Madam Cui smiled even more happily and took a bite.
Jiayin then ran to share the food with her grandmother, mother, and aunt. None of them were willing to eat it all; they each only had a small taste.
Jiayin then sat down, hugged the chicken leg and started gnawing on it. Just one bite and it smelled so good that she wanted to bark. If you attached a tail to her rear end, she would look like a happy little fat dog.
Everyone watching couldn't stop laughing.
"This girl will never lose weight even when she grows up!"
"Just look at how much he enjoys eating; he's always a glutton."
Madam Cui called Sister-in-law Qiong to take the other roast chicken to the west room for Li Lao Er, Jia Ren, and Jia Yi.
Seeing this, Grandma Li and the others finally decided to start eating, but they only ate some chicken skin and wings, leaving the rest of the chicken meat for their precious Jiayin.
Li Lao Er and the others were truly surprised to receive such an extra meal that evening, and they were overjoyed.
The two chicken drumsticks were given to Jiaxi and Jia'an, the wings were given to Jiaren and Jiayi, and the three Li brothers just picked up the chicken skin and bones to gnaw on.
The spring moonlight streamed in through the cracks in the window, bathing the family in a soft, warm glow, as if draped in a veil of gauze.
More than a thousand taels of silver were thrown in, and the whole village worked for more than a month. The investment was huge, but the return was equally gratifying.
The Broken Gold Beach has completely changed, especially the valley between the two mountains.
From a distance, the valley floor looks like a large leaf, and the pool is like the fruit pressing down on the leaf.
The small puddle has been greatly expanded, now covering two acres in size. The bottom of the pool is covered with smooth stones and fine sand to ensure the water remains clear.
On both sides of the waterfall, several ceramic pipes as thick as large bowls are laid out, each carrying the cleanest spring water to the small courtyards and wooden houses on both sides of the waterway, ensuring that guests can use the water with peace of mind.
This way, the pool under the waterfall can be opened to the public, allowing people to enjoy boating and swimming.
Each cabin and courtyard has a wooden boardwalk leading to the pool and the outside of the mountain. Ceramic pipes are arranged along the boardwalk, like the veins of a leaf.
On both sides of the mountain, lush greenery grows, and fruit trees stretch out their branches, hoping to blossom and bear fruit as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the millet under the tree was also secretly vying for soil fertility, hoping to produce a humble, drooping ear of millet in the autumn.
Especially in the early morning, the hot springs are shrouded in mist, and the rising sun shines on the western mountain wall, then shines into the valley, creating a scene of breathtaking beauty, like a fairyland.
Young Master Yan was so exhausted that he was as thin and dark as a mudfish, a far cry from the纨绔公子 (spoiled young master) he had been when he first arrived.
He was dressed in coarse cloth clothes, with the cuffs and sleeves rolled up, his hair haphazardly tied up, and a flatbread dangling from his mouth. He stood beside the village chief, Uncle Zhao, Li Lao Er, and others, gesturing excitedly.
"See? See? I told you I was going to build a paradise on earth! I wasn't lying to you!"
Everyone was stunned and speechless for a long time. Although they could see it every day, this was the first time they had appreciated it so attentively.
Is this the hot spring valley that the entire village worked so hard to create?
From now on, this will be the treasure trove for their entire village!
No wonder everyone is scrambling for it; it turns out that a hot spring really can change the world!
The village chief led the way in bowing to Young Master Yan and the many craftsmen, showing his sincere respect.
"Many thanks to Young Master Yan and all the masters for their hard work! Our village plans to carve a stone tablet and place it at the entrance of the valley, and everyone's names will be engraved on it. As long as Broken Gold Beach exists and the hot spring continues to flow, everyone will remember your contributions!"
Li Lao Er and the others nodded in agreement. "Yes, such a masterpiece, such a beautiful fairyland, we should let everyone know who painstakingly created it."
"Yes, and Lord Zhou too, don't forget to add his name as well."
The craftsmen all declined, but couldn't help being overjoyed.
“We just do our jobs for a paycheck, we don’t get any credit.”
"Yes, we are happy to see such good results."
The village chief occasionally turned his head and saw Young Master Yan squatting down, taking big bites of a pancake, tears falling to the ground like raindrops.
He couldn't help but sigh, he really didn't understand what was wrong with wealthy families, how could they look down on such a good child?
Young Master Yan has been in Suijintan for almost two months now, and not a single person from his family has come to visit or bring him any food, drink, or supplies. They are truly heartless.
"Young Master Yan, if you don't mind, I'll reserve a room for you in my courtyard. You can stay whenever you want to come and visit. Um... our village will always welcome you; let us be your second home, okay?"
The village chief patted Young Master Yan on the back with his rough hand. Young Master Yan wiped his face haphazardly, stood up, and laughed, "Alright, Uncle, it's settled then!"
"Of course, would I lie to you?" The village chief waved his hand generously and said to all the craftsmen with a smile, "From now on, everyone can come and play for free."
Everyone laughed and thanked them. Although they might not actually come, they were happy to hear this.
Soon, the craftsmen finished up some small tasks, and the village chief and Li Lao Er and a few others began to settle accounts, to pay the craftsmen their wages, as well as the odd jobs that the various villages had hired.
The craftsmen were fine, but the village laborers were overjoyed, and during their occasional breaks they would chat with the villagers.
"Brother, how much silver would it cost to bathe in your hot spring?"
"Yes, a lot of people have been asking about it lately. It seems that all the important people in the city will be flocking here in the future."
"I saw several people driving horse-drawn carriages come to inquire about it yesterday!"
The villagers, proud and pleased with themselves, replied, "We're new here and have no experience, so we plan to start by collecting grain, not silver. For example, each person entering the valley will need to pay five catties of coarse grain or two catties of fine grain as an entry fee. Of course, we'll need to pay extra for meals and lodging later."
The laborers were all envious, saying, "If we had known that the pebble beach could really turn into a gold mine, we would have come and claimed it first."
"Forget it, even if you had the land, you wouldn't have the money to build it this nicely."
"That's right, that's over a thousand taels of silver! We couldn't come up with that even if we sold everything we owned."
"Brothers, we heard you came from the mountains in the north. You encountered a pack of wolves and bandits in the mountains? Just hearing about it makes our legs weak. How did you manage to survive?"
The villagers spoke of the incident with great excitement and pride, saying, "Don't even mention it, we risked our lives to get here. We were almost eaten by wolves that time, and practically everyone in our village was injured."
"What about the bandits? How dare you provoke them? I've heard that bandits kill without blinking an eye!" a handyman pressed, his voice low, as if afraid that a bandit might suddenly jump out.
The villagers laughed, "What are you afraid of? Mountain bandits are human too, they don't have three heads and six arms, but they are really fierce and have killed a lot of people. Fortunately, we villagers are united, otherwise we would be finished too."
The group chatted and laughed, occasionally glancing at Li Lao Er and the others with hopeful eyes.
Soon, Li Lao Er calculated everyone's wages and distributed them all at once. He also asked for the craftsmen's names, intending to have them engraved on a stone tablet.
When it was Young Master Yan's turn, the village chief planned to give him eighty-eight taels of silver as wages for good luck, but Young Master Yan refused to accept it no matter what.
“I made it clear when I came here that I don’t want any wages. I just love building houses! Besides, didn’t the village chief leave me a room? It’s like half a home to me. Who would ask for wages to work for their own family?”
The villagers had no choice but to keep it for the time being, planning to wait for Lord Zhou to come and discuss it further.
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