Chapter 26: The House is Completed

As the days passed, it was almost July, and Lin Nuo’s house had finally been completed. She asked them to plant a small row of apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, and locust flowers around the silver area, with bamboo on the outermost edge. These were all larger transplanted trees and should look beautiful.

The rockery and pond in the courtyard were also well taken care of.

Recently, people in the village passing by had been admiring Lin Nuo’s house. Although it wasn’t as grand as those in the city, such a large blue brick house in a small village was quite impressive and looked good.

Behind the house, the mist swirled around the mountains, and the courtyard was nestled among the trees, giving it a bit of a paradise feel.

Lin Nuo did not plan to hold a warm house celebration, so the day of the beam-raising was lively. It had become a hot topic of conversation among everyone.

On the day of the beam-raising, Lin Nuo’s family prepared various pastries and candies, even tossing out copper coins, which many people scrambled to grab, with some fetching over a dozen wen.

The variety of dishes was also unprecedented.

The house needed to be aired out for more than half a month before it could be lived in.

The furniture had mostly been completed and delivered, and everything was arranged in each room, with a similar setup throughout.

At this time, Lin Nuo was already over two months pregnant, and her belly had begun to show slightly. Generally, a pregnancy starts to show around three months, but she was already showing a little. She planned to check on herself soon. She had been too busy lately to find the time. In her medical room, there was an ultrasound machine, and it was time for a check-up.

Lin Nuo planned to go to town to buy new bedding and some other necessities for the new home.

Lin Lei had a day off, so he planned to go to town with her.

The siblings decided to go to Shopkeeper Li’s place to make their purchases.

As soon as Shopkeeper Li saw Lin Nuo, he knew that a big customer had come to shop again.

He greeted her with a smile, saying, “Miss Lin, what do you need? I’ll find it for you.”

Noticing her younger brother beside her, he added, “Oh, the little one is growing up nicely.”

“Shopkeeper Li, I need eight quilts and matching mattresses, all with good fabric, and I also need eight pairs of pillows,” Lin Nuo replied cheerfully.

“Alright, alright, let me take you to choose the patterns,” Shopkeeper Li responded.

Hearing that she wanted so many items, Shopkeeper Li was astonished. The young lady was indeed a big customer, always picking out a large pile every time she came.

In the end, they also selected some fabric to prepare for making curtains.

Looking at the mountain of items, Shopkeeper Li said, “Miss, since you’re buying so much, we’ll send you home with our cart. You can go browse elsewhere for a while, and we’ll load the items onto the cart and wait for you here.”

“Alright, thank you, shopkeeper.”

After speaking, she took Lin Lei’s hand and left.

” older sister, can I have a skewer of candied hawthorn?” Lin Lei looked up at Lin Nuo with hopeful eyes.

“Sure, let’s go buy some,” she replied.

The siblings held hands and went to buy candied hawthorn.

The sister was beautiful, and the brother was not to be underestimated either; after wandering around a few shops, they had certainly met their desires.

In the end, Lin Nuo went to the blacksmith’s shop and bought four pots, a few small jars, and also customized a special dual hot pot for cooking, and ordered a barbecue rack as well, leaving a deposit of 500 wen and saying she would come back in five days to pick it up.

The cart was full, and they made a grand entrance into the village, attracting attention once again.

Widow Li at the village entrance watched, nearly grinding her teeth in frustration.

Lin Nuo considered that managing such a large courtyard alone was indeed not easy, and she also needed to check on the fields regularly. Now that she was pregnant, she didn’t have the energy to take care of everything herself. Therefore, she planned to buy a few people to help when she went to town next time.

In this era, hiring help was legal.

She wasn’t particularly clear about the going rates for this, so she planned to ask Madam Zhou when she went back to pick up her items in five days.