Chapter 244: The Construction Crew Arrives
Jian Xingxia was absolutely thrilled.
The restroom she had been saving up to buy just yesterday was already in her hands today.
And! If all went smoothly, she would have another one tomorrow!
Although she couldn’t guarantee that there would be over 30 guests giving a 90% positive review rate and 1,000 yuan in revenue every single day, this was a steady, long-term channel to earn management points.
Jian Xingxia cackled. “Management points, management points… Why didn’t I realize it sooner? You have to manage the place to get management points!”
She had previously thought the system was a bit stingy, but she no longer felt that way.
She immediately located the “Manor Restroom” and selected purchase.
[Management Points -1. Current balance: 0. Please select an appropriate location to place the Manor Restroom.]
Jian Xingxia opened the 3D virtual blueprint of the manor and placed one near the three-way intersection to the left of the old house.
This spot was about thirty meters away from the old house—visible, but not too close.
It was positioned so that guests entering the manor could spot it right away without impacting those eating or taking photos in the front courtyard.
Furthermore, this three-way intersection was a strategic point: one path was a flower-scented trail leading to the creek, another was a rustic mountain path leading to the foot of the hill, and the last looped around behind the old house toward the vegetable patches and the lawn.
No matter where anyone wanted to go, they would pass through here, making it highly convenient for everyone to freshen up and use the facilities.
Once it was placed, Jian Xingxia sat back to wait for the construction crew to arrive.
Shortly before eight, Hu Da called. “Hey, Xiaoxia, did you hire a construction crew? Two flatbed trucks just drove into the village.”
Hearing this, Jian Xingxia quickly confirmed, “Yes, yes, Village Chief. I heard from you that the construction permit had cleared, so I contacted the crew I scouted before. It just so happened they were available, so they came today.”
Hu Da was a little worried. “Aren’t there still tourists at the manor today? Starting construction this early in the morning, won’t it be too noisy?”
There could also be safety hazards.
With so many tourists around, having a construction site right next to them could turn bad if a visitor wandered in by mistake.
The agritainment manor had finally taken off; if it lost its idyllic peace and tranquility, would it drive the customers away?
Jian Xingxia smiled and reassured him, “It won’t. The construction crew is highly professional and will take excellent safety measures. When they paved the road last time, wasn’t it done with barely any disruption? And it was lightning fast.”
Hu Da thought about it and realized she was right. The speed at which they paved the road last time was incredibly swift—the ground was leveled in one day, cement was poured the next, and as soon as the cement dried, fast-curing asphalt went on top, along with trimming the adjacent pedestrian pathways…
There truly hadn’t been much dust or noise.
Hu Da had delivered his warning, and seeing Jian Xingxia remain firm, he could only place his hopes on the construction crew working quietly and keeping things clean and safe.
Not long after Hu Da’s notification, the large flatbed trucks rolled up to the gate barrier.
Jian Xingxia went out to greet them personally.
A large flatbed and a smaller utility truck had driven up. A project manager stepped down from the cab of each vehicle, holding index cards to verify the construction specifications with Jian Xingxia.
Beyond that, they didn’t utter a single extra word.
Jian Xingxia was already accustomed to this routine. She signed her name on the small index cards, and the construction crew drove straight into the designated site, rapidly putting up construction fencing.
It was still very early, not even six o’clock yet. Among the overnight guests, only those in two rooms had awoken—one was from the insomnia group, who had already driven off early to head to work, and the guests from the other room had gone down to the creek to take photos.
The new batch of day-trippers hadn’t arrived yet, leaving the manor empty and quiet.
The large and small trucks drove smoothly into the manor.
Jian Xingxia watched in astonishment as their wheels actually adjusted their gauge and width—she had been worried that the paths were too narrow and the vehicles might crush her flowers and grass.
As it turned out, upon reaching the planted borders, the trucks’ wheels automatically shifted inward from both sides toward the center, merging into a single set of ultra-wide tires that required only a half-meter-wide path. The chassis of the trucks also automatically elevated, gliding right over the shrubbery.
Jian Xingxia was utterly flabbergasted: !!!
She hurriedly checked her left and right—thank goodness no one else was around!
The trucks drove straight to her designated locations and began working in total silence.
Only Auntie Pang and Lin Sanniang, who arrived early for their shifts, noticed that two spots on the manor had been fenced off as they walked in from the mountains.
Having seen such things before, Lin Sanniang silently walked past them.
Auntie Pang, however, really wanted to sneak a peek. She asked Lin Sanniang, “Madame Lin, what kind of miraculous novelty is that? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Lin Sanniang shook her head. “I don’t know, the Manor Owner hasn’t mentioned it, and I’ve only just arrived myself.”
Auntie Pang was filled with curiosity. “Then I’ll ask the Manor Owner about it in a bit.”
When the two reached the old house, Lin Sanniang produced the clothes the sisters from the Great Liang Dynasty had finished, handing them over to Jian Xingxia for inspection.
Jian Xingxia examined them and was thoroughly satisfied.
“I’ll hand these over to the guests as soon as they come downstairs.”
The 24-hour window granted by the system ended at ten in the morning, so she had asked Lin Sanniang to deliver them by eight. She hadn’t expected Lin Sanniang to bring the clothes over by six.
What Jian Xingxia didn’t know, however, was that Lin Sanniang had headed over to Lin Daniang’s house before five o’clock.
Seeing that they had finished exchanging their notes, Auntie Pang couldn’t contain herself any longer and chimed in to ask Jian Xingxia what those two fenced-off areas were for.
Jian Xingxia smiled and replied, “We’re putting up some buildings. Now that we have more guests, the structures on the manor are no longer enough, so I hired people to build a couple more.”
Auntie Pang asked curiously, “Building houses? Why is it all fenced off completely? Can I go take a look in a bit?”
Jian Xingxia thought for a moment and said, “You can, but I think you won’t be able to make out anything at all.”
After all, she had been curious herself in the past, but this group of laborers kept their lips tightly sealed and wouldn’t say a word.
Just looking at it blindly would reveal even less.
Seeing that Jian Xingxia hadn’t strictly forbidden it but merely stated that nothing could be discerned, Auntie Pang walked over cheerfully.
However, for some bizarre reason, the path ahead became either slick with mud or tangled with vines that caught her clothes. The site looked close by, but no matter how she walked, she simply couldn’t reach it.
Auntie Pang tried a few more times until a vine suddenly whipped her calf. Snapping out of it instantly, she picked up her skirt and bolted right back to the old house.
“Bless my soul, this manor truly has some mystical forces at play.”
The young Manor Owner was always so easygoing that she had almost forgotten the young miss was a descendant of the Goddess of Lightning.
After returning, Auntie Pang didn’t utter another word about wanting to watch the spectacle, honestly setting to work wrapping steamed buns in the kitchen.
Currently, the standard breakfast at the manor was prepared by Jian Xingxia and Lin Sanniang, consisting of boiling some porridge and steaming some eggs, buns, mantou, sweet potatoes, and corn.
Auntie Pang was responsible for the specialty breakfast items when she arrived.
Today, she was making fresh soup dumplings and noodles in sour broth.
The specialty breakfast operated on a pre-order basis to avoid waste. The menu was written on the small blackboard at the front desk the day before, allowing guests to pre-order.
Jian Xingxia had also posted it in the “Xingxia Manor Group ①,” so guests planning to visit today could join the pre-order chain in advance.
Past seven o’clock, the overnight guests began coming downstairs one after another.
Word also came from the village down the mountain that cars were starting to roll in.
Another day of dedicated management had begun.
