The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 87

They bought the Zuo family's old house, so they had a house and a foundation, but if they wanted to expand, they would have to buy more land.

The only thing we can do is ask Uncle Luo for help with this.

"No problem, I'll take Chun Ning with me," Uncle Luo said. "But it's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings. Do you understand what I mean?"

Chun Ning looked at his older sister; he truly didn't understand.

But Chunnuan understands.

He immediately gave Chun Ning several purses, each containing over a hundred coins.

"Sister..."

Chun Ning was unconvinced. Shouldn't the yamen be open to the public for business purposes?
“Just consider it a tip for the servants,” Chunnuan advised. “You’ll get used to these things after you’ve experienced them many times. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Don’t take it too seriously.”

To be honest, Chun Ning's personality is that of a scholar—straightforward and very individualistic, not at all tactful.

To smooth out these sharp edges, it needs to be polished properly.

"When you're out and about, you should learn more from Uncle Luo."

Despite being just a boatman, Uncle Luo has seen a lot of people at the docks. He's encountered all sorts of people and is very tactful, able to speak to anyone and anything.

"Sister, I understand."

Chun Ning understood the principle that "among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me," and nodded in agreement.

Just as Uncle Luo was about to take Chun Ning to run some errands, Aunt Luo suddenly remembered something.

“Something’s not right. We shouldn’t have gone to the yamen,” Aunt Luo said. “The open space behind the Zuo family’s house should belong to Master Zhang.”

Mr. Zhang's?
Is this for real? Isn't this much simpler?
“I’m sure I’m not mistaken,” Aunt Luo said. “Years ago, the Zuo family wanted to expand this house and tried to buy land from Master Zhang, but Master Zhang refused to sell. He said that a feng shui master said there was a good piece of land there, and Master Zhang probably wanted it as a place to rest after he passed away.”

what?
Yin house?

It is known that spring will bring warmth, and burial sites are not suitable for building houses.

This is a bit confusing.

"Spring is here, how about I find you a feng shui master to take a look?" Uncle Luo said, "I know a feng shui master who is very accurate."

"Okay, I'll take a look first. If it's possible to build a house, I'll go and discuss it with Master Zhang."

Given her relationship with Mr. Zhang, I believe she should have no problem buying this land and building a house.

Uncle Luo immediately went to the dock and found Mr. Xu, who was still setting up his stall.

Chun Ning was a little confused when she saw that Mr. Xu only had one eye.

How can you possibly make an accurate judgment with something like that?

"Sir, this is my nephew. He wants to move this house back a bit. Do you think the foundation behind the house is suitable?"

Uncle Luo led Mr. Xu and Chun Ning around the back of the house, pointing out the area they wanted to expand. Xu Bazi looked at the compass in his hand and then nodded.

"Provide your birth details."

"Chun Ning, quickly tell me your birth date and time?"

"mine?"

Chun Ning was taken aback. Birth date and time are only used when arranging marriages and matching birth dates. Do you need to use them for feng shui as well?

"For those who are in charge of the family, their birth date and time should be provided."

Chun Ning wanted to tell Chun Nuan her birth date and time right now.

"Chuning, I'm telling you, before your uncle and father came back, you were the one in charge of this family."

Chunnuan quickly gave a meaningful look. As a woman, she would have to get married sooner or later. Even if she didn't get married, she wouldn't be qualified to be the head of her own family.

Chun Ning knew that her elder sister had her reasons for everything she said and did, so she immediately gave her birth date and time.

Mr. Xu was writing and drawing on a piece of paper, muttering to himself.

"The Azure Dragon embraces the White Tiger, the family's wealth will never be scattered, and a filial grandson will be born, skilled in both literature and martial arts..."

For some reason, Chun Ning really wanted to laugh, but of course, his upbringing told him he couldn't.

This was the first time he had experienced something like this, and he didn't know the rules.

Or perhaps, the customs in Sichuan are different from those in the capital, and he has to respect these customs.

"Mr. Xu, how is it?"

“The eight characters are compatible, and the foundation is suitable.” Mr. Xu said, “This foundation is indeed suitable for him to build a house, but it may not be able to support someone else’s construction.”

"Thank you, Mr. Xu. Thank you, Mr. Xu."

Uncle Luo quickly gestured to Chun Ning and presented the thank-you money he had prepared with both hands.

After seeing Mr. Xu off, Uncle Luo was very happy and immediately told him to go and see if he could get the land.

"Okay, Uncle Luo, I'll go find Master Zhang right away."

Mr. Xu sensed a hidden meaning in the spring warmth: the open space behind the house was not only suitable for expansion, but also provided a good foundation.

Since Uncle Luo could invite Mr. Xu, Master Zhang could certainly do the same, and might even be able to invite a better feng shui master than Mr. Xu. This open space behind the house might have been left by Master Zhang for his own use, not behind him, but in front of him.

Everyone was a little uneasy, fearing that Mr. Zhang wouldn't part with it.

On the way to find Master Zhang, Chun Ning hesitated several times before speaking.

"Chun Ning, just say what you have to say."

Chunnuan disliked her brother's personality; as a man, he should be more decisive.

"Sister, I think there's something going on between Uncle Luo and that Mr. Xu."

"how you said that?"

"Uncle Luo said that when you ask Mr. Xu to look at the feng shui, you have to give him a silver tael as a thank you gift. Because we have a good relationship with him, we only need to give him six hundred coins, which means good luck."

"Yes, it's great. Any other problems?"

"Sister, do you really believe in feng shui masters? It seems like nonsense."

“Of course you should believe in feng shui,” Chun Nuan said. “You can’t question them just because you don’t understand them. Of course, many things are true if you believe in them and false if you don’t. You don’t have to believe in feng shui masters, but you shouldn’t question Uncle Luo.”

As the saying goes, "Time will tell." Ever since we came to this village and became neighbors with the Luo family, everyone in the Luo family has taken good care of us. There's no need to suspect them of any shady dealings over a few hundred coins.

"Sister, do you really think we should ask Uncle Luo to help us with the house repairs?"

“Of course, Chun Ning, I have a pretty good eye for people.” Chun Nuan said, “You should learn from Uncle Luo. Our house will definitely be expanded again in the future, so we won’t have to bother him then.”

"Okay, sister, I understand. I will study hard."

After her older sister explained, Chun Ning realized that she had been judging others by her own petty standards. The siblings went to the Zhang family to see Master Zhang.

"Miss Xiao, Mr. Xiao, please come in."

The master had instructed that the Xiao family were all distinguished guests, so upon seeing them, the gatekeeper immediately went to announce their arrival without daring to delay for even a moment.

Mr. Zhang had just gotten up from his afternoon nap.

"Upon hearing of your arrival, the master was so flustered that he buttoned his coat incorrectly," Mrs. Zhang joked. "He was afraid of neglecting our distinguished guests. Chunnuan, Chunning, please have a seat."

"I apologize for disturbing Mr. and Mrs. Zhang."

"Don't say it's an intrusion. You are our honored guests, the kind of people we can't invite even on ordinary days." Mrs. Zhang instructed the servants to serve tea and told the kitchen to quickly bring out the pastries.

"My pastries were made by the cook; they're nowhere near as good as the ones you make, Chunnuan."

"Not bad, quite fragrant, each has its own unique flavor."

Mrs. Zhang then chatted with Chunnuan about pastries.

Chun Ning... well, women are all greedy.

Mrs. Zhang looked chubby and full of food, and she talked about pastries and snacks with great interest and enthusiasm.

It seems the older sister has forgotten what important business she came here for.

But then I thought about it again, and realized that since my sister was a girl, it was indeed something that he, as a man, should take on.

“Master Zhang, Chun Ning’s visit this time has been quite a disturbance, but there is a favor to ask of you.”

“Chun Ning, our two families are so close, you can just say what you need without using the word ‘begging’,” said Master Zhang. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had a good spring.”

Of all the years Mr. Zhang has lived, this spring has been the most relaxing. This is all thanks to the medicine prescribed by Chun Nuan and the advice she gave him: not to grow any more flowers in the yard, so there would be no allergens.

It's such a wonderful feeling to suddenly feel like a healthy person again, someone who used to be out of breath and sneezing all the time.

He would often tell Mrs. Zhang that he never dreamed that one day he would feel that life was so easy, and that meeting the Xiao family was the most important thing in his life.

"Chun Ning, what is it?"

"Mr. Zhang, it's like this, we bought the houses that Aunt Zuo's family had previously rented. My sister said that because our family is large, we want to expand the house and extend it to the back. We heard that the open space behind the house belongs to you, Mr. Zhang. What do you think..."

"It is indeed mine. Your family is building a house, right?"

"Yes, we want to build more rooms, since there are so many people in our family and we've never had enough room."

“Chuning, it’s not that I’m unwilling to give you that vacant land, but…” Master Zhang thought for a moment and then chose to tell the truth: “That place is not a place that ordinary people can build houses on.”

The land is good, but land chooses its owner. If the owner's birth chart is incompatible, there will definitely be losses. At best, there will be financial losses; at worst, there will be personal losses.

Without the ability, it's impossible to suppress it.

“I told everyone it was a burial site, but that’s not actually the case.” Master Zhang treated Chun Ning with the same honesty as a friend: “That land chooses its owner. And I couldn’t bear to let it go, so when the Zuo family wanted to buy it from me, I didn’t agree.”

"If we were to buy it, I wonder if Mr. Zhang would be willing to part with it."

As expected, Master Zhang treated the Xiao family as friends and sincerely explained the reason.

On the other hand, this also indirectly confirms that the feng shui master surnamed Xu was not wrong.

“Chun Ning, do you still not understand what I mean? It’s just that the land is too good, and people with weak birth charts can’t handle it. I’m doing this for your own good. It’s not that I’m reluctant to give up that empty land. If you can use it and bear the weight of it, I’ll give it to you directly. You can build it as wide as you want, I’m absolutely willing to give it up.”

"I wonder which feng shui master Mr. Zhang consulted?"

“That was eighteen years ago. I asked Mr. Zhou to take a look,” said Mr. Zhang. “Mr. Zhou is a well-known feng shui master, and his predictions are quite accurate.”

“I heard there’s a Mr. Xu at Xiaojia Wharf who has only one eye but is very accurate in his vision.”

"Are you talking about Master Xu?" Master Zhang said. "He was Master Zhou's last disciple, and he truly mastered the art. He was indeed accurate, but he also suffered divine retribution. Do you know how he went blind?"

"I don't know." Chun Ning shook his head. How would he know how Mr. Xu went blind?

"It's about giving people feng shui advice, and making sure it's correct."

What do you mean?
Only after Mr. Zhang explained did they understand that Mr. Xu, in order to obtain a generous reward from a wealthy family, had recklessly revealed the exact location of the feng shui. The family, following this advice, buried their deceased relative there, and their fortunes flourished ever since. However, because Mr. Xu had revealed this secret, he lost one of his eyes.

what?
Is this even possible?

“When a feng shui master looks at a feng shui location for someone, he only points out the general location. He cannot make a correct prediction. If he does, he will be punished by heaven.” Master Zhang said, “I was told about his story by Master Zhou. Master Zhou said that among his disciples, Master Xu was the most spiritual. He planned to train Master Xu as his successor. However, he did not expect that Master Xu’s greed would harm him. Later, Master Zhou gave up the idea of ​​making him his successor.”

"Later, he went down the mountain. Everyone knew he was accurate, but in fact, he never dared to be so accurate again."

If he were to be even more accurate, he would lose another eye, and then he would truly become blind.

“Mr. Xu showed us my birth chart and said that it was compatible with his, and that I could expand my business further.”

"Really?" Master Zhang was surprised. Did Xiao Chunnuan and Xiao Chunning know that the place behind the house was not a yin dwelling but a very good yang dwelling?
“I don’t know if it’s true or not. I only know that he gave him 600 coins after he saw it. I felt it was not worth it, but my sister said she had to give it to him.”

"Hehe, Chun Ning, this is a tip for your hard work, and it is indeed necessary to give it. Besides, the six hundred coins you gave is really not expensive."

If conditions permit, it would be perfectly normal to ask him to come and take a look and give him one or two taels of silver.

"That's not right. Why would Mr. Xu do business for a few hundred coins? Has he fallen so low as to be destitute?"

“I don’t know. All I know is that it was our neighbor, Uncle Luo, who helped us invite him. He said he and Mr. Xu were old acquaintances and friends. So he gave him six hundred coins.”

“That’s right. This price really won’t be enough to hire Mr. Xu. He’s consulted your birth charts and examined the land. He said it’s a good fit for you. So I’ll give you this piece of land behind the house.”

Master Zhang is indeed Master Zhang; he's always been so straightforward in his dealings. He immediately and directly said he'd give it to him.

"Thank you for your kindness, Master Zhang, but I am unworthy of it. We want the land, but you must pay us."

"Chun Ning, you don't need to take it too seriously about how much silver it is. I'm giving it to you willingly and won't cause you any trouble."

"One should not accept rewards without merit..."

"Alright, alright, I understand. Well then, this plot of land is two acres in total, and I'll charge you three taels of silver." Master Zhang said, "Now you can buy it."

"Thank you, Master Zhang."

Chun Ning quickly thanked her.

Chunnuan, who was chatting with Mrs. Zhang, noticed that the conversation was progressing and nodded to Chunning.

Bringing him out is for him to experience things, and what I need to do is guide him.

Chun Ning has to shoulder the burden of the Xiao family, and she must go through everything.

It's quite an achievement that he and Master Zhang were able to handle this matter smoothly.

Chunnuan was very satisfied with this.

Back home, Chun Ning was filled with emotion.

"Sister, I was too naive. I misunderstood Uncle Luo before. I didn't realize he was really doing it for our own good." Chun Ning felt a little guilty. "And Master Zhang is also genuinely good to us."

(End of this chapter)