The situation was urgent. Gu Jinchen had clearly returned late at night, but he had to leave early in the morning.
Upon waking up and seeing the half-cooled bed, Luo Ge sighed and sat up, supporting her belly.
After having breakfast with the two little ones, she went to the construction site and the small workshop to check on the work progress.
Now, the large mansion was almost complete and was expected to be finished in at most another half a month.
It was faster than they had anticipated, but that was good - they could move in earlier after preparing the furniture.
Today, Luo Ge accompanied Uncle Song to arrange for the new workers to start working in the workshop. They seemed to adapt quite well, and seeing this, Luo Ge felt reassured.
"Uncle Song, let's go to the manor together."
Previously when they had brought people there, they discovered that the grapevines transplanted from the space were starting to grow vines.
They needed to urgently arrange for grapevine trellises to be made, otherwise, the vines would have nowhere to climb, and the same applied to the kiwi vines.
From the space, she had transplanted peach trees, pear trees, mango trees, grapes, kiwis, bananas, lemons, and pomelos.
There were more peach, pear, and mango trees as the main varieties, while grapes and kiwis were easy to propagate, so she had planted more of their seeds. She had only planted a few lemon and pomelo trees.
At present, the chicken and duck farm had stabilized, with a high daily egg production, and Uncle Song had to come to the workshop every day to deliver the goods.
"Alright." Hearing Luo Ge's words, Uncle Song nodded in agreement.
"You all work here first, and Uncle Song will come to pick you up in the evening," Luo Ge instructed the new workers who had come with Uncle Song before leaving.
They had brought their lunch to the manor, so there was no need to worry about that.
"Yes, Madam."
...At the manor.
Luo Ge brought Yun Mu, Yun Yi, and Uncle Song to the grapevine forest, briefly explaining to them the desired outcome and the appropriate height for the trellises.
"These trellises should be durable and reusable, so they need to be sturdy. It's better to use wood to build them."
"There should be some in the nearby mountains. Let the villagers know and use silver to purchase the wood. Here, take this silver first, and come find me if it's not enough."
Including the kiwi vines, they would need to build quite a few trellises, likely requiring a considerable amount of wood.
It wouldn't be good to keep taking from the village mountain every day, so it was better to spend some silver to purchase the wood.
"Understood," Ning Xing nodded after listening attentively to Luo Ge's instructions.
"Alright, you all get to work then. I'll head back to the tavern first."
"Yes, let Dong drive you all over. It's not safe outside these days," Ning Xing said when he saw Luo Ge about to leave with Yun Mu and Yun Yi.
Although they stayed at the manor every day and didn't inquire about external affairs, they still knew some news from the outside.
Dong was one of the sturdy men they had bought previously.
To show his loyalty, after coming to the manor, he had requested that Gu Jinchen and the others give him a name, so they named the couple "Dong," "Nan," "Xi," and "Bei" (East, South, West, and North).
They would follow the main family and take the Gu surname.
"That's fine." Upon hearing Ning Xing's suggestion, Luo Ge nodded in agreement.
"Madam, Young Master, Second Young Master," Dong greeted Luo Ge and the others after hearing the call.
"Let's go," Luo Ge said.
She had become accustomed to these titles, although Yun Mu and Yun Yi still seemed a bit unaccustomed to them.
Seeing them blinking their big eyes, Luo Ge couldn't help but pinch their chubby little cheeks.
At the same time, she looked down at her small belly, anticipating the little ones inside. If the two big and second little ones were so obedient and adorable, the babies in her belly should be just as good, and she couldn't wait.
...............
For the day, Dong served as the driver, transporting Luo Ge and the others to the tavern but not leaving afterward. Instead, he stayed and helped with the business.
The tavern now had more staff, with Er Zhu taking over the counter and managing the people, so Luo Ge didn't have to worry as much as before.
She sat at the counter with the two little ones, occasionally greeting customers who came in.
When the little ones had free time, they didn't idle around either. They each took out their books from their small bags and started reading.
"You two seem quite familiar with these books. Can you read them to Auntie?" Luo Ge asked with interest upon seeing the diligent and studious little ones.
"Okay!" The two little ones nodded eagerly and sat beside her with their books.
"Madam," a clear voice of a young man rang out just as Luo Ge was listening intently to the two little ones reciting poems.
Luo Ge turned to see the young man who had come to ask her about hiring workers the other day. Beside him was a companion around the same age, likely the friend he had mentioned the previous day.
His previously disheveled clothes had been tidied up, and the two young men stood at the entrance, their expressions somewhat awkward as they looked at her.
Seeing this, Luo Ge quickly stood up and waved at them, "You're here, come in."
"Oh, right, I didn't ask for your names before," she thought of calling Er Zhu to arrange for them but suddenly realized she didn't know their names.
Lin Yun looked up at Luo Ge briefly before turning to his companion, "My name is Lin Yun, and his is Lin Lin. We're cousins, and he's slightly younger than me."
Hearing their names, Luo Ge sensed they might not be from ordinary families.
She nodded and could see that Lin Lin seemed to depend on Lin Yun.
"As I mentioned before, there will be a probation period. You've discussed it with him, right?" Luo Ge asked.
"Yes, Madam, we're aware of it," Lin Yun replied, with Lin Lin nodding in agreement behind him.
"That's good. This is the shopkeeper of our tavern. Follow his arrangements," Luo Ge introduced them to Er Zhu, who had approached.
Then, as if remembering something, she looked at them, "Have you two had lunch yet? If not, go eat in the backyard first before starting work. We provide meals for those working here."
It was lunchtime, and the tavern's staff had just finished eating.
Hearing this, Lin Lin instinctively turned to look at Lin Yun, who paused before nodding.
"Don't worry, Madam. We've eaten," Lin Yun replied.
Upon hearing his response, Lin Lin opened his mouth as if wanting to say something but remained silent, following Lin Yun's lead.
Actually, what Lin Yun said was a lie. The two brothers had been wandering aimlessly without a place to stay or enough food to eat. Even the clean clothes they were wearing now were the result of traveling a long distance the previous day to find a clean water source to wash them.
They were afraid of giving Luo Ge and the others a bad impression of them, which might prevent them from getting help with work.
With their current circumstances, there was no way they could fill their stomachs.
However, since they hadn't helped out yet, they didn't dare to eat for free.
Seeing the expressions of the two brothers, Luo Ge seemed to have guessed something. At that moment, Lin Lin's stomach made an embarrassingly loud growling noise, and the young man's face instantly turned red with awkwardness.
Luo Ge couldn't help but laugh: "Don't be embarrassed. How could I dare make you work without letting you eat first?"
"You two go to the back courtyard with Er Zhu and eat something first. You can work after you've had your fill. I'm not the kind of person who nitpicks over these things."
Luo Ge said with a smile, and Er Zhu also smartly grabbed the two brothers' arms.
"Listen to the lady. Don't feel awkward," Er Zhu said.
Seeing this, Lin Yun finally lowered his head in embarrassment and pulled his younger brother along to thank Luo Ge.
"Thank you, madam."
Luo Ge waved her hand dismissively: "Go on, you'll be assisting Er Zhu later. He'll assign you appropriate tasks."
Upon hearing this, Er Zhu also glanced at Luo Ge with a helpless expression, silently vowing not to let down the trust and responsibility placed in him.
Once everything was settled, Luo Ge sat back down to listen to the two little ones recite their lessons.
"Madam, someone is here to see you in the back courtyard..."
However, before she could get comfortable, someone else had arrived.
Hearing Dong's words, Luo Ge was a bit puzzled, unable to think of who might be looking for her.
"I'll be right there." With that, she brought the two little ones to the back courtyard.
The Lin brothers, who had just started eating in the back courtyard, hurriedly stood up when they saw Luo Ge.
"It's alright, no need to get up. Just keep eating," Luo Ge quickly waved her hand reassuringly.
After saying this, she went to the guest room in the back courtyard. Seeing Luo Ge leave, the two brothers sat back down.
The two brothers appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, quite a bit younger than Er Zhu and the others. Even the youngest worker in the building was nineteen, so in their eyes, these two brothers were like younger siblings.
Seeing their polite behavior, Er Zhu also felt they were quite well-mannered and likable.
"The lady and the master are kind-hearted people. You don't need to be so guarded. Just be diligent and quick-witted," Er Zhu reminded them.
Although Luo Ge and the others were kind, they didn't tolerate laziness. No one wanted to support freeloaders.
Understanding the implicit meaning behind Er Zhu's words, Lin Yun and Lin Lin nodded earnestly.
"Thank you for the reminder, Er Zhu. We understand."
...
"Elder Brother Li?"
On the other side, seeing Li Shopkeeper in the guest room, Luo Ge was a bit surprised.
"Uncle Li," Luo Ge and the two little ones greeted.
"Ah," Li Shopkeeper found well-behaved children endearing. He took out two small bags of sweets from behind him and handed them to the little ones.
"Uncle got these from the shop. Go ahead and try them."
"Thank you, Uncle Li," the two little ones looked at Luo Ge, and after receiving her nod of approval, they smiled and accepted the sweets, sweetly expressing their gratitude.
