Chen Fuxi: "Dad, these kids seem unusual. Just a few days ago they were all filthy, but now all those kids running around the village are clean and tidy. No one would doubt that they're city kids. And those tall bamboos, what are they? They look really nice."

Chen Dawei: "Who knows what it is? They've already built four bamboo houses, why are they still building more? They're completely ignoring what I said. Look at how much bamboo and trees they've cut down recently, they'll have to pay us a lot of money, won't they?"

Chen Fuxi: "That's right, they cut down ten trees in the village and about twenty bamboo stalks, that must have cost thirty taels, right?"

Chen Dawei beamed with joy.

He was hoping that more villagers would cut more trees so he could collect money.

Chen Fuxi couldn't contain himself any longer: "Dad, when are we going to make our move?"

Chen Dawei: "No rush, let's wait a bit longer. Four buildings definitely won't be enough for them. I heard they even came to our village today to recruit workers. Ha, they certainly have money."

Chen Dawei was just waiting for the day they finished work to come and cause them trouble, wanting to see Lin Shucheng and the others waste their money.

*

For the first two days before the house was built, it was all the people from Linjia Village who were building the house together.

Lin Jinyue complained that they were working too slowly. She inquired about the labor costs for building houses nearby and found that they weren't high. When she bought crabs that morning, she asked Chen Pang to ask how many people in the village were willing to come and help.

She thought that most people in the village were xenophobic like Chen Dawei.

Unexpectedly, after she spread the news, many people from Yunhe Village came to sign up.

Lin Jinyue accepted all comers, figuring that more people meant they could finish the job a day sooner.

Lin Jinyue treated them well, paying them their wages as usual and adding meat to every meal.

Fish are common along the coast, but their meat is still quite precious.

It wasn't that Lin Jinyue was being overly generous; rather, the cured meat given to her by the people of Yunmeng County would probably go bad if they didn't eat it soon, and the villagers probably wouldn't be willing to throw it away even if it rotted.

It's better to finish eating early.

As a result, the men of Yunhe Village worked even harder, and Lin Jinyue became familiar with them.

Chen Pang hasn't even gone fishing these past two days; instead, he's come here to work and earn some money.

During his lunch break, while he was eating, Lin Jinyue came over to him.

Chen Pang chuckled, "Little girl, the food at your house tastes pretty good. Once the house is finished, I'll send you some crabs and small fish."

Seeing that he was in a good mood, Lin Jinyue asked about the important matter: "Uncle, I just wanted to ask if anyone in the village is selling land? I don't know how much it costs per acre, but I'd like to buy some."

Chen Pang immediately stopped smiling and began to struggle.

After a long while, he finally said:

“Girl, it’s not that I’m xenophobic. Most people in our village like you a lot. We give you money to build houses and meat to eat. It’s just that the land is really not good. Our village is by the sea, and there’s a lot of wasteland. We can’t grow rice or anything like that. We can only grow vegetables.”

Lin Jinyue asked curiously, "Then what do the people in your village eat?"

Chen Pang then began to talk about the situation in their village.

A few families fared well, receiving several acres of fertile land, while most fished and used the money to buy grain in town.

At this point, Fatty Chen sighed: "Sigh, I don't know what the situation is like up north. Three years ago, before the fighting started, a pound of coarse rice cost three copper coins. Now, it costs fifty copper coins a pound. Everyone is having a hard time. Sometimes when we're unlucky, we can only go to the mountains to get some fruit to eat."

"Actually, it is possible to reclaim the land, but it is very difficult. Once the land is reclaimed, the imperial court will take it back."

When he said this, Fatty Chen's face was full of helplessness.

Lin Jinyue found it strange, "Didn't you ever think about moving somewhere else?"

Fatty Chen shook his head: "No, we can still make a living by fishing now. What if we move to another place and a fight breaks out?"

Lin Jinyue thought about it and agreed.

It seems that buying land here is not going to happen.

Grain prices have increased more than tenfold, and if fighting breaks out, prices will only go higher. It seems we should stock up on grain now before prices become too outrageous.

Based on the current grain price, Lin Jinyue took out 150 taels to buy grain, which could be exchanged for 3,000 catties of unpolished rice. It seemed like a lot, but there were many people in their village.

It's estimated that it will only last for two months.

Lin Jinyue started thinking about upgrading the farm again.

There were only about seventy of them. It was definitely not worthwhile for them to go out to sea to find land to farm. The boat would cost money, and there was no guarantee of safety for the people going there.

Therefore, Lin Jinyue could only pray that the farm would be upgraded quickly so that potatoes or sweet potatoes could be produced soon.

These two things are not as delicate as rice; they can be grown in any place.

But before they could unlock the potatoes, the group still needed to eat.

Lin Jinyue had to find a way to make money, and she also had to help the villagers make money together.

However, they have nothing here, so she plans to go to Shawan County first, make a name for herself, and then have the villagers sell to other towns and villages.

Therefore, this product cannot be sold at too high a price; it must be something that everyone needs.

Lin Jinyue looked at the aunties around her, each wearing long-sleeved cotton and linen clothes, with sweat beading on their foreheads.

Another aunt said, "Lingnan is great in every way, except it's too hot. And it's the hottest time of year right now, sigh."

To be honest, Lin Jinyue has been feeling a bit hot wearing silk and gauze clothes these past few days.

She misses the refrigerator and air conditioner from her past life.

Lin Jinyue immediately decided that she would start a cold drink business.

Offer everything from chilled fruit juice and mung bean soup to ice cream; this business is sure to be profitable in Lingnan.

Most importantly, saltpeter can be reused.

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