With the plan in place and money in hand, they naturally rushed to get things done.

Xu Rao ordered the materials for building the city wall. The large blocks of bluestone needed to be quarried from the nearby mountains. Wei Lang found a group of trusted veterans from the army, dressed them up, and pretended to be out-of-town contractors. They used stones to fence off the area that Xu Rao had enclosed, and then handed the construction site over to Li Zhubu. After all, ostensibly, this was the house that Li Zhubu's family was going to build.

The house was designed as a five-courtyard complex. The Li family had a large population, and Madam Li had mentioned long ago that her current courtyard was not spacious enough, and she was thinking of building a larger one. This time, the house was completed, and the Li family moved in. The underground granary was built in the backyard of the Li family.

The front courtyards of the Li family's house were built in the normal way, but this back courtyard was specially built. Several small houses were built on the ground, and a back door was opened on the wall.

The soil in this area is quite sticky, so many families dig cellars in their rooms or yards to store things. After the backyard is built, the bottom is completely hollowed out, and the ground and surrounding walls are paved with bluestone to ensure there are no gaps, all to keep out rats and prevent them from damaging the grain. The roof is covered with wooden planks, and several stone pillars are also built.

After the basement, which was over 200 square meters in size, was completed, Xu Rao and Wei Lang came over to take a look at it that evening. Then they arranged for people to live in the house in the backyard. Once the grain had dried sufficiently, they moved some grain from Wei Lang's granary to store it.

While the Li family was building their courtyard, Xu Rao organized many local militia to begin repairing the city wall.

With money in hand and low labor costs, even though it was all done by carrying things on their shoulders and by hand, there were so many people that by the time the first snow fell in Hexi, the east gate of Hexi was completely renovated.

Hexi County is bordered by Yanmen Pass to the west, and is surrounded by towering cliffs to the south and north. Only the east side is the only road leading in and out of the county.

To ensure the county town was well-defended, no materials were skimped on the city walls; horses could ride on them. The city gates were made of thick locust wood, and it would take three to five people to open and close them manually.

While construction was in full swing here, the training on Wei Lang's side was causing the soldiers a lot of trouble.

Wei Lang had always felt that Xu Di was different from other teenagers, and this feeling only intensified when he saw the few pieces of paper Xu Di had given him.

The two young men locked themselves in the room for a day and a night. Zhang Zhaoci didn't know what they talked about. He just told Qingmiao and Qingsui to take good care of them and bring them food and drink as soon as possible, and then he didn't care anymore.

Wei Lang held the few sheets of paper as if they were something of immense value, and left the Xu residence in high spirits.

Xu Di hadn't slept all night, and his eyes were bloodshot. Zhang Zhaoci looked at Xu Di and said with heartache, "Have a bowl of hot porridge first to warm your stomach before you go to sleep."

Xu Di nodded and said, "If I really don't grow taller in the future, there will be a reason. I'll take a good rest these two days, and in a few days I'll be going into the mountains with Wei Lang and the others for training."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaoci asked in surprise, "Are you still going with us?"

Xu Di sighed and said, "Yes, Wei Lang said there are many things he doesn't understand, so I feel at ease following him."

Zhang Zhaoci said with great concern, "You're only a teenager. Besides, your body wasn't trained from a young age. Can you handle it?"

Xu Di said, "We have to eat it even if we can't handle it. It concerns our own interests now. We won't feel at ease if we don't have something to save our lives. Don't worry, I know what's important."

Xu Rao was busy building granaries and repairing city walls. He could snore as soon as he lay down at night. Zhang Zhaoci didn't want to bother him anymore, so she stayed at home thinking about what simple and convenient things to make for Xu Di.

Xu Zhi is increasingly resembling a young lady from a prestigious family, not only in her posture and demeanor, but also in her perspective. Under the guidance of Granny Lu, she has made great progress.

Xu Zhi was busy with her own studies, but she also had to focus her energy on her family. She noticed that her mother was spending more and more time in the front kitchen lately, so she went over to take a look out of curiosity.

Zhang Zhaoci was researching how to make instant noodles, which were supposed to be delicious and convenient. However, after trying many times, he couldn't make them successfully. Meanwhile, his yard was filled with the tempting aroma of fried food all day long.

After Xu Di and Wei Lang set a time to go to the mountains, he rushed to the estate to arrange things there. When he returned home, he saw his mother looking dejected because she hadn't been able to make instant noodles.

Hearing his mother say she was going to make instant noodles, and seeing the mess in the kitchen, Xu Di sighed and said, "Mom, I appreciate your kindness, but it's really too much for someone like you who has hardly ever cooked before to suddenly have to research something so difficult. Come on, take a break, I'll take care of the rest."

Zhang Zhaoci looked at her son, who was deftly kneading the dough and preparing to roll out noodles, and sighed, saying, "Xu Di, do you think I'm useless? I haven't taken care of you much since you were little, and I've been focused on my career. As a result, you've grown into such a good person without my knowledge. Thinking about it, I'm really not a good mother."

Upon hearing this, Xu Di smiled and said, "Mom, I think you're doing a great job. Although you and Dad haven't really disciplined me much, you've set a good example for me. The power of an example is boundless!"

Zhang Zhaoci watched as Xu Di kneaded the dough, rolled it into thin noodles, steamed them, shaped them, and then fried them in oil. He took out a small noodle cake, took a bite, and found it to be crispy and crunchy. After soaking it in boiling water, it tasted almost like the instant noodles he had eaten before.

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