Chapter 48: Ma’am, the Appliances You Bought Have Arrived
Early the next morning, Jian Xingxia posted the recruitment notice.
Liang Chengcheng was scheduled to arrive in Xiangshan City at three in the afternoon, and even with a hired car, it would take another three hours to reach Lu’an Village. As long as the temporary worker left before six in the evening, everything would line up perfectly.
Better to hire a familiar face than a stranger, so Jian Xingxia filled out the recruitment notice using the exact same criteria she had used for Dahei before.
[Recruitment Notice: One temporary worker. Job Description: Farming. Working Hours: 10 hours.]
Whenever the duration exceeded six hours without being rejected by the system, and the job description matched Dahei’s skill set, there was a ninety-nine percent chance it would be him.
Sure enough, a short while later, Dahei came running over, slapping his massive bare feet against the ground.
“Master!”
Not having seen her for two days, Dahei seemed to have gotten even darker. He was incredibly excited to see Jian Xingxia.
Jian Xingxia smiled. “Alright, it’s only been two days. No need to get so worked up.”
Dahei looked bewildered. “Two days? What do you mean two days? Master, you haven’t called me to work for nearly a month.”
“What?!”
Jian Xingxia’s face drained of color.
Had she developed amnesia? Or had Dahei gone mad?
“Dahei, what nonsense are you spouting? I literally had you till the soil the day before yesterday.”
Jian Xingxia pointed to the ground at her feet. “Look, the plot you tilled is right here. It’s baked in the sun for two days and is just right for planting.”
Not only the field, but the chestnuts Dahei had gathered were still airing outside the back door of the old house. The proof was all right there.
Yet Dahei’s astonishment was no less than Jian Xingxia’s.
He had learned how to keep track of the days from his previous master, so he bent his fingers to count for Jian Xingxia. “Master, that’s not right, not right at all. Since I went back, I have already lived through twenty-seven dark nights.”
Dahei scratched his head, struggling to find the right words. “The seeds Master gave me, I’ve planted them all. They’ve sprouted and grown leaves.”
Jian Xingxia was stunned. “That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
The seeds in her seedling trays, which she watered and moisturized every single day, had only just grown their first two true leaves.
But Dahei wouldn’t lie. He promised solemnly, “In another month, we’ll have tender vegetable seedlings to eat.”
Doubt crept into Jian Xingxia’s mind.
Could it be… that the flow of time was different on the two sides?
Wait, that wasn’t right. She had hired Taoya and Lin Sanniang for consecutive days, and even Dahei before. Why hadn’t she heard about a time difference then?
Jian Xingxia double-checked with Dahei multiple times. Dahei had indeed returned to his own “Great Yu Dynasty” twenty-seven days ago.
Meanwhile, only three days had passed on Jian Xingxia’s end.
Jian Xingxia stroked her chin. “When I hire them for consecutive days, the timelines match up—one day is one day. But once there’s a break… the time changes?”
For now, she had no way to verify it. The best method would be to recruit Taoya or Lin Sanniang again tomorrow and ask them. Then she would know if the time drifted after an employment gap.
The old house held more than one bizarre mystery, so Jian Xingxia didn’t dwell on it too much. She hurried to get to work on the fields.
The land Dahei had turned over already exceeded two mu. Jian Xingxia calculated that if they planted all of it, it should be enough to satisfy the 1,000 square meter upgrade condition.
As a Kunlun slave, Dahei excelled at farming.
Jian Xingxia gave him detailed instructions. “Sow these seeds in order, one type per ridge.”
Jian Xingxia had meticulously paired these crops. She intercropped a row of short plants between two rows of tall plants, and placed nitrogen-fixing crops right next to crops that loved nitrogen fertilizer.
The most classic example was corn and soybeans. Soybeans could fix nitrogen; aside from using it themselves, they could provide it to the corn. Conveniently, soybeans loved shade and grew to a limited height, so planting corn on either side maximized sunlight utilization without wasting space.
Furthermore, planting them in alternating ridges like this could reduce the spread of their respective pests.
There were also tomatoes and chives. Tomatoes produced high yields but easily attracted aphids and spider mites, and were prone to diseases. Utilizing the space beneath the tomato plants to grow some chives worked wonders, as the scent they emitted could repel insects.
Dahei couldn’t entirely grasp the logic all at once, but he knew it was good for the crops, so he followed Jian Xingxia’s requests to the letter.
With so much to do today, they weren’t going to cook a proper meal. Jian Xingxia set a pot of sweet potatoes, corn, and eggs to boil in the electric cooker, then went to tidy up the west wing.
There were two rooms in the west wing, both containing large platform beds. They weren’t laid with mattresses, only straw mats. In the past, the people who came to gather mountain goods always brought their own bedding.
Liang Chengcheng would definitely not be used to sleeping like that. Jian Xingxia moved the mattress she had used during university over for her, while she switched to her maternal grandmother’s mattress.
Fortunately, just as Liang Chengcheng had said, she hadn’t been lazy and had washed and sun-dried her grandmother’s mattress pads, sheets, blankets, and duvet covers early on. Otherwise, with Liang Chengcheng’s sudden arrival, she wouldn’t even have extra bedding to give her.
The room had just been cleaned a couple of days ago, so it was still neat and bright.
Jian Xingxia went outside the courtyard to pick some wild flowers, arranging them in a washed glass soda bottle. She also used a small bamboo basket to hold a small assortment of fresh fruit, placing it on the table by the window.
There was no wardrobe in the room, so Jian Xingxia had Dahei cut down a thick tree branch. They stripped the bark and gave it a quick sanding to use as a clothes rail. Then she found two lengths of hemp rope, threw them over the log beams of the west wing, and tied up the branch, creating a simple hanging rail.
The room could only be arranged this far. Jian Xingxia hurried back out to the fields with Dahei.
Dahei used a hoe to break up the clods of dirt that had been turned over and dried earlier. He dug out a small pit and dropped two corn seeds into it. Jian Xingxia followed behind, scattering plant ash, along with the compound fertilizer and a small amount of lime she had bought at the market. Finally, she used the tip of her toe to lightly cover them with soil.
They had just finished leveling a plot of land and were preparing to water it when Jian Xingxia heard her phone ringing inside the house. With Liang Chengcheng’s stern warnings from yesterday, she didn’t dare turn it off or leave it on silent anymore, ensuring she checked it every day.
Picking up the phone, she saw it wasn’t Chengcheng, but an unfamiliar number from Xiangshan City.
“Hello? Is this Ms. Jian Xingxia?”
“Yes, it is. May I ask who’s calling?”
“Oh, we’re from the logistics company. The appliances you bought have arrived. Will you be home this afternoon? We’re preparing to make the delivery.”
Jian Xingxia was surprised. “Huh? Is the service so good nowadays? Even the hair dryer I bought gets home delivery?”
Yesterday, while on the WeChat call with Liang Chengcheng, she had taken a moment to buy a hair dryer. It didn’t matter to her; her hair would dry just fine in the wind. But Liang Chengcheng’s hair was incredibly thick; if left to dry naturally, who knew how long it would take. Buying it in advance meant Chengcheng could use it the moment she arrived.
Not only that, she had ordered quite a few other things, but the only thing that counted as an appliance was the hair dryer.
As it turned out, the person on the other end was even more surprised. “What hair dryer? We’re delivering a refrigerator, a washing machine, and a water heater!”
“Huh? But I didn’t buy those things! Oh, wait a second, I have another call coming in. I’ll hang up and call you back in five minutes.”
Jian Xingxia hung up on the logistics company and answered Liang Chengcheng’s call.
“Hey, Xiaxia! I just boarded the plane and we’re about to take off. I forgot to tell you, I bought a few things and had them shipped to your place. I chose expedited delivery, so they should arrive today. Remember to sign for them!”
Before Jian Xingxia could say anything, Liang Chengcheng was already hanging up. “Ah, can’t talk anymore, the plane is taking off.”
It was indeed her.
Jian Xingxia had no choice but to call the logistics company back. “Hello, the appliances are indeed ours. I’ll be home this afternoon, so please go ahead with the delivery. It’s just that my address is up in the mountains, and the last stretch of the road isn’t very good. A large truck might not be able to get in.”
“No problem, we’re professionals. Whether it’s mountain roads or high-rise stairs, we have experience,” the other party replied with an excellent attitude. “Since you paid for expedited delivery and white-glove installation service, we’ll make sure the job is done right.”
“Oh, right, I forgot to mention earlier. Aside from the appliances, you also purchased a bed, a wardrobe, a sofa, and two rattan chairs. Is that correct?”
Jian Xingxia: “…Yes.”
