Chapter 89: Our Hired Hands Are Still the Best
Jian Xingxia carried the stainless steel insulated barrel over to the tricycle, grabbed a stack of bowls and cups, and headed off in the direction of the construction crew.
Having a vehicle truly made her feel formidable. Back when she didn’t have one, she would just walk the two or three kilometers to the village without a second thought. But now that she had a vehicle, she insisted on riding it even for this mere distance of a few hundred meters!
She went to the road construction crew first.
In just this short while, the construction crew had already leveled a very long section. To Jian Xingxia’s absolute delight, the construction crew had actually built a checkpoint barrier at the entrance of the grand road! It looked just like the entrance of a residential compound.
People could still walk under the trees on both sides of the road, but a gate barrier had been installed where vehicles could pass, featuring a left and right bar that could be controlled manually. Raising only one side of the gate allowed tricycles, sedans, and SUVs to pass. Raising both sides allowed large vans and freight trucks through.
Seeing the construction crew testing the gate barrier, Jian Xingxia was practically ecstatic! These construction crews managed to give her a pleasant surprise every single time. Last time when they installed the solar energy system, they had repaired the stairs leading from the first floor to the second floor for her, using a high-strength, lightweight aluminum alloy material that was exceptionally safe and sturdy. Now the road crew had retrofitted a gate barrier for her; it was simply fantastic!
Jian Xingxia quickly lifted the stainless steel insulated barrel out and set it down on the clean roadside.
“You’ve all worked hard. There’s mung bean soup here; it has sugar in it and it’s ice-cold, so drinking it will help dispel the heat. You can give it a try.”
The members of the construction crew didn’t even raise their heads, acting as though they hadn’t heard her at all. However, the two youngest members couldn’t resist stealing a glance.
Jian Xingxia set down the stainless steel insulated barrel and prepared to leave—she would leave the remaining time for the construction crew to manage on their own!
Half an hour later, Jian Xingxia also delivered mung bean soup to the greenhouse construction crew.
It was the exact same story; they completely ignored her. However, Jian Xingxia meticulously noticed that the peaches she had set down had been shifted slightly. Although the angle change was minute, it was obvious that someone had picked them up to look at them. Perhaps they had even sniffed them.
This feeling was truly miraculous—the robots she had assumed were mere NPCs turned out to be alive!
She set the mung bean soup down and inspected the construction progress. The first step of construction over here at the greenhouse was also leveling the land, but the construction crew possessed their own specialized equipment. By the time Jian Xingxia arrived, the ground had already been completely leveled. It was perfectly neat, looking exactly as though a thin layer of soil had suddenly been sliced cleanly off the ground, forming a square greenhouse foundation.
Jian Xingxia wandered around, watching for a long time, but not a single soul paid her any mind. When she asked these people if they wanted anything to eat or where they were sleeping tonight, no one replied either. Only the leading construction captain stated coldly, “We are currently under construction and require no assistance. Please leave the construction site as soon as possible.”
Jian Xingxia could only leave sheepishly.
Fortunately, the ones who came to work at the estate were all honest and rustic ancient people. If she had to interact with these cold, unsmiling people from who-knows-what dimension every day, she truly wouldn’t know how to get along with them.
After bumping her head against a wall twice, Jian Xingxia looked at Lin Sanniang and Dahei upon her return, and the more she looked at them, the more satisfied she felt. At the very least, these two could communicate! They were obedient, worked exceptionally well, didn’t complain about her talking too much, and didn’t tell her to scram while they were working.
Seeing Jian Xingxia return looking a bit droopy and deflated, Lin Sanniang worried that she might have suffered from heatstroke and quickly guided her to sit by the back door. There was a through-breeze blowing here, making it exceptionally cool in the summer.
She then brought Jian Xingxia a bowl of mung bean soup chilled with well water, along with the peaches she had just washed and cut into small pieces.
“Miss, please rest quickly.”
Jian Xingxia clutched Lin Sanniang’s hand, her eyes completely filled with gratitude. “Sanniang, you are far too wonderful.”
She was much better than that bunch of alien fellows on the construction crew.
Lin Sanniang smiled faintly. “Miss, you are the one who is truly wonderful!”
Saying this, Lin Sanniang had Jian Xingxia confirm today’s menu.
“The chickens at home have been laying more eggs these past few days, so I was thinking of using the eggs to make a couple more dishes today, how about that?”
“A dish of stir-fried eggs with green peppers. I’ll remove the seeds and the spicy ribs from the green peppers, slice them exceptionally thin, beat them together with the eggs, and toss them into the wok to stir-fry. We can also make fried eggs.”
“And a bowl of steamed egg custard, drizzled with sesame oil and sprinkled with the wild green onions picked from outside. It should be remarkably fragrant.”
“I’ll also pan-fry a few egg pancakes. If Miss doesn’t feel like cooking later, they can just be reheated to eat.”
Lin Sanniang was truly considerate. Watching Jian Xingxia rush around every day, constantly lining her stomach with nothing but sweet potatoes, corn, and hard-boiled eggs, left her heart aching with sympathy. The young mistress preferred to head out to sell chestnuts to earn money herself just so she could pay them their wages; Lin Sanniang measured others’ hearts by her own, feeling both reverence and a deep fondness for Jian Xingxia.
Only then did Jian Xingxia remember that since Liang Chengcheng visited, the chickens, ducks, and the goose at home had increased too. Now, counting Dahua, there were seven chickens and one goose, allowing them to gather a few eggs every single day.
Having finished this round, Lin Sanniang selected a few more dishes: “Since I am making egg pancakes today, I will stir-fry some shredded pork, slice some shredded cucumbers, stir-fry a small bowl of shredded potatoes, and a small bowl of shredded carrots. Miss can roll the fillings inside the pancakes to eat, how about that?”
On such a hot day, eating like this was slightly more comfortable than eating a heavy meal of rice. Jian Xingxia agreed decisively. She practically wanted to wrap her arms around Lin Sanniang and give her a kiss—this was simply far too thoughtful!
“Make a few more. The three of us will all eat pancakes at noon later.”
“Aye! Then Miss should rest first, just call for me if you need anything.” Lin Sanniang returned happily to the kitchen.
When noon arrived, Jian Xingxia went to the fields to call Dahei back so he could join them to eat pancakes.
Because of Dahei’s addition, the various shredded fillings Lin Sanniang prepared weren’t served in small bowls, but in small basins instead. After seeking Jian Xingxia’s opinion, Lin Sanniang scooped a large half of the shredded cucumbers, shredded eggs, shredded potatoes, and shredded carrots into a separate stainless steel food basin and carried it over to Dahei. She additionally provided a small bowl of shredded pork, four fried eggs, and a towering plate of egg pancakes.
Combined, she and Jian Xingxia ate barely half of Dahei’s food intake. However, they kept plenty of shredded pork for themselves, along with the stir-fried eggs with green peppers, the steamed egg custard, a plate of pan-fried small fish, and a bowl of stir-fried bamboo shoots with sour cabbage.
Jian Xingxia wrapped the various colorful shredded vegetables inside the pancakes to eat. After scooping two large spoonfuls of the egg custard for Lin Sanniang, she simply cradled the bowl herself to slurp it down. The pan-fried small fish and the stir-fried bamboo shoots with sour cabbage were both exceptionally savory, and they could keep for a few days to be eaten as side dishes with rice. If she didn’t feel like cooking herself, boiling a pot of porridge to go with these two dishes would allow her to eat very comfortably.
After finishing the meal, Dahei went straight back to the fields. He didn’t have the habit of resting, and sitting around only made him feel uncomfortable.
Lin Sanniang couldn’t sit still either, gathering the bowls and chopsticks to wash them by the well. She carried the water used for washing the dishes over to a small ditch by the edge of the vegetable patch and poured it down. In the dead of noon, she couldn’t water the vegetables directly, but pouring it not far away allowed the water to soak into the soil and slowly filter from underground over to the vegetable patch.
Jian Xingxia, meanwhile, was calculating her accounts.
Yesterday her balance was 10,171 yuan. Buying the tricycle cost 7,700, leaving a remainder of 2,471 yuan. She opened her phone again to do some online shopping for supplies.
After the second floor of the old house upgraded, it perfectly met the requirements for a guesthouse. However, the first floor was still old and dilapidated. The Estate Management System didn’t seem to mention handling it, so Jian Xingxia could only do it herself. She first bought some basic renovation tools—wall scrapers, putty powder, putty knives, and white eco-friendly wall paint…
The main hall downstairs was completely empty, containing only a few broken bamboo baskets, woven sacks, and a few crooked wooden chairs. Jian Xingxia calculated that when the time came, the main hall ought to serve as the reception area, somewhat similar to the small parlor on the second floor, with the addition of a front desk counter. That meant she would need chairs, a sofa, a table, and a counter.
