Chapter 163: Homestead

Yan Yu took one look and immediately thought of a phrase: “Well-spaced yet orderly!”

Looking back at the layout of their old village, it was exactly the same.

Each household was close but not crowded together, arranged in twos and threes, with the ones in front and behind slightly offset.

She wanted to say that the village chief’s design was quite land-consuming.

But then again, who cared? There was plenty of wasteland!

Village Chief Luo continued, “This land is quite solid, but it’s best to tamp it down a bit. Yan Lao’er, where do you want to build your house?”

Yan Lao’er replied, “Village Chief, anywhere is fine for my family. It’s all our village, it doesn’t matter where we build.”

“How can it be the same?” Village Chief Luo frowned. “Your house is on the edge. If something important comes up and you need to consult with the scholar, you’d have to run a long way.”

“I’ve decided. Your house will be built in the eastern part of the center.” The village chief made the final call.

Then, he assigned a location for the threshing ground.

“Move the threshing ground a bit to the side. The north is close to the mountain, which blocks the wind and is at a higher elevation—perfect.”

“Plant a few trees near that big rock. A stone to anchor us, trees to take root—our people, young and old, will settle here and live a stable life from now on.”

Yan Lao’er looked at Village Chief Luo in a new light.

This man’s words weren’t just smooth—they actually made a lot of sense when you thought about them.

“Village Chief, what kind of trees should we plant?”

Village Chief Luo glanced at him with some disdain. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take some people into the forest later and see if we can dig up a couple of old locust trees.”

“Village Chief Grandpa, can we plant fruit trees instead? The fruit is tasty!” Yan Yu took advantage of her age, hoping to change the village chief’s mind.

Village Chief Luo was very patient with Yan Yu. He smiled kindly and said, “Your eldest uncle and older brother are going to study and become officials. We need to plant locust trees—it’s a good omen. The locust tree in our old village was very spiritual, protecting us all.”

Since it involved mysterious powers, Yan Yu wisely shut her mouth.

With the help of the villagers, the homestead east of the big rock was quickly mapped out.

The Yan family promptly drove their cart over and claimed the empty wasteland.

The Qi family’s old lady had Qi Da carry her on his back, sprinting over to grab the plot next to the Yan family. Cui Sister-in-law, on the other hand, was nearly losing her mind, wishing she could grab the whip and beat their slow donkey harder—why was it running so slowly?!

Not only did they lose to Qi Da, who carried his mother, but they even lost to that kid Luo Ertie. She was furious!

Luo Ertie successfully secured the spot to the right of the Yan family for his family.

“Wife, don’t worry.” Cui Langzhong said leisurely.

“You!” Cui Sister-in-law pointed at him, fuming. “Even the donkey takes after you! Always slow as hell!”

Meanwhile, Big Dog dashed like mad and secured the plot behind the Yan family for his mother.

Cui Sister-in-law’s frustration instantly turned into joy.

She slapped her thigh and exclaimed, “Ah! My Gouzi! Truly my good son! Hahaha! Your father’s lazy donkey is no match for my Gouzi!”

Big Dog: I’d really rather not be praised like this, Mom.

Xiao Gouzi, who ran a bit slower, had just arrived. The two brothers stood on their newly claimed land, panting and grinning at each other.

The villagers clustered around the eastern side, expanding outward from the Yan family as the center.

Liang Fengnian was feeling dejected.

Seeing his eldest grandson’s gloomy expression, Old Master Liang huffed and sent his daughter-in-law to fetch his son.

Liang Manshan was still measuring land when he heard his father needed him. He quickly excused himself and jogged back.

Old Master Liang, still fuming, ordered him to figure something out—trade plots, negotiate, do whatever it takes—just make sure the eldest grandson gets what he wants.

Liang Manshan took a quick walk around, soon coming up with an idea.

He gathered Village Chief Luo and others to designate homesteads west of the big rock.

In the end, the Liang family secured the very first plot on the western side. Although there was a large open space between them and the Yan family, it didn’t matter—they were still right across from each other.

Only then did Old Master Liang look satisfied. He urged his son to hurry up with measuring the land so they wouldn’t delay the farmland distribution.

His impatience and the way he immediately turned around to beam at his eldest grandson—the contrast was too obvious.

Liang Manshan wasn’t surprised and simply returned to work.

When Village Chief Luo continued mapping out the western and northern homesteads, he was careful—no one was allowed to claim land yet.

Everyone had to wait until the entire area was mapped out before drawing lots.

No one had any objections. If people had personal agreements, they could swap plots later. Since it was all wasteland, every spot was the same anyway.

Before he even started on the southern side, Village Chief Luo realized there was enough space already.

So, he simply left the south open.

He had some thoughts about it and planned to discuss them with the scholar when he had time.

—

Li Xuemei stood on their newly claimed homestead, feeling a mix of emotions.

Satisfaction. Anticipation.

And a strange sense of power, as if something was rising from the ground and flowing into her.

The deep, indescribable love that Chinese people have for land—intense and profound.

Yan Yu and her older siblings were picking up stones.

Every stone they collected was tossed into a large basket in the middle. They’d use them later when building the courtyard walls.

Yan Lao’er raked the ground lightly. If the rake hit resistance, he’d dig—most of the time, it was just half-buried rocks that needed to be cleared.

The three Qi brothers each held a wide wooden board, dragging them across the ground. Whenever they hit resistance, they’d pry the board up, making stones roll out.

Qi Da Niang and her two daughters were pulling weeds. The three of them were fast and efficient—once they finished their own area, they moved over to help the Yan family.

“Sister, take it easy. Make some hot water for everyone instead,” Qi Da Niang said naturally, taking the hoe from Li Xuemei and digging out a buried rock.

Honestly, this wasteland didn’t have many weeds—just a ton of rocks.

Li Xuemei sighed and turned to find a kettle.

Once the water boiled, Cui Niang tossed in a handful of wild chrysanthemums.

Li Xuemei called everyone over for a drink.

“Take a break. Have some water before continuing.”

Nearby families came over for a drink, but they weren’t willing to stop working.

They could see nightfall approaching and wanted to finish as much as possible.

Yan Lao’er had been battling stones the whole time. When Li Xuemei finally called him over, he looked up and noticed something.

“Wait, shouldn’t we clear a small area first and set up a temporary shelter?

This land is huge—if we clean everything before building houses, we’ll have to sleep outside for ages…”

Everyone froze.

Right! They’d been so focused on clearing stones that they forgot—they’d be sleeping here tonight!

With a shift in priorities, progress became much faster.

They found areas with fewer stones, leveled them a bit, and stomped them firm.

Then, they cut tree branches from the forest, tied them with hemp ropes, and stood them up. A straw mat went on top, another on the ground—a simple, airy shelter was ready.

Yan Yu glanced at their plain ox cart and missed the old double-decker bunk bed inside.

If they still had it, they could just park and sleep inside without all this effort.

Yan Lao’er’s shelters were different—shorter but more numerous.

While others carefully tied tree branches together, he just stacked them up.

His small, half-height shelters leaned against each other, sharing supports—pure efficiency.