Eternal madness

Chapter 21 An Old House in a Deserted Village (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

He Shengjun wanted to kill Zhang Laifu to silence him, but Lin Shaocong refused.

"No, I have my own rules!"

"Young Master, you tell me the rules, and I'll follow them. But what should we do with Zhang Laifu? He can't leave Heishakou now, and he can't stay here either!"

“Why not?” Lin Shao Cong thought for a moment. “Go find him a job, not in the Lin family mansion, but somewhere far away from it. Give him an advance on a month’s wages, and provide him with all his food, drink and other necessities. Don’t let him wander around the streets.”

"Alright, I'll do whatever you say, young master." He Shengjun agreed and first sent Lin Shao Cong back to the Lin residence. At dusk, he left the city alone with Zhang Laifu.

He Shengjun repeatedly told him, "Brother Laifu, you can't leave Heishakou for now. The bandits of Hunlongzhai definitely won't let you go. If you stay here, the Lin family will take care of you and can save your life."

The Lin family doesn't support idlers. My young master will find you a job, but jobs in the city aren't safe, so we'll have to look in more remote areas.

Zhang Laifu asked, "How remote is it?"

"It's about twenty miles outside the city. There's food and lodging, and you get ten silver dollars a month. What do you think?"

"What kind of work are you doing?"

"Look at the house, it's an old country house belonging to the Lin family."

A wonton vendor works from dawn till dusk and only earns twelve or thirteen dollars a month, while here you can get ten dollars just for looking at a house.

This reminded Zhang Laifu of the 20,000 yuan salary that Lao Song had transferred to him.

"I won't trouble you with this. I can find a way to make a living on my own." Zhang Laifu turned to leave, but suddenly two plates appeared under his feet, slipping and sliding, bringing Zhang Laifu back.

"Brother, are you really not understanding or are you pretending?" He Shengjun looked at Zhang Laifu. "Our young master is looking out for you and has found you a job. If you don't take it, I'll have to send you to a better place."

Zhang Laifu nodded and said, "Okay, let's go take a look at the houses then."

He Shengjun said it was in the countryside, and Zhang Laifu thought it was in a village. But when he arrived at the house, Zhang Laifu found that it was a desolate place with no houses in sight for miles around.

Why did the Lin family build a house in this place?

"Brother Laifu, let's not ask too many questions. Let's go inside and take a look." He Shengjun walked ahead and pushed open the gate of the house.

The door opened, and the two stood at the entrance, not in a hurry to go in, because dirt was falling from the lintel. Against the backdrop of the sunset, layers of dust cascaded down like a waterfall.

Once the soil had mostly settled, the two walked around the screen wall and entered the front yard. As they walked, He Shengjun introduced the area: "In the front yard, there is a gatehouse, six servant rooms, a kitchen, a woodshed, two storerooms, and two outhouses."

There's a well in the front yard. The water is a little bitter, but you can drink it after boiling it. It's also good for reducing internal heat. There's grain in the storeroom; I arranged for someone to deliver it today. It's all new rice.

I've stored a lot of cabbages and some radishes for you in the cellar; enough for you to eat all winter.

According to the rules, you should usually stay in the front gatehouse, but there's no one else in this house. Since I've asked you to come and see the house, you can also go and take a look at the other courtyards..."

As he was speaking, He Shengjun tripped and stumbled. Many of the stone slabs on the ground looked intact on the outside, but in reality, they had long been cracked by the roots of weeds. If you stepped on them, they would often crumble into pieces.

“This is called ground armor!” He Shengjun pulled out a weed with force, kicking up a cloud of sand and gravel. “You can pull some weeds when you have time. This yard needs to be taken good care of.”

After passing through the hanging flower gate, the two arrived at the main courtyard.

The weeds in the front yard were quite tall, but you could still barely see the ground. In the main yard, the weeds had already reached above your ankles and were almost up to your knees.

He Shengjun continued, “The main courtyard has one main house, two side rooms, two east and two west wing rooms, and two rear rooms…”

Zhang Laifu saw a wheelbarrow parked in front of the main house, with two large wooden boxes on either side of it, covered in dust and cobwebs.

The design and workmanship of this vehicle are very rough. This kind of thing should not appear in the main courtyard. Looking at the main house, the door panel is missing and the door frame is broken. This wheelbarrow must have crashed into the house.

"What's this cart for?" He Shengjun said, "Haven't you ever seen a water vendor? Although there's a well in the yard, it doesn't produce sweet water. The Lin family is the largest household in Heishakou, so they definitely can't drink bitter water. That's why they have to buy sweet water. This is a cart for selling sweet water."

So-called "sweet water" is water that is safe to drink. Many wells do not produce sweet water; the water drawn up is bitter and undrinkable, only suitable for washing clothes and cleaning. If you want to drink normal drinking water, you have to buy it from someone who sells sweet water. Water sellers are one of the 360 ​​trades.

"They've even brought the water truck inside the house?" Zhang Laifu had never seen a water vendor before, but this situation seemed very illogical.

"Brother Laifu, I have to say it a few more times, you'd better not ask too many questions about the boss's affairs."

After passing through the covered walkway and an archway, the two went to the backyard. The backyard was smaller than the main yard, and it had a pond, a swing, and a grape trellis.

There was something quite amazing about it: there were still live fish in the pond.

This house has been abandoned for so long, there must be no one feeding the fish. Zhang Laifu really wanted to know what these fish usually ate.

“Back in the day, someone of your status shouldn’t have come to the backyard, because that’s where the women lived. But now that there’s no one else in the house, you can come and visit often.”

After walking through the backyard, we went to the east and west courtyards.

"The east wing was originally for the steward, and the west wing was for the accountant. If you feel comfortable, you can stay here. Even if you don't stay here, you should still come and visit from time to time."

Last time I came, a litter of wild boars made their home in the west wing. What would our master do if he saw that!

Zhang Laifu looked at the condition of the west courtyard: "The wild boar doesn't seem to mind this?"

"How can you talk like that?" He Shengjun stood in the center of the main courtyard and walked around. "What a beautiful house this is!"

Bang!

He Shengjun raised his voice a little, and a piece of the window frame in the main room was knocked off.

This house has dozens of rooms, but not a single one is intact.

Some roofs were leaking, some doors were missing, and there were no more than five rooms with intact walls.

It's still much better than sleeping under a bridge.

He Shengjun gave the instructions clearly and paid the wages for this month first: "Ten silver dollars a month. We're paying you before we even start work. Ask around in Heishakou and see if anyone else is as generous as our young master!"

He is quite generous, just as generous as Lao Song.

"Brother Laifu, I'm handing the old house over to you now, and I should be leaving. You're a friend of our young master, but I still need to make things clear to you."

You haven't learned a trade, you're not even a professional, so we shouldn't hire you. But since you're here, you should act like you're doing a job.

"If you're looking after this house, you'll have to stay here. I'll be checking on you from time to time these days, but if I find you absent, you'd better pack your bags and get out of here."

After giving the instructions, He Shengjun left the mansion, riding on two plates, and headed back to the city.

Upon returning to the residence, Lin Shao Cong asked with concern, "Did you take care of Lai Fu's matter? Is the location inconspicuous? It's quite far from the Lin family mansion, isn't it?"

He Shengjun nodded and said, "It's not conspicuous. I've arranged for him to go see the old house."

Lin Shao Cong was startled: "Which old house?"

He Shengjun said, "The old house in Baicaodang."

Lin Shao Cong's eyes widened: "What do you want to do? That house is haunted, are you going to send him to his death?"

(End of this chapter)