For two days in a row, people have been bringing vegetable seedlings, seeds, and melon seeds.

Fang Dihua, along with Sister-in-law Lu and Brother Lu, followed Lin Shu’s instructions to prepare the vegetable beds.

Peanuts are usually planted around the Qingming Festival and Gu Yu, but it’s already over a month late.

However, planting them in the yard where there’s plenty of sunlight might still yield some peanuts by autumn, even if they are harvested a bit late—maybe half a month later.

In the past, Fang Dihua wouldn’t have planted them. If anyone tried to plant something she didn’t want, she’d scold them fiercely.

But now that Lin Shu wants to plant, she thinks, “If the third daughter-in-law wants to plant, then let her. As long as she’s happy and doesn’t have any mental issues, it’s fine.”

It’s just a few patches of peanuts, so what if she plants the whole yard? It’s only a waste of a few peanuts!

Let her plant!

Even if she fills the roof with plants, it’s none of her concern!

Lin Shu immediately planted the vegetable seedlings and melon seedlings once she got them.

She soaked and sprouted the seeds, and once they started to germinate, she could plant them.

Unfortunately, there were no sunflower seeds.

Sunflowers are not commonly grown locally; sometimes people plant a few for themselves, but since the flowers are attractive, they often get picked before they produce seeds, so the loss rate is high, and eventually, no one plants them anymore.

Fang Dihua couldn’t find any in her village or nearby villages, and the town didn’t have them either.

She’d probably have to go to the county.

Since they weren’t available, Lin Shu had to give up.

It wasn’t worth traveling to the county just to buy sunflower seeds, especially since it would involve transportation costs.

Over the past few days, everyone noticed Lin Shu’s changes, and Fang Dihua, especially concerned about Lin Shu’s mental state, was very accommodating to her requests.

This morning, she sent the old man and Elder Brother Lu to work in the family’s land, while she and Sister-in-law Lu Da helped Lin Shu organize the vegetable garden.

After preparing breakfast for the children going to school, Lin Shu excitedly went to the garden to admire the “territory” her mother-in-law had prepared for her.

It was indeed a very nice yard!

The land was higher in the north and lower in the south, so rain wouldn’t cause flooding.

The garden was quite large, about ten meters wide from north to south, and roughly sixty meters long from east to west.

After accounting for the main house and a few side rooms, there was still a lot of open space.

There was a wide distance between the east and west walls of the main house and the garden walls, with many trees and fruit trees planted.

Previously, the vegetable garden planted by her mother-in-law and Eldest sister-in-law was scattered, with plants spread out here and there.

This made Lin Shu, who had a tendency toward perfectionism, feel uneasy.

In her past life, she had studied art for several years as a child and later worked in space design and decoration, making her very sensitive to spatial planning.

She was determined not to allow disorderly and unattractive arrangements.

In her previous life, she lived in an apartment where she had to plan for growing vegetables and flowers on a narrow balcony, which she deeply regretted.

Now, having transmigrated to this new place…

In the countryside, not planning out the large courtyard would be wasting the chance to have traveled through time.

Lin Shu noticed that since she declared she wouldn’t remarry, her mother-in-law had been increasingly kind and even a bit indulgent towards her.

This made her subtly take advantage of the situation—she was indeed becoming a bit arrogant from the favor she received.

She boldly approached Fang Dihua and said, “Mother, I have a plan I want to discuss with you.”

She wanted to make substantial changes to the garden.

She planned to clear out the space five meters in front of the house to create a daily activity area.

To shield from wind and rain, she wanted to build a small shed in front of the hall door, where they could eat meals without rushing inside when it rained.

This area needed to be hardened, otherwise, after a few days of rain, it would turn into muddy pits.

Fang Dihua, listening to Lin Shu talk while using a hoe to dig, was intrigued and straightened up to look at her.

Lin Shu looked up at her, eyes shining with a smile, showing no trace of sadness or weakness.

“Mother, the path is too narrow. It needs to be expanded to three meters to match our spacious and elegant courtyard.”

As Sister-in-law Lu Er came over to comb her hair, she heard Lin Shu say the path was too narrow and nodded repeatedly.

With a somewhat exaggerated smile, she said, “The third daughter-in-law is really taking on the role of a proper wife! This idea is great! But where will you get the paving stones? Nowadays, even if you have money, you need to apply for every brick and tile.”

Lin Shu ignored her sarcastic tone and told Fang Dihua, “Mother, I’ve thought it through. We can use broken bricks and stones to fill in the sides of the paving stones.”

She could design attractive patterns.

Second Sister Lu Er wanted to argue about how everyone was working hard, and Lin Shu was idling at home, but Fang Dihua had already agreed, saying, “It does look narrow. It’s inconvenient to carry grain home.”

Lu Er made a face and turned back inside.

Seeing her mother-in-law being so agreeable, Lin Shu continued with her plans.

The vegetable beds would run along the path in a north-south direction, with sufficient space left between them to allow the plants to grow and absorb sunlight freely.

She measured out the space—each bed would be one and a half meters wide and about five meters long.

She planned to make six beds on the east side and eight on the west side.

The courtyard was large, and after planning these vegetable beds, there would still be considerable space along the courtyard walls.

There was also a large distance from the vegetable beds to the northern edge of the courtyard.

Sister-in-law Lu Da, who had been digging away, was now also intrigued, saying, “Oh, that’s quite a few vegetable beds! We won’t be able to eat all the vegetables ourselves.”

They could give some to relatives, and her own family would benefit.

The third daughter-in-law really knew how to live well!

Life is good!

Brother Lu Er listened silently, not speaking, and continued working quietly.

Seeing that her mother-in-law didn’t object and that her sister-in-law seemed interested, Lin Shu said, “Mother, look at the large space on the east side. We can move the haystack and dig a fish pond there. We could create a landscape with stones, reeds, and cattails, and plant some lotus flowers, water lilies, and water chestnuts. We could also raise some crucian carp, carp, and black fish to eat.”

Fang Dihua thought to herself: “Hmm, you really enjoy life, just like my mother-in-law… Could it be that the old lady is influencing her?”

Fang Dihua’s heart immediately leaped into her throat.

Sister-in-law Lu Da said, “For the fish pond, we should get two red koi.”

Fang Dihua glanced at her. “You know quite a lot.”

Sister-in-law Lu Da’s usually cheerful face turned bashful. “My husband likes them. He says fish playing among lotus leaves looks beautiful.”

She was usually lively, but she became a shy little wife when it came to Eldest Brother Lu.

Fang Dihua rolled her eyes at her and told her to hurry up with the digging; they would need to start working soon.

Lin Shu, worried that her mother-in-law might leave before finishing the discussion, quickly added, “Mother, don’t plant gourds in the vegetable garden. Plant them under the trees so they can climb freely.”

Fang Dihua agreed, “That saves us from needing to build supports.”

Gourds were essential for making ladles.

In the countryside, few households had metal or plastic scoops; everyone used gourd ladles.

Besides gourds, they planned to grow climbing plants like pumpkins, winter melons, cucumbers, sweet melons, and bottle gourds in this area, with simple supports set up between the trees for them to climb freely.

The vegetable beds would be used for common vegetables like leafy greens, eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes.

Tomatoes, in particular, were important because they could be eaten as fruit and produce frequently.

Fang Dihua looked at the big locust tree and said, “That tree is old. We should cut it down before the construction starts.”

She looked at Lin Shu and asked, “What else?”

Lin Shu smiled sweetly, appreciating her mother-in-law’s patience with her many requests. “Mother, I also want to build a grape arbor, plant two grape vines, and set up a honeysuckle vine for tea. I’d like to cover the wall with different kinds of roses, and add some crepe myrtle, roses, chrysanthemums, and cockscomb flowers to the open spaces.”

She planned to match various seasonal flowers with the space layout—like hydrangeas, purple jasmine, and begonias—ensuring they complemented the environment beautifully.

The spacious courtyard would have corners for chickens, ducks, and pigs, vegetable gardens, fruit trees, a grape arbor, and various flowers, including the fish pond.

Lotus Flower Rockery

Yes, this is the ideal farmhouse courtyard she envisioned!

Fang Dihua stood and imagined it for a while; it really did look pretty good, and it had the charm of a proper housewife…

Fang Dihua was truly worried!

Sister Lu Er was washing clothes at the washstand, and when she saw Fang Dihua’s approving look, she kept her head down, rolling her eyes and pouting at the basin.

The third daughter-in-law had truly changed, from a pushover to a sycophant!

Look at how she’s flattering her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

A fox is still a fox, and its tail will eventually show.

She wanted to go inside and take out her frustration on her daughter, but Lu Cuicui darted out, grabbing a roll and a steamed bun before rushing away, faster than a wild monkey.

Sister Lu Er, enraged, grabbed a stick to throw at her but missed.