After introducing themselves and recognizing each other's identities, William Asku quickly brought Little Niu and Xu Yun into the house.
Friends familiar with history should know that the 17th century is considered a crucial turning point in the history of the United Kingdom.
In 1637, the bourgeois revolution erupted, and by 1688, the UK finally established a constitutional monarchy system, and capitalism began to develop rapidly.
The current time point is 1665, and the Victorian architectural style that became popular globally with the constitutional monarchy has not yet appeared, so most rural buildings still have a very strong Netherlands style.
For example, this house where William and they live.
In addition to the red brick material previously noticed by Xu Yun, it also has a steeply pitched roof, crenellations, chimneys, and so on, in its architectural outline.
These additional modules have many indentations and protrusions, are asymmetrical externally, and most of the windows are large square windows.
The arrangement of the windows is also quite random, and you can see some climbing plants.
However, the exterior of this house looks somewhat bourgeois in style, but if you observe carefully, you will find that many parts already show stains or even aging, and the actual condition of the entire building is far from as luxurious as it appears at first glance.
As a physics nerd from the future, Xu Yun certainly knows William Asku's life trajectory:
Now, to put it bluntly, William Asku is a non-entity.
After his sister Hanna Asku, Little Niu's mother, married Nabas Smith, William borrowed about 20 guineas from her to start a horse trading business.
And he soon made a small fortune, the exact amount unknown, but historically recognized to be between 40-50 guineas.
So, William spent quite a bit of money building this house, spending just over 10 guineas, which is about fifteen years of income for an ordinary family.
As a result, two years after the house was built, William began a seven-year spell of financial loss.
According to Old Niu's records in some letters.
Over the years, William has been involved in ironmaking, construction, fruit trade, shipbuilding among five or six industries, none of which were profitable.
The most recent business William engaged in was the transportation of cotton and pig iron previously mentioned, for which he already found a buyer and just had to deliver the goods to get paid, changing his luck in one go.
Unexpectedly, the Black Death swept through London, temporarily halting the shipping routes.
Of course.
Though unlucky, William's character is still good.
At present, it's a period of colonial expansion in the UK, and as a University of Cambridge graduate, William actually has connections to get involved in the slave trade, which is notoriously profitable.
His friend Robert Kuniya once approached him, asking for only five guineas – about three hundred thousand today – to buy in.
However, because William is genuinely a devout believer, he ultimately chose to reject Robert's proposal and continued with his legitimate business.
Whether or not William regretted twelve years later when Robert Kuniya became the deputy governor of the South American Guyana Colony is unknown.
William's life trajectory can be seen as either brainwashed or devout, but from the perspective of facts, he truly is a conscientious merchant in line with the definitions of doctrine and ideology.
Crack—
The wooden door of the house made a long, old sound, as if welcoming the new guests with an alternative wind chime.
William's house did not have a noticeable entrance hall; after all, apart from Switzerland and Italy, even in later times, many European and American countries did not have the habit of changing shoes:
They either walk around the house with shoes or with socks or bare feet.
This habit has some connection with the difference between stone and wooden architecture, whether it's good or bad depends on the rhetoric.
For instance, normally we would say that our country's long-standing culture, such as rituals like sitting, makes not changing shoes unsuitable.
But some people who've taken money can twist it into saying that foreign roads are very clean, so there's no need to change shoes at home.
Alright, let's return our gaze to the original subject.
As Xu Yun walked into the house, along with the creaking sound of the wooden door, came a peculiar smell mixed with various odors.
There was body odor, mold, dampness, and so on...
Like drinking water steeped with the mat a 500-pound fat man slept on for three months in the summer without air conditioning, it's quite shocking for modern people.
Fortunately, Xu Yun is pretty resilient in this aspect, so he quickly adjusted and began examining the interior layout.
Unlike the exterior's strong English rural style, the interior of William's house was incredibly dilapidated:
The entrance connects to a rectangular living room with a marble floor. A fireplace was chiseled into the left wall of the living room.
A painting with a missing corner, seemingly related to religious doctrine, hung above the fireplace, surrounded by a few wooden chairs and a lounge chair.
From the slightly blackened animal fur on the lounge chair, it's clear these were all furniture William purchased before he lost money.
Apart from that.
The living room had only a few boxes holding pots, pans, and other miscellaneous items, as well as the triangular pitched roof at the top.
The aging white walls were cracked in places, with the sediment marks left by water seepage visible.
No eaves, no purlins and brackets interlocking, and no yellow tiles covering the roof, all so ordinary it's somewhat dull.
At the end of the living room, it splits into two paths, one leading to a room with a narrow entrance. Judging by the sink-like structures and wooden buckets on the floor, it seems to be a back kitchen or similar area.
The other end was obscured by something, making it impossible to see beyond. But without surprise, this would most likely lead to the bedroom or study.
And while Xu Yun was assessing the interior arrangements, a slight sound suddenly came from behind him.
Instinctively, Xu Yun turned his head, and in the next second, he locked eyes with a pair of adorable big eyes.
The owner of the eyes is a little girl about five or six years old, with golden hair draping over her shoulders, her clothes a bit tattered and thin.
At the moment, the girl's face was covered with a lot of dirt and wood chips, seemingly just back from playing outside.
Upon seeing this, Xu Yun couldn't help but murmur to himself, wondering what was so fun outside on such a cold day.
But despite the internal complaints, the little girl's sellable appearance was so endearing and healing that he naturally pulled out a smile:
"Hello there, little sister."
The little girl blinked her adorable big eyes, the corners of her mouth turning up ever so slightly, and then she pulled out a blackish blob from behind her back.
And before Xu Yun could make out what it was, she waved her small hand...
Only to hear a smack.
The object landed right on Xu Yun's head.
By the way, Xu Yun is quite familiar with this, having played with it many times during childhood, though he has never been slapped in the face with it.
It's called...
Cow dung.
....