"Tian Jing, you're finally back."
"Zheng Guo, hurry and move the things down, we'll help you carry them back."
"Tian Jing, ..."
"Zheng Guo, ..."
A cacophony of shouts. Old Master Xiao finally realized these were villagers coming to greet his granddaughter, and he was startled.
Tian Jing waved at the people outside the car window. She had thought it would take half a year to finish and return, but unexpectedly, she was back in just two months.
As soon as she jumped out of the car, she heard her sister-in-law's loud voice, "Little sister-in-law, you're finally back! If you didn't come back soon, I would have taken Mom to find you."
As she spoke, Li Min pushed past the villagers in front of her sister-in-law, "Move aside, move aside, uh."
Li Min was glared at by her sister-in-law. "Uh, little, little sister-in-law, Mom and I missed you. When Mom misses you, she cries. She, she's behind..."
"Tiantian~"
Mother Li was being helped across the river by Sister-in-law Niu. Her daughter had directly abandoned her on the near bank.
In her eyes, there was no younger son, no grandson, only her younger daughter-in-law.
Her younger daughter-in-law, as steady as a Ding Hai Shen Zhen (sea-calming needle).
Seeing the tears in her mother-in-law's eyes, Tian Jing's eyes also welled up. "Mom~ we're back."
"Mm-hmm, it's good that you're back, good that you're back. Without you all at home, we felt lost."
Tian Jing turned and helped her grandfather down. "Mom, this is my grandfather. Grandpa, this is my mother-in-law."
"Hello, esteemed maternal grandfather."
"Hello, esteemed grandmother."
These titles followed the children's lead and were not wrong.
"Grandma~"
"Grandma~"
Li Weihao and Li Weibo jumped out of the car and circled Mother Li.
"Eh, eh."
The three of them, grandparents and grandchildren, were reuniting enthusiastically.
Tian Jing was anxious. The cotton padding under her daughter's bottom was full.
"Li Min, hurry back and prepare bathwater for your niece, and settle her in before we catch up."
"Alright, I'm going back right now."
Li Min dropped her eldest son and, pulling her husband who hadn't managed to say a word, holding her youngest son, headed home. "Xiao Fu, follow your Hao Hao brother."
The enthusiastic villagers escorted the Li family back to their home and then gave them space.
After a simple farmhouse breakfast and a wash, they settled Grandpa and Uncle Xiao, and Ah Guang in the west room.
Grandpa was old and would sleep in a bed for now, before winter. Uncle Xiao and Ah Guang slept on the heated brick bed.
Ah Feng and Mother Li stayed in the east room.
Hao Hao and Xiao Bo could either sleep at their aunt's house with younger brother Xiao Fu, or with their great-grandfather.
The bed from the east room was moved to the kitchen, and Tian Jing and the couple slept in the kitchen.
Li Zheng Guo planned to have Master Zhao and his two apprentices stay at someone else's house.
Master Zhao disagreed. "Let's go see the plot of land first. We can build a shed on that plot."
"Then let me take you to see it."
Li Zheng Guo took Master Zhao and his two apprentices to the plot of land near the educated youth point.
Seeing the size of the plot, Master Zhao was very satisfied. It was just enough to build a three-courtyard house.
He urged Li Zheng Guo to find people to build a shed and demolish the old house.
Li Zheng Guo was not in a hurry. "I haven't finished stating my requirements yet."
"Please proceed."
Master Zhao was in a hurry. He wanted to build the main courtyard of the second house before winter arrived.
"This place is close to the river. Firstly, to prevent flooding, and secondly, to prevent dampness from the ground, which affects both people and houses. Therefore, we will not build a first floor, but a second floor."
"No first floor?"
Li Zheng Guo nodded. "Yes. We'll pour a platform with cement, and build a siheyuan on top of the platform. The area below the platform will be a garden, and the land from the east to the river will be developed into a private park."
"The private park will be separated from the garden here, but not visually. On the platform, within the three-courtyard house, there will be a flight of steps leading directly to the first-floor garden."
"The steps to the main entrance on the second floor must be wide and stable. It's okay if they are long. If our own land isn't enough, we can extend it. We will pay the village some money then."
Li Zheng Guo's vision delighted Master Zhao. This innovation should be very beautiful.
"But, but how to lay the foundation on the cement platform?"
Li Zheng Guo pointed to the ground. "Lay the foundation on the first floor. Just like a multi-story building, pour a cement frame structure for the entire first floor."
Master Zhao scratched his head. "I, I still lack the technical expertise in this area. May I, may I invite more people?"
"Yes, invite more. The more, the better. As long as quality and quantity are guaranteed, compress the time."
Master Zhao was eager. "Shall we send a telegram right away?"
Li Zheng Guo went back to call his eldest brother to drive Master Zhao to the county town to send a telegram. He also asked Ah Guang to go to the county town to buy all sorts of toiletries.
Then he accompanied the two apprentices to find Captain Ou, oh no, he should be called Village Chief Ou.
He planned to rent two offices to serve as bedrooms for the masters.
Village Chief Ou was the most delighted that Tian Jing and Li Zheng Guo had returned.
The village was in chaos.
Let's talk about the watermelon situation first. He had long ago instructed the villagers to only plant watermelons on three fen of land, and continue planting cotton on the homesteads where houses would not be built for now.
However, last year's income had made the villagers lose their heads.
Since Tian Jing was not at home, they germinated the seeds themselves. The germinated seedlings didn't look too bad, and some people even boasted that Tian Jing's seedlings were just average.
But after planting, they grew thinner and thinner.
When it came to flowering, the flowers were small and the young fruits were small.
Only one young fruit was kept on each vine, and it didn't grow as fast as last year when no young fruits were thinned.
After a flurry of fertilizing and watering, the young fruits still grew very slowly.
The villagers cried by the watermelon fields, saying it would have been better to plant cotton.
As for the crops, the villagers found that the crops were not growing as well as last year. Even the dozen or so households that were on Tian Jing's blacklist had worse crops than last year.
And the vegetable patches were clearly much worse than last year.
Some superstitious villagers, counting from the day Tian Jing entered the village, concluded that Tian Jing was the star of good fortune for Kufeng Mountain and must absolutely not be allowed to leave Kufeng Mountain.
Now that Tian Jing and Li Zheng Guo were back, regardless of whether there was a way to salvage this year's harvest, the villagers' hearts should be a little more at ease.
While he was thinking, he saw Li Zheng Guo arrive with two unfamiliar young men.
"Zheng Guo, it's good that you're back."
"Village Chief Ou, these two are masters I've invited to build the courtyard. I'd like to rent two offices as their accommodation. I wonder if the offices can be made available?"
"Yes, yes."
Village Chief Ou nodded repeatedly. "Only one office is used regularly. I'll have someone clean it out right away."
"Thank you for the trouble, Village Chief. I'll take them back first."
"Zheng Guo..."
"Hm?"
"Never mind, you go ahead and be busy."
"If the Village Chief has something to say, just say it. It's difficult to bear the suspense."
Village Chief Ou then told him about the villagers' watermelon fields and crops.
Li Zheng Guo had seen the village's watermelon fields and vegetable patches as soon as he entered the village.
He didn't intend to let Tiantian save them. It was a good lesson for the villagers.
"No matter what, can't manage. They tasted the sweetness last year, and this year we're not here."
"No one germinated the seeds, yet they dared to increase the planting area, completely disregarding Secretary Ji's words."
"I'm not their father, and I don't have time to clean up their messes. It's good for them to learn a lesson."
"Otherwise, next year they'll be bolder, and your work will be even harder to arrange."
"Village Chief Ou, you should take this opportunity to criticize them harshly, rather than try to salvage their situation."
Li Zheng Guo's words were also said by Party Secretary Yang to him, but Town Mayor Ji supervised agriculture, and he couldn't let Kufeng Mountain become a drag.
Li Zheng Guo still shook his head. "They didn't listen to Town Mayor Ji's arrangements, so they should be criticized as a typical example."
"By the way, Village Chief, help me find a group of laborers to demolish the old houses at the educated youth point and the canteen. The stones that are removed can be neatly stacked, as they can still be used."
"The soil bricks that are removed and can be used should be stacked separately. Those that cannot be used should be temporarily piled by the roadside next to the office, until I see if they can be used. If they are truly unusable, they will be transported to the back mountain."
"We will cut down a lot of timber, and of course, we will also replant. When the time comes, please count at the construction site and charge according to the normal price."
"Alright, I'll arrange it right away."
Village Chief Ou responded busily. With work to do, who cared about disobedient villagers?
It was important to earn money from Zheng Guo.
Li Zheng Guo took his two apprentices home to make bed boards. It would be too late to make beds, but making bed boards was quick. They would use the removed stones to build pedestals as bed legs.
Old Master Xiao had already rested. Li Min followed her sister-in-law, asking questions, but was driven away by her mother.
"Can't you see that esteemed maternal grandfather is tired? Go buy a chicken from someone's house, kill it, and stew it."
"I'll go pick vegetables from the shed. There's so much to do, and you're still gossiping here."
"How is this gossiping?"
Li Min grumbled as she walked out. Ah Feng hurried to catch up with her.
"Li Min, I'll go with you. Cooking is my job. You can at most prepare the ingredients and light the fire."
"Oh, right, you, you're the cook, Sister Feng."
"Yes."
"Okay, I'll take you around the village and point out whose family is on good terms with mine and whose family has a grudge against mine."