Lu Ye picked up Bai Sheng's designed lingerie sketches, feeling a bit confused. How could those fine lines and small pieces be worn? He glanced at Bai Sheng, unable to imagine where such garments would be worn if they were actually sewn.
Bai Sheng, in turn, picked up the promotional flyer Lu Ye had written. After reading it, she exclaimed, "Wow, wow, husband, you've written this so well! After reading your flyer, customers will definitely be tricked into coming. 'A fair lady is a gentleman's desire, how to seek her? Follow her scent, where does her scent come from? A beauty in red, on Qingliu Street!' Mmm, mmm, good, good."
Lu Ye showed a smug expression, "How is it? Is your man capable or not?"
"Capable, very capable," Bai Sheng gave a charming smile. After putting down the paper, she pounced on Lu Ye like a hungry wolf.
Lu Ye was knocked down by Bai Sheng, landing beside the cubs. The cubs, thinking their parents were playing with them, giggled and rushed over.
They mimicked their mother, pouncing on Lu Ye in various poses.
Lu Ye grimaced as he was sat upon by one chubby bottom after another. He reached out to tickle them, one by one, making the four cubs giggle uncontrollably.
The couple played with their cubs for a while. To further prove his capability, Lu Ye took the cubs to the wooden house behind the horse farm, which would be their room from then on. Hun Hun and Shan Dian would help look after them, ensuring their safety.
Hun Hun was also very fond of the four cubs and wished their master would leave the cubs with it every day. Moreover, the eldest, Hua Hua, could even chat with it, which was quite amusing.
The animals in the spatial realm were also very considerate. When their master and her man slept, they would all scatter and hide far away.
See no evil, hear no evil.
They absolutely could not interfere with their master's propagation of offspring.
The next day, Bai Sheng asked Su Jinfeng, A Dong, and Ding Xiang to sew out the lingerie she had drawn to see which one was sewn the best, to be used as a sample.
Then she asked Qing Feng, Lu Yun, Lu Hua, and Ga Mei to help copy the promotional flyers.
As for herself, she needed to tour the mansion to see which courtyard was suitable for a clothing workshop.
Sewing lingerie required trying it on and needed a mannequin. A place with a lot of foot traffic would not be suitable; a more secluded location would be best.
Bai Sheng remembered there was a bamboo forest behind the lotus pond, with a rockery behind the bamboo forest, and a dilapidated small courtyard behind the rockery. It was far from the living quarters and adjacent to the courtyard wall, with the street outside.
If a small door was opened on the courtyard wall, it would be equivalent to having a street-side workshop. Even if workers were hired from outside in the future, they could enter directly through the small door without traversing the entire mansion.
Thinking of this, Bai Sheng felt a surge of happiness and immediately prepared to go to the small courtyard with A Qiu.
When she reached the rockery, Hun Hun's voice sounded in Bai Sheng's mind: "Master, two strange men are living in that courtyard! One is a cripple, and the other is an idiot!"
"What? Two men living there? This... how is that possible!" When she first arrived at the mansion, she had visited that small courtyard, and it was filled with杂物 (miscellaneous items). How could people be living there?
Hun Hun said, "Lu Yutian and Dou Tianya are also there. It seems those two men are their workers."
"Workers? Working for them?" Bai Sheng was greatly surprised and unconsciously quickened her pace.
As she neared the courtyard gate, Bai Sheng signaled A Qiu to be quiet and not to make any noise. She hid behind the door and listened. Laughter could be heard from inside, and the relationship between the little monkeys and the two men seemed very good.
Bai Sheng gently pushed the door, only to find it bolted from the inside. However, her action immediately alerted those inside, and the laughter abruptly stopped.
"Who's there?" Tian Dou's voice sounded tentatively.
"Who is it?" Lu Yu's voice approached the door panel.
Bai Sheng didn't answer. Instead, she leaped lightly, easily vaulting over the wall.
When she landed in the courtyard, she was stunned.
The courtyard was filled with bamboo, wood shavings covered the ground, and two disheveled, bearded men were sitting in the courtyard. One was making things like bows and arrows, while the other was carving wood with a small knife.
The one carving wood looked somewhat foolish. Lu Yu, Tian Dou, Tian Ya, and Tie Zhu were helping on the side.
Not only Bai Sheng was surprised, but the six people opposite her were also wide-eyed, staring blankly at Bai Sheng who had fallen from the sky.
The atmosphere froze for a while.
Tian Ya suddenly rushed forward and knelt before Bai Sheng with a thud, saying with a guilty expression, "Shiniang (teacher's wife), please don't blame Xiaoyun ge (little Yun brother) and the others. This... this is all my fault, my fault alone."
Tian Dou, Lu Yu, and Tie Zhu also knelt down with a thud, "Sister-in-law (Madam), this is all our fault."
The crippled man looked at the scene blankly, while the foolish one, with a giggle, also wanted to join the fun, even wanting to imitate Tian Ya and the others by kneeling before Bai Sheng.
Before he could kneel, Bai Sheng pulled him up. He looked much older than Bai Sheng, and Bai Sheng dared not readily accept his kowtow.
The crippled man sighed and said in a rough voice, "You are Mrs. Lu, aren't you? It's not the children's fault, it's my fault."
Bai Sheng was completely bewildered. "What fault or no fault? Can someone tell me what exactly happened here? Tian Dou, you all stand up and talk!"
The Tian Dou and the other children stood up and, speaking one after another, finally clarified the cause, process, and result of the matter.
After they finished speaking, they looked at Bai Sheng nervously, awaiting her judgment.
Bai Sheng walked a few steps closer and looked carefully at the crippled uncle and the foolish uncle. She found that their features looked somewhat familiar.
The crippled uncle felt uncomfortable under Bai Sheng's gaze, so he scratched his bird's nest-like hair and said, "Mrs. Lu, you don't have to be angry. My brother and I will leave now." Saying this, he moved his crippled leg and prepared to return to the house to pack.
"You cannot leave!" Bai Sheng suddenly exclaimed loudly. "You two are Tian Ya's saviors, and you have helped Xiaoyun and the others start their business. How can you live in such a simple place?
Dou, go call Lu Tong, Lu Tie, and Jin, Mu, Shui, Tu to come, and also have them bring a cart. We will have the crippled uncle and foolish uncle live in the first courtyard, right opposite your room."
"Aow, this is great! Shiniang (sister-in-law, madam), you are too kind!" The little children jumped for joy.
Tian Dou rushed to the door, opened it, and saw A Qiu standing outside. He called out to Sister A Qiu, then sped off towards the third courtyard.
A Qiu was also greatly surprised to see everything in the courtyard. Second Master and the others were too bold! What was there to hide? They had to hide men, such dangerous animals.
The crippled uncle looked at Bai Sheng, scratched the back of his chicken coop-like hair, and said gruffly, "Thank you, Mrs. Lu."
"Crippled Uncle, there's no need to be polite. You are Tian Ya's savior, so I should be thanking you. You must have been wronged during this time. These little monkey cubs should have confessed to me earlier."
The crippled uncle was not very good at small talk, but he had a good impression of this straightforward young lady. Listening to her words, he could only chuckle foolishly a few times.