Chapter 5

After arriving at Ningkai Village, Ning Xuanyuan stopped by the village headman’s house first. He didn’t know if his old house was still vacant.

“Hello village headman. I am Ning Xuanyuan who sent you a letter earlier. Have you checked out my old house?”

The village headman looked at the well-dressed person like a city official in front of him. He was shocked and didn’t expect that such a person would live in the Ning Family Village. However, he had to do his job well.

“Your old house is all ruined. I wonder if you will rebuild it or what. As for the land you requested to buy around your house, I have already arranged it for you.”

The village headman honestly handed the remaining banknotes to Ning Xuanyuan. He didn’t dare to embezzle the money of a great official like this.

“Do you have anyone who can give me some advice on building a house? I will hire a craftsman to finish it.”

The village headman recommended craftsmen from his village’s neighbors and villagers who were free from farming to help build Ning Xuanyuan’s house. As for his family, they would rent a house in the village to live in while they waited for the house to be finished. As for the guards who came with him, he paid them and let them go back. As for the slaves in the house, he would go and buy more in the city if his people were not enough to do the work. The village head did not dare to ask Ning Xuanyuan anything for fear of touching a hot potato. He only knew that Ning Xuanyuan was an old official who had asked for leave to spend his final years in this village, his original home that he had not visited in decades. Fortunately, the village head had an ancestral tree, making him believe that Ning Xuanyuan was truly a villager.

After receiving help from the village head, Ning Xuanyuan was not a stingy person. He gave the village head two taels of silver to help him oversee the construction of a new house on their land. He also ordered the craftsmen to build a fence that was two meters high to prevent outsiders from snooping around like the other houses. He gave the reason that he wanted to live peacefully in his final years with his wife and grandson.

The craftsmen who took the job read the blueprints that Ning Xuanyuan had given him and asked him many questions to ensure a mutual understanding. The craftsmen in Ning Village were truly the origins of craftsmen in the capital. He could tell at a glance what kind of house Ning Xuanyuan wanted to build. This made Ning Xuanyuan quite satisfied. He could tell the craftsmen to come and claim the wages in advance. He only asked them to hurry up and finish the work so that they could move in after they got the village headman's rental house.

The servants he brought with him were all surprised. Could the old master really live in such a place? They had never seen the old master like this before. As for them, they were just servants in the house and did not dare to ask anything. They just followed the old lady's orders.

Ning Jing and Ning Zheng did not care about the house they were going to live in. They just waited for the house to be finished so that they would have their own room.

The craftsmen in Ning Village did not disappoint Ning Xuanyuan. In just a month, they had built and fenced all the houses in the area they had bought. As for the money, Ning Xuanyuan had paid them a lot. This allowed the villagers who came to help to do the work to have money to buy food before winter.

After moving into the new house, the servants in the house did their own duties just like they did in the capital. They were responsible for cooking and cleaning each house. As for teaching the two young masters, it was Ning Xuanyuan who taught them. Ning Jing knew that his grandfather didn’t want him to be an imperial craftsman like his father, so he didn’t say much. The courtyard was spacious enough for him to make some samples. Ning Xuanyuan didn’t forbid his eldest grandson from making these things to play with. Although he had taught his grandson not to be ambitious, he didn’t want to forbid him from doing so. He even said that if he didn’t understand something, he could come and ask him. He was happy to answer to make his grandson happy. Ning Zheng was taught to do more farming than Ning Jing, who liked to stay in his room. Ning Zheng, who was still young, enjoyed playing with the soil and sand. He also helped his grandfather grow herbs. Ning Xuanyuan had actually liked herbs for a long time, but he didn’t have enough time to make an herb garden. Now that he had a lot of free time, he taught his youngest grandson about herbs. Ning Xuanyuan’s family didn’t socialize with anyone except the village head. If they had good things, he would have his servants bring them to the village headman. The village headman also gave Ning Xuanyuan something to reward him. Ning Jing was particularly interested in making traps on the mountain. He wanted to hunt animals like the guards who had sent them off, but unfortunately, he was still a child, so he made traps instead. Ning Jing also invited his friends of the same age in the village to test the traps together. Because Ning Jing didn’t know the way around very well, he was afraid of getting lost, so he had to find someone to go with him for safety. His confidant also went with him according to the old master’s orders. Ning Xuanyuan didn’t stop his grandson from trying out his invention. He only told everyone to be careful when going up the mountain. If you see any danger, hurry up and escape. Don’t be stingy with those things. The children all listened to Ning Xuanyuan attentively. They were also quite scared. However, they still wanted to try Ning Jing’s traps.