Chapter 153: The Second Day of the Trial Run
Brother Zhang and Sister Yu enjoyed a comfortable, uninterrupted night of sleep, waking up the next morning feeling completely refreshed.
When Jian Xingxia asked for their reviews of the guesthouse manor, the two decisively gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
“Great! It’s simply spectacular!”
Jian Xingxia beamed with joy—that was two more positive reviews in the bag!
Since the rule for getting reviews wasn’t particularly difficult, Jian Xingxia stopped goes out of her way to request them. She merely asked the guests about their experience at the manor whenever they were checking out.
Almost everyone left a positive review, except for one little boy who absolutely refused to leave.
The little boy clung tightly to his parents’ legs, throwing a full-blown tantrum on the floor. “I don’t want to go home! I want to catch more little fish! I’m not leaving, I’m not leaving!”
The boy’s parents felt exceptionally awkward. Taking swift action, one pulled the little boy up while the other clamped a massive hand over his wailing mouth. “Shut up! Stop making a scene!”
They quickly finished their breakfast, checked out, and bolted.
Jian Xingxia giggled behind her hand. “It’s fine. Come back next time.”
The Manor Owner herself was already planning to release a lot more fish fry into the stream so everyone could catch them to their heart’s content.
At nine in the morning, new guests finally began to arrive.
Upon inquiring, Jian Xingxia found that almost all of them were from Jinmen Town. They had scrolled past the videos and organic photo promotions yesterday and decided to come join in the fun today.
It had to be said that modern people certainly had money; what they lacked was a comfortable, convenient way to relax. Jinmen Town did not lack mountains, and everyone had done plenty of hiking, but after doing it too much, it lost its novelty.
Knowing there was a picking greenhouse here, and hearing from previous visitors that it had a climate control system—making it perfectly cool even in this blistering summer weather, highly comfortable with a steady breeze—they were eager to check it out. Moreover, they could fish and camp by the stream, sample the mountain fruits and vegetables, and enjoy authentic farmhouse food.
A newly arrived guest remarked, “We were recommended by Sister Yu. She posted on her WeChat Moments saying the farmhouse food she ate in the mountains yesterday was handled with superb culinary skill! And it absolutely didn’t contain any strange artificial additives.”
After all, ever since Sister Yu got pregnant, her morning sickness had been intense, meaning her nose and palate were exceptionally sharp. The chestnuts she had previously recommended had already gone viral within her social circle. Having heard her recommendation for the farmhouse food this time, people naturally rushed over to try it.
Jian Xingxia and Auntie Chunhui bustled about to welcome everyone.
Fortunately, the guests arriving today were basically single-day visitors who mostly wanted to look around, pick some fruit, and have lunch, so the two of them could handle the rush well enough.
Although breakfast standardly concluded at nine o’clock, some of the latecomers hadn’t eaten yet. Upon learning this, Jian Xingxia managed to sell a few more breakfast portions.
The sheer value of the five-yuan breakfast went without saying. Even the retail beverages and snacks were priced exactly the same as outside the mountains. To tourists who had mentally braced themselves with the mindset that “going out to play means spending money to get ripped off,” this was a total surprise.
“Manor Owner, your pricing is far too generous. A five-yuan breakfast portion can easily feed two people if you stretch it!”
Furthermore, if it wasn’t enough to satisfy the appetite, they could even get free porridge refills.
Jian Xingxia smiled and said, “It’s all grain grown by the villagers themselves; we aren’t afraid of you eating!”
Auntie Chunhui walked back and forth delivering breakfasts and clearing trays.
After ten o’clock, the guesthouse reached its peak operational hours. On weekends, people generally woke up late. Combined with Sunday day trips, many drifted in casually just to wait for lunch.
Hu Lin drove three full carloads of people up. As Jian Xingxia registered them one by one, the headcount for lunch turned out to be no less than yesterday’s.
Jian Xingxia hurriedly summoned Lin Sanniang and the plump auntie. The moment the two arrived, they set to work respectively without needing to be told.
Auntie Chunhui came out carrying a breakfast tray and looked over, only to find a young woman dressed in ancient attire standing in the main hall. Judging by her appearance, she looked to be around thirty years old, currently taking over Xiaxia’s duties to receive the guests.
“Five people for the 50-yuan-per-person camping package, correct? Excellent. Today features a twenty percent discount for our trial run. Please scan the QR code here to pay. You honored guests can stroll along the Berry and Blossom Pathway toward the stream, and we will deliver the camping gear shortly.”
Watching Lin Sanniang work nimbly, react sharply, and carry a face full of smiles, Auntie Chunhui secretly let out a sigh of relief for Jian Xingxia. Otherwise, with so many guests, if Xiaxia had to handle the receptions, collect payments, and manage various chores all on her own, she truly wouldn’t be able to keep up.
Auntie Chunhui felt a trace of shame over the fact that she couldn’t speak or hear the guests’ requirements. She knew very well that as a deaf-mute individual, it was highly difficult to find any decent work out in the society.
Among the few deaf-mute friends she had known previously, the best off had only managed to secure jobs washing dishes or working in a textile mill. The friend who washed dishes lived in a communal dormitory where someone had sneaked in during the middle of the night to grope them… Others could scream, but the deaf-mute girl couldn’t make a sound. In the end, she had to literally throw herself off the bed, splitting her head open and drawing blood before she finally startled the others and was luckily saved.
As for the friend in the textile mill, the factory had plenty of female workers, so lodging and dining were decent enough. However, the weaving machinery was complex, and she couldn’t hear the equipment’s alarms. During a mechanical failure once, a needle snapped. Others shouted at her but she couldn’t hear, resulting in her hand being completely pierced through by the broken needle.
Ordinary people struggled to secure fair, dignified, and reasonably paid work in society. How much more so for people like them.
Therefore, the moment she heard Little Hu Liu mention that Xiaxia wanted her to help out at the manor, Auntie Chunhui had come without the slightest hesitation. To her, this was her only lifeline.
Auntie Chunhui looked at the poised and efficient Lin Sanniang with admiration, delivering items to each table according to Lin Sanniang’s directions.
Once Lin Sanniang finished receiving a guest, she asked Jian Xingxia in a low voice while she was recording the accounts, “Owner, is this auntie a newly hired helper?”
Finishing her entry, Jian Xingxia set her pen down and nodded. “Yes, she’s called Auntie Chunhui. She has been unable to hear since childhood, so she cannot speak either. When you arrange tasks for her, try to face her directly, speak slowly, and keep your mouth shapes distinct. She will be able to understand.”
Lin Sanniang caught on, sighing softly, “Auntie Chunhui is an unfortunate soul as well. I wonder where you managed to find her.”
Jian Xingxia couldn’t help but suppress a smile. She knew Lin Sanniang’s words implied that she didn’t know which dynasty Auntie Chunhui belonged to, or through what mystical affinity she had found her way here. If Lin Sanniang knew Auntie Chunhui was a modern person, called up simply via a phone call rather than through some mystical affinity, she would probably be highly astonished.
Jian Xingxia kept her eyes narrowed in a smile, choosing not to break the illusion. This arrangement was quite good. The workers at the manor had all guessed a little bit—that everyone likely came from different places, or even… different dynasties.
Curiosity was natural, of course. But the clever twist lay in the fact that while everyone’s circumstances differed, they were all equally pressed by hardship. Everyone viewed working at the manor as a “lifeline,” so even if they spotted something bizarre, no one was willing to cause trouble by speaking out.
After all, who didn’t carry their own difficulties? And who among them hadn’t come here looking for a lifeline precisely because they were pressed by hardship?
