The three-story house looked surprisingly new. It was probably built within the last ten years, and there was over an acre of private land around it. Han Ying thought that this land shouldn’t go to waste—she could plant vegetables or other crops, and over six months, she could still harvest a good amount.
Unexpectedly, the rooftop of the third floor had a sunshade made of metal sheets. This meant that whatever she did on the rooftop would be relatively hidden from view. She had heard that only one elderly person lived here permanently. For safety, the entire house was surrounded by a wall over a meter high, enclosing the courtyard as well, with just a single iron gate wide enough for a car to pass, connecting to the cement road outside.
Perhaps hearing the car outside, the iron gate opened, and an elderly man of around sixty or seventy came out. His skin was tanned from years of labor, but he looked energetic and healthy.
“You must be the young lady renting my house?” The old man’s face lit up with a bright smile when he saw Han Ying by the car.
“Yes. I said I’d move in today. May I ask your name?” Han Ying had rented the house yesterday without even seeing it, paying the rent directly through the agency, so she didn’t know the old man.
“My surname’s Wang. You look younger than my grandson—call me Grandpa Wang. Let me show you the house. And where’s your luggage? I’ll help you bring it in!” Grandpa Wang was very enthusiastic; he found Han Ying pleasant to look at. Honestly, he never expected such a tiny young lady to rent his house. Before renting it out, he assumed a whole family would take it. After all, the rent wasn’t cheap, and the house was spacious.
“I only brought a suitcase. Grandpa Wang, please show me the house first.” Han Ying patted the trunk, indicating that her suitcase was inside.
“Alright!” Grandpa Wang led Han Ying through the iron gate and showed her the house floor by floor. After seeing it, Han Ying was even more convinced that renting this place was the right choice.
However, Han Ying didn’t rent it just to live there. Her main purpose was to stockpile the spring water and have Shi Yong prepare meals for her here.
After touring all three floors, Grandpa Wang led Han Ying to the sunshade on the rooftop. Then, pointing toward the mountain top, he explained that their water storage house for the spring was up there.
Originally, this three-story house had accommodated two sons with their families plus Grandpa Wang and his wife—a total of eleven people. Later, the sons settled in big cities or abroad, and his wife had passed away. Grandpa Wang’s health often caused concern, so his eldest son planned to take him abroad to live. To ensure sufficient water for the family, the water house on the mountain top was built especially large, capable of holding 30 tons of water. Four spring sources could fill it in just half a day—the water supply was abundant!
Moreover, outside the yard near the orchard, a deep well had been dug at considerable expense. Its water was mainly used for irrigating the orchard and vegetable garden. A stainless steel water tower capable of holding 3 tons was installed for this purpose.
Han Ying examined both the well water and the spring water. Both were crystal clear and sweet to the taste—far superior to city tap water. Spending over twenty thousand yuan to rent this place was extremely wise.
In addition, the property included over an acre of land and several dozen fruit trees on the hill behind. If she planted it all over six months, the land could yield a good amount of vegetables, and the fruit trees were almost ripe—providing a valuable stockpile of supplies.
Han Ying added Grandpa Wang on WeChat and promised to send monthly photos of the fruit trees to him. She also asked him to help hire three villagers to climb the mountain and find additional spring sources. The reason was simple: she wanted to live here permanently, preferring this water over city tap water. For safety, finding a few extra springs was a precaution.
Grandpa Wang didn’t object. He had long drank spring water himself and knew that springs could dry up or become muddy after rain. He guessed that the young lady wanted to prepare in advance in case the springs ran dry or became contaminated.
Han Ying offered high pay: 500 yuan per spring found, plus 200 yuan daily wage for each person. She would cover all the costs for materials needed to divert the water, preferably completing it within two days. The surrounding mountains had many springs, so finding one wasn’t difficult. Grandpa Wang and his sons had found the four existing springs in less than a day. The price Han Ying offered was generous enough that, if not for having to leave with his son soon, Grandpa Wang would have wanted to earn the money himself.
The three villagers called to work on the springs immediately left their farm duties and climbed the mountain with hoes in hand.
Before Grandpa Wang left, Han Ying asked him to hire a plumber to install several additional faucets on the third-floor rooftop. The task was simple and completed in less than an hour.
Around noon, Grandpa Wang handed Han Ying all the house keys, including keys to every drawer, and was then taken away by his son. Han Ying noticed a look of reluctance in Grandpa Wang’s eyes. Having lived most of his life in the countryside, suddenly moving abroad was an uncertain fate for an elderly farmer.
After Grandpa Wang left, Han Ying locked the house and courtyard gates and drove to a hardware store to purchase special faucets and water pipes for water storage. These weren’t usually sold in small hardware stores, so she went to the largest plumbing and hardware store in Qingping Town.
After explaining her requirements, the owner didn’t ask many questions—her order was large but not unprecedented. Han Ying bought:
10,000 meters of 1-inch pipe,
10,000 meters each of 4-point and 6-point pipes,
1,000 faucets of various types,
300 electronic sensor faucets of two different types.
She had everything delivered to her rented warehouse but took with her two rolls of 6-point pipe and 20 electronic sensor faucets.
These 20 sensor faucets were not ordinary ones that simply turned on with a hand gesture. They were manual faucets with an automatic shutoff when water reached a certain depth—a modified float valve. These faucets were crucial for Han Ying’s water storage plan. She couldn’t wait around to collect water manually every time, so buying these faucets was essential.