In just two days, the stilted house of the Dan Su family was completed. They used ready-made wooden planks and pillars, unlike in the central plains where they had to wait for the walls to dry and for deep foundations to be dug on all four sides. With plenty of manpower, the construction was as fast as ants building a nest.
Although it appears simple and unpretentious compared to the luxurious wooden stilt houses in the warehouse district, this home is much larger, which is more than enough for the brother and sister.
The brother and sister were both injured and it was not appropriate to entertain so many people, so they said they would pay everyone their wages.
The residents refused to accept it.
They all offered their blessings to the brother and sister as they moved into their new home, and then went back home.
As they watched the departing residents and then looked at their newly built home, the brother and sister's eyes welled up with tears.
Qiao Lian'er squatted in front of the earthen stove, cooking porridge. The rice porridge in the earthenware pot bubbled and simmered, emitting a fragrant aroma.
She gently fanned the fire with a palm-leaf fan, looking in the direction of the three mountains. Last night, Uncle Yin made a great commotion and didn't try to cover it up. Even from here, you could see that the mountaintops had been turned upside down with fresh mud.
Having secured the mountaintop and confirmed the presence of treasures that would eventually be unearthed, her current task was to attract more caravans to facilitate the sale of the goods.
But Suo slowly washed the wild vegetables, put them in the pot, and then hesitated to speak.
"Just say what you want to say," Qiao Lian'er said while stirring the pot with a spoon.
“Miss Shui, I overheard the soldiers and villagers talking about how the three mountains you bought are barren, with not a single valuable stone in them, and that you’ve lost out big time.”
If it were truly valuable, the government would have marked it long ago and sold it to wealthy merchants at a high price; they wouldn't sell it at this price.
"Let them say what they want," Qiao Lian'er said indifferently.
She was also afraid that those three mountains would become targets of someone's attention.
But Su blinked, unable to figure out Qiao Lian'er's thoughts. Perhaps in Miss Shui's opinion, it didn't matter if she lost a few coins, since her family had plenty of money anyway.
Indeed, Miss Shui even had the money to buy his ruby, offering a generous price of three million taels without taking any advantage, so she certainly wouldn't care about 100,000 taels.
With such a magnanimous heart, how dare those people mock them? Do they deserve it?
Ten taels were used to build the stilted house, and the remaining two taels were used to buy bed frames, bedding, and so on. Everything was arranged, and the two guest rooms were also fully furnished. As long as you have enough money, it will be done very quickly.
He deeply appreciated the benefits of being rich.
These ten or so taels alone could completely transform the lives of the brother and sister, not to mention that the ruby was worth three million taels.
The next day, the residents went up the mountain to start work.
Qiao Lian'er decided that since it was just the beginning, they should start digging from the first mountain. Otherwise, the treasure would be exposed everywhere, and the army they had bought had not yet arrived, making it difficult to defend.
One tael of silver a month was too tempting for the residents here, and everyone worked very hard in the mountains.
It wasn't a short walk from their residence, so to avoid the hassle, Qiao Lian'er simply picked out a few cooks, set up a kitchen, and had lunch on the hilltop.
The meal included fluffy white rice, a meat dish, and a vegetable dish—a feast fit for the gods in the eyes of the residents.
Their eyes were filled with gratitude as they looked at Qiao Lian'er.
Even if these three mountains are worthless, the Water Maiden told them to dig through them, so they did.
Qiao Lian'er personally selected the stones, not rushing to open them, but waiting until the army arrived so that the value of the stones could be revealed.
If the army doesn't work, she has a backup plan.
Some warlords would pretend to visit, and when they saw that not a single stone had been cut open, they knew what was going on.
The water girl was afraid that people would find out she lost the bet, so she was deliberately making things mysterious.
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