected, "That's not what the saying goes..."

There was a knock on the door outside.

All the monsters disappeared, except Xu Da and Ya Qiansui. One stayed on the roof and looked around, and the other stayed by the brazier to warm up. Li Chan got up and walked along the green brick road to the gate of the garden. The garden soil on both sides was covered with ash. It was pitch black.

The people outside the door were Chen Haochu, a Zuoshi from Cangcao, two policemen, a horse, and an ox cart with many boxes on it.

After talking for a few words, Li Chan led everyone into the garden, and Zuo Shi ordered someone to carry the boxes.

The horse's four legs were covered with long hair, and it was all black. Chen Haochu touched the mane and said, "This horse is a famous horse from Basnake Mountain in Xishu. It steps like flying. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a monster. The black donkey under its feet , it doesn't look like a rare breed, it should be an ordinary black donkey from a farmer's house."

Li Chan said: "I bought it because I saw it was stupid."

Chen Haochu said with a smile: "Now that stupid donkey should also rest."

With that said, Chen Haochu led the horse across the threshold.

The horse has a strong physique and lively eyes. When it saw the black donkey looking for grass by the dry pond, his eyes swept away, and then saw the white cat nestled by the brazier in front of the steps of the main house. The horse stared blankly and couldn't stop. forward.I caught a glimpse of the shadow on the roof again, looked up and saw a crow flying by, the horse's mane was undulating, and it neighed in fear, as if there was something terrifying in front of it, and it retreated again and again.

This horse is so powerful that even though Chen Haochu was a natural master, he took a lot of effort to hold the reins. After a lot of tossing, the horse retreated outside the door before regaining his composure, but he never dared to take a step closer to the courtyard door.

In the garden, the black donkey looked down for food, sniffed through the cracks in the rocks before the steps, and pushed its nose away from the white cat that was holding down the weed.The white cat was impatient and waved its claws to strike.The black donkey was terrified, stunned for a while, snorted, then continued to lower its head and sniff, as if nothing had happened.

Outside the door, Li Chan said with a smile: "That stupid donkey is also very easy to use."

Chen Haochu took the rein and wondered: "It's strange, this horse is not strong-tempered, why today..."

Li Chan said: "Chen judge took it away and folded it into something else."

"Alright." Chen Haochu was a little embarrassed, and coughed dryly, "If Li Lang doesn't want it, I'll take it to Qicao. According to the market price, it can be folded into about ten pieces of five-color silk."

"Thank you." Li Chan smiled and turned around to guide Zuo Shi and others to carry the box.

After the boxes and boxes were moved, the empty room was filled. Zuo Shi took a library book and counted the rewards. The cloth and silk included two feet of woven gold brocade, three bolts of heavenly fragrant silk, and five bolts of five-color silk.Originally there was a horse, but Li Chan had no fate.In addition, there are four kinds of tea leaves, namely Mingyue, Bijian, Queu, and Ziyang, each with three catties.There is also a set of green robes and black boots, and a white fox fur.A Longtao talisman book.

After Chen Haochu delivered the rewards, he took the ten five-coloured goats with him and left, and the monsters reappeared.

The red medicine settled all accounts, and muttered: "One five-color silk is about four or five guan, plus the cowardly horse, fifteen five-color silk, about seventy guan. One piece of Tianxiang silk is eight guan, and three are 24 guan. The golden brocade is very valuable, we'd better keep it..."

Li Chan is holding a golden yellow silk with many seal characters on it.This Longtao talisman is blessed with dragon energy, which can ward off evil spirits and transfer luck, and is also a symbol of the emperor's favor.He took a few glances and put it back into the box, "Make a few clothes that fit, and sell the rest."

Hong Yao nodded, "Alang must dress better when he arrives in Yujing."

Li Chan said: "I don't wear these, you can just wear them."

Hong Yao opened her eyes and shook her head again and again, "Why are the clothes so expensive? There is no need for it right now. We have run out of money all the way east. Although there are many rewards, we haven't even bought furniture. Alang's salary is seven per year. Ten stone..."

As she spoke, she took out a booklet and opened it, calculating: "In addition to the seventy shi, there are four hectares of land, and each mu is exchanged for two buckets of corn. There is also a monthly salary of [-]. The food materials given every month, wine, fine rice, round-grained rice, noodles, mutton, sauce, vinegar, melon, salt, soy sauce, green onion, ginger, sunflower, leek, dogwood... and charcoal in spring and winter... and quarterly The disaster relief, insect evasion, warm water, spiritual response to the police and robbers given..."

After thinking for a while, she said: "Although Alang's salary is quite a lot, we can't make ends meet. What's more, the judge also said that in times of disaster, even the empress wears washed clothes, and the court officials also lead the way." Voluntary reduction of salary..."

Xu Da scratched at the corner of Hong Yao's skirt, "What do you mean by wearing washed clothes? Does the queen wear unwashed clothes? Or is she just like us, never wearing clothes?"

"Go." Hong Yao raised her leg and pushed Xu Da away, "The nobles in the palace always only wear new clothes, and they don't need them after wearing them once. Picking up the washed clothes and wearing them again is a rare poverty."

Xu Da's cat eyes were round, "Ah, this is also poor?"

Hong Yao said: "This is a common thing for the common people, but it is poverty for the nobles."

(End of this chapter)