Under Qin Yao's encouragement, Carpenter Liu, who was already tempted, could no longer hold back.

He asked Qin Yao if she was free, and they went to take a look at those abandoned old houses together.

"I'm free now." Qin Yao finished the soup in her bowl in two gulps, put down the empty bowl, stood up and waved to Carpenter Liu, "Come on, I'll take you to see the abandoned house at the east entrance to the village first!"

Qin Yao led the way and said, "This place is large enough with a great view. It's opposite our Liujia Village and the stationery factory, and it's close to the factory and your sunflower field."

Carpenter Liu's heart beat faster. Before he even saw the place, he already felt that this was what he wanted.

He looked up and saw that those were the two rows of mud houses under his sunflower field.

The owner of the house froze to death in the snow during the winter two years ago. He had no children, no relatives, and the house was naturally taken back by the clan.

Because this place is too far from the village well and there is only a thin mountain spring nearby, daily drinking water is very inconvenient.

The roof was also collapsed by the winter snow and has never been repaired. It has been left unused for two years and has now become a home for various small animals in the mountains.

This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the road up is difficult to walk on. There is no bridge and you have to walk over the rocky beach to get there.

It was fine for them to come here to farm and take a walk normally, but when it came to harvest time, they had to be very careful when carrying heavy objects and walking across the rocky beach, otherwise they might slip and fall into the river.

Carpenter Liu shook his head. He was no longer moved. He was heartbroken.

Seeing that Qin Yao was about to go up, he hurriedly called her to stop, "Madam Qin, please come down. There is no need to go up to look. My sunflower field is here. I have walked here countless times. I am more familiar with this place than you are. It is not suitable for human beings to live in."

Qin Yao was not surprised at all by Carpenter Liu's reaction. She still waved with a smile, "Come up first, come up and take a look. I will talk to you in detail."

"What else is there to say?" He had seen the scenery at the top of the hill. Every time he had to hoe the fields, he hated that the hill was too high and it would tire him to death.

However, Qin Yao was very persistent, and Carpenter Liu had no choice but to walk carefully across the stone beach and walk another thirty meters before arriving at the flat land where the abandoned house was located.

"Look." Qin Yao pointed at the river in front of her and the busy stationery factory across the street. "Isn't the village planning to build a water mill together? Is it going to be located in front of this rocky beach?

There is a natural high dam in front of the stone beach. The water flows from top to bottom into this large stone beach, and then turns from deep water to shallow water.

Carpenter Liu knew that the height difference here was the best driving force for the waterwheel. He nodded and said, "We are going to build it here."

After the stationery factory finished the order for 10,000 book boxes and had some spare time, the workers began to build the water mill, which was expected to be completed before winter.

Qin Yao said: "With this water mill, we are now the closest household to the water mill in the whole village."

At first, the villagers wanted to place the waterwheel in the pond near the village well because it was close and convenient for everyone.

But after Qin Yao's actual measurements, he found that the river here was relatively flat and lacked power. Then, considering the future infrastructure layout of the entire village, he finally decided to move the water mill to the entrance outside the village.

This infrastructure layout was proposed by Qin Yao.

The village chief and the clan leader never thought that there was a possibility of expanding their village.

But looking at the stationery factory, which currently has a hundred workers, expansion does not seem so impossible.

Qin Yao took into consideration the future increase in the village's population. The previous chaotic times caused a sharp decline in population, but now the world is peaceful. The number of newborns born in the village this year is 20% more than the previous year. If this trend continues, the population will definitely experience an explosive growth phase in the future.

As the population increases, the demand for housing will increase. Now that there is no real estate speculation, it does not cost too much to build a house manually.

As long as the elders in the family are not extremely stingy, they will leave a room for their newly-married children, so the construction of additional houses is inevitable.

But now the villagers' houses are all concentrated in one place, and there is no possibility of expanding outwards in the future.

Just like Carpenter Liu's family, even if they renovate the house they live in now, it is still not big enough for them to live in, because the land is so small, and there are more and more children in the family who need their own houses.

"Look at this flat land, it's much larger than the one you have now." Qin Yao suggested: "If the road is not good, just repair it. It won't be difficult for you to build a wooden bridge."

"The point is that there will be a water mill here in the future. It's close to our factory and the site is large enough. Since it's an abandoned house, it won't cost much money to buy it. It's cheap!"

"Also, as it's an independent household, your daughter-in-law no longer has to compete with the woman next door for that little vegetable plot." Qin Yao said jokingly.

Carpenter Liu waved his hand again, "You talk nonsense, but that's what you said, and my family doesn't like quietness, we just like bustling."

Qin Yao asked: "What if we build another teahouse, we can sell tea and melon seeds to earn a living for the family?"

"You are the first family entering the village." Qin Yao reminded.

Carpenter Liu didn't believe it at all. He waved his hands and refused three times, "You are talking nonsense! It's impossible! No one would come to our countryside to drink tea!"

"Okay." Qin Yao smiled confidently, "Then go ahead and regret it. The workers are going to work. Let's go back."

It took less than two minutes to turn around and jog towards the stationery factory.

Carpenter Liu sighed and didn't wait for him. His body was not as energetic as that of young people. Carpenter Liu walked slowly and was very careful when crossing the river. The water was only above his instep, and he cherished his life very much.

However, when he got home from work in the afternoon, Carpenter Liu couldn't help but think of the tea room that Qin Yao had mentioned earlier.

But how is that possible? Who among the villagers has the spare money to drink tea?

If Qin Yao were here, she would tell him: Can we be a little bolder? Let the people from outside come to our place for tea.

"Sir, here is your visiting card!"

The guard who had just returned from purchasing in the city walked quickly into Qin Yao's house, found Gong Liangliao who was catching his disciple practicing calligraphy in the main hall, and respectfully presented him with an exquisite gold-painted flower calligraphy.

Gong Liangliao tapped the table with his fingertips, reminding Liu Ji to concentrate on practicing calligraphy and not to look left and right.

He nodded to the guard and motioned him to put down the flower sticker without even looking at it.

Liu Ji couldn't help asking, "Teacher, don't you want to take a look at your visiting card?"

Gong Liangliao frowned and glanced at him, somewhat speechless.

But thinking that he was his own disciple, and besides, a country boy, it was normal that he did not understand the ways of the world and etiquette.

He nodded impatiently at Qi Xianguan who was practicing calligraphy seriously, "You come and explain it to him."

Qi Xianguan put down his brush. Liu Ji looked at him curiously. His pair of peach blossom eyes looked particularly affectionate when he was focused, which made Qi Xianguan feel a chill.

"Don't look at me." Qi Xianguan asked him to look elsewhere, and then said, "We are guests in your house now. If we are polite, we will not hand over a visiting card at this time."

"If they are so anxious, they must not be sincere in visiting the teacher. They are just people who want to use the teacher's reputation to gild themselves."

Liu Ji's mouth twitched slightly, as if he had been scolded! (End of this chapter)