Following the only spacious official road, they arrived at the entrance that had been expanded two years ago, an arched stone bridge.
After crossing the bridge, they would arrive at the original boundary of the three towns.
Now, it was collectively known as "He Yuan".
"Combining the three towns into one, building a natural garden."
At the bottom of the stone bridge, there was a large wooden sign that was half the height of a person. On it were written the words "Tourists Are Not Allowed".
The carriage drove past the stone bridge, and what came into view was a peach blossom forest.
In the east, south, and west, there was a bluestone path that could accommodate the carriage, leading to three courtyards that belonged to different owners.
Luoshui Town was located in the southeast, so the carriage took the easternmost bluestone path.
Along the stone path, there was an orderly row of kapok trees on both sides. It was now the turn of spring and summer, and large kapok flowers were in full bloom.
They were welcoming their owners home.
After traveling for about three miles, houses with smoke curling up from their chimneys appeared before their eyes in picturesque disorder. Yang Jingzhi knew that this was the former Luoshui Town, a run-down town with about thirty households.
After Liang Enzai bought it, a few families valued the money he proposed and moved away from Luoshui. In the end, twenty-five families of the original residents who had lived here for generations were left behind. Together with Liang Enzai, they built Luoshui Town into a private courtyard that was not the slightest bit inferior to Flourishing Flower and Qingtian.
He had spent an entire year building a main residence that was as beautiful as the Four Seasons Garden. He had also renovated the residences of all the villagers for free, paved the courtyards with green brick paths, and provided precious flowers and saplings for the villagers to plant around their residences. He hoped to transform the Luo River into a beautiful garden that radiated with the radiance of spring.
And all of this, he only wanted to share with her.
His main residence was located in the northwest corner of Luoshui Town. Behind the residence was a pure and clear lake. It was the babbling river that originated from the foot of the beautiful peak. It flowed through Flourishing Flower Town, around Qingtian Town, and finally settled into a natural and beautiful lake in the northwest corner of Luoshui, Luoshui Lake.
Liang Enzai's residence was built around the lake.
It was surrounded on two sides by mountains, one side by water, and the other side by a tree-lined path with all kinds of flowers and trees, leading directly to the official road of Fanluo City.
The exquisite pleasure boat moored on the lake could go against the current of the lake. It sailed all the way past the beautiful scenery of the Qingtian Courtyard, along the south side of the Flourishing Flower Courtyard, and arrived at the Lin Family's lotus pond, which was extremely popular among adults and children.
In the summer when the lotus flowers were in full bloom, sitting in the pleasure boat, tasting wine, admiring lotus flowers, and peeling lotus seeds was one of the most romantic things he had done with her.
"Let's take a rest first. Later, we'll take the pleasure boat to the Lin family. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. Everyone said that they wanted to have a good gathering tonight."
He brought her to her private guest room, which was right next to his bedroom. His heart ached as he caressed the dark shadows under her eyes. She had been pestered by him the whole night last night, and this morning, she had to wake up early to see a doctor at the medical center. If he didn't bring her back to rest first, she might have to stay up until the night before she was willing to rest.
"You … brought me here … just to … let me rest?" She stared at him blankly.
An inexplicable feeling of gratitude suddenly welled up from the bottom of his heart.
In both of his lifetimes, he had never been forced to rest like this.
Even her parents didn't care about her health at all when she was studying for a seven-year medical degree.
They only urged her to study hard, graduate with honors, and find a good job that everyone envied so that they could feel proud.
In fact, that was how she had been through it.
Over time, she had long forgotten that she was just a woman, a woman who needed the care and love of her family. Even in the face of Liang Enzai's seemingly genuine confessions and analyses over the past three years, she only knew how to retreat and did not know how to fight for it.
She should be glad that she had not missed him.
"Otherwise?"
He stared at her beautiful and otherworldly face with a faint smile. He suppressed the desire that was about to explode in his lower body and sent her to the guest room. "Have a good sleep. When you wake up, go to the Lin family and have a big meal."
Yang Jingzhi suddenly did not know whether to laugh or cry.
How could there be such a brother-in-law?
He always wanted to go to his brother-in-law's house to eat and drink. In the end, he even wanted to pack their home-brewed wine.
Liang Enzai stared at the closed door in silence for a long time before he sighed and returned to the study.
He stared at the news from the capital that Lou Yuanyou had sent a few days ago through the Guang Ci Tower. He could not calm down for a long time.
The Emperor was critically ill, and the palace was in chaos.
Of course, he knew what the so-called chaos meant. The Emperor had many children, but almost none of them could be seen in public.
No matter who the news was passed to, it would affect the stability of the Dahui Empire. There were also several neighboring countries that were covetously eyeing the Dahui Empire. Therefore, as one of the leaders of the military power, he had no choice but to leave for the north at this time.
As for Fanluo City, he had already found an acting mayor who would be fully responsible for the safety and stability of Fanluo City during his absence.
However, he could not bear to part with her.
If he left, their fate would be cut short again.
She would not blame him.
When she finally opened her heart to him, he would leave her alone. This was the result that he did not want to see the most, but it was not his choice.
… …
A simple carriage with a green canopy slowly came to a stop at the entrance of Qingtian Courtyard under the whips of the coachman's whip.
"Manager, do you really not need me to send you in?"
The coachman put down the stool neatly and lifted the curtain of the carriage. He looked worriedly at the woman who stepped on the stool and carefully got off the carriage.
"No need.
I want to walk slowly.
You have to go to two places later, so you should go back quickly. "Xin Lan smiled and waved her hand, indicating the coachman to go back to the city.
She held her bulging belly and slowly walked back home.
The renovated Qingtian Town was originally Xue Li's private villa. When she married Jian Heng, Xue Li gave them an exquisite courtyard house as a wedding gift.
After the wedding, Su Shuiche asked her if she was willing to be the manager of the pickled vegetable shop in Fanluo City. She agreed.
First of all, the pickled vegetable shop was a property of He Yuan. The main source of the pickled vegetables and meat sold there were fruits, vegetables, chickens, ducks, pigs, and cows produced by the villagers in the three villas under He Yuan.
Selling fresh vegetables alone would not sell much, and it would be easy for them to wilt.
Therefore, when Su Shuiche suggested it, the villagers responded enthusiastically. Two years ago, He Yuan's first pickled vegetable shop opened in Fanluo City. It sold He Yuan's homemade sauces.
She and Jiang Lin took care of the shop's accounts while the other took care of the distribution of goods. They also recruited three villagers from the three villas who were willing to work in the city as helpers. After a year, business was very good.
Therefore, before the end of last year, They Yuan's pickled vegetable shop expanded and swallowed the competitor next door who could not compete with them. They expanded from two shops to four and increased the variety of pickled vegetables.
They hired two more helpers to carry goods, receive customers, and cashiers.
From then on, They Yuan's pickled vegetable shop became the largest pickled vegetable shop in Fanluo City.
As for the production of pickled vegetables, it was not done in the shop.
Instead, it was done in the easternmost part of Qingtian Courtyard, where there was a two mu large pickled vegetable workshop.
However, those who did not know would think that it was a private residence from outside the courtyard walls.
That was because there was a row of lush green pagoda trees around the courtyard walls. The courtyard was divided into the front and back.
The first five rooms they entered were all different types of pickled vegetables breweries. The last five rooms, including the cellar, were all storerooms.
The pickled vegetables were stored at different temperatures according to their storage temperature.
The people who worked in the workshop were all villagers from the three courtyards. As for the long-term workers, they were all natives of the Qingtian Courtyard.
First of all, Qingtian Town was originally lacking in good farmland. More than half of the villagers relied on other industries to make a living.
For example, hunters, stonemasons, carpenters, and masons. Therefore, they were not particularly busy during the busy farming season. Usually, the wives at home had more leisure time.
Especially during the day, when the children went to school at Fanhua School, the wives and wives were even more free.
Since the workshop was set up here, it was convenient for them to go to work every day.
Every five days, they would go to the three villas to buy fresh vegetables. As for chickens, ducks, cows, pigs, and other livestock, they would buy them once a month.
The purchase price was set by the masters of the three villas.
During the harvest season, the price would be lowered appropriately. When there were pests and other natural disasters, the purchase price would be raised to a price that the villagers could accept.
After operating like this for two years, the pickled vegetables of "He Garden" Pickled Vegetable Shop had become famous in the outer city. There were even merchants who came from afar. After negotiating with the pickled vegetable shop, they directly drove four large carriages to the entrance of "He Garden", which was the Shi Hanqiao, to pick up the goods.
After Qingtian Courtyard had the pickled vegetable processing workshop, it greatly improved the living standards of the natives.
The twenty-three natives who did not covet the thirty taels of silver that they could get in one go and insisted on staying were now all beaming with joy.
The men from the hunter family were hired to patrol "He Garden". Every five days, they would rest for one day. When they were on duty, they would be in groups of two, patrolling the area of "He Garden".
They would protect the residents of "He Garden".
Of course, the "Guang Ci Tower" would send one person each day to be in charge of the overall defense of "He Garden".
In this way, the worries that the villagers of "He Garden" would occasionally arise due to their wealth were reduced.
"Head Shopkeeper, you're back so early today?"
Mrs. Xiao, who had just returned from the processing workshop and was preparing to go home to make lunch, saw Xin Lan slowly walking along the cotton path and greeted her with a smile.
"Yes." Xin Lan smiled and nodded in response.
From a maidservant to a shopkeeper, and then to a head shopkeeper. These three consecutive jumps caused her to be dazed from time to time.
There was another identity that she had not adapted to, and that was Jian Heng's wife.
Although they had been married for two years and the child in her belly would be born in three months, she still had feelings for him.
She did not become depressed because of the passage of time.
Perhaps it was because their marriage was too sudden.
Two years ago, when she had finally let go of her worries for Jian Heng, he suddenly came back from the Blood Hades.
Not only did he come back, he also settled down here and never left.
Very quickly, Xue Li presided over the wedding. She married Jian Heng.
She became his wife.
Standing in front of the closed door of her family's courtyard, she looked through the neat and green thorny fence and saw the small square courtyard inside. The peach tree in the courtyard was already full of mouth-watering fruits.
A few lush orchids swayed in the breeze by the wall.
"What are you thinking about?" A deep voice sounded behind her. She turned around happily. As expected, it was Jian Heng.
He stood behind her with a smile and threw a simple bag over his shoulder.
"You're back!" She muttered.
She had been away for half a month to run errands, and she missed him so much that she almost went crazy.
"Yes, I'm back." He reached out to support her. "Why didn't you let them send you in?"
"I like to walk.
Miss said that if I walk more, the birth will be smoother. "She explained shyly.
"Yes, then go in and rest for a while. We'll go to Fanhua to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival later."
"Okay!" She followed his words with a smile on her lips and was gently pulled into the house by him.
(To be continued.)
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