The hill behind the village wasn't high, but it was decent enough. The nearest village was more than a dozen miles away, so only the Yuan family frequently went up the hill. There was plenty of dry firewood and many large trees on the hill, enough for building a house.
There are mountains, ponds, and rivers. Jiang Yue decided to name the village "Shanshui Tianyuan". If nothing unexpected happens, this will be their manor for retirement!
As for this family...
Jiang Yue looked at their uneasy expressions and nodded to accept it.
The Yuanzhuangtou family was so happy that they cried and immediately knelt down to call the master.
The son and daughter were named by their original owner, and their nicknames were Zhaocai and Ping'an respectively.
Jiang Yue: Although the name was a bit hasty, it has a good meaning! It means to bring wealth and prosperity to the family safely!
"You don't have to change your names, just stick with your current name. It's more pronounceable."
"You will just stay here at the manor. In a few days, I will find someone to renovate and rebuild the entire house. Once everything is done, I will take you to the city to register your new residence and get your deeds."
"Yes, my lady!"
Jiang Yue planned to build the row of servants' rooms in the front yard into two rows of dormitory buildings, and their main house into a three-story bungalow that is most common in modern rural areas.
The backyard, with the exception of the rockery, lotus pond, and pavilion, will remain untouched. The original garden will be leveled and converted into a lawn, perfect for picnics or barbecues.
As the sun set, Jiang Yue and his companion returned to the city.
When they entered the house, Fan Bai and Fan Jin were feeding the pigs in the pen with buckets, while Fan Mo stayed at the Jiang family during the day and returned to the store to stay after dinner at night.
Although the store is empty, the city is no safer now than before, so someone still needs to guard it just in case.
The noisy voices of teenagers could be heard from the backyard.
"...Pour it over there! Can you spread it more evenly?"
"Stop making noise and shut up!"
"Oh my! Are your eyesight bad? I told you to pour it over there, why did you pour it on my feet? The chicken stepped on my shoes! Ahh ...
There was a sound of chickens flying and cats jumping. When they came out, there were chicken feathers on their heads and chicken shit on their feet, and they looked disgusted with each other.
Perhaps they never thought that one day they would have to feed their prey.
"Boss! You're back!"
Fan Jin stuffed the bucket into Fan Bai's hands and ran over, skipping and jumping. He didn't care when Jiang Nian stopped him with his hand. He smiled and said, "I thought you wouldn't be back for a few days!"
Jiang Yue originally thought so, but who knew that the farm didn't even have a house suitable for living.
"We're still busy, so we won't be home during the day. You guys should continue to live here and help with the work."
"OK!"
Jiang Yue and the others went to check the pen. Not a single chicken was missing, and they were all alive and kicking. The two pregnant sows were also full and sleeping on the ground. They'd done a good job. Once they were done, they'd have a snack.
The next day, Jiang Yue and the others went to find Zhan Shihong. He was now in charge of the infrastructure projects of several cities, and he was busy searching for rocks similar to those in Tianxia Mountain, as well as iron ore.
But there was no way to avoid looking for him, because the cement production was too low and the demand was too high, and the government had already strictly controlled it.
As more and more people were attracted to the area, there were not enough houses to live in, so the government had to impose restrictions. First, they built houses for the homeless refugees. As for those who already had houses, they had to wait until the year after next to live in a solid house, and they had to pay for it themselves.
Jiang Yue had given a lot of things, so it was not an excessive thing to ask Zhan Shihong for people and cement. He symbolically asked for permission from King Liang, and then he approved it for her readily without requiring any money.
When Jiang Yue brought a large group of people to the village, the Yuan family was terrified.
They were relieved when she told them that they were the craftsmen who came to build the house. At the same time, they were happy that they had found the right owner, who was so generous!
Jiang Yue gave the blueprints, and Yuan Zhuangtou immediately took up his post and took the craftsmen to look after the yard.
Aunt Yuan and her children set up a big pot.
Because they had to rush the work, it was too much trouble to go back to the city every day to eat. After all, a lot of material and labor costs had been saved, so Jiang Yue paid for the food for the craftsmen.
Each person had two large steamed buns and a pot of fatty meat stew or lard and radish soup for each meal! The craftsmen ate voraciously on the first day, their faces greasy.
The food here is better than the one in the government office!
The food provided by the government for them was thick rice porridge and stewed cabbage. They were grateful to be able to eat their fill, so how could they dare to ask for oil?
But the Jiang family's big steamed buns are made solidly! The dishes and soup are not only full of oil, but also have slices of meat!
The resentment the craftsmen had initially felt about being assigned to build houses in such a remote mountain village had vanished, leaving only joy and relief. They'd go back and brag to those who were gloating over their misfortune!
Aunt Yuan's cooking skills were indeed good, and her movements were quick and neat. When she saw that the lady had given her so much food, including pork, her hands were shaking. But the lady had said that she should use as much as she was given and not be stingy.
Jiang Yue equipped them with all the missing items on the stove, including the large steamer, large tables and chairs, as well as oil, salt and seasonings that they had taken out from the restaurant before. Aunt Yuan regained the feeling of doing kitchen work before the natural disaster!
The whole family also ate with the craftsmen, and after eating and drinking their fill, they worked with great energy!
While the rest of the people were busy plowing the soil and planting crops, the Jiang family was busy building houses.
After the spring plowing season, the Jiang family's yard was almost finished.
The courtyard wall was rebuilt with stones from the old house. It was strong and stable, five meters high, and had sharp nails on it.
Yuan Zhuangtou walked back and forth countless times, looking at it morning and night, for fear that the craftsmen had missed something and not done it well.
Jiang Yue gave Aunt Yuan two rolls of old cloth and needlework, and asked her to bring her daughter to make two new sets of clothes for each family. Most people would not go to the cloth store to buy ready-made clothes, so it was no problem for them to make a few clothes themselves.
This is what you have to do when you buy a servant: provide clothes and food for him all year round. Fortunately, Mrs. Jiang has no shortage of these things now.
The Yuanzhuangtou family took a deep bath in the river to wash off all the dirt, combed their hair, and put on new clothes. They looked much cleaner and more energetic.
They looked at the gray, hard house and wiped away their tears.
They finally have hope! No longer have to worry about dying in their dreams!
The owner gave them the old bed frame, old tables and chairs, and decorated the servants' room simply. They moved their broken things in and moved in first.
While waiting for the main house to dry, Yuan Zhuangtou went up the mountain to cut trees according to the master's instructions.
My wife said that we need to hire some people to develop the land and build houses near the land for them to live in.
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