At Lu Wanyuan's repeated explanations, Baili Qiuyue finally believed it. This wasn't a dream. It was real!
The two of them then opened up the rooms and looked them over carefully. Aside from being a little damp, chilly, and moldy, they were all right overall.
It made sense. This place was where Chu Tianxing had made his fortune. It was probably where they had lived a long time ago, and now it was more or less out of use. Several generations had likely lived here; otherwise, the owners wouldn't have sold it off so easily.
So much time had passed that the house had gone without ventilation. More than anything, no one had lived there or maintained it, which was why it had ended up this way.
Some parts were decayed and falling apart, but most of the rooms were in decent condition.
The main residence had a hall, side halls on either side, and then several bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and more than ten rooms altogether.
There were wing rooms on both sides in front of the main residence, with five rooms in each.
Before long, the two of them had painstakingly cleaned every room, clearing out all the assorted junk inside.
Of course, Baili Qiuyue gave the orders while Lu Wanyuan handled the actual work.
She was more than two months pregnant now, and Lu Wanyuan didn't feel safe letting her do anything. He was afraid something might happen, so all he could do was let her supervise and get her fill of bossing him around!
"Wife, you're more than two months pregnant. How about you stop working at Osmanthus Pavilion?"
Lu Wanyuan sat on the floor and made the suggestion to Baili Qiuyue, who was sitting in a chair.
"It's fine. Let me finish this month first. There are only a few days left, and then I can get a month's wages!"
Baili Qiuyue said with a smile.
"All right, then. Let's agree that once you've finished these few days, you won't go back to work. You'll stay home and focus on your pregnancy!"
"Okay, I'll do as you say. I'm heading to Osmanthus Pavilion now! We've finished cleaning here. You can take care of whatever else still needs cleaning. Also, shouldn't you buy some materials and fix those things?"
"Sure, I'll take care of it. Since it's just the two of us living here for now, I think we can wait until our child is older to renovate the other parts. There's not much point fixing up so many rooms right now!"
"Mm, you decide. I have to go, or the manager will criticize me again!"
With that, Baili Qiuyue hurried out of the estate!
"I think you should just finish these last few days and call it quits. You're living in such a nice place now; it doesn't seem right to keep working somewhere else. Besides, you need to take care of the baby. Your pregnancy is already showing!"
Lu Wanyuan called loudly to Baili Qiuyue as she hurried toward the gate.
"I know. We'll talk about it later!"
Baili Qiuyue answered, then left without looking back.
An hour later, while Lu Wanyuan was busy cleaning, he suddenly heard the estate's gate open.
He was puzzled. He didn't really know anyone in this market district, and Baili Qiuyue had gone to work, too.
He quickly stopped what he was doing and headed for the gate.
Before he even reached it, he saw three people in ragged clothes rush inside!
"Who are you?"
"Eldest Brother! It's me, Lu Shan, Lu He, and Lu Ting!"
The three of them looked at Lu Wanyuan and cried out in unison.
"You're...?"
Looking at the filthy long hair and emaciated figures before him, Lu Wanyuan asked in disbelief.
"What are you thinking? They're Lu Shan and the others. They came out of Green Bamboo Peak and came here to find us!"
"Something must have happened at Green Bamboo Peak. They happened to be begging at Osmanthus Pavilion, and luckily they recognized me when I went out with some food. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known who they were among all those beggars!"
"Let them wash up first. I'll go prepare something to eat. They're all starving!"
Baili Qiuyue came in behind them, holding the gate token, and called out to Lu Wanyuan, who was still completely bewildered.
At her words, Lu Wanyuan finally understood.
"I almost didn't recognize you. So much has happened in just three short months. Did something happen at home?"
Lu Wanyuan asked, confused.
"Eldest Brother, we haven't eaten in days. Could you give us something to fill our stomachs first?"
Lu Shan said weakly.
"Of course. Come over quickly. I was just about to eat, so you're right on time. Once you've rested, we can talk about what happened at Green Bamboo Peak!"
Lu Wanyuan immediately led the three of them to the dining room they had just finished cleaning that morning.
"Share this Spirit Rice among yourselves and have a little first. Your sister-in-law is steaming more for you. Go ahead and eat here; I'll catch a fish to add to the meal!"
After seating the three of them at the table, he brought out a large pot of rice and served each of them a portion.
Then, after telling them to eat, he headed straight for the pond.
When he reached the pond, he saw a school of Silver Moon Spirit Carp swimming happily through the water. He quickly cast a spell and caught one of the large Silver Moon Spirit Carp.
There had originally been six large Silver Moon Spirit Carp in the pond, along with hundreds of thousands of fry.
Today, his younger siblings had come over, and they were so thin he could barely recognize them. The best thing to nourish them, as far as he was concerned, was of course Silver Moon Spirit Carp!
Holding it in his hand, he felt that the Silver Moon Spirit Carp had grown quite a bit. It hadn't weighed this much when he first bought it. It seemed the pond was well suited to raising fish; otherwise, they wouldn't have grown so quickly.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help feeling eager. There were so many fry in the pond, and if every one of them grew up, he could make a great deal of money. After all, these fish cost twenty Spirit Stones per jin.
If all those fry grew up, the total would be astronomical, wouldn't it?
But this wasn't the time to think about that. He should prepare the fish and feed it to his younger siblings first.
"Hey, where did you get a Silver Moon Spirit Carp?"
When she saw Lu Wanyuan carrying a Silver Moon Spirit Carp into the kitchen, Baili Qiuyue asked in surprise.
"Haha, you just didn't notice. It's from the pond in our yard! I put some Silver Moon Spirit Carp in there. Once all the fry grow up, I think we'll have enough to eat every day. My younger siblings are in poor shape, so I caught one for them."
"This place really is great. I didn't have time to look around carefully this morning!"
"That's because you were in such a hurry. I told you to come home and rest, but you insisted on going! If you'd stayed home, you would've had time to look around."
Lu Wanyuan said with a smile.
"Mm, I'm so happy. I'll take good care of our little home from now on!"
"Mm, I'll cook. Go keep them company and find out what happened. They've finished eating, but they're not full. They're waiting for us to make more food."
Lu Wanyuan immediately took the spatula from her and started cooking.
Too bad he didn't have enough Spirit Stones right now. Otherwise, he could buy some Bigu Pills; one would probably keep the body's basic functions going for several days.
Then they wouldn't have to go through all this trouble. It looked like he still needed to earn more Spirit Stones, especially now that his younger siblings had come to stay. Their expenses were sure to rise.
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