"Hey lady, take a good look! Who's bullying whom here?"
The villagers of Ping'an Village smiled.
With her son already on the scene, Qian Lanfang couldn't afford to lose face.
"Lying on my land, using my wood, who gave you the nerve to do that!"
"If you don't return our timber today, I'll go to the county magistrate and sue you!"
"What kind of person are you? Do you want to scoop out every speck of shit from the latrine to see if there's any gold in it?"
Old Mrs. Nan also came up, saying, "If you don't leave, I'll have my grandson beat you to death!"
Tan Jiu hurriedly got up and ran outside.
Qian Lanfang, hands on her hips, shouted from behind, "Remember to return the wood!"
Once the people left, the excitement ended.
Grandma Nan gave some cured meat to Wang Zhenmin and Niu Da.
"If it weren't for the village chief, we wouldn't be able to explain ourselves even if we were in the right."
Wang Zhenmin and Niu Da had previously accepted a pot of wine from Nan Zhi, so they wouldn't dare accept anything else now.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be something as precious as sausage.
They dared not accept it.
"No need to thank me, ma'am. You should keep these precious things for yourselves."
Grandma Nan and Nan Zhi exchanged a glance.
What they considered ordinary sausages were precious items to the other party.
It is clear that this village is not wealthy.
Qian Lanfang insisted that the two accept the gifts.
Wang Zhenmin suddenly remembered something, "How could I forget such an important thing? Grandma, we'll start allocating the land tomorrow. Remember to have your child come and draw lots."
Grandma Nan agreed.
There were over a hundred people, but fortunately, the village had enough land to distribute.
Each family has eight mu of paddy fields, plus twenty mu of dry land, for a total of twenty-eight mu.
There are many opportunities, but whether you can choose a good field or a good location depends entirely on luck.
The family discussed who they planned to send.
Nan Chungu is the kind of person who becomes more courageous after setbacks and is eager to try again.
Under Qian Lanfang's watchful gaze, he gave up his thoughts.
The final decision was to send Nankai University to draw lots.
Nan Zhi and Song Hanyan are family, so they sent Song Hanyan.
Although they live together now, they are indeed two separate families.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Nanzhi decided to live separately from her uncle and his family.
They'll move in as soon as the house is built.
The two returned in the afternoon.
Nankai looked dejected, while Song Hanyan's expression remained unreadable.
Qian Lanfang hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Husband, how is it?"
Nankai shook his head, saying that bad luck was probably hereditary.
Nankai University managed to pump water from over 100 acres of paddy fields, which were located near a river, and from dry land, which they pumped directly from a mountain.
“Oh dear, husband,” Qian Lanfang cried after reading it, “how are we going to survive?”
People depend on food for survival, and they rely on the land for sustenance.
How do we cultivate the land in the mountains and forests, where there are also paddy fields that are constantly at risk of being flooded?
Even if you wanted to farm that hilltop, it would take a lot of effort to cultivate it, so it's really not worth it.
Grandma Nan also looked worried.
Song Hanyan took eight mu of prime paddy fields and twenty mu of dry land, all of which were normal farmland.
Nan Zhi hesitated for a moment, then took the contract from Song Hanyan's hand.
“Uncle, we don’t cultivate much land. How about I exchange four mu of paddy fields and twenty mu of dry land for your mountain forest?”
Nankai looked up: "This won't do!"
They profited by exchanging dry land for forest land, so how could they possibly get another four acres of good paddy fields?
Old Mrs. Nan came over and said, "Girl, I know you mean well, but I can't let you suffer a loss."
Nanzhi thought to herself, exchanging a few acres of paddy fields and dry land for a mountain is not a bad deal.
She went to see that mountain yesterday, and it was truly beautiful, with clear waters and lush mountains, and pleasant scenery.
Moreover, she had no intention of getting rich through farming.
Grandma Nan vehemently disagreed, but finally, at Nan Zhi's urging, the two families exchanged the land deeds.
He traded four mu of paddy fields for the other party's four mu of paddy fields and fifteen mu of dry land, in exchange for that hilltop.
The family had a meeting together in the evening.
Nanzhi briefly explained that she had asked the village chief to help build a house today.
So the most important thing now is how to hire helpers when building a house.
Grandma Nan was still worried about the money: "How about we, as a family, can manage? With so many people, we can eventually build it."
Qian Lanfang also agreed.
Nanzhi shook her head: "Grandma, building a house costs money. Don't worry about the money. I have money."
They had robbed the King of Qi of a great deal of gold and silver, but hadn't had a chance to spend it yet.
Qian Lanfang: "Girl, I know you're very capable and have made a lot of money running your restaurant, but building a house costs a lot of money, so let's save as much as we can."
This girl probably spent a lot of money along the way.
Nan Chunxian: "Yes, sister, we have plenty of strength, don't worry."
Seeing that they didn't believe her, Nanzhi had no choice but to turn her gaze to Song Hanyan beside her.
Seeing his wife's pleading look, Song Hanyan didn't hesitate and took out five or six silver notes from his pocket, slapping them on the table.
"We have money."
The others swallowed hard, staring at the stack of silver notes on the table.
That would cost a lot of money.
Now no one could argue with that.
Nanzhi began to talk about what was to come.
"We need to hurry. We can start planting in another month, and it will be even harder to hire workers then."
Song Hanyan said, "Why don't we invite them from the village?"
Nanzhi's eyes lit up: "That's right. The villagers are close by, so it's easier to negotiate the price. Chunxian, you should go to the village tomorrow and ask. It's 45 coins a day, food included but no lodging. See if anyone comes."
The next day, for convenience, Nan Chunxian took some cured meat and went directly to the village chief to ask him to help arrange the matter.
In the afternoon, the village chief arrived at the Nan family's house with about ten men.
As soon as Wang Zhenmin entered the room, he grabbed Song Hanyan.
"Kid, is it true that you're saying it's forty-five coins a day?"
Song Hanyan: "Of course it's true. It seems the village chief has already chosen the right people."
Wang Zhenmin pulled him aside and whispered, "You can do hard labor outside for thirty-five coins a day, and they don't even provide food. Kid, you'd better think this through."
I thought manual labor would be more expensive, but to my surprise, it only cost thirty-five coins a day.
If they offer too much money, it's like raising the market price, which will make people resentful.
Nanzhi: "How about this, village chief, forty coins a day, including one meal?"
Wang Zhenmin thought it was acceptable.
"Girl, how many rooms do you want to build?" This family has quite a few people; I estimate it will take five or six rooms.
Nan Zhi glanced at Song Hanyan.
“Village chief, we need to build two courtyards, each with at least four rooms.”
Wang Zhenmin was shocked to hear this.
These two families didn't even live together.
Based on this calculation, it will take at least three months.
As soon as Wang Zhenmin came out, everyone rushed over.
"How's it going, Village Chief?"
Wang Zhenmin knew they were asking about salary.
"Forty coins a day, plus one meal."
The men were overjoyed; they had earned five more coins than outside.
Such jobs are so hard to find; they work for days on end.
Villagers who were initially hesitant began to sign up.
Wang Zhenmin selected twelve men, all of whom were capable and efficient.
The next day, Nanzhi and Song Hanyan took an oxcart to town again to buy tiles and bricks for building a house.
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