Expansion of The House; A Deal Was Made (1)
Hearing Yuteng's voice by her ear, Cheng Xiao Xiao couldn't help but stopped in her path. The two girls behind her stopped as well.
"Let's go this way!" Cheng Xiao Xiao didn't know who wanted to see her, but she wanted to go check it out.
Right now, it's no easy feat for anyone to step foot in Willow Village. Ever since they had flung every one out last time, Cheng Xiao Xiao didn't want to be bothered by any other visitors, so she specifically told the mystical beasts to guard all the entrances to the village. Anyone who tries to enter will meet the same fate - being fed to the snakes!
They haven't made it too far when they spotted Liu Danhuang coming toward them riding on a large tiger.
After Liu Danhuang had been admitted as a disciple, he became the first patrol guard of the Cheng's and patrolled the surrounding area with the Cheng brothers to keep the village safe.
"Shimei!"
Liu Danhaung called out to her before he leaped off from the white tiger. The white tiger, however, approached Cheng Xiao Xiao in a very friendly manner and nuzzled on her leg. The white tiger seemed tame, but the Liu's sisters were so scared they took a few steps back.
Most girls were afraid of the vicious beasts from the dimension. With a smile, Cheng Xiao Xiao gently kicked the white tiger. This tiger was not Cheng Zheng Yuan's pet, it was a different one raised in the dimension and it has also joined the rank as a member of the patrolling team.
Villagers of Willow were already aware of the change of the Cheng's. Being from this era, they were no strangers to ancient martial art sect or cultivation sect. So none of them found these changes too shocking, contrarily, they accepted them all with relative ease.
Originally they thought the teacher for their youths were just some common skillful martial artist, they didn't know he was one of the best of the best. All the Willow villagers were so happy they almost lost their minds.
Liu Danhuang handed over the letter he just received to her and said, "Shimei, a letter from someone from the outside. It's for master and you!"
"Oh?"
Cheng Xiao Xiao took the letter from him and opened it up, it was from Innkeeper Zhu of Lai Yue Inn. After she finished reading it, she paused, gave it a thought and said, "Shixiong Danhuang, why don't you go meet up with the visitors at the entrance of the village tomorrow morning and bring them in?"
"Sure!"
"Please don't let me keep you!"
The two didn't talk for too long. Cheng Xiao Xiao brought the two girls back to the house and Liu Danhuang mounted the white tiger and resumed his patrolling duties.
After she has arrived back at the courtyard, Cheng Xiao Xiao sent Yecao to go get her father.
A moment later, Cheng Biyuan, who was dripping with sweats, returned from the construction site and said to her, "Xiao Xiao, what's the matter?"
"Dad, no rush. Why don't you wash your face first, then we can talk?"
"Okay, give me a minute. It's been so hot outside!"
Cheng Biyuan was about to turn around and walk inside the kitchen when Mrs. Cheng brought the maid and walked out with a bucket of water, "Here you go, the water is ready. Go ahead!"
Shortly, while Cheng Xiao Xiao was preparing tea and assisted by Mrs. Cheng, Cheng Biyuan got ready and went to sit next to his daughter.
Cheng Xiao Xiao handed him a cup of hot tea and smiled, "Dad, you've had a hard day, have some tea!"
"The tea can wait. Go head, why were you looking for me?"
"Dad, take a look at this first!"
With that she retrieved the letter from inside her sleeve and handed it over to her father. Cheng Biyuan opened up the letter without saying anything else.
Cheng Biyuan scanned over the content of the letter quickly and asked, "Xiao Xiao, do you think we should meet with them?"
"We should. We need to purchase some items for the house and it's kind of inconvenient for us to go ourselves. We can just have Innkeeper Zhu run the errands for us. I trust they will be very willing to do us the favor!" replied Cheng Xiao Xiao with a smile.
Right then, Mrs. Cheng came over as well. Sitting down, she asked, "Xiao Xiao, are there a lot of people who wanted to come in?"
"Naturally, mom, you know that as well. Everybody wants to get their hands on our goods. Have we not arranged for the mythical beasts to block the paths, the visitors would have broken down our doors!"
"That is certainly the true!" interjected Cheng Biyuan, "But, these are just the small timers. When the others show up, I'm afraid even the mythical beasts wouldn't be able to stop them without your commands!"
Mrs. Cheng paused for a second and looked as though she had though of something too. Cheng Xiao Xiao didn't seem to be too concerned, "Dad, we don't need to worry ourselves about big shots or small timers. Why don't we cross that bridge when we come to it. It's not like we can stop them from coming, would you agree?"
Cheng Biyuan nodded and said to his own wife, "Yuqin, why don't you take a look and see what we need and make a list. I'll have Innkeeper Zhu get them all for us. As for any items needed for the construction of our house, I'll make a note as well!"
"Okay, I will do that!" Mrs. Cheng nodded, then looking at the two maids standing not far behind her daughter, "Xiao Xiao, we've added more members to our household but there are a lot to teach. I don't think I can hand hold them too much. We need to figure out something."
"Mom, I see what you mean!"
Cheng Xiao Xiao thought for a little bit, then said, "But, now is not a good time for us to hire from the outside. If we look for helpers from the outside right now, I'm afraid we will be bringing in spies and just causing ourselves more headaches. Since Innkeeper Zhu will be in and out of our place the next few days, why don't we have him give some pointers to them?"
"Okay, I guess that will work." Mrs. Cheng understood why her daughter said what she said, so there was no reason to ask for more.
As a matter of fact, Mrs. Cheng was born into a big family. It wasn't that she didn't know how to manage the servants, but that all the ones they have recently added were regular village girls. There were a lot of things that she couldn't be too explicit about; she didn't want the villagers to say she was bullying young kids.
According popular believe, follow rules is a person's gentility and set of principles. Let it be a dynasty, an organization, a school, or a family, rules are always necessary. Whether you are the masters or the servants, there are standard set of rules. If these don't become a natural part of one's behavior, everything will be a mess, so everybody must follow these predefined set of rules.
Even though Cheng Xiao Xiao didn't want to hire from the outside, nevertheless, they were too familiar with their families. They would only be able to list out the rules; as for formally training them, it'd be better done by someone else.
Of course, Cheng Xiao Xiao understood that there will be incidents and confrontations in the future. But the Cheng's is still a small family right now, they will have to take it one small steps at a time.
"Xiao Xiao, is there anything else? If you have nothing else, I am going to go back and monitor the construction and see where they can use my help!"
After a couple cups of tea, Cheng Biyuan was ready to go back out to help. He was a sheltered young master before and didn't need to worry about anything. After the incident, he had changed a lot. Now he wanted to participate in everything related to his household!
"Dad, I have nothing else. You go busy yourself!" replied Cheng Xiao Xiao.
"Okay, it's four more hours till the sun goes down. I am going back to help out!" Cheng Biyuan stood up and headed out.
"Ye, be careful!" shouted Mrs. Cheng behind him.
Cheng Biyuan waved his hand without so much as turning around, "Don't worry, there's nothing dangerous!"
Seeing her father off, Cheng Xiao Xiao said to her mother, "Mom, we haven't collected any vegetables yet. Let me go get some from the field!"
"Okay, you go. We have many mouths to feed, get some extra!"
"Okay, mom!"