Chen Changsheng almost laughed out of anger. They were all family, but when his predecessor was struggling, though they occasionally lent a hand, had any of them ever been truly generous?
If it weren’t for the sake of family, how could he have approached them first?
Letting them talk all at once, Chen Changsheng simply kept his mouth shut.
When their voices gradually died down, Chen Changsheng tapped his index knuckle lightly against the table and said in a deep voice,
"Uncles and brothers, the expenses for my future path in Martial Art will be immense. I’m only twenty-eight, so I definitely have to remarry, and I still have to raise four children.
"Besides, in all of Great Fog County, is there any field rent lower than fifteen percent? I remember it’s generally twenty to thirty percent, isn’t it?"
Seeing that they were still about to argue, Chen Changsheng didn’t bother to waste his breath and directly stated,
"Twenty percent. I believe there are plenty of people in the village who would want to tenant my fields at that rate!"
The men looked at each other in dismay. It was Chen Qing who chuckled awkwardly and spoke up first.
"Ah, Chang Sheng still wants to continue breaking through. That’s a good thing!
"Don’t you all agree? Once he breaks through to the Postnatal Realm, we might all benefit from it!
"In that case, Chang Sheng’s future expenses will indeed be huge. I have no problem with fifteen percent!"
Well, that was quite a drastic pivot! And a very realistic one!
In fact, although the Chen Family Village was very united against outsiders, they were never truly of one mind internally.
There was a good saying from his past life: "You’re afraid your brothers will live in hardship, but you’re also afraid they’ll end up driving a Range Rover!"
Placed in the Chen Family Village, the mentality was exactly the same.
The eight families quickly tenanted sixty acres of paddy fields from Chen Changsheng.
Glasses were clinked and exchanged, and the wine was rapidly consumed. While still sober, Chen Shan voiced his doubt.
"Chang Sheng! What do you plan to do with the remaining fields?"
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng slowly turned his wine cup, his gaze sweeping over the eyes of the eight men one by one before he spoke.
"Regarding Yellow Earth Ridge behind my house, the entire Southern Slope of Yellow Earth Mountain is in the hands of the nine of us. I want to use forty acres of paddy fields to exchange for the mountain land you hold!"
This was truly a good deal! Upon hearing this, all eight men were tempted.
Yellow Earth Ridge... it was said that a long, long time ago, it also had towering trees and dense forests.
But living off the mountain meant consuming the mountain. Over hundreds of years, the mountain closest to the village had long been chopped down until only weeds and brambles remained.
To make matters worse, the mountain terrain was steep, making it difficult even to clear land for terraced farming.
Aside from the occasional family building a house and going to the top of the ridge to quarry stone, its only remaining use was for cutting wild grass to take home for firing the stoves.
Paddy fields were a completely different story!
Chen Shuisheng was Chen Changsheng’s biological younger brother. He had been keeping quiet this whole time, but now he finally couldn’t hold back anymore. He stood up abruptly, looked Chen Changsheng straight in the eye, and spoke out of frustration at his brother’s lack of ambition.
"Chang Sheng, stop messing around!"
"Since I want to focus on Martial Art, I definitely have to grow medicinal herbs! This mountain ridge is close to my house, so I plan to first try planting Spiritual Medicine behind my courtyard!
"If it works, I will plant Spiritual Medicine all over Yellow Earth Ridge. When that time comes, whether I’m tending to the Spiritual Medicine or guarding the garden, it will be convenient!"
Chen Shuisheng still wanted to speak, so Chen Changsheng could only glare at him and say in a deep voice,
"Don’t worry! I have already sensed the bottleneck of the Late Stage. I figure in just a few years, I’ll be able to break through to the Postnatal Realm!"
The implication was clear: once he broke into the Postnatal Realm, what did this little bit of farmland count for?
Chen Shuisheng stopped protesting. Seeing this, the others immediately began discussing the details of the exchange with Chen Changsheng.
This was an incredibly good deal; they couldn’t wait to sign and affix their thumbprints right then and there, and then invite the Clan Leader to bear witness.
In fact, Chen Changsheng didn’t disappoint them either.
In just two days, the exchange was complete.
With forty acres of fertile farmland, Chen Changsheng traded for two thousand acres of barren mountain.
Both sides felt they had made a massive profit!
Some even muttered in their hearts that Spiritual Medicine simply couldn’t be grown in the Chen Family Village, and that he was just a fool! Even if he had become a Martial Artist, he was still that same foolish Chen Changsheng!
With the major matters settled, all that remained were the small mountain far away from the Chen Family Village and the storefront with a courtyard in town that hadn’t been dealt with.
The next day, Chen Changsheng rented the mountain to his oldest sister, Chen Nodding.
Three years for three taels of silver, but only for three years.
Though it was called renting, he was purely helping his sister. After all, her husband, Huang Shan, had no other skills besides farming and chopping firewood!
Afterward, he went to Chaoyang Town and found his wife’s older brother, He Sheng, who was setting up a street stall. He rented the courtyard with the storefront to him for thirty taels of silver over three years, with an option to pay in installments.
Another feast of wine and meat was laid out. Several brawny men from the clan who were on good terms with him—some infinitely close to becoming a Martial Artist and others who already were—quickly took their seats. Chen Changsheng spoke first.
"Fu Sheng, Chusheng, Shuisheng, Chang Feng, Changqing! I want to remodel the Southern Slope of Yellow Earth Mountain. Do you guys have time to help?"
"I have no problem with that!"
Ever since Chen Fusheng witnessed the benefits of tap water, a squat toilet, and a shower, he had recently been installing these things in his own home. Coupled with the fact that it was now the busy farming season, logically speaking, he shouldn’t have the time!
Yet Chen Fusheng was still the first to nod and agree.
Chen Chusheng and Chen Shuisheng both hesitated for a moment before speaking up one after another.
"Chang Sheng, I can come help for half a day in the afternoon! But not in the morning!"
"Chang Sheng! Same for me!"
Seeing that everyone else had agreed, Chen Changfeng and Chen Changqing pondered for a moment and also promised to come help for three Hours in the afternoon respectively. This story is hosted at NovelPing.
The testing was over, and they had all performed quite well.
Only then did Chen Changsheng take out his blueprints and explain his detailed plans.
"The mountain slope is a thousand feet high. We’ll divide it into ten tiers and transform it into a terraced Spirit Medicine Garden.
"The slope is five thousand feet long from east to west. Based on the undulating terrain, we’ll divide it into ten sections.
"So, in the end, there will be about one hundred gardens!
"We’ll build a large pond over by the quarry at the peak, dig a few wells halfway up the mountain, and use ditches to connect all the gardens together.
"There also has to be a bluestone path that can link all the gardens.
"Finally, there’s the perimeter wall, which will be built with bluestone blocks three feet wide and tall, and ten feet long."
Chen Shuisheng was dumbfounded. His hand, which had just picked up his chopsticks to eat some meat, froze in mid-air. After a long while, he spoke with extreme confusion.
"Chang Sheng, are you really going to plant Spiritual Medicine?
"Spirit Medicine Seeds are exorbitantly expensive, yet they have less than a five percent chance of surviving in ordinary soil!
"After throwing several Hundred taels of silver at it, you might just be washing it all down the drain!"
In the Great Yan Dynasty, the Royal Family and the Sect’s Holy Lands relied on their various Spirit Medicine Gardens to monopolize the upward path of Martial Art, thereby controlling the massive empire that spanned hundreds of thousands of miles.
Ordinary Humans simply had no way of obtaining a Spirit Medicine Garden rich in Spiritual Qi, nor could they afford the steep price and tremendous risks required to obtain Spiritual Medicine.
The others also chimed in one after another.
"Chang Sheng, the Barbarians come every year. Your Spiritual Medicine will be ruined completely before it even ripens!"
"Chang Sheng, Spirit Medicine Seeds are too expensive!"
"Chang Sheng, think twice. If the mountain bandits find out about this stuff, you’ll suffer massive losses!"
...
Chen Changsheng scanned the group, waiting until they all stopped talking before he finally spoke slowly.
"That’s why I invited you here. Not just to clear the gardens, but I also want to ask you to help tend to the gardens in the future!"
Seeing their expressions change drastically, Chen Changsheng stopped keeping them in suspense and continued,
"The first batch to be planted will be Celestial Cyan Grass, Red Blood Ginseng, and Blood Coagulation Flower!
"For the seeds of these three, I have prepared one thousand taels of silver!
"Furthermore, I promise that from the first batch of harvested Spiritual Medicine, each of you can have one stalk as your share!"
At this, all voices of opposition completely vanished.
All that remained were four pairs of bloodshot eyes!
In the blink of an eye, the four brawny men all stood up, bracing their hands against the table as they struggled to pant heavily.