Chapter 11: Old Man Xu Returns with a Full Load
But truth be told, Jian Xingxia actually had exactly what Old Man Xu needed.
With university morning classes starting at eight, students rarely had time to sit down in the cafeteria for breakfast. Most were used to grabbing milk, paired with an apple, an egg, or a piece of corn. To save money, Jian Xingxia always bought powdered milk to mix herself, which was much cheaper than fresh milk. She had half a bag left before graduation and, loath to throw it away, had brought it with her to the old house.
Jian Xingxia fished out the powdered milk and asked Old Man Xu if he had a container to hold it, since he wouldn’t be able to take the commercial packaging back with him.
Old Man Xu pulled out a bamboo cylinder. “Immortal Auntie Xu forewarned me.”
Jian Xingxia poured the remaining powdered milk into the bamboo cylinder, still feeling a bit concerned. “But this is student milk powder. It’s fine for adults, but I’m not sure if infants can drink it.”
“They can, they can.” Old Man Xu meticulously scraped every last grain of powder from the inside of the bag. This stuff had a rich, milky aroma just from a sniff, and Jian Xingxia had said it became real milk once mixed with water. It was definitely something a child could drink.
Old Man Xu didn’t share Jian Xingxia’s modern worries. Forget milk—the babies in his village had survived on rice water and flour broth. What hadn’t they swallowed? As long as it filled the belly, it was enough.
Hearing that the mother was in poor health, Jian Xingxia rummaged around and found half a bag of brown sugar. She felt a bit embarrassed using half-empty bags as wages, but seeing how Old Man Xu couldn’t stop thanking her, he was clearly more than happy to accept.
After a moment’s thought, she also handed Old Man Xu the salted duck eggs Auntie Lu had brought over.
The system valued the half-bag of milk powder at 20 yuan, the half-bag of brown sugar at 6 yuan, and the four salted duck eggs at 6 yuan. This totaled 32 yuan, but Old Man Xu had worked diligently for four hours, and the results had vastly exceeded Jian Xingxia’s expectations. She wanted him to receive his full wage cap.
Jian Xingxia racked her brains. “Old Uncle Xu, think about what else your family is missing. If I have it here, please just say the word.”
Hearing this out of the blue, Old Man Xu initially thought she was mocking him. But seeing the earnest look on her face, he realized she was speaking the absolute truth. He felt a deep surge of gratitude, mixed with a sudden pang of guilt for doubting her.
“It is enough, more than enough. These are things this old man wouldn’t dare dream of obtaining. My grandson and his mother are saved.” Old Man Xu steadfastly refused to take anything more.
But how could Jian Xingxia let a temporary worker leave with any regrets? She was relying on Old Man Xu to leave her a high rating to help secure another reward milestone!
She spent a long time rummaging through the old house and her own luggage, but failed to find anything suitable. Just as she was fretting, the big hen strolled past, letting out a casual “cluck-cluck-clack.”
A jolt went through Jian Xingxia. “Oh, right! I have pheasant eggs!”
The day before, Taoya had cleared the weeds and gathered two nests of pheasant eggs. Though small, there were fourteen in total. Jian Xingxia handed them to Old Man Xu one by one, asking anxiously with each egg, “Can you take this back? What about two? Three?”
Old Man Xu had never seen such an display in his life. He was used to stingy masters who tried to skimp on wages even after a price was agreed upon. He had never seen a master desperately try to give more even after the worker said it was enough.
He accepted the eggs in a daze until Jian Xingxia reached the eighth one. “Enough, truly enough. Any more and I won’t be able to carry it across,” Old Man Xu said hurriedly.
Only then did Jian Xingxia stop, murmuring under her breath, “It seems that even though these pheasant eggs are small, they carry a high value. They’re worth a whole yuan each.”
She figured she would buy some regular eggs at the market tomorrow. Normal eggs only cost fifty cents each, their nutritional value was just as good, and they would make perfect currency for paying her temporary workers.
Holding the eggs, Old Man Xu prepared to drop to his knees to kowtow to Jian Xingxia. “Noble lady, please accept my bow.”
Jian Xingxia skipped to the side, dodging it entirely. “Don’t, don’t, don’t! I can’t accept that. Getting a child at your age is a joyous occasion; just consider this a small token of my congratulations.”
Old Man Xu’s grateful expression froze on his face. His lips twitched for a long moment before he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Oh, young mistress! Look at my age, how could I be having a son? It’s a grandson!” Old Man Xu’s face flushed bright red as he felt compelled to clear up the misunderstanding.
“Ah! My mistake, I’m so sorry! So you have a new grandson.” Jian Xingxia apologized immediately. “I was wondering how a gentleman of your advanced years could just be having a child.”
Old Man Xu agreed wholeheartedly. “Exactly. This old man is already thirty-eight, well past the age to become a grandfather.”
“What? You’re only thirty-eight?! Then how on earth do you have a grandson!” Jian Xingxia felt herself getting startled shock after shock.
Old Man Xu looked at least fifty-something. How could he only be thirty-eight?
Old Man Xu explained, “This old man had his first son at nineteen. My son had his child at nineteen, bringing me a grandson. I’m considered a late bloomer around these parts. My younger brother is thirty-six, and his grandnephew is already two months older than my grandson.”
“This… this…” Jian Xingxia found this completely mind-boggling. She sputtered for a long while before finally squeezing out a sheepish, “Congratulations.”
It seemed the people summoned by the system were profoundly different from modern folk. At thirty-eight, excluding those who chose a child-free lifestyle, plenty of modern people hadn’t even had their first child yet, let alone a grandson.
Old Man Xu hoisted his shoulder pole. The two bamboo cylinders nestled in his baskets were filled to the brim with powdered milk and precious, refined brown sugar, flanked by four salted duck eggs and eight pheasant eggs.
He was returning home with a magnificent, full load.
Old Man Xu’s figure gradually turned transparent, vanishing into the depths of the wild overgrown grass.
Jian Xingxia walked over to take a look, but she couldn’t see the cave Taoya and Old Man Xu had mentioned. It seemed it was visible only to the ancients who came to work.
With the successful completion of Old Man Xu’s employment, the system issued the reward promptly.
[[Manor Management Task 1 Completed. Reward will be issued within three days. Owner, please keep an eye out to receive it.]
“Huh? It doesn’t even say where it’s being delivered?”
If Jian Xingxia recalled correctly, delivery couriers didn’t bring packages directly to the village. The villagers had to go to the pickup station in town to collect their online purchases. With the system failing to specify the delivery location, how was she supposed to know which station to check?
Old Man Xu had worked for a full four hours, and by the time he left, the sun was gradually dipping below the western ridge.
No one else was likely to show up tonight. Jian Xingxia locked both the front and back courtyard gates securely, then went to inspect the kitchen stove.
Old Man Xu had mentioned that the main stove needed to dry for a couple of days before it could be used, but he had kindly repaired a small, red clay stove whose outer wall had flaked off. The firebox of the small stove was in perfect condition and ready for immediate use.
Jian Xingxia remembered this little stove. Years ago, before the old house was renovated, drafts had whistled through the building from all sides, and the rooms were freezing in the winter. Her grandmother would scoop out the nearly spent firewood from the main stove, place it into the vertical firebox of the small clay stove, and set an aluminum, curved-spout kettle on top. With the small stove’s lid kept closed to restrict airflow, the wood inside wouldn’t burst back into flames; instead, it would glow with a steady, deep red light, slowly radiating heat.
It kept the room perfectly warm through the night. By the next morning, the wood would be reduced to mere embers, and the water in the kettle on top of the small stove would be at the perfect warm temperature—making brushing teeth and washing up a cozy experience instead of a freezing one.
Jian Xingxia dug out the aluminum kettle and scrubbed it clean. Then, using dry grass as kindling, she lit the slender firewood inside the firebox.
She used the first kettle of boiling water to cook some eggs, then instead of drinking it, poured it out to scrub away the grease stains in the kitchen.
After washing the kettle clean once more, she boiled a fresh round of water and used it to brew a bowl of instant noodles. While the noodles were steeping, Jian Xingxia boiled a third kettle of water to blanch a small handful of wild vegetables.
Since there were no condiments in the house, Jian Xingxia tossed the blanched wild vegetables straight into the instant noodles. It worked out perfectly—the noodles became less oily, and the wild vegetables absorbed the savory flavor.
On her second day back at the old estate, Jian Xingxia finally lit a fire and enjoyed a hot meal.
She boiled two more kettles of hot water, mixed them evenly with cold well water in a tub, and took a relaxing shower. While washing up, a third item captured a spot on her shopping list right next to the refrigerator and washing machine—a water heater.
Even if she couldn’t afford a proper water heater right now, she at least needed to buy an electric kettle. Her grandmother’s house had almost zero electrical appliances, and Jian Xingxia needed to furnish it piece by piece. Relying solely on the small clay stove to boil water all evening was not only smoky but also hot and consumed too much firewood. Jian Xingxia wanted to live in the mountains, but she certainly couldn’t live like an ancient.
With the lights turned on, the night was no longer intimidating. Jian Xingxia scrolled through her phone, browsing the WeChat Moments posted by her university classmates since graduation, and drifted into a deep sleep before nine o’clock.
…
At four in the morning, her alarm blared to life.
