Some people whispered among themselves that Lu Shiyan wanted to benefit his own family, wanted to get the best and most land, wanted to be the king of the valley, and wanted to become a big landowner.

To say that Village Chief Song is Lu Shiyan's lackey and accomplice, and that he must have gained a lot of benefits by following him...

When Village Chief Song heard these words, he almost fainted from anger.

He pointed at the several women below who were whispering and said, "Don't you feel guilty saying such things? How much have you taken advantage of the Lu family along the way? Do you think they owe you anything?"

Madam Su also jumped up and cursed, "Gao Shumei, you ungrateful wretch! Tell me how many times my third son has fetched water for you along the way. Don't be so grateful when you drink it, but then deny it and start slandering my son. You deserve to be a widow. If your family ever has any problems, don't come to my son again."

Thinking of the help Lu Shiyan had given everyone along the way, those who had been making objections earlier lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Only Fang Mulin and his brothers remained defiant, asking Lu Shiyan why they should obey his orders.

Lu Shiyan said calmly, "Just because I found this valley, and just because I am responsible for everyone's safety, anyone who is dissatisfied with my arrangements can leave and find a place to settle down on their own."

Some people had long been dissatisfied with the lazybones of the Fang family. As soon as Lu Shiyan spoke up, he immediately said, "That's right. If you're not satisfied with Lu Sanlang's arrangements, you can go somewhere else to settle down. This place was found by Lu Sanlang."

"Do you think everything will be fine just because you're hiding in this valley? What if the Western Rong soldiers break into the valley? Who among you can pick up a sword and fight them to the death?"

Jiang Tangtang also stepped forward and talked about matters such as epidemic prevention, water conservancy, and even improved varieties.

With each item she mentioned, the villagers who had been protesting earlier lowered their heads a little further.

Jiang Tangtang said, "If you are not satisfied with our arrangements, then swear now that you will be responsible for all matters such as safe paddy fields and improved seeds, and you will not come to our family for help again. No matter what kind of hometown ties you bring up, we will not help you anymore."

"Sanlang, Sanlang's wife, we misunderstood you just now. We were inhuman. Please don't mind what we said."

Many of those who had been complaining earlier stood up to apologize to Lu Shiyan, saying they would follow his arrangements from now on and would never cause such a thing again.

Although the Fang brothers were still dissatisfied with this rule, they dared not stand up and swear that they would never ask Lu Shiyan for help again.

Jiang Tangtang ignored the Fang family members and, together with Village Chief Song, gathered people to measure the land in the valley.

Considering the convenience of water access for each household, Village Chief Song wanted to build all the houses on the riverbank.

Jiang Tangtang, however, felt it was inappropriate. "It's the dry season now, so the river is quite narrow. If we encounter the flood season, the houses built on the riverbank might get washed away."

After Jiang Tangtang reminded him, Village Chief Song examined the marks on the stones on the shore and was immediately full of admiration. "Sanlang's wife is so thoughtful. If it weren't for your reminder, everyone would probably have made the same mistake."

Last night, several families almost got into a fight over this piece of land on the riverbank.

Judging from the marks on the stones in the grass, this area should be flooded during the flood season. When the flood comes, all the houses built there will be submerged.

Among the people who were measuring the land with Village Chief Song and Jiang Tangtang, several young men had also taken a liking to the land yesterday, thinking of occupying it to build houses.

Hearing what Jiang Tangtang and Village Chief Song said, they both felt extremely fortunate.

If they had any ulterior motives before, at this moment, they had none at all.

His opinion of Jiang Tangtang also changed drastically.

It turns out that Lu Sanlang's wife, apart from being spoiled, had all sorts of good qualities. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also very knowledgeable.

Like the other young men, Village Chief Song now greatly admired Jiang Tangtang. So, after discovering that the riverbank was unsuitable for building a house, he asked Jiang Tangtang, "Sanlang's wife, which spot do you think is suitable for building a house?"

Jiang Tangtang fell asleep shortly after listening to the audiobook last night, and the system could only analyze the soil quality, not provide her with answers.

She thought for a moment and said, "No rush, let's look around first, and make a decision after we've found a good place nearby."

Village Chief Song agreed, saying, "Yes, yes, that's right. We should be more cautious."

That morning, Jiang Tangtang and Village Chief Song led people to survey the terrain of the valley.

Xie Ziang led a group of children to pick wild vegetables in the wasteland.

Because the valley has no shortage of water, you can pick wild vegetables without having to go deep into the mountains.

Most of these thirty-odd children were born into poor farming families. They didn't need adults to teach them; they knew which vegetables were edible and which were not.

On the contrary, Xie Zi'ang said he would take the children to the wasteland to find wild vegetables, but he didn't recognize many of the wild vegetables in the field, so he had to learn how to pick them from some children who were even younger than him.

However, he learns quickly and soon applied what he learned to other situations, picking a basket full of wild vegetables.

Lu Shiyan took some time to go out and brought back several bags of grain. After returning the portion he had borrowed from the Lu family yesterday, he left the rest for the children to cook themselves.

Seeing Lu Shiyan carrying back several bags of grain, Luo Taohua began to have doubts again.

If it weren't for these children, the grain that my brother-in-law brought back would all have gone to the public treasury.

With so much grain, they can eat their fill for several days.

But my brother-in-law, for some inexplicable reason, insisted on giving the perfectly good food to these kids.

But this was Lu Shiyan's skill, and it was something that had already been agreed upon yesterday. She was unhappy, but dared not say it out loud.

I can only suppress my anger.

Besides Luo Taohua, many other villagers were also envious of the grain that Lu Shiyan had brought back.

By now, many families in the village have run out of dry food and are relying on wild vegetables to stave off hunger.

Although the valley's favorable location meant it wasn't affected by drought and had plenty of wild vegetables, wild vegetables are different from staple foods. Not only do they make you hungry quickly, but they also leave you with a lingering craving for grains and meat.

Many villagers shamelessly went to Xie Zi'ang to borrow grain.

They originally thought that Xie Zi'ang, being a child, would be easier to talk to than Lu Shiyan. They figured they could get the food by coaxing and scaring him a bit.

Unexpectedly, Xie Ziang turned out to be a ruthless character who wouldn't listen to either soft or hard tactics, and several villagers who had ulterior motives all returned empty-handed.

Lu Cuilan refused to believe this superstition. She took Fang Mingming with her to the place where a group of children were temporarily staying.

She looked at the bags of grain and said, "So much grain, if divided among everyone, there should be at least ten pounds of grain! My family is not eating with you, so please take the grain with us."

Seeing that Xie Ziang remained silent, she continued, "My nephew said that this food was for the children he rescued, and my son was one of the children he rescued. Do you want to take away my Mingming's share of food?"