"After bowing today, you donât need to do it again in the future. I donât have that many rules here. As long as you all do your jobs well, weâre family." Yang Ruxin waved her hand. "Stand up."
Next, Gu Yuan and Zhang Tiankuo took the two herbalists to the small courtyard in the village that had been set aside earlier. Luo Qiaoqiao and her three siblings followed along. The courtyard had everything they needed, and fresh ingredients were delivered daily, making life incredibly cozy.
Just as things were getting settled here, the team from Beijing also returned. Though the Beijing route was shorter, they managed to complete two trips in about the same amount of time it took for the southern team to finish one.
Du Chengxiu led his group to unload the goods into storage, settled wages, and issued a yearâs supply of provisions to each person as per the usual standard.
"Uncle Du, with all of you around, my life has become so much easier." Yang Ruxin joked as she watched Du Chengxiu busy at work. "I feel like I owe the Du Familyâs second and third branches a favor. When I get the chance, Iâll have to send them a big gift."
Beside her, Ye Familyâs matron chuckled. "Miss, itâs also because you trust us. And honestly, without you, Chengxiuâs leg might never have healed. Weâre bound by destiny here."
"Youâre absolutely right," Yang Ruxin nodded. "Thatâs why we must cherish this connection moving forward. You protect me, and Iâll make sure youâre never neglected. Itâs mutual."
Du Chengxiu laughed too. "Miss is so kind. If we couldnât see the good in her, weâd surely be struck down by divine retribution."
"Alright then, to thank Uncle Du for all his hard work, Iâll personally cook dinner tonight." Yang Ruxin stood up. "Uncle Du, you can choose the dishes."
"Haha..." Du Chengxiu burst out laughing. "We have to have sour fish stew! Itâs been ages since you last made it, and Iâve been craving it."
"No problem." Yang Ruxin rolled up her sleeves and walked out. "Tonight, Iâll also reward you with a bottle of red wine. I just brewed it; no one has tasted it yet."
Du Chengxiuâs smile grew even wider.
The dinner was magnificent; Yang Ruxin prepared dishes that each person liked, resulting in a large feast laid out across the table.
As for the red wine... it came from the space. Earlier, she had fermented the grapes from her spatial harvest in a vat. The timing seemed just right now, so she decided to let everyone try it. However, since it hadnât been filtered yet, she found a moment to enter the space, expending considerable effort to filter the wine from the large vat and transfer it into the small jars she had prepared beforehand.
Though it was her first attempt at winemaking, a quick taste revealed it turned out decently.
She was just about to leave the space when she suddenly stopped. She hadnât paid attention earlier when sheâd been busy, but now she realized something was different about the spaceâit had expanded again. A new plot of land had appeared, just like the previous ones, capable of growing four types of crops. Additionally, there was now another pond.
She had always dreamed of having a water source to raise shrimp, and now it had finally come true.
The earlier pond was used to raise grass carp. As for this new one, she planned to raise shrimpâsea shrimp specifically. And when the space expanded even further, she could raise all kinds of seafood.
However, as soon as this idea crossed her mind, a message popped into her head: The space only had freshwater, no seawater.
Yang Ruxinâs lips twitched. Though she wanted to complain, she ultimately decided against it. She knew the space all too wellâits finicky nature might lead to features being revoked if she complained too much. That would be a true loss.