“Alright, there’s no need to salute right now.” As she spoke, Su Tang looked around at the gathered tenant farmers. On top of their worn clothes, their faces were pale and wan, and overall the way they looked was basically the same as how Su Dani and Su Dalang had looked back when she had first transmigrated to this era. Thus, Su Tang had some understanding of their living conditions, so she directly told them not to bother saluting for now and instead went over to open up the farmhouse gate with her key.
(tl note: If you’ve forgotten, Su Dani and Su Dalang were Su Tang and Su Nuo’s old names before they renamed themselves during the adoption.)
In general, farms were all large pieces of land so they would often have some sort of living quarters built somewhere on the premises for the owner’s family to live, or at least occasionally rest, in. The size of these courtyards would depend on the needs of the owner’s family. Some owners would want to live on the farm year-round, so the courtyard might be a little bigger, while some owners would only want to visit occasionally and not actually live on the farm, so the courtyards would be correspondingly smaller.
Of course, people who could afford to own a farm would definitely have a certain degree of wealth, so even if the courtyard was “smaller” that was just a relative term. These courtyards would still be larger and of a higher quality than the ones where ordinary people lived.
The previous owner of the farm Su Tang was currently visiting had owned more than one farm, so he had never lived on this farm year-round and the living quarters weren’t very large. Only two small courtyards with a total of eight rooms.
When they saw Su Tang wave them off and go to open up the gate, the tenant farmers only watched nervously. Sensing that, Su Tang sent Mrs. Zhou a glance.
As a person, Su Tang had a naturally cold temperament. Unless it was absolutely necessary she wasn’t the type to be overly warm or cordial. Not to mention the fact that all these people were tenant farmers that she planned to buy directly with money. Thus, on the way here, she had asked Mrs. Zhou to handle everything for her when they arrived.
From the start, this was the line of work she was most familiar with, so Mrs. Zhou didn’t think anything of Su Tang’s request and naturally agreed to it.
Thus, when Mrs. Zhou caught Su Tang’s look, she quickly turned and said to the tenant farmers: “Well, it’s still cold outside these days, why don’t you all come inside first? We didn’t bring anyone along so it won’t be very convenient, is there anyone who can help make a fire?”
When the young man who had first spoken up just now heard her question, he immediately replied, “My wife came along this time, she can make the fire.”
Although the previous owner of the farm hadn’t used this courtyard often, it was still stocked with the most basic necessities like firewood, so they could at least boil some warm water.
Su Tang turned around to look over at the young woman the man mentioned. She asked, “Can you cook?”
The young woman hurriedly nodded her head and replied, “I can, Miss Su!”
“Well, I’ll be staying here tonight. I’ll need someone to help me tend the fire and cook, are you willing? I’ll pay you ten copper coins.” After riding that bumpy carriage for so long Su Tang felt exhausted and didn’t want to bother with cooking. Moreover, it was still cold outside so she would need someone to keep the fire going during the night so the kang bed would stay warm.
Of course, when it came to food and a place to sleep, she could easily solve it herself with her space. However, today she had Mrs. Zhou and Niu’er along with her this time so that wouldn’t work. With that in mind, she needed someone to help her handle all these trivial things and, since this woman was already right here in front of her, she didn’t feel like trying to find someone else to ask.
The young woman could never have dreamed that such a good thing would suddenly fall on her head. After a moment of surprise, she hurriedly promised, “Of course! Just leave it to me.”
Su Tang ignored the woman’s excitement and just nodded calmly. Then she took out her purse and counted out thirty copper coins and passed them to the woman: “Take this and go and buy some ingredients. Make sure to buy some meat and make a meat dish. And for me, just make a simple noodle dish.”
The woman nervously accepted Su Tang’s money and quickly blurted: “Leave it to me, Miss Su. I’ll light the stove first, and then I’ll go out to buy the ingredients.”
When the surrounding tenant farmers saw the young woman suddenly earning ten copper coins so easily, they all felt envious. Some of them even felt some regret that they hadn’t thought to bring their own wives along. Unfortunately, they had already missed the opportunity, so there was nothing to say.
Niu’er and Mrs. Zhou knew that Su Tang was in her mourning period, which meant that she had asked for a meat dish on their behalf, so they both felt joyful. Although they would usually find making a trip out to a remote place like this annoying, it seemed that they would be able to eat well on top of making money this time, so the annoyance flew away and they both suddenly felt that Su Tang was really an excellent customer to have.
With the woman’s assurance, Su Tang gave a nod and then headed deeper into the courtyard toward the main room, leaving Mrs. Zhou behind to handle communicating with the tenant farmers.
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tl begging corner:
