The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 660 - 649: The Person Buying the House (Wishing everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

Chapter 660: Chapter 649: The Person Buying the House (Wishing everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

Since they planned to steal lotus pods, they all decided not to go to the Book Collection Tower that afternoon.

Bai Shan took the lotus pods to school, and during the noon recess, he shook the pods and went to the Book Collection Tower, giving them to Mr. Wu who sat in front reading.

Mr. Wu looked up from his book and squinted at him for a moment, saying, "It’s you."

He reached out for the lotus pods, sniffed them, and said with a smile, "Quite fresh."

Glancing at Bai Shan’s empty hands, he put the lotus pods aside and asked, "Delivering these now, you won’t be coming to the Book Collection Tower after school?"

"I have things to do today and won’t come, Mr. Wu. I will take my leave." He had come just to deliver a lotus pod, and naturally, he would leave after that.

Mr. Wu did not try to keep him and waved his hand allowing him to leave.

The attendant helping Mr. Wu could not resist his curiosity and asked, "Mr. Wu, why does Bai Shan keep bringing you food?"

Mr. Wu put the lotus pod under the table and picked up his book again, saying indifferently, "We get along well, I suppose."

The attendant: ...That reason is truly exceptional.

It took Manbao and the three others the whole afternoon to pick all the mature lotus pods in the Yan Residence’s pond, and taking advantage of their close proximity, they used ropes to hoist basket after basket of the pods over.

This season was just right for eating lotus pods, but having too many was not good.

The cook saved some for them, dried out the rest, and even made them a bowl of fresh lotus seed sweet soup,

After eating, Manbao felt it was not as good as the raw lotus seeds.

Bai Shan felt the same, so they refused to eat more of the cook’s lotus seed sweet soup and snatched back the unsold pods, storing them in a cool place in their room to save for later.

Bai Shan, feeling generous because of the abundance of lotus pods at home, stuffed quite a few into his book basket the next day, intending to take them to the teacher and several classmates he got along with.

Bai Erlang filled his bag even more generously, and even Manbao stuffed her basket with plenty, planning to take them to Doctor Ji and others at the pharmacy.

Seeing that they had all made friends outside, Mr. Zhuang nodded in approval, though feeling somewhat envious for only having three lotus pods himself.

Just as he was thinking, the cook came in with a bowl of lotus seed sweet soup, smiling, "Mr. Zhuang, I’ve made some lotus seed sweet soup. The weather is quite hot; would a bowl help cool you down?"

Mr. Zhuang immediately coughed lightly and said, "Actually, the weather isn’t that hot anymore..."

But the cook had already set down the bowl and, in passing, collected the three lotus pods from the desk. She said, "Master, eating lotus pods so early isn’t good. I’ll keep them for you, peel them later, and after lunch, you can have them as fruit."

Mr. Zhuang couldn’t stop her in time, and Aunt Rong walked away with the lotus pods.

Mr. Zhuang sighed and resignedly reached for the lotus seed sweet soup.

Nobody knew that the Yan Residence next door had opened its gates early that morning with County Magistrate Tang personally leading a group inside.

As he walked, he introduced the property to the person in front, "Landlord Bai, just look at this porch, am I not right? Square and upright, the Yan Family put a lot of effort into building this house, and so its feng shui is also very good."

Landlord Bai paused to look around for a while, before nodding slowly and saying, "It is indeed good, but a place disgraced by an official can hardly be auspicious."

County Magistrate Tang laughed in slight disagreement and said, "I can’t agree with you there, Landlord. Not to mention the capital, take our Yizhou Prefecture for example - how many residences and official houses left behind by disgraced officials are there? No matter how many, they are never enough to meet demand."

Landlord Bai asked with a smile, "Then why has this Yan Residence not been sold up till now?"

"That is my mistake," County Magistrate Tang chuckled, "I’ve been unwilling to lower the price until now, no matter how many people inquired, the price stayed the same. Plus, there were some evildoers causing trouble later, which led to this delay." He continued, "It also happens that, just as I was contemplating lowering the price a bit, you, Landlord, took an interest in buying a house. Since you aren’t part of the merchant class but a colleague in the court, I ought to give you a better deal."

Such haggling was, of course, something Landlord Bai would definitely not stoop to, nor would County Magistrate Tang, they both just hinted at it and left it there.

But Landlord Bai could hear it in his tone - he probably wasn’t willing to lower the price any further.

Landlord Bai walked along the corridor to the second courtyard, looking at the overgrown flowers, plants, trees, and the doors of some empty rooms with spiders bustling about. He sighed deeply at the thought of the time it would take to clean, tidy, and redecorate such a residence.

Yet in terms of location and size, there was nothing else like it on the market. After all, properties like these are not sold unless a family is in decline – who would sell otherwise?

He had people looking around for three months, and after all the searching, this was still the most suitable place.

Moreover, the price was indeed much cheaper.

Thinking this over, Landlord Bai coughed lightly and said, "Lord Tang, I’ve heard the garden of this residence is quite well done; shall we take a look?"

County Magistrate Tang stepped aside with a smile, "Please go ahead, Landlord Bai. When it comes to the garden of the Yan Residence, it is quite famous. In his day, Governor Yan was known for his appreciation of elegance, with precious plants collected in the back garden and an expensive rockery placed near the pond. It’s said that in the winter, when the wind blows through, it sounds like a flute; in the spring, it’s like the gentle dripping of a spring; and in the summer and autumn, climbing the rockery to gaze upon the lotus is quite a pleasure."

County Magistrate Tang was quite enthusiastic as he spoke, "But if you ask me, my favorite is the lotus pond of the Yan Residence. It’s called a pond, but it was dug meticulously, almost like a small lake shaped like a crescent moon. On the curving side, willows are heavily planted. In the spring and summer, the matriarch of the mansion could stroll along the pond at her leisure, delighting in the lotus flowers and leaves within..."

County Magistrate Tang paused, his gaze moved away from the pond, and he continued with a smile, "Seeing the lotus flowers and leaves in the pond would certainly be a pleasure."

Landlord Bai also noticed the pond and touched his beard, nodding with a smile, "It does look quite good."

He walked along the pond, and although County Magistrate Tang made a gesture, he did not interfere.

Grinding his teeth secretly, he followed with a smile.

As expected, after walking a bit further, Landlord Bai noticed a small boat moored at the shore, the wooden boards inside the boat, and some damp traces on the shore. He expressed surprise with an "Eh?" and asked, "County Magistrate Tang, is there someone in the garden?"

County Magistrate Tang replied with a smile, "No, but knowing you were coming to see the house in person today, I had people check yesterday for any unsafe areas. This boat has been here for several years; I guess the servants wanted to test if it could still carry people, so they took it onto the water."

Landlord Bai nodded, glanced over the pond, and found it to be cooler than elsewhere, with a pleasant breeze passing through.

Then he turned and walked up to inspect the rest of the garden.