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  • The Landowner And His Wife

    Chapter 107: He Ruyu Is Expecting

    Disclaimer: 

    1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

    2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

    3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.


    Liu Changgeng was clearly planning for the future. Although He shi‘s heart hurt at the thought of that much money spent, she knew that what her daughter and husband said was true. So she nodded her agreement. From the side courtyard, Liu Shu, Liu Lin and Liu Sen had finished their discussion about their living arrangements and had come back out. Liu Xu’er asked them what they felt, and all of them agreed that this was the house for them. 

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    “This place is really good.” Liu Shu said. 

    Liu Lin rubbed his nose and said, “Dage can sleep in the main building, while I stay in the left wing, and Senzi in the right wing. Each of us would have three large rooms to ourselves!” That made everyone smile, so he continued to look at He shi, “Mum, with such a large house, it would be too tiring for you to manage it by yourself…. We need to buy some servants!” 

    He shi smacked him. “What are you thinking?! Do you want me to buy you a little servant girl?!” 

    The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

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    As they stood at the doorway, although they were still that same family from the village, things had changed a lot from before. Their entire family was dressed well; there was no difference in what they were wearing to a townsperson. And since their young master was accompanying the family, the waiters were particularly attentive, and ushered them into one of the private rooms on the second floor. 

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    Shi Cheng ordered the restaurant’s signature dishes. The middle man had started to say again, what a wonderful house they had, and what a good bargain they had received. He shi was more meticulous. She questioned the middle man closely about the house’s former owners and what had happened to them. 

    Naturally, the middle man wouldn’t say anything bad. 

    This was the first time that the family had gone to a restaurant like this for a meal. After the meal, Liu Changgeng had asked about the bill, but Shi Cheng had smiled and said that since he had invited them for it, naturally he would pay. But how could Liu Changgeng allow him to foot it – Shi Cheng had already helped them so much. He tried to ask again about the bill, but Shi Cheng refused to say. Liu Changgeng could only leave a string of cash on the table. 

    When they had gone, the waiter smiled and brought the string of cash over to the manager and said, “The fish alone was 800 wen.”

    The manager smiled, but didn’t say anything. 

    When they had left the restaurant, the middle man went to look for the former owner, while Liu Changgeng went with them to the store to get some money. Their original plan had been only to pay a booking deposit, with the balance given after a few days. But the owner was anxious and insisted on getting the money today. If it weren’t for that, they wouldn’t have let the price drop so much. Without a choice, they went to Shi Cheng’s to borrow some money from Shi Cheng’s father. 

    Shi Qian naturally was only too happy to help. When they were at the store, he told the store keeper to prepare the money. He even went with them to have a look at the new place, and witnessed as Liu Changgeng handed the money over to the previous owner. Then the group of them went to the government office to register the change of ownership. With a handprint, the deal was sealed and the house was now under Liu Changgeng’s name. 

    All of this was witnessed by Shi Qian, and the proceedings went smoothly. 

    This house had already been scouted out by Shi Cheng. He had checked it thoroughly before this – there was no problem with it. The only issue was that there was no water in the entire house. Normally, courtyards would divert some running water into their homes, and then opt either to dig a lotus pond, or make a little meandering stream across their yards. Firstly, running water was deemed to be auspicious, and secondly, it made things more comfortable. In the summer, it would be cooler, and it would look beautiful. With a pavilion added, it would be quite the picturesque sight. 

    Shi Cheng had clung onto that point and managed to lower the price by 15 taels. 

    After they had purchased the house, they went to look for someone to help them renovate it. They planned to divert some water from the stream that went past Shi Cheng’s house. This was usually water from the city moat. Although the Northwestern region was quite dry, every city would still have a protective moat, and the moat curved everywhere. Most large households would try to divert some of that water into their homes. 

    They were in no hurry to move in this year. They would slowly renovate and tidy up the place first. Next year, in spring, they would move. 

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    Just as usual, Liu Shu, Liu Lin and Liu Sen stayed in town to attend school and mind the store, while Liu Changgeng brought He shi and Liu Xu’er back to Taohua village. The first thing they did was to head over to the old residence to update Old Man Liu and Liu Gao shi that they had bought a place. They would bring them over the next day to have a look at it. 

    Old Man Liu and Liu Gao shi were both thrilled to hear that. 

    The reason that Liu Changgeng was in such a rush was because he was unwilling to owe Shi Cheng’s family money. For others to help was not something to be taken for granted. And this money was needed for their store’s cash flow. 

    The next day, he drove his cart back into town, along with Liu Gao shi and Old Man Liu to return the money, as well as to let them look at the house. 

    He shi called Liu Xu’er and they went over to He Ruyu’s place to update her about what had happened. When they got to the courtyard door, she knocked and called out, “Ruyu, Ruyu?”

    He Ruyu was a rather quiet person, who mostly kept to herself. Added to the fact that she was a newly wedded bride, she had the habit of keeping the door locked even during the day. As such, everyone was used to having to call for her to help them open the door. 

    He Ruyu came out to let them in. Dressed in a pale pink outfit, she smiled when she spotted them and asked, “Have you already paid the deposit on the house?”

    He shi smiled and nodded, “We’ve bought it!”

    Surprised, He Ruyu went to let them into the house, Liu Xu’er asked, “Sishen, where is sishu?”

    “He’s gone to the fields again. This half a year, he pretty much has been rooted there, protecting his precious goji berry plants!” He Ruyu smiled and said, “When are you going to town again? I also want to head in.”

    He shi said, “Not sure when…. Why do you want to head into town? Why didn’t you say anything yesterday? You knew we were going in then.”

    He Ruyu smiled and said, “You were going to buy a house. That’s a big matter – why should I tag along… I’m just heading into town to buy things. It’s time to prepare.”

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    He shi thought she was talking about New Year preparations, so she laughed, “Isn’t it a bit early to prepare?” Then she turned and looked at Liu Xu’er, “Xu’er, go and help me and your sishen pour a glass of water.”

    Liu Xu’er nodded. She knew that mum wanted to ask sishen again about children, and wanted her out of the way. So she said, “I want to first have a look at xiaoyi’s pouches.” Then she left. 

    He shi smiled and said, “One moment it’s xiaoyi, the next it’s sishen….” She turned and looked at He Ruyu before sighing “Has Liu Hong been by recently?”

    He Ruyu smiled and nodded. “She came by yesterday. We were talking about you buying a house.”

    He shi sighed, “I’ve spoken to her before – just move into town! It’s not as though Yuan Hao can’t afford it… Then she wouldn’t have to listen to all the villagers point at her and say she’s money to burn just because she found someone to help look after her children! I don’t know what Yuan Hao is thinking – he just refuses to move.”

    He Ruyu said, “They probably think it’s too much. It’s not as though there’s that much advantage for them to move to town. There’s no way of making a living there, and their land is still all in the village. They’ve been here for generations, and are familiar with the villagers. If they need any help, there’re plenty of people who can come to their aid. But if they move to town, they don’t know anyone there. It’s not that great.”

    He shi sighed and nodded, “That’s true. If it weren’t for the fact we’ve business in town, and it’s not convenient to stay in the village, we too wouldn’t be willing to move…”

    He Ruyu nodded, “Everyone’s situation is different. It’s the right decision for you to move to town. You can’t let the children be in town while the adults stay in the village. You wouldn’t be able to stop worrying about them.”

    He shi nodded, then she updated more about their plans to move, before finally bringing up the topic she wanted. “Did Liu Hong bring her son when she came?”

    He Ruyu nodded, “Yes. Her son is really mischievous and he can run really quickly now. The instant you take your eyes off him, he would have fallen in the courtyard. It’s impossible for only one person to watch him. Liu Hong said that they need to find someone else.”

    He shi agreed. “She does need to find someone. This time, she should find someone younger. This older woman does have a lot of experience caring for children, but she’s not as nimble as before. Now that the child can run and jump, how would she be able to manage!” When she finished saying that, she looked at He Ruyu. 

    He Ruyu knew what she wanted to ask. Her face flushed red, she finally said, “What? Jie, what do you want to say?”

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    He shi asked softly, “How is it you’ve no news yet? I was only married for half a year when I became pregnant, why are you…. Tell me the truth! Have the two of you spoken? Do you… need me to bring you to town to have a checkup?”

    “Oh, jie!” He Ruyu’s face was bright red.

    He shi said matter of factly, “It’s not that I want to hurry you. Mum has asked me quite a few times! You’ve already been married for well over a year, why is there still no news? If there’s something wrong with your body, you should quickly go and get it checked out! You need to treat it early! If you delay it until you’re older…. It may become much more difficult! Then if mum asks you personally about the matter, it won’t be as nice as this! In a few more years, mum would really start to lose patience!”

    He shi said a lot, and slowly, He Ruyu’s blush subsided. She lowered her head before finally saying, “This time… It seems that I may be pregnant…. I want to go to town, also to check….”

    “What!” He shi jumped. She immediately glanced at her belly before saying, “You really can stay calm! Why didn’t you quickly…  you are still taking your sweet time!” Then she asked, “Does Fourth know about this?” 

    Face red, He Ruyu said, “Of course… he knows…”

    He shi slapped her thigh. “I really applaud the two of you! Since both of you know, why are you still dilly dallying? One still goes out to the field, while the other is same old… Oh my! I don’t know what to say about the two of you!”

    She was so agitated that He Ruyu started to get worried. She lifted her head up and asked, “What, jie? Is it… very serious?”

    He shi looked blankly at her. “What do you mean, serious?! I’m just saying that you should hurry and confirm it. If you are pregnant, you need to quickly let dad and mum know, so that they can finally relax!” She shook her head, “The two of you are just too young. You don’t know anything. Then it’s confirmed! Tomorrow, we will go into town!”


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    pawdles [Translator]

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