Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Dividing the Land

“Fourth, what should we do?”

Qi Ercai looked at Qi Quanjin.

Qi Quanjin scratched his head, “Let’s first take note of what was delivered! Later, we can ask the government which families lost children, and during the festivals, we can return some things!”

The Qi Family has no custom of taking things from others for free; if there is receiving, there must be giving.

Qi Ercai nodded after hearing this, “For now, that’s all we can do.”

Yi Meng and Ai Zhaodi stayed back to help count the delivered items with the help of a few young boys, recording everything down before sending them to the warehouse, whether to eat or use, depending on the household’s decision.

The Qi Family’s noodle stall kept running as usual. Surprisingly, business was even better than during market days, though nobody could tell if it was because people genuinely missed the food or another reason.

As time passed, the Qi Family realized the news had spread in town that they found the kidnapper and saved the children. People thought well of them, and the taste of their noodles and dumplings, so they came here whenever they wanted to eat.

Especially the families who had received some items previously, they’d almost come every other day.

The Qi Family was quite helpless but had no reason to chase them away.

The days went by one by one until March finally arrived.

As March began, the weather warmed up day by day.

The snow on the ground started melting, and by mid-March, except for some shaded spots where the sun didn’t reach, there was no sign of snow anywhere else.

Qi Zheng, accompanied by his children and grandchildren, went back to the purchased land again, along with three families from the courtyard, even Ji Hu and his group tagged along.

Once the snow melted, that patch of waterlogged area was fully exposed.

The spring breeze blew through, creating ripples on the water surface, and occasionally a bubble appeared.

“There are quite a few fish here!”

Qi Quanjin stood by the shore, looked at the water, and smiled, “Let’s take good care of them, and by the end of the year, we can fish again.”

“Indeed!”

Qi Ercai also wore a cheerful smile.

Thanks to the frozen fish they salvaged earlier, the Qi Family’s noodle stall made quite a profit.

However, there were no frozen fish left in the warehouse, so now the noodle stall switched from fishball noodles to meatball noodles.

The flavor was completely different from the fish soup, yet it didn’t stop people from liking it.

“Dad, can we start building houses now?”

Qi Dafu stood next to Qi Zheng.

Qi Zheng grabbed some slightly damp soil and nodded, “We can. Let’s see where it’s best to build them!”

These words brought great joy to everyone.

Although they had places to live now, it wasn’t their own houses. Except for the Qi Family, the others eagerly awaited to build their own homes.

“Fourth, take out the blueprint we drew before, let’s divide the areas.”

Following Qi Zheng’s call, Qi Quanjin quickly took out an oil paper package from his bosom, inside was the rough layout of the land they’d drawn earlier.

Qi Quanjin introduced, “You can choose from this side of the path.”

With Qi Quanjin’s introduction, everyone looked at the blueprint and then at the muddy ground.

Mr. Zhou Sr. asked, “Fourth, do you have any thoughts? We few families can’t buy much land, so you all choose first, and then sell us the rest.”

The other two elders nodded repeatedly.

The land wasn’t purchased by them, and with just their little silver, they could barely afford three or two acres at most.

That didn’t even include the cost of building houses.

Qi Quanjin replied with a smile, “You can owe the money for the land first; use your money for building houses.”

The Qi Family had already helped them so much that borrowing money for building houses might cause issues instead.

The three elders didn’t speak but looked to Qi Zheng.

The head of the Qi Family, the elder, was still around, and they needed his nod of approval.

Qi Zheng looked over and scolded irritably, “Why are you all looking at me? Let the second and fourth decide.”

“Hahaha! Brother Qi really is enjoying life!”

“Indeed, each of your sons is more capable than the last.”

The others praised continuously, bringing a constant smile to Qi Zheng’s face.

Seeing everyone had no objections, Qi Quanjin gestured along the path, “Our family plans to build our houses along the roadside. What about you? Do you want to do the same or move further in?”

“My family will do the same as yours.”

Mr. Wang Sr. said.

Mr. Zhou Sr. and Mr. Sun Sr. had no objections.

As for Ji Hu and the junior scholars, they had even less to say.

They had saved some money over the winter, but as for buying land, that was out of the question; even constructing a simple straw hut was all they aimed for, just a place to live would suffice.

“Then we should all build our houses along the roadside.”

Qi Quanjin wasn’t surprised that everyone agreed to this proposal.

With the building sites decided, the next step was for each family to determine how much land they wanted.

The three families had more silver than those in the small courtyard, but they didn’t buy much, two acres per family. Besides house construction, they could also have land to farm.

Any more than that, they simply couldn’t afford.

As for Ji Hu and his group, Qi Quanjin had already discussed with them: half an acre for each family to build houses, enclose a courtyard, and grow some vegetables in it.

If they wanted to farm more, they had to earn money themselves to buy more land.

“Wasteland costs six taels of silver per acre, everyone just needs to sign an IOU with our family. As for building houses, once you’ve decided on the style and materials, we can purchase together to bargain for a better price.”

Qi Quanjin put away the blueprint.

Everyone had already contemplated what kind of houses they wanted to build.

The junior scholar was the first to speak, “Our few families decided to first build some thatch houses to live in.”

The others nodded repeatedly.

Ji Hu raised his hand and said, “Our families also discussed it; we’ll build straw huts together first, and whoever has money in the future can separate out their own courtyard.”

After the ordeal of escape and a winter living together, the few people who fled from Yongping Village decided to continue living together.

Luckily, amongst them, only Mrs. Lai Sr. was an elderly woman, so there was no concern about gossip.

The junior scholar and his group originally planned the same, but then considering some had children and others did not, they finally chose to build separate houses.

They divided as such but would still work together.

Now they all felt like one family, with fewer formalities.

Qi Quanjin glanced at Qi Zheng, seeing the elder had no objections, he agreed to it.

The houses for the Zhou, Sun, and Wang families were arranged similarly.

Finally, Qi Quanjin suggested they first build earthen houses and thatch huts, so they wouldn’t have to worry about wind leaks during winter.

There was yellow clay just across the path, which was convenient to use.

It’s fortunate that Liu Qinghe was kind enough to directly inform them about the differences in land quality on either side of the path, otherwise, if they had bought all the wasteland on the opposite side, opening land for farming would have been a monumental task.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep