Chapter 347: Chapter 346: Renovation Complete

While Liu Ji was experiencing the ’troubles’ brought by becoming the husband of a landlady, the renovation of the guest house was finally completed.

Prompted by the mute, Qi Xian specially had Shi Tou seek out a witch from a nearby village who was skilled in fortune-telling to choose an auspicious day for moving into the house to ensure success.

The finalized date was set for October 10th, at 11:45 AM.

On this day, the weather was clear, with rather low temperatures.

Everyone wore warm padded jackets, and Gongliang Liao was reluctantly dressed in furry ear warmers by Liu Ji, escorted by two disciples to the newly renovated guest house.

The first thing that caught the eye was a gentle and spacious slope.

The entire slope was paved with bluestone slabs, so there was no fear of mud when it rained, and the wheelchair could move smoothly over it, saving Liu Ji a lot of effort in pushing the cart.

In front of the door, there was a very spacious courtyard, surrounded by wooden railings.

The overall elevated platform was three meters above ground level, offering an excellent view, nearly allowing a straight line of sight from the front door along the river to the stationery factory at the village entrance.

This courtyard was also paved with blue stones. According to Qi Xian’s request, the mute specially selected some relatively white stones to create a lotus flower pattern on the ground.

Liu Ji hadn’t come here much these days, being busy renting land and converting communal beds for rent, so after just a few days away, he found the guest house suddenly finished.

Looking at the lotus pattern on the ground now, he clicked his tongue in admiration, “I didn’t expect the mute and the others to have this skill.”

Qi Xian pretended not to hear, and explained to the teacher: “This is called ’step by step lotus’, teacher, look, starting from this big one, there is a small white lotus every three feet, all the way to the main entrance.”

He had designed it specially, was it not very unique? Qi Xian looked eagerly at the teacher.

Gongliang Liao couldn’t appreciate the white lotus, but it didn’t stop him from giving his disciple the needed encouragement, nodding with a face full of comfort, “Not bad.”

Actually, what he found most impressive was the smooth and even stone path they had taken from the start, feeling that he could propel himself to the platform and enjoy the scenery.

Just as he was thinking this, Gongliang Liao realized, as the group reached the entrance, that the steps in front of the door were somewhat unique.

Besides the usual two steps, there was an asymmetrical Y-shaped slope specially built on both sides, with wooden handrails installed.

Shi Tou and the Attendant Student instinctively reached for Liu Ji’s hand to lift the master over the stone steps before the door.

Qi Xian suddenly waved his hand, signaling them not to approach.

Then he pointed to the specially reserved slopes on both sides of the door, “Junior brother, you can try these sides.”

Liu Ji raised an eyebrow skeptically, pushing the teacher towards the left side, considering the left side was respected in Sheng Country, which suited the teacher’s status.

Then, the wheelchair was smoothly pushed to the main entrance.

Unlike ordinary courtyards, the renovated guest house had no threshold, and the interior design was identical to the exterior stone steps, with preserved slopes on both sides.

Following the slope down, they entered the courtyard.

A pond had been dug here, with a bamboo conduit painstakingly constructed to direct spring water from the mountain into the courtyard, dividing it in two mid-courtyard.

One part flowed into a large pottery jar at the corner of the wall for daily drinking, the other flowed into the courtyard pond, creating a waterscape.

At the moment the season wasn’t right, the pond was temporarily empty, only containing water, with an artificial large rock placed inside. Qi Xian had yet to complete the lotus pond he most desired.

The rock, liked by Gongliang Liao, had been crafted into lighting niches in various corners of the courtyard using rock.

The surrounding courtyard walls hadn’t been entirely built up; instead, a rustic bamboo fence filled in the gaps left by the original remaining wall foundations, and outside the fence, Shi Tou had planted some ’flowers’ he found.

However, given the remote location and the large mountain behind, a high wall was still erected at the outermost position leaning against the mountain for defense, to prevent wild animals from breaking in suddenly.

The scenery inside the courtyard was still very plain, requiring the homeowner to gradually add more in the future.

But the specially constructed circular stone path still exuded a sense of surprise to Gongliang Liao.

As Liu Ji pushed him further inside, he found that all the rooms had no thresholds, and where transition was needed, smooth wooden ramps were set that matched the style of the wooden floors used in the communal beds, without seeming jarring at all.

This was the case in the guest hall, and upon arriving at Gongliang Liao’s bedroom, the whole large space was partitioned into areas with different functions.

There were actually two writing desks, one low and one high.

The low desk was ordinary, just like any common one, except the storage cabinet behind it was also floor-standing.

The high desk was somewhat special, being taller than a usual table but just right for someone seated in a wheelchair.

There were no decorative pot stands in the room, so Liu Ji could easily maneuver Gongliang Liao around.

Leaving the high desk, they arrived next to the bed, which was also taller than usual, matching the height of a wheelchair.

The bed was designed with railings on three sides, creating an embracing shape, leaving only a two-person wide opening.

Gongliang Liao tried supporting himself by the handle on this open side, finding it unexpectedly sturdy. Applying a little force with his arm, half his body raised itself. If he shifted his pelvis a bit, he might be able to mount the bed by himself.

Of course, the movement wasn’t very elegant, and with so many people around, Gongliang Liao decided to forgo the attempt for now.

Beyond the bed, right beside it, was a small compartment.

One side of the compartment faced the window, enclosed all around with blue bricks, with stone slabs laid within, resembling an independent section within the room.

Having spent so much time at Qin Yao’s home, Gongliang Liao recognized at once that this was a bathroom for washing.

The width of the door left was the same as Qin Yao’s home, wide enough to push a wheelchair through.

Entering, the small, brightly lit compartment was still fairly spacious and subdivided into three areas by wooden handrails.

One area was fitted with a washbasin stand, another with a ram’s head commode, and the last, a low, long bathtub.

Since the floor was fully paved with stone slabs and drainage ditches were left, any water accumulated indoors could be quickly expelled.

The bathtub’s end was adjacent to the wall at the window, with a special drain hole now plugged with a wooden stopper. After use, removing the stopper would allow the water to flow through the hole along a drainage channel beneath the eaves, then through the channel to the garden outside the courtyard.

Upon seeing this, what was there for Gongliang Liao not to understand?

This was clearly a specially built bathroom for him, complete with a toilet.

With the ram’s head commode, he could hold on to the ram horns and sit there, no longer needing someone to assist him to use the toilet, saving much embarrassment.

Though people of their status had attendants around them year-round, unbothered by extra eyes, some even sought beauties to assist them in the task.

But for Gongliang Liao, before and after becoming disabled, it was a completely different feeling.

This somewhat comical-looking ram horn commode was the first time he felt dignity.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep