Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 389 - 386: The Cheap Cousin Wants to Go Back

Chapter 389: Chapter 386: The Cheap Cousin Wants to Go Back

Lin Wanwan, departing from the County Government, had Xiao Chong’s letter in hand, wearing a sunhat, with a slight smile on her lips.

She had delivered the fine wine, discussed the matters, and her tasks for the day were successfully completed.

Returning home, Lin Wanwan took off her sunhat, accepted the damp cloth from Hong Yan to wash her face, and wiped the sweat off her face and neck. The refreshing sensation penetrated her pores, feeling extremely comfortable.

The weather was getting increasingly hot. The summer of the Great Tang was truly unbearable. If it weren’t for the guests at home, Lin Wanwan would really want to retreat back to the modern era to enjoy the air conditioning.

Due to the time discrepancy between the two worlds, days felt particularly long for Lin Wanwan, not at all experiencing the fleeting passage of time that others spoke of.

Shortly after she entered the side room with ice sculptures and a fan, Xiao Yixun, Xiao Xianghua, and Xiao Ronghua arrived.

In the summer, noblewomen had nothing much to do but to idle away time by chatting to stay cool.

"Cousin Wanwan, this fan and ice sculpture are indeed such great items, perfect for summer." Xiao Ronghua used a silk handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her brow and quickly moved in front of the fan to enjoy the breeze.

Lin Wanwan casually remarked, "Indeed, they are quite useful. With West Lake in the picture, Qiantang is probably even hotter than Mao County, isn’t it? When you go back, please bring a fan to my grandmother on my behalf, as she’s elderly and can’t tolerate the heat; the fan should at least make it a bit more comfortable for her."

Xiao Xianghua, while embroidering a pattern, laughed, "That would be wonderful. With your filial piety, Cousin Wanwan, grandmother will surely be pleased."

"Indeed!" Xiao Ronghua quickly chimed in.

After chatting idly in the side room for a while, each of them began to busy themselves, some playing the zither, some embroidering, and others reading, without interfering with one another.

The task of manually operating the fan fell naturally to the personal maids of the ladies.

Currently, Hong Yan was managing the fan, but after the three Xiao noblewomen arrived, Xiao Yixun’s mute maid, Ali, silently stepped forward to relieve Hong Yan.

The maids took turns fanning their mistresses with great coordination, not tiring themselves too much, while keeping the mistresses always refreshed with a breeze.

In this room, Xiao Yixun’s entourage was the smallest, as others had at least two personal maids. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Since Xiao Yixun had run away from home, she naturally didn’t have many servants to attend to her, but she didn’t mind.

Last time Sun Chuyao purchased people to supplement the mansion’s personnel, Lin Wanwan intended to assign a newcomer to Xiao Yixun, but she refused. She disdained the eleven or twelve-year-old girls who hadn’t been trained outside.

Xiao Yixun preferred quality over quantity; although her subordinates were each flawed, they all possessed extraordinary skills, even more capable than normal people.

Lin Wanwan naturally went along with her.

Honestly, according to Lin Wanwan’s value perception, having one maid to serve was already quite good. In modern times, even wealthy families mostly only hire one nanny, after all.

Those homes with the configuration of a housekeeper, chef, gardener, and bodyguard would have to be truly rich families with their own mines; there are few such households in all of Huaxia.

It was only the nobility of the Great Tang with all sorts of rules and grand styles who liked to keep a large number of servants. Then they would create factions and chaos in what was originally a simple home.

Lin Wanwan did things her own way and didn’t want to buy too many servants for her home. As it stands, this was her ideal setup.

The personal maid who originally followed Lin Wanwan, Hua Nong, still also doubled as her exclusive chef, an excellent maid who was impressive both in the hall and in the kitchen.

As the personnel in the mansion increased, two cooks were naturally bought to manage the kitchen. They were mainly responsible for cooking for the mansion’s servants; Lin Wanwan and her guests’ meals were still prepared by Hua Nong.

In general, whenever there weren’t many outsiders at home, Xiao Yixun liked to stay around Lin Wanwan.

Xiao Yixun didn’t converse idly with Lin Wanwan, choosing either to watch Lin Wanwan read medical books, practice acupuncture, and play music, or to read medical books herself.

Seeing her interest, Lin Wanwan naturally delighted in generously sharing her medical books.

Traditionally, poison and medicine are inseparable; in fact, in terms of pulse reading and using Chinese medicine, Xiao Yixun was in no way inferior to Lin Wanwan.

Now living close to the County Government, Doctor Chen Liang from the government often came over at Lin Wanwan’s invitation to teach acupuncture. Each time, Xiao Yixun also stayed by to learn.

She never asked questions or spoke up, so Lin Wanwan didn’t know how much she had learned.

At this moment, Lin Wanwan was practicing her instrument on the konghou, while Xiao Yixun was sitting cross-legged nearby, listening to the music and reading medical books.

While the group of girls was contented and at ease, Lin Wanwan’s third cousin, Xiao Jingkun, rushed in, pulling apart the bamboo curtains: "Sisters, today I received a letter from my lady, saying that Madam Lu recently acquired a "winter melon" sent from Chang’an Xiao Mansion, and she will host a winter melon feast in three days.

Let’s set off back to Qiantang tomorrow, so we can attend the feast in time. Madam Lu specifically invited us."

Xiao Xianghua immediately stated, "Haven’t we had enough winter melons at Cousin Wanwan’s house? Why rush back for just one winter melon? It’s rare for us to come out, and I’d like to spend more time conversing with Cousin Wanwan."

Xiao Ronghua lowered her head and softly said, "I will follow brother’s decision."

Xiao Jingkun looked approvingly at his sister and praised her, then turned to Xiao Xianghua: "It’s been a few days since you entered Wanwan’s estate, haven’t you had enough yet?

This is precisely the age when you should be socializing and engaging in activities. How can you miss the chance to make an appearance at a large banquet in Qiantang for the sake of play? That’s terribly immature, isn’t that right, Cousin Wanwan?"

Since she was mentioned, Lin Wanwan stopped plucking the strings and said to Xiao Jingkun: "You’re right, Cousin, but my mansion is quite large and somewhat deserted, and I would love it if my dear sisters stayed a few more days to keep me company."

Xiao Jingkun shook his head disapprovingly: "The family has sent a message; obviously, it’s signaling for us to return sooner. I think it’s best if we leave as early as possible. If Cousin feels lonely, why not come with us to Qiantang?"

Lin Wanwan looked at Xiao Xianghua and asked, "Sister Xianghua, what do you say? Would you like to stay a few more days? I’ve finished the matters at Xiaoxi Town here and planned to take you all to the rural seaside estate tomorrow to escape the heat.

It’s cooler by the sea, unlike the heat in the city. At the end of the month, during the great low tide, I can take you to enjoy the fun of catching seafood."

Xiao Xianghua delightfully said, "Catching seafood? That sounds fun, I’d love to go to the countryside with Cousin Wanwan for a few more days."

It’s rare to make a trip so far, free from upper elder supervision and lower mundane affairs, and Xiao Xianghua didn’t want to leave.

What fun is there in those banquets anyway, where she was merely displayed like a commodity in front of hosting mistresses, utterly boring.

After all, for major matters like marriage, they were up to parental agreements and matchmaker negotiations; she didn’t have the choice anyway, just waiting for parental arrangements.

Since that’s the case, why should she attend so many banquets to socialize?