Chapter 72: Even if it's a pit, I'll jump in.

Zheng San had just finished seeing Ge Ermazi and San onto the oxcart and was heading back when he unexpectedly saw Li Shitou driving the oxcart. When he saw the village chief and Shen Meizi there, he immediately became shameless and asked, "Hey, where are you all going?"

“Jigong Mountain,” Li Shitou said in a muffled voice.

"I'll go too," Zheng San said with a smile, shamelessly moving closer to Li Shitou's cart. "Shitou, can I use your oxcart?"

“No, you won’t get rid of him.” Li Shitou quickly switched the bullwhip to his other hand, not giving Zheng San any chance at all.

“Tch, I’ve driven carriages before.” Zheng San said smugly, then turned around and said, “I haven’t congratulated you yet, little sister, on getting a mountain! That’s incredible, this should be recorded in your family tree.”

“This is a big deal, of course it’s important, and we’ll have to tell our ancestors about it this year,” the village chief said. “You’ll also be the one to offer the first incense this year on behalf of everyone in the village.”

"Wouldn't that bring glory to our ancestors!" Zheng San exclaimed excitedly.

“This…” Shen Zhiyi was surprised. After all, although it was the end of the year, she was suffering from a cold and didn’t have the strength to respond even when she heard the gong outside the courtyard. She really didn’t know if there was a rule that women could not enter the ancestral hall.

"Isn't that bringing honor to your ancestors!" the village chief said earnestly. Seeing that Shen Zhiyi seemed a little embarrassed, he added, "This is something you earned yourself, girl, and you deserve it. You have to pass it on to your descendants."

"Women can also establish female households?" Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but ask.

“It’s always been able to stand firm,” the village chief replied, finally figuring out what was wrong with Shen Zhiyi’s clever mind. His voice became more patient. “Some women stay at home to take care of things because it’s easier for men to work outside. Our village never cares about those things, as long as the family lives in harmony. As for what outsiders think, that’s beyond our control. We can only do what we can.”

“Look at Deng Ashun, before he married into the family, he lived off his mother; after he married into the family, he lived off his wife. At most, some people would be a little jealous and say he’s a ‘spineless coward.’ Your third brother also wants to be spineless, but then he thinks that my parents are the only sons in the family, and I have to carry on this lineage,” Zheng San said heartlessly.

Shen Zhiyi looked at Zheng San, who had said these words, and saw that the village chief seemed to take it all in stride. She realized that this was different from what she had learned, and it coincided with her own thoughts. On the contrary, it made her feel more and more comfortable here.

They chatted about other things along the way, with Shen Zhiyi sometimes listening and sometimes speaking. There was no generation gap whatsoever; everyone was trying their best to live well.

Jigong Mountain is named for its peak resembling a chicken's beak. This is the first time the gate has been opened since the mountain was bought and its foothills were fenced off. At this moment, Steward Lin was already waiting at the gate. Seeing the oxcart arrive, he took the initiative to lead the way to the stable.

Then, he led everyone to the main hall to talk. Butler Lin said helplessly, "We need to tidy up this place, so we don't have enough manpower. Please forgive us."

"But don't worry, young lady, it's all been tidied up now. However, these houses and walls were built with money..." Butler Lin reminded her tactfully, "If you want to keep them, you'll have to trouble you to give me ten taels of silver as a token of your appreciation."

"Ten taels!" Zheng San immediately straightened up. "We've been living here for so long, it's not worth that much money!"

Butler Lin smiled without saying a word, and indeed looked at Shen Zhiyi with a beaming smile.

Shen Zhiyi's plan was to build a room here herself, but she never expected that Master Lin would be so generous at the last minute, leaving behind all ten rooms and the courtyard wall for only ten taels of silver. It was practically a steal!

"Alright," Shen Zhiyi said quickly, handing over the last ten taels of silver from her purse. "Then, Steward Lin, would you like some receipts from me?"

"There is no such certificate, because this mountain was purchased by the manor in the early years. The land extending to the roadside is all within the scope of the purchase, so there will be no land deed or house deed issued by the government when building a house here." Steward Lin said this as if he had expected it. "I can write a written agreement for the young lady, and both parties can sign it to avoid any disputes in the future."

"Alright," Shen Zhiyi replied. As Steward Lin spoke, a servant came over with a brush and ink.

In front of everyone, Steward Lin wrote the written agreement, demonstrating that both parties had settled the transaction.

Shen Zhiyi didn't hesitate. She gave him the money and accepted the receipt, then personally saw Steward Lin out. Jigong Mountain was now truly hers, and she still felt a little unreal.

"Grandpa Village Chief, I'll go up the mountain first to check the soil quality. You rest here for a bit," Shen Zhiyi suggested. Zheng San quickly replied, "I'll go with you. Don't worry."

There was a specially built mountain road. Shen Zhiyi followed the road uphill, and the mountain scenery on both sides came into view. There was no sign of deliberate damage to the soil. Even the chicken droppings were irregularly spread on the soil and were in a whitish state.

"Hey girl! Come here and take a look!" Zheng San's voice came from not far away.

Shen Zhiyi picked up a stick and used it as a stick to clear away a section of bushes blocking her way. She walked on the soft soil towards Zheng San's location, and only then did she notice the blind spot she had been in. She said seriously, "How could this be?"

A large area in front of me has been turned into wooden stakes. My view of the forest at the foot of the mountain is unobstructed, and further up is the ring of large trees on the mountaintop. It is clear that the trees in the middle of the mountain were intentionally cut down, leaving only these wooden stakes, which means that there were once trees here.

"They must have chopped it down and then smuggled it out," Zheng San said in a deep voice. "Won't there be something wrong with the house?"

"Huh? What could be wrong?" Shen Zhiyi was taken aback by the question and subconsciously asked back.

"Well... I heard from an older guy that some houses look fine on the outside, but are actually damaged inside. If there's a heavy rain or something, the house will collapse..." Zheng San became more and more horrified as he spoke, especially since this was happening right before his eyes.

Shen Zhiyi was surprised to hear this. If they could even tamper with the mountains and houses, what about the soil?

She reached out and grabbed a handful of soil, her fingers getting covered in a sticky grime that wasn't the kind of watery soil should have. She brought it to her nose and smelled it; it had a faint sour smell.

"This is... vinegar?" Zheng San asked in surprise, grabbing a handful of soil in his hand and taking a deep sniff. His tone became certain, "It is vinegar! Who is so heartless as to pour vinegar into the soil? It's already pickled."

Even if the marinade isn't fully absorbed in the eight days, you can still drizzle the soil with vinegar.

Even if they don't understand soil pH, they still have ways to change the soil conditions. Vinegar will make the soil acidic, destroying the original pH value, but she didn't have the equipment to test the specific acid value, so she could only try planting some vegetables and roughly calculate it by observing the condition of the vegetables.

The soil had become acidic, but that didn't deter her.

Just in case, Shen Zhiyi said to Zheng San, "I'll go check out the situation elsewhere first. Third Brother, could you help me check if there are any problems with the houses at the foot of the mountain?"

After saying this, Shen Zhiyi walked inside, stopping to check the soil condition after walking a short distance.

After this inspection, some parts did not yet have the sour smell of vinegar, but most of them were not spared. Fortunately, they only had the smell of vinegar and there were no other troublesome things, such as the addition of poisonous insects in the forest.

Shen Zhiyi descended the mountain with a relatively calm expression, but when she saw Zheng San rushing over in a panic, her expression suddenly changed, and she asked, "What's wrong?"

"The walls are fine, but the roof has been tampered with, and some stones have been placed under the well," Zheng San said slowly. This was a dirty trick he had heard about while traveling, and he didn't expect to see it so soon.

"We need to hire someone to clean the well and rebuild the roof. Will five taels of silver be enough for these expenses?" Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but ask.

“Cleaning the well won’t cost anything; your third brother can handle that. Although only part of the roof bricks are damaged, we can piece them together and rebuild the roofs of five rooms. But the rest will require new bricks, and five taels probably won’t be enough,” Zheng San said matter-of-factly.

Thinking about the money needed to improve the soil, Shen Zhiyi lost interest in the remaining roof bricks and said instead, "Let's rebuild the roofs of those five rooms and demolish the others. The remaining bricks might be enough for us to build a house by the roadside." Shen Zhiyi said earnestly, "Wouldn't that mean we wouldn't spend a penny more to clean up this place?"

"Hey, that works too." Zheng San thought of the soil from the mountain and asked, "Sister, what about the soil with vinegar added?"

“I need to go to the kiln to buy lime. The lime and wood ash need to be added to the soil and turned over several times,” Shen Zhiyi said calmly. “Also, we need to ask someone to clear those wooden stakes on the mountain. We can build some thatched roofs by the roadside and put the wooden stakes underneath. If people pass by, they can rest there. It won’t be a waste.”

Zheng San, listening from the side, had his eyes light up. He never expected that a wooden stake could be used in this way. He couldn't help but say, "Girl, you're really amazing. No matter what happens, it's not a big deal for you. You can solve it with just a few words."

"You have no idea how worried the village chief and Stone were about that roof..." Zheng San hadn't finished speaking when he caught sight of the two figures walking towards them out of the corner of his eye, and wisely stopped talking.

Seeing Zheng San there, the village chief slowly said, "Girl, do you know that roof..."

“Brother Zheng told me that it will be resolved soon, so don’t worry, Grandpa Village Chief,” Shen Zhiyi said gently.

"If we had known that family was no pushover, we should have checked them more carefully," the village chief said unwillingly.

“It’s just those tricks, you can solve them if you know them. But this is such a big mountain, if you plan it well, you can earn it back in a few years.” Shen Zhiyi said sincerely. Although there are some problems with the soil now, it does not prevent her from making the necessary plans. Her confidence in making money will only increase. “I’ll leave the house to Grandpa Village Chief, Uncle Stone and Brother Zheng. I still need to go to the kiln to ask about the lime.”

To solve the problem of porcelain water pipes, Shen Zhiyi visited porcelain factories many times, so she knew that there was limestone in the porcelain factories. However, the lime produced was used to plaster walls for wealthy men, so ordinary farmers had never seen "lime".

Since they were going to a familiar place, the village chief didn't stop them. To put their minds at ease, he asked Zheng San to accompany Shen Zhiyi, while he and Shi Tou began to repair the damaged roof.