Fortunately, the two had already arrived near the drying ground.
It was getting dark, and a full moon hung in the dark sky, seemingly waiting for night to fall so it could cast its light and illuminate the entire threshing ground.
There were many children sitting in the drying yard, and even a few adults scattered around the perimeter.
Everyone listened quietly as the person standing in the center of the threshing ground gave a lesson, which consisted of the simplest literacy lessons.
Sun Xiaohu, Da Mao, and Er Mao were among those present, sitting on small stools at the very front, listening intently.
It was much better than she had imagined. She had thought that not many people in the village were willing to learn to read, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
These people are willing to let their children learn a few words since they don't have to pay tuition and it doesn't interfere with their daytime work.
After watching for a while, the two prepared to leave.
The village chief quickly ran over and greeted them, "Hey, Jiang girl, didn't you want to buy land last time? Are you really sure?"
When he heard it from his wife, he thought the Jiang family girl was joking. That piece of wasteland was a full twenty-five acres, and buying it would be a lot of money.
Jiang Yimian nodded and said, "Village chief, if I really want to buy it, I'll give you the price right now."
What was just a plan last time is now a serious matter.
Since she had been busy making soap for the past three days without stopping, she realized that besides building the house, there was another important thing to do right now.
That means building a soap workshop.
If another time-sensitive and demanding task comes along, their small village will be completely short-handed and needs to be arranged as soon as possible.
Li Yishi stared in surprise for a while before saying, "That wasteland is not suitable for growing crops. If you really want to buy it, you can go to other villages and buy some high-quality land."
He feared that the girl's desire to acquire more land was just a passing fancy, but some of the wasteland would be difficult to resell later.
Jiang Yimian knew that the other party was thinking of her, so she just smiled and said, "Thank you, Uncle Li. I know what you said. I bought the land not to grow crops, but for other purposes."
Li Yishi reluctantly nodded and said, "Twenty-five mu of land will cost fifty taels of silver. This land is under the name of Qingshi Village. I just need to go to the government office to get the paperwork done."
Jiang Yimian responded, handed the other party a fifty-tael silver note, and gave the village chief a tael of loose silver before smiling and saying, "Thank you for your help, village chief. I may not be in the village for the next few days. If Da Shu and the others need any help from the village chief, I hope the village chief will take good care of them."
She planned to discuss building the house and workshop when she returned, but since she had met the village chief today, she decided to finalize the land purchase first.
Li Yishi looked at the one or two taels of silver and quickly waved his hand, "This is not acceptable. I have always been the one to handle the paperwork at the government office when it comes to buying land. You don't need to be so polite."
Jiang Yimian just smiled and said, "Village chief, you misunderstand. I have other things that I need your help with. Could you please help me find some bricklayers?"
She needs to build houses and workshops, so bricklayers are indispensable. There are many things to do, and having the village chief's help will make things much easier.
Seeing that he couldn't refuse any longer, Li Yishi didn't refuse again. He just smiled and said, "Don't worry, Jiang girl, I will definitely take care of this for you. Look at Brother Lu's house, I arranged everything myself. Isn't it alright?"
Lu Cijian chuckled inwardly, but seeing that the person beside him was genuinely satisfied, he ultimately said nothing more.
As they were talking, Madam Wen came over, her face full of surprise, and said, "Hey, Jiang family girl, your family is building a house? That's amazing! You must have made a lot of money in business. The young master who came yesterday and today was doing business with you?"
Wen's voice was quite loud, and it quickly attracted the attention of many people.
By this time, everyone had basically finished eating and was taking a walk in the village by moonlight. When they heard this, they all gathered around, and their chatter was mostly devoid of malice, filled with envy and curiosity.
"Really? Jiang girl, will you be hiring workers in the village when you build your house? My husband can help."
"My man can do that too. When are you going to build a house?"
At this time of year, spring planting is about to begin. If a man goes to work in town, he will have to come back soon. Most men are still at home waiting for spring planting, thinking that they will find work after the spring planting is over.
So much so that as soon as they heard that someone in the village was going to build a house, they rushed over.
Jiang Yimian didn't refuse. After thinking for a while, she said, "If I need help, I will let everyone know."
Upon hearing this, everyone began to congratulate her. Occasionally, they would ask about the Jiang family's business dealings, but it was clear that they meant no harm and were just curious.
Chen Guixiang stood outside the crowd, looking at the people surrounded inside, and gritted her teeth in anger, muttering under her breath, "Pretentious."
Hearing this, the woman beside him was somewhat displeased. "Mrs. Chen, Jiang is providing us with work, how can you talk such nonsense?"
Chen Guixiang scoffed and said loudly, "Anyone can talk the talk, but it takes real pay. Don't cry when you don't get paid."
The words were spoken loudly and were clearly directed at someone. Everyone heard them and stood there dumbfounded, looking at each other.
Although they wanted to find work for their men, they also wanted to earn some money; they couldn't just work for others for free.
Seeing that everyone was hesitant, Jiang Yimian simply said, "Don't worry, everyone. Since I'm going to build a house, I naturally have enough money. Don't worry about the wages; we'll discuss the specifics later."
But rest assured, I mean what I say. I won't make things up, turn black into white, or claim that someone unrelated to me is here to propose marriage.
After saying that, she gave Chen Guixiang a cold look and left.
The others breathed a sigh of relief and were no longer worried about the wages, since nothing was certain yet. However, they started staring at Chen Guixiang with strange looks.
Everyone in the village knows what happened a few days ago. Chen Guixiang hasn't come out for the past few days, but today she came out again and started spouting nonsense, which made everyone a little impatient.
"Chen Guixiang, do you think everyone is your Chunhua? You even dare to talk nonsense about marriage. Be careful you won't be able to get married in the future."
"That's right. That young master Lin has come to the village twice already, and he's never paid any attention to you. I was so foolish to believe Chunhua's nonsense back then. You should mind your own business and stop worrying about other people's."
Seeing everyone start talking about her, Chen Guixiang was furious. Watching the departing figure, she said with dissatisfaction, "Pah! All she does is talk a good game. She's always putting on airs, talking about teaching her children to read and running a business. I'd like to see what kind of house she can build. You'll all regret it later."
"Isn't it just making money by selling konjac? Anyone can do that. She's just waiting to see if the Jiang family can't sell their products, and then they'll be smug."
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