The Hai family's house in Chang'an has four courtyards, and the area is twice as large as the house in Suzhou. Although the layout is somewhat similar and it is also the architectural style of Shaanxi, the first courtyard and the fourth courtyard here have two-story buildings. The space is very small.
The front yard upon entering is very large. The first floor includes a living room, a flower hall, a tea room, two guest rooms with a kang, a kitchen and servant quarters. The second floor is a circle of guest rooms, connected by a dimly lit corridor, but each room Each room has large windows facing the yard, providing good ventilation and lighting. In the past, when the Hai family was still in Chang'an, Xie Wenzai and other prisoners who were exiled here would basically stay here if they lived in the city. Although the conditions can only be considered average, and there is no ondol in winter, so they can only rely on the fire pit for heating, the privacy of the house here is quite good, and they feel comfortable living here.
The second entrance was originally a garden, with a row of three rooms on the east side used as a study. Hai Jiao and Hai Tang's father, Hai Dingcheng, studied here when he was young. Xie Wenzai and others also like to spend time here. Later, Hai Xiya adopted Hai Chang'an, who lost his father, and placed him here.
However, now the layout of the second courtyard has changed dramatically. A new corridor with a roof has been built in the middle, connecting the two doors leading to the front yard and the third courtyard, dividing the courtyard into two. The east side is still a garden, and an additional building has been built. Two huts were built, and the rebuilt study on the west side was larger than before. With the addition of facilities such as a fire pit and sewerage, it became a habitable residence.
When Hai Changan sent his mother, nephew, niece, wife and children in, he explained to Ma and others: "My son only heard about it from Da Zhuang when he got home. Back then, my father and mother entrusted the house to the care of the Ma family's eldest uncle. My aunt rented it out to earn some rent to support the family. The last tenant accidentally knocked over the brazier in the study last winter, flooding the entire yard and burning down the house. When the lease expired after the spring, the tenant I was too embarrassed to mention renewing the lease, so I gave him a compensation and moved out with the whole family.
"Aunt Ma's family took the money and didn't mention the rebuilding of the study. Later, my parents wrote back and told my uncle and aunt that we were coming back. My uncle asked my aunt to find someone to rebuild the house, but my aunt said that the money had already been spent. , had no money to build a house. The aunt was very angry and hired craftsmen out of her own pocket. The uncle also paid half of the money to build the house. The work stopped at the beginning of this month. After Da Zhuang came back, he found someone to clean up the garden. The flowers and trees in the field will be replanted after next spring.”
Ma's face darkened when she heard this: "Why didn't anyone tell me about this? My eldest sister went to see me this morning, and she didn't even mention a word about it!"
Hai Changan smiled and said: "Mom, don't be angry. The house has been built. It's brand new. Isn't it better than the old house? My son has already seen it. This is his residence. Now that the place is bigger, it can It can accommodate my son’s family of three. My son will let his wife and others move in soon.”
"How can that be done?" Mrs. Ma was not so easy to be coaxed by her son. "The new house has a lot of moisture. It will take at least two months for people to live in it. You are just a thick-skinned person, but your wife can't stand it. , not to mention that your son is still young and weak. If he doesn’t live comfortably after moving in, and he has to go to the doctor every three days, he might as well not live there! You take your wife and son to live in the main courtyard, and leave them here first. Let’s talk in a few months. Where is your room missing at home?!”
Hai Changan actually didn't think there was anything wrong with the new house, but since his mother had spoken, he had no reason to disobey.
The group entered Sanjinyuan again. This is actually the main courtyard of the house, with three regular main rooms, plus two east and west wing rooms. The kang in the house had been burned. Madam Ma went into the main room, changed her clothes, washed her face, drank hot tea, and looked at how clean the house was. Although there were many shortcomings, she would slowly clean them up later. That’s it, I’m quite satisfied.
She pointed out that Hai Changan and his wife lived in the west wing with their son Xiao Shitou, their eldest grandson Hai Jiao lived in the east wing, and their granddaughter Haitang lived in the backyard. There is no wing room in the backyard, but there is a row of two-story buildings. The upstairs can be used as a warehouse, and the downstairs has five rooms for living. Haitang can occupy two of them, one inside and one outside, which is spacious enough. The remaining rooms can be used as accommodation for the maids and can also be used to store large and heavy items.
Ma told Aunt Cui: "Put your luggage in place. Let's take a rest and eat first. Send people to the Yamen to find the master and ask him to come back quickly." It was also reported that "Caixia" mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandson and grandson came to meet Hai Chang'an and his wife. .
"Caixia" was the servant girl's maiden name, but now that she was older and had grandchildren, Ma could not continue to call her by her maiden name. Her man's name is Ma Li, so she naturally belongs to the Ma Li family, and some people call her Aunt Ma. Her son's name is Ma Changnian, and her daughter-in-law is Changnian's wife. Today she brought her daughter-in-law and eldest granddaughter with her. The eldest granddaughter is twelve or thirteen years old, and her real name is Da Niu. On the way into the city, Aunt Cui decided to give her the name Putao.
Aunt Ma's husband Ma Li, his son Ma Changnian, his eldest grandson Suozhu and his several-year-old granddaughter are still at the villa and will join her in the city in a few days. As for Aunt Ma's daughter Xiuju, she married the male servant of the third room of the Zhou family in her early years and is still working there as an errand.
Mrs. Ma instructed Aunt Cui to help Xie Wenzai and the others pack their luggage. Cui Xiaodao was not here, and the three old men had no one to wait on them. God knows how long it would take to pack. As for Aunt Ma, she stayed to help Ma clean up the main house and familiarize herself with her future responsibilities. The older daughter-in-law went to help in the kitchen as usual, while the older daughter-in-law went to help the second daughter-in-law Hu. The remaining grape went to her granddaughter Haitang.
The eldest grandson, Haijiao, could only feel aggrieved and pack his things first, then wait until Da Zhuang was free before coming to help him.
There are still a few servants in the family at the moment, but when Ma Li arrives with his son and grandchildren, the family will have much more manpower.
Hai Jiao smiled and said: "I don't need anyone to wait on me. I can take care of the things in the house by myself. Tonight, I will tidy up the bedding and the clothes I will wear tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, as well as the things I will use for practicing martial arts and studying tomorrow, and other things." Just clean up a little every day, it’s not a hassle.”
Ma was very happy that her grandson could take good care of her, but she also felt sorry for him: "Why are you in a hurry? We have just arrived home. We have been on the road for two months and our bones are broken. At least we should rest for a few days. You don't have to be busy shooting arrows." I'm practicing martial arts. I'll go back and say hello to your cousin, Grandpa Cao, and Grandpa Lu. The three old men have worked hard on the road and should take a few more days to recuperate. Don't always think about assigning new homework to you, and don't be afraid of putting your little body to shame. So exhausted!"
Haijiao couldn't help but laugh. He felt happy at his grandmother's kindness, but it was impossible to be lazy. He has lived two lifetimes and knows very well that as a martial arts practitioner, as long as he is lazy for one day, he will be lazy countless times in the future. He couldn't afford to develop bad habits.
My sister Haitang sat quietly at the end of the kang and had already winked at him three times. He saw that most of the people in the room had left, and everyone was busy with something. There was still some time before dinner, so he stood up and said, "Grandma, I'm going to take a walk. This is my first time in this house."
Ma agreed: "Go, the east room you live in now was actually the place where your father lived in the past, and there are still traces of your father's mischief when he was a child!"
"Really?" Haitang stood up, "Then I'll go and have a look too." After that, she pulled her brother out.
The two of them only walked around the east wing and then went to the backyard.
There was no one else in the backyard, only the half-grown girl Putao was moving back and forth to move boxes and cages for Haitang, which made Haitang feel guilty.
She quickly turned her head and pulled Haijiao to the other end of the yard, away from other people's eyes and ears: "Brother, I have found out about the Yingchuan Hou Mansion. You must not have thought that my aunt's sister-in-law Zhou Shuyi married into Yingchuan. What did the Queen of the Marquis do..."
(End of chapter)
