Chapter 132: Planning — Choosing a Spot for the Cabin

That stallion did indeed have a problem. It had caught a cold last year and couldn’t even stand up, but luckily managed to pull through in the end. However, ever since then, its endurance and strength had noticeably declined. Still, as long as it wasn’t pulling heavy loads, it was hard to tell anything was wrong.

They hadn’t expected to run into someone as experienced as Lin Heng—checking the horse’s body wasn’t enough for him, he even asked someone to ride it and listen to its breathing rhythm.

They had assumed Lin Heng was young and a nouveau riche type, bound to spend money lavishly. But his seasoned judgment gave both of them a jolt. Luckily, that stallion only had a past illness, not an active issue. Otherwise, if Lin Heng had found out, they would’ve been screwed.

Wang Zhou, who stood beside them, had no idea that Uncle Li, who had always been kind to him, was actually harboring such selfish intentions. He said cluelessly, “This stallion looks better, doesn’t it, Brother Lin? It’s a lot bigger.”

Lin Heng smiled faintly. “I’m interested in the mare. How much?”

Li Gui looked at him and replied, “This mare will be five hundred.”

“No way. A cow’s only three to four hundred. And you want five hundred for a horse?” Lin Heng immediately shook his head.

At this time, a three-hundred-jin pig would only sell for about 150 yuan, and a large 500–600 jin yellow cow cost just four to five hundred. This wasn’t even a prized horse—five hundred was far too steep.

Li Gui gave a wry smile. “This is a quality horse, a pure Mongolian yellow dun. It can easily haul six or seven hundred jin. Plus, it’s a mare, so it can have foals. It’s really not overpriced.”

Lin Heng shook his head. “Flat price—four hundred. If you agree, I’ll buy it. If not, then forget it.”

Don’t talk to him about purebreds. Finding a real pedigree horse in a place like this? He’d sooner believe he saw a ghost.

Li Gui replied quickly, “Four hundred is impossible. The absolute lowest I can go is four hundred ninety. This mare already weighs close to four hundred jin.”

“Well, I can’t offer more than that. Sorry to bother you—I’ll go look elsewhere. Worst case, I’ll buy a donkey instead.” Lin Heng waved his hand, not budging on the price.

“How about this—if you’re interested in the stallion, I can lower the price. How does four hundred fifty sound?” Li Gui suggested.

Lin Heng laughed. “You still want four-fifty for the stallion? I wouldn’t take it even for four hundred.”

He chuckled and added, “Let me go back and think it over for a couple of days.”

In a place like Huangtan Town, not many people could afford to buy adult horses. He had plenty of room to bargain.

At that moment, the driver uncle came over and stopped him. “Boss Lin, how about we both give a little? Take the mare for four seventy. It’s a trained mare too, that’s really not a bad price.”

“Four twenty. I’ll pay cash. If you’re not okay with that, go find someone else. Not many people can pay all at once.” Lin Heng waved him off.

This time, he really turned to leave. You can’t rush purchases—he’d suffered too many losses from being impulsive when he was younger.

Li Gui frowned, visibly annoyed. “Boss Lin, you’re not serious about buying, are you? Why waste my time like this? Just messing with people?”

“I am serious about buying. You’re just asking too much.” Lin Heng shook his head and left with Wang Zhou.

The driver uncle stayed behind.

On the way, Wang Zhou hesitated several times, wanting to speak but holding back.

“If you want to say something, just say it,” Lin Heng said, looking at him.

Wang Zhou shook his head. “Thinking it through, you’re right, Brother Lin. For something over four hundred yuan, it’s smart to look around more.”

He’d originally wanted to speak up for the driver uncle, but on second thought, he realized it wouldn’t be wise. First, the money involved was a lot. Second, he was now Lin Heng’s subordinate.

What Wang Zhou said genuinely surprised Lin Heng. He hadn’t expected him to say that, and it raised his trust and evaluation of the guy even more.

“You know why I didn’t buy that stallion? I’m certain it had been sick.” Lin Heng hadn’t planned to explain, but now he did.

Wang Zhou was stunned. “Huh? No way! Uncle Li’s always been nice.”

Lin Heng smiled. “It just had a past illness, not an active one. He probably just wants to make some money. I get it—it’s not a big deal.”

Wang Zhou was still skeptical, so he asked how Lin Heng had figured it out. Once Lin Heng explained the details, Wang Zhou was convinced. “Damn, Brother Lin, you know so much.”

Lin Heng shook his head. “Just read more, learn from experience.”

In reality, all of this came from sixty years of trial and error in his previous life. He’d taken quite a few hard knocks from rushing into things.

Wang Zhou took note of that. Now that his job was easier, he realized he might actually have the time to start learning a bit.

They got back to town at 5:40. After giving Wang Zhou a few reminders, Lin Heng walked home.

Passing through Baima Village, he stopped by Carpenter Liang’s place to discuss having a custom bath barrel made.

Carpenter Liang was stunned to see him—practically treated him like a god descending to earth. He insisted on having him stay for dinner, and Lin Heng had to politely decline several times before managing to leave.

Watching Lin Heng go, Carpenter Liang couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh. Just four months ago, when he’d gone to the Lin household, he never imagined this young man would grow so much in such a short time.

At the time, he’d only thought Lin Heng showed promise for the future. Now? The guy had already opened a purchase station and a small shop, becoming a real small boss.

Meanwhile, nothing had changed for himself.

As Lin Heng neared Hongfeng Village, he saw Caiyun and Liu Ciwen walking side by side on the road, seemingly deep in conversation.

But he wasn’t worried. Both of them were seriously focused on their studies, and in this phase of life, romance wouldn’t be on their minds.

As for the future, that wasn’t his concern. As long as Caiyun didn’t get tricked, he didn’t care who she liked.

He didn’t bother to catch up or say hello—just strolled along slowly. Along the way, he picked a prematurely ripened August melon and took a bite.

When ripe, the August melon turns purplish-red. The inside is full of seeds, but it’s incredibly sweet—almost cloyingly so.

He ate half of it, swished it around in his mouth, swallowed the juice, and then spit out the seeds like a machine gun. As a kid, they used to compete on who could spit them the fastest and farthest.

When he got home, Lin’s mother and the others were using a windmill to hull the millet. It had been sun-dried once already and would need more drying after dehusking.

“So many empty husks. Dad, what do you think the yield will be this year?” Lin Heng walked into the yard, commenting aloud.

One load from the windmill had already produced a good amount of empty husks.

Lin’s father sighed and shook his head. “A little over 300 jin, maybe. Pretty much the same every day. I heard in some places, with fertilizer and quality seeds, they’re getting 600–700 jin per mu. Don’t know if that’s true.”

“I reckon next year or the year after, we’ll see it catch on around here. Then we’ll know for sure,” Lin Heng said.

At present, fertilizer was mainly being used in the big grain-producing areas—Northeast China, Henan, Hebei, and so on. Their area had poor transport and logistics, so it hadn’t reached them yet.

In his memory, widespread adoption didn’t start until the following year.

“Let’s hope so. This kind of farming really doesn’t make any money. Even if we yield 400 jin per mu, nine mu of land would only get us 3,600 jin. At 0.15 yuan per jin, that’s just 540 yuan. You earned that in two months,” Lin’s father said, deeply moved.

Honestly, even a small store’s yearly income was better than growing crops. He hadn’t realized this before, but now that he did, he was a little depressed.

“Haha!” Lin Heng couldn’t help but laugh at his father’s downcast expression.

Growing crops in non-plain areas was never a lucrative business—it only becomes profitable when done on a large enough scale.

“What are you laughing at? Hurry up and help move the grain,” Father Lin scolded him with a glare.

Lin Heng walked over to help move the grain, which they were temporarily piling up on Father Lin’s side. Once it was fully dried, they’d pay the grain tax and then divide it up.

By the time they finished, it was already dark. Mother Lin made white steamed buns, and the dishes were stir-fried bamboo partridge and cucumbers. During dinner, Lin Heng mentioned he was buying a horse.

Mother Lin was surprised. “You can even do that?”

Lin Heng didn’t want to bother with his mom. He turned to his wife. “Xiulan, just tell them—am I impressive or not?”

Xiulan nodded and looked at Mother Lin. “Lin Heng is amazing. He asked me to pick out male and female chicks once, and I didn’t get a single one wrong.”

Then she explained to everyone the technique Lin Heng had taught her for telling male and female chicks apart, fully backing up her husband.

“No wonder you have so many hens. So that’s the trick,” Lin Yue said, surprised. At first, he had just thought Lin Heng was lucky.

Liu Juan sighed. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? I bought ten chicks and ended up with seven roosters. They fight every day—it’s driving me crazy.”

“You already bought them. Wouldn’t have helped if I said anything,” Lin Heng said, picking up a piece of bamboo partridge. Small as it was, it tasted great—very tender and not tough.

“Buying a horse takes time. No need to rush,” Father Lin said with a nod. After all, it was a lot of money.

While eating the bamboo partridge, Lin Heng asked, “What about the bamboo rat?”

“We cooked and ate it at noon after my uncles left. I saved a bit for you at home,” Xiulan replied.

“Oh, just eat it all next time. No need to save any for me,” Lin Heng said casually. He was just curious, not particular about who ate it.

After dinner, they chatted a bit more. Then Lin Heng and Xiulan took their daughter home to rest.

The next morning, Lin Heng got up early and took Xiaoxia and Xiongba for a stroll around the village. No particular goal, just a walk.

When they were near the ginkgo tree, a large rooster suddenly charged at Xiaoxia, aggressively trying to peck her.

“Looking to die, huh?” Lin Heng kicked it flying. The rooster, undeterred, flapped its wings and came at them again.

“Xiongba, step back. I’ll handle this.”

Letting go of his daughter’s hand, Lin Heng chased the rooster down and gave it a brutal round of kicks until it finally admitted defeat and fled.

These roosters, having eaten centipedes or bees, were incredibly aggressive. He’d been pecked many times as a kid—now it was coming after his precious daughter?

Watching Lin Heng chase down the rooster, Xiaoxia clapped and cheered, “Daddy’s amazing! So amazing!!”

“That nasty rooster is such a nuisance!” Old Liu San came over from a distance.

“Yeah, I’ll eat it one of these days,” Lin Heng said, walking over with his daughter.

Xiongba saw that the rooster had come back again and chased it down, pinning it to the ground and giving it a rough beatdown, scaring it so much its legs shook.

“What’s that?” Xiaoxia asked curiously, pointing to a yellow flute in Old Liu San’s hand.

“This is a flute. Great-grandpa will play a tune for you,” Old Liu San said, catching his breath before playing.

They couldn’t really tell what melody it was, but the sound was gentle and melodious—quite pleasant to the ears.

Hearing the music, Xiaoxia cheered and clapped, making Old Liu San so happy that he played even more energetically.

But before long, he had to stop to catch his breath. “Can’t do it anymore—too old to finish a whole song.”

“Play more! I want to hear more!” Xiaoxia shouted, bouncing with excitement.

“Later, later. Great-grandpa’s out of energy.” He sat on a nearby bench, gently stroking Xiaoxia’s cheek and smiling.

“Daddy play!” Xiaoxia turned to Lin Heng.

“Daddy can’t play,” Lin Heng said with a smile and a shake of his head.

When he was a kid herding cattle with Old Liu San, he used to mess around with the flute, but he could barely get a sound out—he definitely couldn’t play any songs.

After resting, Old Liu San picked the flute back up and started playing again. There weren’t many people around under the ginkgo tree that morning, and Xiaoxia had a great time.

After a while, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia for more wandering. She ran ahead in all directions, and he just followed behind.

“Grandpa!” After only a short walk, Xiaoxia spotted Father Lin returning from the fields with a load of corn and ran over excitedly.

“Grandpa’s dirty, don’t hug me.” Father Lin quickly stopped her and coaxed her a bit until she calmed down.

“Let’s go home and husk the corn to make corn paste,” he said to Lin Heng.

“Okay,” Lin Heng nodded and walked home with his daughter.

Back at home, they stripped the corn and scraped off the kernels, stirred them with a stick to skim off the corn silk, and then got ready to make the paste.

Mother Lin had already cleaned the stone mill in the courtyard. Once it was assembled, Lin Heng and his father turned the mill while his mother added the corn and water.

After a few turns, the crushed corn pulp mixed with the juice began to flow out.

Lin Heng pushed for a while before his older brother Lin Yue came to take over.

The three of them took turns all morning and finally ground out two buckets of corn paste.

“Man, that’s tiring,” Lin Heng sighed, his back aching from all the pushing.

“It’s divided—pick whichever one you want,” Mother Lin said, having portioned out the paste into three parts.

“I’ll take the smallest one.”

Lin Heng carried the smallest portion back home. It still needed to ferment for a while before it would taste good.

Xiulan covered the corn paste with gauze to keep bugs out.

After breakfast, Lin Heng lay on the bamboo mat, lost in thought about his future plans.

His main goal was to build a breeding base on Red Maple Mountain—start with fish and shrimp farming, experiment with dendrobium planting, and slowly expand the scale of the operation later on.

While living a good life, he would steadily build his business step by step.

He wouldn’t stop hunting either—“mountain-wandering” still brought in decent money, and there were lots of good things in the mountains.

Besides, he enjoyed the feeling of hunting. He wanted to make the most of it while it was still allowed, because it wouldn’t be in a few years.

But for now, he wouldn’t go into the mountains—Mid-Autumn Festival was just over two weeks away, and he needed to accompany Xiulan back to her family home.

She hadn’t returned since they got married—it had been two years already.

After coming back, it would be the perfect time to collect chestnuts and pick August melons and schisandra berries in the mountains.

Thinking about all this, Lin Heng drifted off to sleep. When he woke up, it was already past two.

He looked at his watch, then at his daughter sleeping beside him.

Getting up, he drank a glass of water. He’d been eating too many jujubes lately—too much internal heat, and now he had a bit of a nosebleed.

“What are you planning for this afternoon?” Xiulan asked, looking at Lin Heng. She hadn’t fallen asleep—just rested on the mat.

“I told you before, didn’t I? I’m planning to build a wooden cabin over there. I’m going to check out the spot today. Wanna come with me?”

He had already bought a diesel chainsaw to prep for building the cabin. Now that the grain was harvested and things were calmer, he could call his dad to help once he picked a site.

“Sure, I’ll go gather some grass for the hog badgers and musk deer,” Xiulan nodded.

By 3:30, the two of them took their daughter and Xiongba up the mountain. Lin Heng brought his bow and slingshot too.

If they came across any game today, he’d definitely give it a lesson.

They reached Red Maple Mountain, sweating all over, but once they entered the woods it was much cooler.

Lin Heng used a towel to wipe Xiaoxia’s sweat, then wiped his own. Each of the three had a towel—new ones Lin Heng had just bought.

“Daddy, look at all the ants!” Xiaoxia said curiously, pointing at a line of ants moving house on the ground.

“Don’t touch it, it will bite your hand,” Lin Heng warned, and Xiao Xia quickly pulled her hand back.

After resting for a while, Lin Heng stood up and said, “Wife, where do you think would be a good spot for the wooden house? Once it’s built, we can live in it this fall.”

“Let’s look higher up; this area isn’t suitable. I think the piece where we planted the dendrobium looks good,” Xiu Lan glanced around; the current area was a bit too steep.

Lin Heng nodded. “I was thinking the same. It’s not far from the stream and it’s quite flat.”

They continued forward, with Xiong Ba happily running around in the woods. Lin Heng kept an eye out but didn’t spot any game.

Before long, they arrived at the area where the iron-clad dendrobium was planted, which was close to the stream and had considerable moisture.

“These dendrobiums are really alive,” Xiu Lan said, surprised as she looked at the dendrobiums on the tree trunks.

Most of them had survived, and some even had new shoots. This was something she hadn’t expected. When Lin Heng first planted the dendrobium, she didn’t have much hope, thinking it was just a trial for him.

“They were bound to survive because the environment where we dug them up is very similar to this one,” Lin Heng smiled.

With these dendrobiums thriving, they would bloom in May or June next year. Once the seeds were harvested, Lin Heng could try expanding the cultivation scale and continue to study cultivation techniques.

After observing the dendrobiums, Lin Heng and Xiu Lan walked around the woods. Eventually, they decided to build the wooden house a bit further west from where the dendrobiums were planted.

The location was about 300 meters from the stream, and by cutting down the trees in front, they would have a full view of both banks of the river. It was an ideal spot.

The area behind and to the west was filled with tall maple trees, and at the foot of the mountain, there were yellow locusts. In autumn, the view would surely be picturesque. Having a barbecue with the family in such an environment, eating while enjoying the scenery, would be a joy.

Once the spot was chosen, Lin Heng made a detailed plan. A small temporary wooden house, about 50-60 square meters, would be sufficient.

Lin Heng then searched the woods for some game but had no luck. Not only did he fail to find anything, but he also got stung by a hot pepper, leaving a small bump on the back of his hand.

They headed down the mountain and collected mulberry leaves and Chinese scholar tree leaves to feed the Lin Musk and the pig badger. Lin Heng spent an hour playing by the stream with his wife and daughter, and only when the sun began to set did they head back home.

It was already past six when Lin Heng was walking along the road with his wife and child. Suddenly, they heard the loud sound of a horn.

Looking back, Lin Heng saw a red motorcycle speeding toward them, with three young men riding on it.

Lin Heng immediately recognized the rider as Zhao Hu, the village head’s son, but he didn’t pay much attention. He continued walking with his daughter on the roadside, heading home.

However, many villagers nearby were curious and looked over at the motorcycle.

With a screech, Zhao Hu abruptly stopped the motorcycle and parked it next to Lin Heng. He grinned and said, “Lin Heng, what do you think of my motorcycle?”

On the back of the motorcycle sat Jin Hai and Liu Sheng, both looking proud, as if they had recently made a lot of money.

(End of this chapter)