Chapter 329: Chapter 328: Unmoved

Under Qin Yao’s persuasion, Liu the carpenter, who was already tempted, found it hard to resist.

He asked Qin Yao if she was free to go with him to see the abandoned old houses.

“I’m free right now.” Qin Yao finished her vegetable soup in two gulps, put down the empty bowl, stood up, and waved at Liu the carpenter, “Come on, I’ll take you to see an abandoned house at the east entrance of the village first!”

Leading the way, Qin Yao said, “This area is big enough with great views, directly facing our Liu Family Village and the stationery factory. It’s close to both the factory and your sunflower field.”

Liu the carpenter’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t even seen the place yet, but already felt it was what he wanted.

Looking up, well now, wasn’t this just those two rows of earth houses below his family’s sunflower field?

The homeowner froze to death inside the house during a snowstorm last winter, with no children, relatives, or friends; naturally, the house was taken back by the clan.

Because this place is too far from the village well, with only a thin mountain spring nearby, daily water use is extremely inconvenient.

The roof was also crushed by winter snow and has not been repaired since. It has been abandoned for two years and now is home to various small animals of the mountains.

But this is not the main issue; the main issue is that the road leading up here is hard to travel, with no bridge, requiring crossing a stone beach.

It’s fine for them to come and go for farming, but during harvest when carrying heavy loads across the stone beach, one must be very careful, or they’ll slip and fall into the river.

Liu the carpenter shook his head, lost interest, and his heart sank.

Seeing Qin Yao still wanting to go up, he quickly called her back, “Miss Qin, don’t bother going up. My family’s sunflower field is right here. I’ve walked this path countless times and am more familiar with this place than you. It’s simply uninhabitable.”

Qin Yao wasn’t surprised by Liu the carpenter’s reaction at all. She waved, still smiling, “Come up first, take a look, let me explain.”

“What’s there to explain?” He had seen the view from the top of the slope many times and had only ever hated how steep it was whenever he had to hoe the ground.

But Qin Yao was persistent, so Liu the carpenter had no choice but to carefully cross the stone beach and walk another thirty meters to reach the flat land where the abandoned houses were located.

“Look.” Qin Yao pointed at the river in front of them and the bustling stationery factory across it, “Isn’t the village planning to build a water mill together? Isn’t the location being planned right here in front of the stone beach?

Before the stone beach, there’s a natural high ridge where water flows from above into the large stone beach, turning deep water into shallow.

Liu the carpenter of course knew that the drop here provided the best power for waterwheels. He nodded, “Yes, it’s planned to be built here.”

Once the stationery factory completes the order for ten thousand book boxes and has some free time, the workers will start building the water mill, expected to be finished before winter arrives.

Qin Yao said, “With this water mill, our location now becomes the closest to the water mill in the whole village.”

Initially, the villagers wanted to put the waterwheel in the pond by the village well. It’s closer, and more convenient for everyone.

However, after Qin Yao’s on-site measurement, this river section is more level and lacks power. Considering future foundational infrastructure layout of the entire village, they finally decided to move the water mill to the village entrance.

And this foundational infrastructure layout was proposed by Qin Yao.

The village chief and clan leader never thought that their village could possibly expand.

But looking at the stationery factory currently employing a hundred workers, expansion didn’t seem so impossible.

Qin Yao considered the future population growth of the village. The previous chaotic times caused a sharp drop in population, but now the world is peaceful, and this year’s newborns have increased by twenty percent compared to last year. If this continues, there will certainly be a population explosion phase in the future.

With more people, housing demand will increase, and now, without real estate speculation, manually building houses doesn’t require much cost.

As long as the elders at home are not excessively stingy, they will leave a room for newlyweds, so additional house building is inevitable.

But now, villagers’ houses are all concentrated in one place, and there’s no chance for exterior expansion in the future.

Like the house of Liu the carpenter—the current house, even if rebuilt, wouldn’t be enough to live in, because the land is just as big, and the number of children needing their own space is increasing.

“Look at this flat land now, it’s much bigger than your current area.” Qin Yao suggested, “If the road is bad, just fix it. Building a wooden bridge isn’t hard for you.”

“The key is that there’ll be a water mill here soon, it’s close to our factory, and the land is big enough. Since it’s an abandoned house, buying it won’t cost much silver, it’s cheap!”

“And, it’s a stand-alone house, your daughter-in-law won’t have to fight with the neighbor’s wife over that little vegetable patch anymore.” Qin Yao teased.

Liu the carpenter still waved it off, “You say it so beautifully, but that’s just what you say. Besides, my family doesn’t like quiet; we love the bustle.”

Qin Yao asked, “How about building a teahouse then? You could sell tea and seeds, adding an extra livelihood for the family?”

“This could be the first house as you enter the village.” Qin Yao emphasized.

Liu the carpenter simply didn’t believe it, repeatedly waving it off, “Nonsense! Impossible! No one would come to our countryside to drink tea!”

“Fine.” Qin Yao replied with a confident smile, “Then you’ll regret it. The workers are starting work, I’m heading back.”

Turning around, she jogged towards the stationery factory, covering the distance in under two minutes.

Liu the carpenter sighed, not bothering to wait for him. His body didn’t quite match the energy of young people anymore. He walked slowly and was extra cautious crossing the river, the water just reaching over his ankles, careful as can be.

But after finishing his work in the afternoon and returning home, Liu the carpenter couldn’t stop thinking about the teahouse Qin Yao mentioned earlier.

But how could that be possible? Which villagers would have spare money to drink tea?

If Qin Yao were there, she would tell him: can’t we think a bit bigger? Invite outsiders to come here for tea.

“Sir, there’s a visiting card for you!”

The guard, who just returned from provisioning in the town, walked swiftly into Qin Yao’s home and presented an exquisitely decorated visiting card to Gongliang Liao, who was in the living room helping his student practice calligraphy.

Gongliang Liao tapped the table with his fingertip, reminding Liu Ji to focus on his writing and not look around.

He only nodded at the guard, indicating he should leave the card without even glancing at it.

Liu Ji couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, aren’t you going to look at your visiting card?”

Gongliang Liao glared at him with some disbelief.

But thinking that this was a student he personally accepted, a country bumpkin unaware of social etiquette, it was understandable.

He impatiently gestured to the dedicated Qi Xian, “Explain it to him.”

Qi Xian put down the calligraphy brush, Liu Ji curiously looked at him. A pair of peach blossom eyes, looking particularly heartfelt when focused, gave Qi Xian a chill.

“Don’t look at me.” Qi Xian diverted his gaze, then said, “We are guests in your home already. An experienced person wouldn’t send a visiting card at this time.”

“In such a hurry, they’re surely not sincere about visiting the teacher. It’s just some opportunists trying to associate themselves with the teacher’s fame.”

Liu Ji’s lips twitched slightly, feeling insulted!

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep