The back mountain became even busier, not just with people, but with helicopters too.
The villagers were annoyed by the constant rumbling. When would it end?
Tian Jing, however, was not busy. This year, her family's greenhouses had been handed over to the village for cultivation.
This was, of course, because of the events on the back mountain.
Li Zhengguo had many things to coordinate, and he also had to arrange for the forty people who were about to arrive.
He didn't have time, nor could he bear to let his wife handle everything alone, so he entrusted twenty greenhouses to the village for cultivation.
Tian Jing was able to take on the private work she had promised.
A few days after finishing the private work,
Li Zhengguo called for everyone to move.
Ouyang Meihua was efficient; the new houses had been renovated alongside Tian Da Xia's.
As the two Li families moved into their new homes, some people became envious.
Li Zhengguo simply used the loudspeaker.
"If you want to move into a new home, feel free. The old houses that are vacated can be handed over to the village committee. The village will then organize them uniformly for you to use as guesthouses or farm-to-table restaurants."
"Guesthouses are..., farm-to-table restaurants are..."
"Of course, you probably won't have enough time. If you feel you have spare capacity, do it yourselves. If you don't, after handing it over to the village committee, the committee will pay you rent uniformly."
"You can also entrust it to relatives, but there are conditions. For this phase, incoming relatives are allowed, but not outgoing ones. You need to consider this carefully."
"Also, after relatives arrive and see the village's cultivation, and your income, will that cause conflict with you?"
"All of these need to be considered carefully. Our civilized and hygienic system applies equally to villagers living in our village and those moving in from outside."
The villagers cheered. The village committee was becoming more and more thoughtful. They would move and hand over their old courtyards to the village committee.
They had no time for these miscellaneous tasks. What about relatives? Relatives brought even more things to deal with.
In a short time, more than half of the villagers had moved out of their old homes.
Families with too many members would have their elders remain in the old courtyards.
The two new houses were allocated to the eldest and second sons, respectively.
Sons with too many children would have to stay and live with their elders in the old courtyards, waiting for the next batch of new houses.
At this point, those who had previously been unwilling to separate their households now regretted it.
There was nothing they could do but wait for Village Chief Li to approve the separation.
While the villagers were busy, they also moved into their new homes.
Li Zhengguo, along with the old village chief and the villagers from Wang'er Village who were skilled in carpentry, went into the village to organize the guesthouse courtyards that the villagers had handed over.
Listening to Li Zhengguo describe the guesthouses, the old village chief asked why they weren't building guesthouses in Wang'er Village as well.
Li Zhengguo smiled and asked, "Can your village free up entire courtyards? People who come to stay will definitely not want to share with strangers."
"Setting aside privacy issues, even property and personal safety cannot be guaranteed 100%. Who would dare to stay?"
Since guesthouses were not feasible, the old village chief changed the topic, "The tributary in our village has already been cleaned up."
Li Zhengguo pointed to the back mountain and said, "After this matter is resolved, I'll arrange for your village first, alright? Have you prepared your funds?"
The old village chief nodded, "We have prepared, but based on your current activities, I suspect it won't be enough."
Considering Wang'er Village's productivity, Li Zhengguo decided to help further. "At that time, I'll help you borrow a sum of money, interest-free. The principal must be repaid on time."
The old village chief was surprised, "A loan?"
"No."
Li Zhengguo shook his head. "I'll have a friend lend it to you. He has a lot of liquid capital."
The old village chief breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that it's not a loan."
Even an interest-free loan could be a burden.
...
The renovation of the old courtyards was proceeding in an orderly manner.
In the narrow backyards, pigsties and chicken coops were dismantled, a new layer of soil was added, and the ground was leveled.
A sparse layer of grass seeds was scattered, and then the ground was covered with stones.
Outside the main gate, Tian Jing led the sanitation team in tidying up the exterior walls of the old courtyards.
Climbing roses were planted on the outer walls. Both the guesthouses and the old courtyards where villagers still lived had them planted uniformly.
A bamboo trash can was placed outside the courtyard gate. These simple trash cans were something the village women could all make.
The small plots of land outside the entrance were enclosed by bamboo fences one meter high.
These small plots still belonged to the villagers themselves, but they were only allowed to plant vegetables.
With this standardization, the old courtyards immediately took on a different appearance.
Ancient, peaceful, tranquil, and serene.
It made people want to live in them at first sight.
Sister-in-law Niu couldn't believe it, "Oh my goodness~ Did we create this with our own hands?"
The sanitation team members, who had been busy for a month, were working on both the greenhouses and the tasks assigned by the village, but they didn't complain or get tired.
At this moment, seeing the results of their labor, they also exclaimed with Sister-in-law Niu.
"This? These climbing roses haven't grown long or spread yet. If they climb over the walls and bloom, then, then this courtyard..."
"What if we regret it? Regret handing over the old courtyards."
Those who had not separated their households felt a sense of balance. Their old courtyards were beautiful enough to be envied.
Tian Jing smiled and asked, "Do you still have the energy?"
The team members replied loudly.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Tian Jing nodded, "Alright then, let's continue."
Continue?
Continue where?
Tian Jing turned and pointed south. "The new houses also need to be standardized. This took a month. The two rows of houses will take at least another month. If you can't handle it, we'll switch people."
The sanitation team members disagreed.
"No, no, we'll keep working. How can we give the credit to someone else?"
"Exactly. At first, I was reluctant to come. But once the results came out, I immediately felt full of energy. We're not switching, not even if we're killed."
"Yes, yes, we'll continue working. The houses will definitely be even more beautiful once they're standardized."
Indeed, after the houses facing the old courtyards were standardized, the sanitation team members laughed happily.
It was too beautiful.
Entire live bamboo poles were cut into one-and-a-half-meter lengths and planted as courtyard walls.
The courtyard gates were also made of bamboo, two and a half meters high. Climbing roses were planted only around the courtyard gates.
However, peonies cultivated by Tian Jing were planted at the base of the bamboo.
The budding peonies and the climbing roses filled the courtyard walls with romance and vitality.
Outside the courtyard gates, fifty-centimeter bamboo fences enclosed various green vegetables.
Standing on the village road and looking around, the team members hugged each other and laughed.
Their hands could create miracles.
They continued to the row of houses on the south road to create them.
...
Things in the village were progressing smoothly, but on the back mountain, after more than two months, the location of the private treasury had still not been found.
Xie Wensheng's array formations were skillful, but without a small area to search within, he couldn't find it. If he were walking, he might have been able to sense it as he got closer. Flying in the air with the naked eye made it too difficult.
The retired soldiers who had been arranged were about to arrive.
Wan Zhongshan inspected the rooms of the two Li families.
The east rooms had low communal sleeping platforms, while the west rooms had normal communal sleeping platforms.
The sleeping platforms extended from the south wall to the north wall.
Opposite the sleeping platforms were wardrobes.
The wardrobes were uniformly sized. Those who couldn't reach the top could ask their comrades for help. Seasonal clothes were stored on top, and current-season clothes were stored below.
In the main hall were dining tables and stools of two different heights.
In the kitchen, the stove was rebuilt to a lower height, and the ash collection area under the grate was dug into the ground.
In the backyard, there were two clean and spacious bathrooms without thresholds, allowing for the use of scooters for entry and exit.
If any family members were concerned about their husbands, they could come over. Upon arrival, couples would go out to stay in the guesthouses.
Of course, when there weren't enough guesthouses, two families would have to share a room.
After the inspection, Wan Zhongshan clasped Li Zhengguo's hands.
"Good, too good. What you've done and thought of has exceeded my expectations. Thank you, thank you so much."