"It wouldn't be good if the soldiers came looking for us," Ye Moxun muttered to himself.

The advantages of Songlin Village being isolated from the world are more than just one or two. Not only does it avoid the scourge of war, but everyone can eat as much of the grain they grow as they harvest. If government troops come in, then that grain will have to be taxed.

The more wars there are, the higher the taxes become, and there might even be conscription. Those princes and generals fight to the death for the throne, but in the end, it is the common people who suffer and bear all the consequences.

“The flower thieves were able to find this place so quickly because their hideout is here. It’s hard for others to find it, so there’s no need to worry about that for now,” Zhong Qingyi reassured. “Our grain production is increasing year by year. Before any outsiders come into the village and find it, we’ll find a way to hide the grain.”

Actually, hiding things in the Water Curtain Cave was quite well concealed, but remembering how many dead people they had released in the past, they immediately abandoned the idea. If they left the food there, who would dare to eat it?

"Let's dig cellars. We can dig a few more near the stone houses. Tomorrow, we'll discuss it with Village Chief Lin and organize the villagers to start digging cellars. We can also make use of the caves on the cliff edge to hide some grain inside, and then disguise them so that no one can tell there are caves there." Song Zhuiyan came up with several ideas in one go.

All four of them thought the idea was feasible. The next day, Zhong Qingyi and Song Zhuiyan went to Lin Fuhai to discuss digging a cellar. After listening to their analysis, Lin Fuhai quickly agreed to the plan.

So another meeting was held with the villagers to organize manpower. Everyone was busy like spinning tops every day. Digging cellars was almost entirely done by each family, with very little exchange of labor.

Unless the two families have a good relationship or are brothers, they will help each other. Zhong Qingyi first helped Song Zhuiyan dig a cellar on the side of the stone house. Since they did not plan to live here anymore, they dug three cellars. One was inside the house, and the other two were on the two sides of the backyard.

If we spread out, we won't be easily discovered.

After Song Zhuiyan's cellar was finished, they started digging Zhong Qingyi's. He only dug one under the thatched shed in the backyard because Song Zhuiyan said that if one wasn't enough, the extra stuff would be taken to the cellar over at the stone house.

Their houses are relatively close together, so they can't dig too many cellars, for fear that the ground will collapse due to the excessive space underground.

It took about half a month to dig the cellar, and the whole village was done. But it wasn't over yet. Lin Fuhai, along with a few trusted men, Zhong Qingyi, and Song Zhuiyan, went to the cave on the cliff edge to study it and decided to build a door at the cave entrance.

After installing the door, install a hidden device or something similar. Once someone triggers the cave mechanism, it will sound an alarm, and the villagers will be able to discover that someone is stealing grain in time.

However, the cave is quite far from the village, so if someone is stealing grain here, you might not be able to hear the noise.

"There's no rush. Take your time and we'll find a way. We don't have that much grain to hide right now, so we have plenty of time to figure it out," Ye Moxun calmly reminded him.

That's right, they're just preparing for the future. Right now, the food is only enough to fill everyone's stomachs. There's no need to hoard any surplus. There's no rush. By the time there's surplus food, they'll have figured out a solution.

The cave door was quickly installed. After that, everyone planted a lot of thorns and poisonous weeds outside the cave. All preparations were complete, and they were just waiting for a safe place to hide when they had surplus food in two years.

Actually, it's not just for storing grain; people can also hide here to avoid danger in critical moments, especially the elderly and children. Of course, no one wants that day to come. Everyone is afraid of fleeing, so it's always good to be cautious.

After all that was done, the villagers were finally a little less busy. However, Song Zhuiyan's new house hadn't even started construction yet. She and Song Tantan had been staying at Zhong Qingyi's house for about a month, and some gossipy people in the village were already whispering behind their backs.

Although there were extenuating circumstances, the feudalistic thinking of people in ancient times made them feel that the relationship between Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi was not pure. Zhong Qingyi was fine, but Song Zhuiyan's reputation was ruined. However, since no one in the village dared to propose to her, everyone just watched the spectacle with indifference.

Because of Zhong Qingyi and Song Zhuiyan's martial prowess, no one dared to speak ill of them in front of them, unless they were tired of living.

Because of the house construction, Song Zhuiyan had to use a lot of grain to pay the workers, mainly sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes. If they wanted rice, they could only exchange half a jin a day. If there were children in the family, those who loved their children would exchange some rice. Most people preferred to exchange sweet potatoes, as the larger quantity would fill them up, thus leaving some surplus grain.

On the day the foundation was laid, Song Zhuiyan waved her hand and said, "When the house is finished, I'll treat everyone to a housewarming party. I'll slaughter a 200-pound fat pig to give everyone a treat."

The villagers cheered. Their own pigs were so juicy and flavorful. Although the men in each family would go hunting in the mountains and often get to eat meat, it couldn't compare to the taste of their own pigs. The villagers had long been craving the fat pigs raised by Song Zhuiyan and were thinking about when to slaughter them so they could trade other meats for them.

Thinking that he could eat fatty pork once her house was built, the men who were hired to help build the house were eager to start construction immediately.

In order to get pork as soon as possible, people in the village who were not invited to help would come and lend a hand whenever they had time. Sometimes, strong and healthy women would also come to help. It can be said that the whole village hoped that the Song family's house would be built as soon as possible.

For this new house, Song Zhuiyan drew up blueprints. It was designed in the style of a modern suite, with a main hall right inside the entrance, a room on each side, and three rooms at the back, one of which leads directly to the backyard.

The kitchen was set up in the backyard, and there was a small room next to the kitchen for storing miscellaneous items.

The villagers thought the house was strangely built. They wondered why there was only one main entrance and all the rooms were inside, unlike the houses of the villagers.

And how did Miss Song come up with the idea of ​​building a house? That's right, the Song family has a two-story house, but because the villagers' house-building skills are generally not good, they did not build a two-story house. It was very difficult to build, so there are only two small rooms upstairs.

The floorboards are made of wooden planks, and even the partition walls on the second floor are made of wood. The requirements cannot be too high. The villagers' skills have reached their limit, and it is already quite remarkable that they have been able to do this.

The house was built in just one month, and the walls were painted. At first glance, the house looks no different from the house in my hometown, except that the white walls are rather gray. The house in my hometown had tiles on the exterior walls, while this house is painted with cement gray.

You can also apply lime powder directly, but lime powder is coarse and will peel off over time, while cement ash is not easy to peel off and is more durable and sturdy.

Since she had promised to slaughter a pig on the housewarming day, on the third day after moving in, Song Zhuiyan really kept her promise and had several men come to her house to help slaughter a big, fat pig. She didn't weigh it, but she estimated that it weighed at least 230 jin (115 kg).

Except for the pig's heart and stomach, which were kept, the rest were cooked and served to everyone.

The pork fat was given to the people who helped build the house. Each person received a pound, not much, but they were all very happy. The pig liver, lungs, and large intestines were cooked by Song Zhuiyan herself.

They were all stir-fried with chili peppers, and I secretly added cooking wine, soy sauce, and other ingredients that you don't usually have. These offal dishes were also stir-fried until they were incredibly fragrant, so delicious that you could swallow your tongue.