Ji Rongxia said to his eldest brother, “This time, we need to go to Qingyan Village, Tongdong Village, Heshui Village, Chengjia Village, and Touhuai Village, where your fulang’s family lives.”

Actually, there were also two households in Yaojia Village—where Yao Tianlan lived—that wanted to sell their land, but Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin tacitly excluded them from the list.

“Tongdong Village is closest to the county seat. Let’s go check it out first. Since it’s nearby, it’ll be more convenient for you to come inspect the fields later,” Ji Ronghu said after a moment’s thought.

He knew the villages in this area so well that as soon as Ji Rongxia mentioned a name, he knew exactly where to go first.

Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin naturally followed his lead and headed to Tongdong Village first. The three of them set off in the direction of Tongdong Village.

The donkey cart couldn’t carry all three of them at once, so they took turns riding. Ji Ronghu was worried about his brother-in-law’s legs and thought about letting him stay on the cart the whole time to spare him the trouble of walking. But seeing that Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia didn’t seem to mind, Ji Ronghu found it hard to bring it up— It would have seemed as though he looked down on his brother-in-law, so he simply swallowed his words.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, they arrived at Tongdong Village. The village looked quite large, nestled at the foot of a range of rolling mountains.

Before they even entered Tongdong Village, Ji Ronghu began to explain: “These mountains are called Changqing Mountains; they’re a range of rocky hills. Don’t let the rocks fool you—the fields at the foot of the mountains are actually very fertile. This area at the base is also flat. Back in the previous dynasty, this was already a large village. When people in our county build houses, many come here to buy stones. Look over there—there’s even a stone workshop.”

Ji Rongxia nodded repeatedly as he listened: “No wonder this village is so large.”

Ji Ronghu continued, “That stone workshop is run by the Wei family from their village. The Wei and Lu families are the wealthiest in the village. The Wei family has a gentleman who’s a juren living in the prefectural city—you might even know him, brother-in-law.”

“I don’t actually know him, but I’ve heard of Mr. Wei’s reputation.” Gu Tangjin smiled but didn’t elaborate. Ji Rongxia immediately realized it probably wasn’t a good reputation; otherwise, Tangjin wouldn’t have kept quiet about it. With that, Ji Rongxia felt there was nothing left to see in Changqing Mountain.

The summer harvest had just ended, and everyone was exhausted. The village and its surroundings were unusually quiet; anyone who could rest was resting, with few people wandering about. They entered the village and, after a while, found a group of children playing freely. One little ger wasn’t playing with the others; instead, he was crouched to one side, writing with a twig.

“Hey, kid, do you know where Lu Wulang’s house is?” Ji Rongxia asked the boy scribbling on the ground. The boy looked up and eyed them.

The group of playing children stopped their games and stared at the strangers with a mix of curiosity and wariness.

“We’re here to buy some land—we’d like to take a look at Lu Wulang’s fields,” Gu Tangjin said with a smile.

Hearing this, the ger slowly stood up: “Lu Wulang has moved away. He entrusted the sale of the fields to my grandfather. I’ll take you to find him.”

With that, the young ger ran off.

The three had no choice but to follow the ger. They arrived at a house built with a mix of stone and wood—the foundation was stone, the upper structure was made of wood and mud, and the roof was covered with tiles. The house had only five rooms, but the courtyard was vast, more than twice the size of the five rooms combined.

“I remember now—this is where Village Head Xu lives. I’ve even helped build cabinets here before.” The moment Ji Ronghu stepped into this rather unique courtyard, it all came back to him.

As carpenters, they didn’t just do business in the county seat. If people in the countryside wanted to commission some finely crafted cabinets or similar items, and there were no suitable carpenters in the surrounding villages, they would hire them.

When Xu Lizheng’s eldest grandson got married, they were the ones invited to build the cabinets.

Ji Rongxia felt a bit puzzled. The Wei and Lu families were both prominent clans, so why did this village head bear the surname Xu? It wasn’t that he was overthinking it; he was certain the Wei and Lu families must have their eyes on the village head’s position.

The three didn’t have to wait long before a tall, thin old man with a slightly hunched back emerged.

“Young Carpenter Ji, oh my! I heard you were coming. My little grandson was worried you might be kidnappers—that’s just too funny. It’s as if the floodwaters have washed away the Dragon King’s temple!” Village Chief Xu invited the three to sit down with a warm smile.

Ji Ronghu was pleasantly surprised that Village Head Xu still remembered him: “No, thanks. We’re here to take a look at Lu Wulang’s land. This is my younger brother, Xia-ger, and my brother-in-law, Xiucai Gu. They’re looking to buy some land.”

“Right, right. I’ll take you to have a look. That Lu family boy has had it rough. After the family split, he didn’t even have a place to stay, so he went back to his wife’s side. As for that land… I don’t even know how to describe it. I’ll take you there, and you’ll see for yourselves.” Xu Lizheng sighed and led them straight to the plot of land the Lu family had allotted to Lu Wulang.

As soon as they saw it, they understood exactly why Xu Lizheng had said they’d understand once they saw it.

There was no doubt these two plots were fertile fields, and they were right next to each other—square and neatly arranged. But on the side of the field near the foot of the mountain, there were actually several grave mounds.

Some families didn’t mind having graves on their land; it wasn’t uncommon for farmers to bury their dead on their own plots. But this small patch of land didn’t have just one or two graves—there were seven or eight of them!!!

Even if they weren’t bothered by that, it still wouldn’t do.

Moreover, that plot looked like it hadn’t been tended in a long time—it was somewhat overgrown, with plenty of weeds sprouting in what should have been good farmland.

The only redeeming factor was that the graves were buried fairly close together, and they didn’t encroach on the plot farther from the foot of the mountain.

No wonder these two fertile plots ended up in Lu Wulang’s hands.

“Ah, these graves… they’re all for the Lu family’s… concubines and maidservants—the ones not buried in the ancestral cemetery,” Xu Lizheng muttered vaguely. Xu Lizheng didn’t think much of the Lu family. The Xu surname was the dominant one in Tongdong Village; more than half the households bore the name Xu. The Wei and Lu families were both newcomers. Neither family was particularly meticulous in their affairs, and relations among the three families were far from cordial. The Xu family had produced two Xiucai and had a large household, so since he wasn’t afraid of the Lu family at all, Xu Lizheng was finally able to speak his mind.

Xu Lizheng pointed toward the foot of the mountain: “Lu Wulang’s mother is buried right here. When the family split up, the Lu family used this against him, and Lu Wulang had no choice but to settle for these two plots of land. Now he doesn’t even have a place to live; he’s staying with his wife at his wife’s natal family home.”

But for a married man to live at his wife’s parents’ home—well, it’s like living under someone else’s roof. It’s no easy life. Lu Wulang and his family are just waiting to sell the fields so they can build a house of their own.

Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia understood immediately: Lu Wulang had completely severed ties with the Lu family, adopting a stance of never seeing each other again.

“If you’re interested, buy the plot out front. It’s a good piece of land—fourteen taels of silver will do. You can even plant a bit on the inner plot; it won’t be a problem since they’re not adjacent,” said Village Head Xu. “But if you find it unlucky, just forget it.”

Over the past few days, several families have come to look at the land. Upon seeing the plot inside, they either found it unlucky or used it as an excuse to drive down the price. Some went so far as to try to haggle the price down to ten taels of silver, even hoping to farm the inner plot as well.

Their abacus clattered away, but they weren’t even as decent as the families who genuinely found it unlucky—at least those turned around and left right away, without wasting anyone’s time.

The Lu family isn’t well-off either. If they sell the land too cheaply, the young couple won’t have much silver left to make a living there.

They were counting on that silver to build a house.

“Fourteen taels?” Ji Rongxia was a bit surprised. He’d inquired about the prices of fertile fields; most were fifteen taels or more, and the better ones were even more expensive. “Let’s think it over. I wonder whose fields are in this area?” Gu Tangjin didn’t haggle directly but said instead.

As soon as Xu Lizheng heard this, he knew they were interested in buying the land. He laughed and said, “Right, right, right. Buying land is no small matter; you should think it over carefully. Most of the plots around here belong to our Xu family. Precisely because these are scattered plots—none of them adjoin the Lu family’s fields, and they’re quite far from the Lu estate—the one near the foot of the mountain is actually the worst land the Lu family owns. That’s why it’s been used for burials.”

Xu Lizheng glanced at Ji Ronghu. He knew that the Ji family’s craftsmanship and reputation were well-regarded in the area.

After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “Lu Wulang won’t go below thirteen taels. Anything less than that is out of the question. If you want to buy it, I’ll call Lu Wulang over when the time comes, and he can draw up the deed right away. Then you just need to go to the county office to get it processed. If you can’t farm it yourselves, you can entrust it to Lu Wulang—his wife’s family is from Qingyan Village, which is close by. The two villages are right next to each other, and they’re planning to build a house on the border between them.”

Of course, prime locations in the center of the village wouldn’t be allocated to an outsider like Lu Wulang.

Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia were already somewhat tempted by the idea, and hearing this only made them more eager.

If Lu Wulang turned out to be a decent fellow, it would be quite suitable to entrust him with the care of the land and pay him a little silver each year.

As for whether it was inauspicious or not, first of all, this plot of land on the outskirts was excellent, and secondly, what land in the world hasn’t had people buried in it? If they were truly so particular, there’d be nowhere left to live.

“Thirteen taels it is. We’ll come back at this same hour tomorrow, and we’d like to meet Lu Wulang then,” Ji Rongxia declared. Xu Lizheng was delighted to hear this: “Alright, it’s settled then.”

After they left Tongdong Village, Ji Ronghu remarked, “The land is quite good, but given Lu Wulang and the Lu family’s character, the Lu family might cause trouble.” The land was indeed good, but Ji Ronghu still had some concerns.

“But it really is quite cheap, and that plot out there is good too,” Ji Rongxia agreed. The price was indeed excellent, and its proximity to the county seat made it convenient for them to travel back and forth.

“Don’t worry. All the surrounding fields belong to the Xu family. They won’t let the Lu family cause trouble—otherwise, how would they have held onto the village head’s position?” Gu Tangjin reminded them.

Ji Rongxia realized, “Oh, no wonder you asked who owned the surrounding fields, Tangjin. So that’s what you meant.”

There was one more thing Gu Tangjin hadn’t mentioned: he was, after all, a Xiucai now, and the Lu family had fallen on hard times.

They had no reason to fear them.

“Let’s head to Qingyan Village next. It’s just to the east, not far from here,” Ji Rongxia said, pointing eastward.

As the village head Xu had mentioned earlier, Lu Wulang’s wife’s family lived in Qingyan Village.

Sure enough, after a little over the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they arrived at Qingyan Village. The Hong family in Qingyan Village wanted to sell a few plots of dry land to trade for paddy fields.

As soon as Ji Rongxia and the others entered the village, they came across a group of women gathered together making straw sandals.

Upon hearing that they had come to look at the land, an auntie who was distantly related to the Hong family led them to the Hongs’ home. The old patriarch of the Hong family took them to see the land.

Seeing that they were young, he wasn’t particularly warm toward them.

“These are the only plots we have. They’re not bad—take a look if you like. But we’re thinking of selling them all as one large tract. We won’t part with it for less than forty taels of silver.”

Gu Tangjin took a quick look. The plots the old man from the Hong family pointed out were, when added together, only twice the size of the fields they’d seen belonging to Lu Wulang.

He crouched down, scooped up a handful of soil, and examined it. Sure enough, the soil’s fertility didn’t seem as good as the previous plot. Forty taels of silver seemed a bit much.

However, this plot was closer to the river, and the fields were contiguous, making it convenient for drawing water, irrigation, and cultivation.

“How about a discount? Would thirty-five taels work?” Gu Tangjin felt the land was worth no more than that.

Old Master Hong’s face hardened as he waved his hands repeatedly. “No, no, absolutely not. We’ve worked hard to cultivate this land. Forty taels of silver is the absolute bottom line. Go look around the surrounding villages—you won’t find a more suitable plot of land than this one.”

Since they couldn’t agree on a price, and Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin weren’t particularly fond of the plot anyway, they didn’t linger and left shortly thereafter.

Seeing them leave like that, with no intention of buying the land, Old Master Hong spat out, “They don’t have the money but still want to buy land? What are they trying to pull—pretending to be big shots?”

Sang Erqiao, who had rushed over upon hearing that someone wanted to buy land, overheard this and couldn’t help but think to herself, “Forty taels for this land? That’s a rip-off! It would be strange if they didn’t haggle over the price.”

Sigh. They’d left too quickly—she’d been hoping to show them the land her husband owned in Tongdong Village. Having come out only to find no one there, she trudged back home dejectedly.

Sang Erqiao and Lu Xiaoshun were currently living at the Sang household. They hadn’t saved much money and were counting on selling the land to build a house.

“Erqiao, you’re here? I was just about to go look for you. You know Carpenter Ji, right? His ger and brother-in-law want to buy some farmland. My grandfather asked around—apparently, his brother-in-law is a Xiucai, though he stopped studying because of a bad leg. They aren’t trying to drive the price down; they just asked me to let you know. They’ll come meet with you tomorrow at the same time.” Xu Jiasan ran over and, upon reaching Sang Erqiao, lowered his voice to speak.

“Really?” As soon as Sang Erqiao heard this, she knew it was the three men from earlier. She hadn’t expected them to have already gone to look at the land in Tongdong Village.

Xu Sanlang said, “That’s right. I was actually looking for you and Xiao Shun, but I didn’t expect to run into you like this. I’ve passed on the message. I’ll head back now.”

“Alright, alright, thank you so much,” Sang Erqiao said.

Xu Jiasan gave a chuckle, waved his hand, and left.

Meanwhile, Ji Rongxia, Gu Tangjin, and Ji Ronghu went one after another to Heshui Village, Chengjia Village, and Touhuai Village—the hometown of Ji Rongxia’s brother’s wife.

They went first to Touhuai Village, where his brother-in-law’s parents lived. The farmland there was actually quite good, but when the Qian family heard they’d come to buy land, they immediately rushed over to ask questions. 

Mrs. Wu, the matriarch of the Qian family, strolled over with Qian Laosi. Mrs. Wu took Ji Ronghu’s hand and said, “Xiao Hu, if you’re going to buy land here, that’s truly wonderful. It’s not convenient for you to look after it from the county seat, so it’s perfect for our family to take care of it. Isn’t that better than hiring outsiders?”

Qian Laosi chimed in from the side, “That’s right. We may not be good at much else, but we’re experts at farming. Brother Ji, you’re not being honest with us. Last time you said you didn’t have enough money at home to support so many people, and you asked us for so much grain—and now you can buy land.”

Ji Ronghu was being dragged along by the Wu family, and he was already breaking a sweat.

“Oh, come on, don’t say that. It’s my husband who wants to buy the land; my brother can’t make that decision,” Ji Rongxia said, leaning against Gu Tangjin’s side with a coy, dependent air.

Gu Tangjin, in perfect sync, darkened his expression and said with feigned displeasure, “It is my Gu family who wishes to purchase this land. It is so hot today; if you two have no other business, please go home first.”

Seeing that he wasn’t giving an old woman like her any face, Mrs. Wu was just about to put on airs and say a few words. But then she heard Ji Rongxia say, “Husband, I don’t think this land is very good. Let’s just go.” If you won’t leave, then we’ll leave!

He had actually come here partly to gauge the Qian family’s reaction. Now it was clear they definitely couldn’t buy this land!!!

The three of them hurriedly left without even finishing their inspection of the fields, leaving the sellers furious and deeply dissatisfied with the Qian family.

“Hmph, what right does a cripple have to put on airs with me? I’m his senior, after all,” Mrs. Wu cursed bitterly.

Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin left Touhuai Village and headed to Heshui Village, only to find that the Wang family’s land had already been sold.

As for the Lu family’s land in the same village—one paddy field and two dry fields—there were many interested buyers, but since the Lu family was selling to pay for medical treatment, they kept the price very low.

The fields were well-maintained, but since Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin weren’t locals, they couldn’t simply buy them all up—even though they desperately wanted to. Consequently, they focused their negotiations on purchasing the paddy field.

There were few paddy fields and many dry fields near Qingchi County, and few families cultivated paddy fields, so paddy fields were expensive, and consequently, there were fewer people competing for this particular plot. Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin purchased the paddy field for eighteen taels. After receiving the deed, the Lu family—desperate for cash—agreed to accompany them to the county office to finalize the transaction once they returned from inspecting the land in Chengjia Village.

Chengjia Village was the farthest from the county seat, and the fields there were of average quality. Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin realized that buying this land would be quite inconvenient, so they decided against it.

They detoured back to Chengjia Village to pick up Old Lu, then returned to the county seat and went to the county office.

They went straight to see Constable Tao, the court clerk, and quickly got the matter settled. After all that running around, it was nearly 3:00 PM.

Gu Tangjin invited Ji Rongxia to a restaurant for a meal.

Gu Chuncai and Yao Tianlan had already set aside a meal for them. It was just the right time to serve it.

The table was laden with sweet syrup, fragrant braised pork, cold marinated pork, vinegar-braised Chinese cabbage, and the eighttreasure porridge Ji Rongxia had left behind before heading out that morning.

Ji Rongxia had placed this eight-treasure porridge in well water to chill; now it had set slightly, making it taste almost like a dessert. Soft, chewy glutinous rice, sweet red dates, and crunchy chestnuts…

After running for so long and being out in the sun for so long, taking a bite of this cool eight-treasure porridge made them feel completely at ease. The three of them had been hungry for ages, so they didn’t bother with formalities—they just dug in and ate with gusto.

Yao Tianlan poured water for the three of them. Seeing how heartily they were eating, she couldn’t help but ask, “Xia-ger, didn’t you bring some food? Why didn’t you eat something along the way to tide you over?”

Ji Rongxia swallowed the food in his mouth: “We just got so caught up in things that we forgot. It was too hot; we couldn’t eat much on the way. We were focused on finishing the inspection of the fields as soon as possible, so we didn’t get around to eating.”

Out in the field, Ji Rongxia hadn’t had much of an appetite at all; he’d been completely focused on getting the work done. But once he got home, it was a different story—everything tasted especially delicious!

The little master was right—the dining environment really does make a huge difference to diners.

Gu Tangjin smiled and said, “All that hard work paid off—we’ve bought the land. We now have a deed for this paddy field right here.” As he spoke, he placed the deed on the table for Yao Tianlan and Gu Chuncai to see.

Yao Tianlan and Gu Chuncai could hardly believe their eyes.

Yao Tianlan wiped her hands on the hem of her shirt and carefully picked up the thin deed, examining it from every angle. “It happened so fast. Old Man, take a look! We’ve worked our whole lives and never managed to get a single plot of land, but Xia-ger has managed to get one so quickly.”

Although Gu Chuncai didn’t say a word, his gaze never strayed from the deed.

How wonderful. From now on, Xia-ger and Tangjin won’t have to worry—at least they have a piece of land. As long as there aren’t natural disasters or wars, they won’t have to fear starving to death.

Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia said nothing, eating in silence while the two elders stared at that deed until their eyes were practically seeing stars.