After Li Jun returned home, he handed the red contract to his wife, Tang Baozhu. Tang Baozhu looked at it and found that it was no different from the contracts for her own land, except that the acreage was different.

"I'll keep this red contract. By the way, you probably don't have much silver left, right? There are a few hundred taels of silver notes at the bottom of my jewelry box. If you need more silver, just go there and get it."

Tang Baozhu only needed to glance at the price on the land deed and think about how much she had spent to know how much silver he had left.

She was about to start building a house and clearing land, and she knew she couldn't do it without enough money. She really wanted her baby to be born in the new house.

"Don't worry, I'll get it when I need it. I do have a bit too little silver on me. That barren mountain is unexpectedly large. I don't know how long it will take to make the land on the barren mountain more fertile."

Thinking about the more than 1,000 mu of land there, Li Jun was filled with enthusiasm and wished he could reclaim those barren mountains in a month.

Tang Baozhu thought about the fertile barren mountains and realized that it would be faster to raise more animals there, and the animal droppings would fertilize the land.

"We will raise more animals on the mountain, including more pigs and sheep. Their manure will fertilize the land, and it will be similar to medium-sized farmland in a year or two."

Li Jun thought about it and realized that this was the only way. Besides, meat should be able to fetch a higher price.

"I understand, honey. You're more tired now that you're pregnant, so get some rest! Tomorrow I'll ask the village chief for help to get people to clear the land and build a fence, and then I'll go to the county town to find a master craftsman to build a house. That way, things won't be delayed."

After discussing their plans, the two went straight to sleep. Exhausted from the day, Li Jun had no other thoughts and quickly fell asleep while holding his little sister Baozhu.

The following days passed in a blur. Tang Baozhu stayed home to rest and prepare for her pregnancy, while Li Jun took Chunsheng and Qingshan around every day to oversee the construction of houses at the foot of the mountain and the reclamation of land on the mountain.

To facilitate animal husbandry, they dug a deep well at the foot of the mountain. This well alone cost more than 100 taels of silver. After all, digging a well dozens of meters deep is not something an ordinary person can do, so the price was relatively high.

The experienced craftsman had a keen eye. After digging the well at the foot of the mountain, he realized that it was too close to the foot of the mountain, which was not ideal for the barren mountain and made watering inconvenient. So, he found a water vein in a shady spot on the mountain, where there was an 80% chance of finding water.

When Li Jun returned, he discussed it with Tang Baozhu. Should they take a gamble? After all, there was only an 80% chance. But Tang Baozhu still wanted to take the gamble. If they managed to dig water, they could build irrigation ditches on the mountain, which would make the work easier.

Fortunately, the experienced well-driller had some foresight and did indeed strike water. Moreover, water was already present at a depth of less than 15 meters. Fearing that the water level would drop too quickly in the event of a drought, he drilled until he reached a depth of 40 meters before stopping.

The house was built and decorated in just six months, and it was ready to move in. In fact, Tang Baozhu was already more than eight months pregnant, and she would give birth in about two months.

Because the baby in my belly is about to be born, we've postponed the housewarming banquet and plan to hold it together with the baby's one-month celebration after birth.

Over the past six months, more than 100 acres of wasteland on the mountain have been fenced off. The fences are made entirely of small wooden sticks cut down from the mountain and cut into two-meter lengths, so their sturdiness is guaranteed.

Inside the fence, next to the fence, a ring of thorny vines was planted. Tang Baozhu often used the excuse of walking around to wander around the edge of the vines, just to use her wood-type ability to make them grow quickly.

She stopped moving around when the baby in her belly was seven months along, because everyone was worried about her.

By this time, the vines had already grown very lush, reaching a height of more than two meters. Moreover, because they were grown using supernatural abilities, even the roots had grown many vines, densely packed, so there was no need to worry about anything bad getting in from the outside.

Actually, those vines were still too thin. Tang Baozhu planned to use her supernatural abilities to accelerate the birth of the baby so that the vines would grow bigger and thicker, so that even the fiercest animals wouldn't be able to squeeze in.

Of the more than 1,000 mu of wasteland, about 200 mu were used to raise animals. Each type of animal was separated and enclosed by fences.

Chickens, rabbits, sheep, and pigs were raised there. The land where the sheep were raised was not cleared; all the larger trees were cut down. Tang Baozhu would then encourage the grass to grow when she had free time, so that the sheep would not have to worry about not having grass to eat.

The rabbits are all kept in cages, which were bought from experienced craftsmen in the village. Each cage is large enough to hold two rabbits, always in pairs, so there's no need to worry about them fighting if they're kept together.

The chickens were also free-range, just like the sheep, with their own enclosure. At first, they were fed vegetable leaves collected from the village.

Later, the wasteland on the mountain was gradually cleared up and sweet potatoes were planted. All animals could eat the sweet potato vines, so there was no need to go to the village to buy vegetable leaves anymore.

Tang Baozhu fed all the animals raised on the mountain water imbued with spiritual energy and medicine to prevent disease, so none of the animals on the mountain died, and none even got sick.

On the contrary, because they often drink water imbued with spiritual energy, they grow much better than the animals normally raised by the villagers.

Pigs raised in the village take at least a year to sell. They always buy piglets at the beginning of the year and raise them to over 100 jin (50 kg) before they are sold, all to earn some money so that their families can have a good New Year.

The piglets that Tang Baozhu raised on the barren mountain were clearly babies in her womb. She bought the piglets when they were more than three months pregnant. By the time she was more than eight months pregnant, it was already March or April of the following year. By then, the piglets had already weighed more than 100 to almost 200 jin (50-100 catties).

For modern times, a piglet that has been raised for more than four or five months might have a normal weight, but for people in ancient times who raised piglets for a year to reach this weight, it would be unbelievable.