"I've thought it through, Uncle Village Chief, how much is one mu of wasteland?" Qiu Yan asked.

"Wasteland is not expensive, one tael of silver per mu."

Hearing from the village chief that the wasteland was so cheap, Qiu Yan thought about buying more.

The money earned from the wonton shop was given to her aunt for ten taels. The wages for the other workers were not much. Apart from the thirty taels that she put into the public account, she now has more than fifty taels on hand, and she keeps twenty taels for next month's expenses.

Twenty taels should be enough to cover the food, clothing, shelter, and transportation for the three siblings, as well as to pay for the younger brother's tuition.

She doesn't need to worry about installment payments, since she still has Xingyuelou as a backup.

Eat one bite at a time, walk one step at a time; everything must be done slowly.

"I want thirty acres."

"How much?" The village chief's eyes widened as he stared at Qiu Yan.

He wouldn't have any doubts if it were a wealthy family in the village wanting to buy land, but Qiu Yan and her family had just built a new house.

Moreover, their new house is a brick and tile house, bigger than any other house in their village, and it would cost at least seventy or eighty taels of silver.

"Qiu Yan, do you not understand the concept of land? Thirty mu is not three mu. I know you've made money now, but you can't just spend it recklessly. If the harvest is bad later, you'll lose a lot of money."

Qiu Yan said earnestly, "Uncle, what I want is thirty acres."

How will you know it won't work if you don't try?

Seeing Qiu Yan's insistence, the village chief didn't say much more. "Alright, since you've made up your mind, call your second uncle and a few elders from the village, and we'll go get measured together this afternoon."

"Thank you for your help."

"It's no trouble at all, Qiu Yan, you're too kind." As the village chief, Zhao Shan would receive some money from the government if he bought the land, so Qiu Yan's actions were hardly a burden on him.

But he still wanted Qiu Dafu to persuade Qiu Yan, since thirty taels of silver would be enough for them to live on for a long time.

Zhao Shan and Qiu Yan went together; the former went to the construction site where the craftsmen were building houses, while the latter went to help the Wang mother and daughter cook.

Gu Qian is helping out at the new house right now, while Gu Xiaoran is still playing with the puppy.

He could play with a puppy for an entire morning. Qiu Yan belatedly realized that if she had known he liked puppies so much, she should have brought the puppy with her to Baiyang. When she was working at the shop, Gu Xiaoran would have been much more well-behaved.

It was almost noon, and the workers were sweating profusely.

In his spare time, Gu Qian would lend a hand to the craftsmen and chat with his second uncle from time to time.

Upon seeing the village chief approach, he nodded in greeting.

Zhao Shan had a very good impression of Gu Qian and praised Qiu Yan for being lucky.

When Qiu Xu came home from school, he saw Gu Qian, ran up to greet him first, and then looked for his sister.

"elder sister."

Seeing that Qiu Xu was covered in sweat from running, Qiu Yan quickly brought him a bowl of soup to cool him down.

Qiu Xu gulped down the food in a few mouthfuls, said a few words to his sister, and then ran off to play with Gu Xiaoran.

Ever since Qiu Yan had Qiu Xu personally teach Qiu Xiaobao and his two companions a lesson, Qiu Xiaobao has been avoiding Qiu Xu whenever he sees him.

Previously, the students at the village school looked down on Qiu Xu. Under Qiu Xiaobao's instigation, they always tried to bully Qiu Xu, both openly and secretly.

Because of his sister, Qiu Xu learned to rebel.

In addition, he learned martial arts from his master, and although he is not yet proficient, he is skilled enough to protect himself.

People tend to attach themselves to the strong, and many of his classmates began to curry favor with him.

Qiu Xu was very grateful to his sister and always wanted to do something for the family, but it seemed like he was never needed.

Now, the only way to repay my sister is to study hard and pass the imperial examinations.

At noon, Qiu Yan cooked with the Wang mother and daughter.

Wang steamed a large pot full of white flour buns.

She also steamed a pot of eggplants until they were very soft, and then mixed them with minced garlic. "The workers really enjoyed it."

A bowl of garlic eggplant reminded Qiu Yan of the taste of her grandmother's house when she was a child. The smell made her hungry.

Zhao Yuanyuan stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, bok choy, and also made cucumber salad.

"Qiu Yan, when is Brother Dayu coming back?"

Zhao Yuanyuan's address of "Brother Dayu" made Qiu Yan feel like she was from a lower generation.

"I don't know either, I guess he'll be on vacation soon."

"Who's talking about me?" Qiu Dayu asked with a smile as he walked in briskly.

Zhao Yuanyuan's face suddenly turned red. "Who was talking about you?" She really can't stand being talked about.

The moment Wang saw Qiu Dayu, her face changed, and she stormed towards him angrily. "Qiu Dayu, you owe me money and you still dare to harass my daughter!"

Qiu Dayu immediately jumped in fright and, as if by reflex, turned and ran. "Sister-in-law, how could I dare?"

This scene had already played out once before when he returned home.

At the new house, Zhao Shan briefly told Qiu Dafu about Qiu Yan's plan to buy land. He thought Qiu Dafu would try to dissuade him, but to his surprise, Qiu Dafu said without hesitation, "I support whatever decision Xiao Yan makes."

Zhao Shan had no objections. It was their business how much land they wanted to buy; he was just the person in charge.

Turning their heads, the two saw Qiu Dayu running towards them, with Wang Shi chasing closely behind. "Qiu Dayu, stop right there!"

Zhao Shan sighed and shook his head.

Seeing his second brother and the village chief there, Qiu Dayu looked embarrassed.

"Second brother, village chief."

Wang also stopped in her tracks, seething with anger.

After Qiu Dayu finished speaking, he hurriedly reached into his hand and took out two taels of silver, handing them to the village chief. "Village chief, this is the money I've earned in the past two months. Please give me a little more time; I'll pay you back the rest before the New Year!"

Zhao Shan was tired of hearing him ask for leniency.

"Just remember that." Zhao Shan didn't say much in front of Qiu Dafu.

But his impression of Qiu Dayu was exceptionally bad.

Qiu Dafu had no idea that Qiu Dayu had borrowed money from Zhao Shan. Now that he saw this, he turned his attention to Qiu Dayu.

He had given Qiu Dayu a lot of money before, so why is this spendthrift younger brother borrowing money from Zhao Shan again?

Qiu Dayu looked away. "Second brother, don't look at me like that."

Every cause has its effect. Two years ago, Qiu Dayu was idle all day long. He got into a fight with Gao Yuan and Zhang Ming and almost got sent to the authorities.

Later, the matter was settled only after the person demanded more than ten taels of silver for medical expenses.

Wang wasn't entirely satisfied, but she had some hope; she was glad Qiu Dayu knew he would repay the money.

Qiu Dayu quickly left the village chief and went to find Qiu Yan, by which time he was already covered in sweat.

The weather in the height of summer is just too hot.

Qiu Yan asked him to sit down and served him a bowl of soup to relieve the summer heat.

"This is made by boiling freshly dug dandelions. It has heat-clearing and detoxifying properties. Drink it while it's hot."

Qiu Dayu picked up the small bowl, which contained not only a whole dandelion plant, but also a few chrysanthemums and goji berries, all of which he had found in the mountains.

Dandelions reproduce very quickly and are one of the most common wild vegetables among villagers.

Qiu Dayu took a small sip; the faint bitterness was accompanied by the sweetness of goji berries.

"Are there still many dandelions in the mountains? I'll bring some with me when I go to Xingyue Tower, so that Lin Shu and the others can cool off in the summer."

"Go further into the mountains, there are still quite a few more, I want to dig them myself."