“What is it?” Yu Hongwen’s smile hadn’t faded since earlier. Seeing his youngest daughter call him, he quickly asked.
Yu Banxia pointed at their current home and said, “Third brother hasn’t married yet, and the nephews will grow up in the blink of an eye. Our home won’t be big enough either.”
“My idea is, tomorrow we should go directly to Village Chief to buy a plot of land for building. We’ll construct a large house.”
“Ah? How, how big?” the whole family asked simultaneously.
Yu Banxia calculated and said, “Let’s do it properly from the start—build a five-courtyard mansion.”
“That’s too exaggerated, no, no.” Yu Hongwen immediately waved his hand in refusal.
Yu Banxia finally retracted two fingers: “Then three courtyards, no less than that.”
Seeing her pained expression, the family exchanged glances. In the end, unable to bear disappointing her, they also nodded painfully.
This pain was a happy, joyful kind of pain, but all this money was earned by their youngest daughter.
After dinner, Yu Banxia asked her second brother-in-law roughly how much it would cost to build a three-courtyard mansion.
Her second brother-in-law replied that it would be around a hundred taels, so she had enough money on hand, and there would be even more later.
After finishing their meal and conversation, the family returned to their rooms with happy smiles.
“Husband, I can hardly believe it—our Huzi can really go to school.” Wu Zhuxiang excitedly grasped her husband’s arm.
Yu Mangui also chuckled in response: “See? I told you our sister is a lucky star, didn’t I?”
“Although she was confused for two years, now she’s had this miraculous encounter. Our family will definitely get better and better from now on.”
“But I never expected my sister-in-law would actually think of opening a food stall or restaurant for me. I must learn well from her.”
Hearing his wife’s excited words, Yu Mangui knew how hard she had worked all these years.
His tone toward Wu Zhuxiang grew even gentler: “Don’t worry, our family will definitely get better and better. Wife, if you’re too excited to sleep, let’s do something that’ll help you fall asleep easily.”
Wu Zhuxiang let out a soft gasp, and then her mouth was covered by Yu Mangui’s kiss.
…
True to their word, the next day after breakfast, Yu Banxia and Yu Hongwen went to find Village Chief.
They marked out a large section on the available building land, leaving Village Chief dumbfounded. He had thought they just wanted to add two rooms for their third son and Huzi later.
Unexpectedly, they directly claimed one-third of the empty land at the foot of the mountain.
“Such a large plot isn’t cheap. At minimum, it’ll cost around forty taels of silver. You’ll also need to register and obtain the land deed at the household registration office, which will cost another tael of silver.”
Village Chief pointed at the marked area on the map and explained to Yu Hongwen.
“Third Uncle, we know,” Yu Hongwen replied with a smile.
He then added, “Although this is building land, it’s close to the mountain foot, so we won’t use all of it for the house. We plan to build a surrounding wall.”
“Xiaxia can plant some medicinal herbs inside. You probably already know she’s learning medicine from Brother Zhao, right?”
“Brother Zhao has no wife or children, and our Xiaxia is his last disciple. She’ll definitely take care of him in his old age, so this house will have a share for him too.”
“Yes, Xiaxia is indeed a filial child.”
Village Chief nodded. Considering that Doctor Zhao likely supported this house purchase, he said nothing more.”Then I’ll go with you later to the town to get the land deed sorted.” The Village Chief was straightforward, so Yu Hongwen didn’t say much more.
Yu Banxia directly asked her eldest brother to hire Old Six’s ox cart, then took Huzi and Wu Zhuxiang with her to Yunshan Town again.
Processing the land deed didn’t take long—within half an incense stick’s time, they had the deed in hand.
“This is the fee for processing, and this is the payment for the land.” Yu Hongwen handed over the silver and received the land deed, concluding the matter.
“Village Chief, we still have some things to take care of. You and Old Six have worked hard—this is for some tea.” As she spoke, Yu Banxia slipped a tael of silver to the Village Chief.
The Village Chief widened his eyes. “What’s this? This is my duty anyway, and we’re from the same clan. Why be so polite?”
“Besides, where did your family get so rich? Handing out a tael just like that, and you’re about to build a house soon. Take it back.”
But Yu Banxia still gave the silver to the Village Chief. Before he could get angry, she quickly added, “Village Chief, consider this my way of bribing you.”
“Later, when I develop a new soy sauce, I want to lead everyone in setting up a soy sauce workshop. Those willing to invest will receive dividends from the profits.”
“You’re the Village Chief, and you’ll need to oversee things later. Just think of it as your grandniece showing her filial piety in advance.”
The Village Chief immediately grew interested and asked as they walked, “What soy sauce?”
“It’s from an ancient book my master gave me, but I haven’t started researching it yet. Once I figure it out, I’ll make further plans.”
Yu Banxia said somewhat sheepishly.
The Village Chief, however, grew excited. “You girl, you’re bringing benefits to the village!”
“Village Chief, aren’t you worried I’m just talking nonsense?” Yu Banxia was also surprised. Why were people so supportive and trusting of her words?
The Village Chief laughed heartily. “Hongwen, haven’t you told her?”
“No,” Yu Hongwen replied with a smile. Yu Banxia grew even more curious.
“Actually, before you were born, more than one Taoist priest and eminent monk pointed at your mother’s belly and said the child in her womb was a lucky star who would bring immense fortune to the Yu family and our village.”
“And now, it’s coming true.”
Yu Banxia searched her memory but couldn’t recall this. Looking at the two of them, they didn’t seem to be lying.
Thinking it over carefully, it seemed the elders and peers in the village had always treated her well.
Even Yu Meihua, who always had a few sarcastic words for her whenever they met, often looked at her with envy.
So that was the reason?
Although they might have wanted to gain some luck from her, people were just like that. She didn’t feel angry about it.
The whole village, harmonious and joyful, working together without scheming or plotting against each other—wasn’t that wonderful?
“Alright, once I figure it out, there will be many more things we can do. I’ll definitely make our village the richest in all of Southern Jin!” Yu Banxia declared with great ambition, raising her hand high.
The people around them stopped in their tracks and turned their gazes toward her.
Even with her thick skin, Yu Banxia felt embarrassed, as if she were bragging. How awkward.
“Hahaha…” Behind her, her mischievous family members burst into laughter without restraint.
Yu Banxia grew even more embarrassed and quickened her pace.By the time they found Old Six, the smiles on the other faces had yet to fade.
“Old Six, we’ll head back first,” the village chief said cheerfully.
Old Six?
Pfft…
This time, even Yu Banxia couldn’t hold back her laughter. Yu Bingsheng looked utterly confused—what was going on? Why was everyone laughing?
“Is Hongwen’s matter settled? Aren’t you all heading back together?”