The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 534 - 532

Chapter 534: 532

```

As the words were spoken, everyone was startled. Today had gone especially smoothly, although it was a good sign, but wait! The Sun Family hadn’t come today?

Everyone came to their senses, and Lady Lin blinked, "How could the Sun Family bear to miss out today? There was plenty of good meat and wine. With Sun Daming and Sun Laoer, those two drunkards, even if they had to crawl, they’d be lured here by the scent of alcohol."

Lady Jiang spoke softly, "Could it be that the Sun Family was delayed by some business?"

Old Granny Zhang snorted coldly, "It’s good that the Sun Family didn’t come. Why, are you still thinking about them?"

Lady Lin and Lady Jiang hurriedly bowed their heads, not daring to make a sound.

Wang Yongzhu looked at Song Chongjin, who was sitting beside her.

Song Chongjin blinked innocently and looked back at her.

Wang Yongzhu’s hand, hidden in her sleeve, poked Song Chongjin and whispered, "Was it you?"

Song Chongjin smiled, leaned slightly towards her, and opened his mouth, a breath of alcohol mixed with the warmth of his body hit her face, and Wang Yongzhu suddenly felt a flush on her face. She wanted to push Song Chongjin away, but as she reached out her hand, it was weak and powerless.

"Today is the most important day for our household, why would we let the Sun Family come? Wouldn’t that be bad luck?" Song Chongjin smiled faintly and leaned on Wang Yongzhu’s shoulder.

Wang Yongzhu nervously glanced around the courtyard, Old Granny Zhang was nagging at her two daughters-in-law and wasn’t looking in their direction.

The warm body temperature, mixed with the scent of alcohol, enveloped Wang Yongzhu.

She had once despised others reeking of alcohol, feeling it was just a foul smell that was unbearable to her.

But now, even though Song Chongjin had been drinking, his alcoholic breath made her feel dizzy.

She didn’t know where to put her hands and feet.

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Yongzhu felt Song Chongjin’s breathing become more steady, and turning her head to look, he had fallen asleep.

She had never seen Song Chongjin asleep before, and she looked at him intently. The sleeping Song Chongjin lacked the cold aloofness he had when awake, appearing much more peaceful.

His long eyelashes cast shadows on his eyelids.

The normally tense brows also relaxed in sleep, and only now could one truly see his age, still carrying a hint of youthful spirit.

As Wang Yongzhu was engrossed in looking at him, she heard a voice, "Zhuzhu, you—"

When she looked up, she met the eyes of Old Granny Zhang, Lady Lin, and Lady Jiang, three pairs in all, and felt immediately embarrassed. However, she quickly regained her composure, stood up, and supported Song Chongjin, "Brother Song is drunk. I’ll take him to his room to rest. We’ll talk later."

Then, under the watchful eyes of the three, she calmly took Song Chongjin back to the room, letting him lie down on the kang with Wang Yongping. She touched her cheek, took a deep breath, and then walked out.

As soon as she left the room, Song Chongjin, who had been pretending to sleep, opened his eyes with a trace of a smile, turned over, and went back to sleep deeply.

Wang Yongzhu, despite feeling uncomfortable, returned to the courtyard, "Mother, did you need something?"

After her daughter took her son-in-law inside, Old Granny Zhang glared at Lady Lin and Lady Jiang, "What are you looking at? Anything interesting?"

Lady Lin and Lady Jiang hurriedly looked down again.

```

Seeing her daughter come out, she hurriedly pulled Wang Yongzhu into the room.

She hesitated before saying, "Although you’re already betrothed, you should still be cautious. It’s okay for the family to see, but outside you must be careful..."

What could Wang Yongzhu say? She could only nod and agree.

Old Granny Zhang stopped there, as she had something important to ask: "I saw you working on the accounts earlier, and it looks like we only have the other beams and purlins left, as well as the roof tiles, which means we’re down to Master Chiang’s labor costs and these few days’ food expenses. These are all fixed amounts, so tally it up for me. How much silver have we spent on this construction?"

Old Granny Zhang had no clue in her heart. She was on edge every day as the silver flowed out like water, terrified of going over budget and having her daughter cover the costs.

Wang Yongzhu took out the account book and calculated each item for Old Granny Zhang, and, at the end, even after adding Master Chiang’s labor costs and the reserved food expenses, the total spent was four hundred and forty-five taels and five coins.

This also included a small courtyard from Song Chongjin’s side.

Wang Yongzhu had also just taken a quick look today at the courtyard on Song Chongjin’s side, where he lived alone in a quadrangle style home.

There was a main house, east and west wing rooms, and a rear service room behind the main house, all neatly arranged.

There was also a small garden in the middle.

The area was about the same size as one section of the Wang Family Courtyard, slightly further back from the Wang Family’s fourth section. Between the two courtyards, they built a corridor with a door at each end for both families to pass through conveniently, ensuring privacy without disturbance.

With this tally, there was still a slight surplus, which finally put Old Granny Zhang at ease.

She thought to herself, "With the remaining fifty or so taels of silver, there are still quite a few pieces of furniture to be made. Your father has already nearly finished making the furniture for Laosi’s marriage. Now we have plenty of wood at home, and among Master Chiang’s crew, there are two carpenters with excellent craftsmanship. The carvings they did on the doors and windows caught my eye; they’re much better than what your father could do. Why don’t we keep them at home for a few days and get the essential furniture made first?"

Wang Yongzhu thought it over, "That’s fine! But we should do Brother Song’s first. When moving to a new house, we can still make do with our old things, but Brother Song has nothing at all, and he needs to furnish from scratch. Otherwise, if he moves into an empty house, how can he live there?"

"Besides, even among brothers, clear accounts make good friends. I have kept his expenses in a separate account, which in total are just over seventy taels of silver. Half of the remaining money is his surplus."

Old Granny Zhang was a sensible person and kept nodding as she listened, "What you say makes sense, but you shouldn’t be the one to say it. Leave it to me to handle; I certainly won’t let either of you suffer any loss!"

The mother and daughter reached an agreement.

The next day, Old Granny Zhang asked for the two carpenters she had her eye on from Master Chiang’s crew to help make furniture.

It was business delivered to their doorstep. The two carpenters had already finished and installed the doors and windows and were enjoying some free time. Originally, without Wang Family bringing it up, they had planned to ask Master Chiang to inquire discreetly.

With such a large courtyard, they figured there would be some furniture to make, hoping to take on some extra work.

However, these past days, seeing Old Wang Laozhu make his own furniture—though not as skilled as them, yet passable for the countryside—they were too embarrassed to speak up.

Today, upon hearing the homeowner’s invitation, they were overjoyed and eagerly agreed.

When the people of the Wang Family heard that furniture was going to be made, having seen the carpenters’ craftsmanship these days on the intricately carved doors and windows, they gathered around in excitement, with each piece looking nicer than the ones they had at home.

They all crowded around.

Wang Yonggui spoke up first, "Mother, the furniture in our room is all worn out. Please make us a new set. Who would bring old furniture to a new house? The kids have grown up, too. They should have a few pieces, shouldn’t they?"