nownovels Chapter 54 Snowball's Disdain
Chapter 54 Snowball's Disdain
Just as Zag picked up the newspaper, Mrs. Marsh's voice came from behind him: "Zag! Where did you go? I've already cleaned the kitchen! I'm a little tired, it's been a long time since I've been this busy, I need to rest a bit, but at least we don't have to worry about dinner!"
"Take care of yourself, we have plenty of time to deal with the house." Zag brushed the dust off the newspaper and put it back on the sofa. Then, as he walked towards the back door of the kitchen, he said, "I've moved all the clutter out of the living room and am planning to tidy up other places."
Mrs. Marsh had cleaned the kitchen spotless; the fireplace and the wooden tabletop nailed to the wall were immaculate. She had even placed some of the jars and bottles she had brought on the tabletop—redcurrant jam and dried fruit, an iron pot, and her two most prized silverware sets.
Zag glanced at the already tidy kitchen, then pushed open the back door, intending to tidy up the backyard.
Mrs. Marsh said, "After I rest for a while, I'll go to the market. We need to buy some food, otherwise the two little ones will go hungry tomorrow."
Zag glanced at Herford, the "little guy" who was sitting obediently at Mrs. Marsh's feet and was about the size of two huskies, and did not question him. He just nodded and said, "There's still firewood. I have to check if there's any in the backyard. But even if there is, it probably won't be usable for so long. We have to buy some."
"Yes, yes, and firewood! You have to buy firewood to live in the city!" Mrs. Marsh complained. "Oh! There's money to be spent everywhere!"
Strictly speaking, this house only has a small sunken garden in the front. The area outside the back door is actually an extremely narrow space covered by a wooden roof, which can only accommodate two people walking side by side. No more than one person can fit in. It is a "storeroom" or "shed" that is open to the elements.
The entire backyard was paved with flagstones, but weeds still grew out of the cracks in the stones, making this small place appear "lush and verdant"—well, in this context, it's a derogatory term.
Above was a wooden plank roof, under which were pitchforks, hoes, and some miscellaneous tools. Zag searched carefully and found a pile of firewood next to the tools, but it had indeed been there for too long and looked like it had been repeatedly soaked by rain, and was rotten beyond use.
Zag thought for a moment, then beckoned Herford over, took the hemp rope off his collar, bundled all the scraps together, and draped them over Herford's back, telling him to take them to the front yard to unload them. Zag then took a pitchfork and cleared the space under the wooden shed in the backyard.
Because the backyard was not very big, Zag only spent half an hour cleaning it up.
Helf took the large pieces of debris and branches to the front yard, while he piled up the loose leaves and tangled weeds, intending to burn them later.
Otherwise, he would have to drag that huge outdoor trash can from the front yard through the kitchen and dining room of the whole house, fill it with leaves and weeds, and then drag it back... That would be too much trouble!
After doing all this, Zag felt like he was being buried in dust, so he hurriedly went back to the bathroom on the first floor of the house to wash his hands and face.
The first-floor washroom is a very small space with only a wooden countertop with a ceramic toilet and a Roman column ceramic washbasin with the words "Wright Brothers" on it. I heard that this is the most famous household ceramic brand in the kingdom, and its products are not cheap.
But when Zag went inside, he discovered that the bathroom also had a shower room, but the shower room was opposite the toilet, like a big hole dug in the wall—perhaps it should be called an embedded shower room?
Because the shower room was separated by a shower curtain, Zag had not noticed it before.
From this perspective, the first-floor washroom isn't too small; at least there's a place to shower.
In a sense, it was a bargain, since the rent for a house with two complete bathrooms is completely different from that for a house with only one.
"Thanks to the Public Health Act of 200 years ago, at least those disgusting Northerne nobles no longer carry chamber pots around to relieve themselves everywhere. Seriously, even dogs are more civilized than them—I'm not talking about coal!"
Snowball appeared on the sink at some point, licking its paws and making sarcastic remarks.
To be honest, seeing this scene, Zag felt as if he had never traveled through time, but instead visited a tourist attraction with hundreds of years of history.
There are running water facilities, toilets, and ceramic sinks here...
There were even toothbrushes and soap—of course, he hadn't had time to buy these yet—but the existence of these things proved that this world was not as backward as he had imagined. It was just that because magic objectively existed, it had taken a completely different path of development from the other world.
Just as he was secretly reflecting on his feelings, he suddenly looked up and saw himself in the mirror.
This wasn't the first time he'd looked at this face, but it still felt very unfamiliar.
With his deep-set eyes and pale skin, he didn't look much better than Flint, and his somewhat messy reddish-brown curly hair only made Zag feel more and more terrified.
So he bent down and washed his face, then shook the water off his hands and wiped the water droplets from his face, and said to Snowball, "Have you seen that golden oak bookcase over in the living room? Or did you go upstairs just now? Did you notice anything unusual? There's nothing strange in the house, right?"
Snowball, of course, caught the unease in Zag's words, and so the harpy began to complain again: "Honestly, I find it hard to compare who's braver between you and Coalball. I really can't understand why you, a dragon, are afraid of so many things? You know, in the last era, those dragons could fight demons head-on!"
"I've already said it, I'm just a dragonborn."
Zag reiterated this point.
Snowball licked its paws, the kitten's face showing obvious disdain: "Fine, whatever. Whether you're a dragon or not, your cowardice is laughable. Your fear of those demons makes me even suspect that you tricked them before and are afraid of retaliation, which is why you're always so timid."
Zag was somewhat exasperated: "I've only been here a short time, and you clearly know that."
"Just kidding." Snowball leisurely flicked its tail and answered Zag's initial question: "I've already searched the whole house and haven't found anything special yet... Besides the roof, there are a few bird eggs in the nest. I suggest we take them down and roast them."
When Zag heard the last sentence, he was speechless: "Sooner or later, when your appetite surpasses that of coal lumps, I really won't be able to support you anymore."
Snowball rolled his eyes: "You'll make a fortune once you sell those healing slime on the black market. Hopefully, you won't be so stingy then. Oh, and don't forget Coalball's fur; it's incredibly valuable!"
"I have to save every penny, but you two are money-devouring beasts!"
Zag replied, then stopped arguing with Snowball and went upstairs to see his future room.
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[Holland Daily Mini-Theater]: White Brothers is the most famous household porcelain brand in the Eternal High Kingdom, mainly focusing on sanitary porcelain, and is also the most favored sanitary porcelain brand among nobles.
However, in addition to sanitary ware, the White Brothers Company also sells architectural ceramics such as tiles.
Furthermore, according to sources, the company is developing artisanal porcelain, seemingly preparing to take a share of the market dominated by the Royal Horlland Porcelain Company.