The first time in history

Chapter 184 Moving to the City

Qian Mingduo smiled and said, "How do you know that I can't pass the imperial examination? How do you know that I can't pass the imperial examination? If I pass the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official, I will first force your man to do labor service for the soldiers guarding the border, and he will not be allowed to go home for three years."

After listening to Qian Mingduo's words, Li Shishi smiled sideways.

"I say, Mr. Lu, how come you have become a bad person now? You have learned to bully others." She walked down the stone steps and said, "Don't scare people. Wait until you pass the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official before you tell me."

With a bang, Han Jiang closed the gate.

Li Shishi locked the gate and walked to the wall. "Come over later. I want to talk to you about something."

"I'll be there after I wash up."

When Qian Mingduo saw dozens of silver pieces on the table, the smart man had already guessed what Li Shishi was going to say to him.

"Tell me," Qian Mingduo sat down, "what kind of yard do you want to buy?"

"How did you know?" Li Shishi smiled.

"You hate Han Jiang, but you don't want to show up in public, so you have always been asking her for favors. But this woman is really annoying, so you made up your mind to go to the city to rent or buy a yard." Qian Mingduo looked at the silver, "With so much silver, it seems you want to buy it?"

"Yes." Li Shishi sighed softly, "It wouldn't be a big deal to give her some extra money, but this person always wants to pry into my affairs. It's really..."

Qian Mingduo nodded, "It should be easy to buy a small courtyard with money, but no matter where you live, you will always be alone. You don't want to go out and show up, so I'll buy you a maid. In this way, you can tell her to do whatever you want."

Li Shishi shook her head. "I don't want any maids to serve me. I just want a quiet life." She looked at Qian Mingduo. "I can hire you."

"Hire me?" Qian Mingduo asked.

"Yes, I will give you five taels of silver every month. You just need to cook for me."

Qian Ming thought about it and said, "That's fine. At least I'm not a gigolo. But..." He frowned. "I go in and out of the city every day, and I waste a lot of time on the road."

"When you were looking for a house, you could have looked for one with a bigger yard! How stupid." Li Shishi rolled her eyes at Qian Mingduo.

"I see. You want me to be both a cook and a servant. Right?"

Li Shishi shook her head gently and said leisurely: "I don't want you to be a servant. I just want someone to talk to."

"I promise you." Qian Mingduo stood up. "Keep the money first. I'll go into the city to find a house. We'll talk after everything is ready."

Courageous as he was with plenty of silver, Qian Mingduo quickly picked out a small courtyard after entering the city.

In the bustling Lin'an Prefecture, he was able to find a quiet courtyard that was like a paradise on earth so quickly. Qian Mingduo felt that everything he got was God's will.

The courtyard is located at the end of a deep alley, away from the hustle and bustle of the street market. There is a man-made canal at the door, which draws clean water from the small river next to it and flows straight through the entire alley.

Entering the courtyard, a small courtyard appeared before us. The ground was paved with bluestone slabs, and a few withered grasses grew out from the cracks in the slabs, swaying gently in the breeze.

There are several sweet-scented osmanthus trees planted in the corner of the courtyard. There are three tiled houses with blue bricks to the roof. The main room is in the middle, spacious and bright.

The bedrooms on both sides are slightly smaller than the main room. One is an empty room. The other has a heated kang, which is just below the window.

On one side of the yard, there is a small kitchen. The stoves are all new, and it is obvious that the owner does not cook here.

The whole courtyard was immersed in tranquility. Qian Mingduo was very satisfied. He negotiated a price with the owner and agreed to hand over the money and the lease tomorrow.

After Qian Mingduo came back, he still climbed over the wall and entered Li Shishi's yard.

"You're back so soon?" asked Li Shishi.

Qian Mingduo nodded and said, "I was lucky. I was very satisfied with the first house I saw. But the owner didn't sell it, only rent it."

Li Shishi asked: "What kind of house?"

Qian Mingduo explained it to Li Shishi in detail and saw her nod. "Fifteen taels a year. I have negotiated with the owner and will pay him two years' rent first. A total of thirty taels."

Li Shishi took out fifty taels of silver and said, "You need to buy a wooden bed and some other necessary things, which will cost you money."

"I forgot to tell you, one of the two bedrooms is empty, with nothing in it, so you can put your step-out bed there. The other one has a heated bed, so I don't need to buy a bed." Qian Mingduo looked around, "The furniture in your living room can be put there just fine."

Li Shishi took Qian Mingduo's hand and put the silver in his hand. "Take the silver. We still need to hire a car to move!"

Li Shishi's hands were smooth and boneless, and Qian Mingduo's heart was instantly moved.

"We'll move tonight. I'll hire a car at the east gate of the city." Qian Mingduo kicked the silver in his arms. "It's far from our small village. The donkey and horse carriage officer probably won't recognize us."

Li Shishi nodded and said, "Let's leave here quietly."

"After we finish renting a house tomorrow, when do you think it's a good time to move?" Qian Mingduo asked.

"Is the house clean?"

"It's quite clean. Basically, we don't need to clean anything anymore." Qian Mingduo looked at the step-out bed. "The empty bedroom is a little bigger than this one. It should be no problem to put this step-out bed in there."

Li Shishi also walked to the bedroom door, "We just need to disassemble the bed before we can move it. If we don't disassemble it, it will be too big and won't fit in the room."

Qian Mingduo nodded and said, "I will buy some more candles tomorrow, otherwise they won't be able to see at night. We also need to find two carpenters, the car officer can't do this."

"How come you are so thoughtful?" Li Shishi smiled.

"I can't help it! I'm yours now. So I have to think about you wholeheartedly!"

"my people?"

"Oh, it's the person you hired."

The next day, Qian Mingduo completed the formalities for renting a house and went to the east gate of Lin'an Prefecture to hire two horse-drawn carriages and a light sedan carriage.

After explaining the matter to the car officers and paying a little money, he went to the market to find two carpenters. When he brought them back to the village, it was already getting dark.

The carpenter had just finished dismantling the huge step-out bed, and the hired carriages followed. It was almost Chou hour before everything was loaded.

He helped Li Shishi sit in the carriage, she was holding an exquisite mahogany box in her arms. Qian Mingduo looked back at the small courtyard where he had lived for a few days. He jumped on the shaft of the carriage, waved his hand, and several carriages slowly drove towards the city.

When we arrived at the South Gate, the city gate was just opened. When the carpenters began to assemble the step-out bed, it was already bright.

Li Shishi sat quietly on the kang, and she had never taken off the hood of her cloak since she walked out of the original room.

Qian Ming was busy directing the work. At noon, everything was ready. Qian Mingduo closed the gate and walked to Li Shishi. "Everything is ready. How about... go to your room and take a look first?"