After driving away those shameless troublemakers, Lin Wan turned her attention to the drafty, crumbling temple behind her.
The mud walls were cracked, and the roof tiles were broken and scattered.
Whenever the autumn wind blew, the half-broken wooden door creaked as though it were an old man on his last breath.
“This place really isn’t fit to live in anymore.”
Lin Wan frowned slightly.
Besides, the temple now housed a severely injured man of unknown background who could attract enemies at any time.
Without a sturdy courtyard wall, even stray cats and dogs could climb in.
“What about counting you in?”
Lin Wan turned and looked at Xiao Junmo, who was leaning against the doorframe.
Although his face was pale, the commanding aura of someone used to power could not be concealed.
“Once you’ve recovered, I’ll already be grateful if you don’t cause me any trouble. You don’t need to worry about building the house.”
She rejected the idea without hesitation.
As an assassin, she had one rule: her territory had to remain completely under her control.
Xiao Junmo wasn’t offended. The faint smile still lingered on his lips.
“Miss Lin is right. At the moment, I truly am useless. However, I know a little about military formations and mechanical traps. I may be able to help with the defensive layout of your new house.”
Mechanical traps?
Lin Wan’s eyes lit up slightly.
That was exactly what she needed. In an era without surveillance cameras or security doors, someone skilled in trap-making was a priceless asset.
“Fine. Since you’re still useful, I’ll let you stay for now. But…”
She paused, her tone carrying a warning.
“You’d better not try any tricks.”
Xiao Junmo nodded slightly.
“I wouldn’t dare.”
With that troublesome tenant settled, Lin Wan immediately got to work.
The oversized vegetables in her space, nourished by the Spirit Spring water, had fully matured.
Taking advantage of the cover of night, she harvested every last one of them, filling more than a dozen large bamboo baskets.
Early the next morning, she hired an ox cart and hauled the gigantic vegetables to Qingshi Town.
Neither the restaurant owners nor the vegetable merchants had ever seen cabbages and radishes that were so fresh, crisp, and enormous.
After tasting them, they found them sweet, tender, and incredibly delicious.
In less than half an hour, all the baskets of vegetables had sold out.
Lin Wan’s money pouch grew considerably heavier once again.
She had spent a large portion of the fifty taels on land and grain, but this batch of vegetables earned her back more than twenty taels.
“Having money but not building a house is like wearing luxurious clothes only to walk in the dark.”
With her silver tucked safely away, Lin Wan returned to Xinghua Village and headed straight to Village Chief Grandpa Li’s house.
“Grandpa Village Chief, I’d like to build a house.”
Getting straight to the point, she placed a five-tael silver deposit on the table.
Grandpa Li was smoking his pipe and nearly choked.
“Build a house? Girl, that temple can still be patched up enough to live in. Why suddenly build a new one?”
“I’m not patching it up. I’m tearing it down and rebuilding it.”
Lin Wan spoke firmly, her eyes filled with determination.
“I want the largest blue-brick, tiled-roof house in the entire village, complete with high courtyard walls to keep out thieves and wild animals.”
Grandpa Li sucked in a sharp breath.
Xinghua Village was poor. Even his own home, despite being the village chief’s, was only a mud-brick house.
Yet this girl wanted to build a blue-brick mansion?
How much silver would that cost?
“Girl, aren’t you taking too big a step?”
He advised kindly, “Even if you have money, you should spend it carefully. You’ll still need to save for Yulong’s future marriage.”
“Don’t worry about the money, Grandpa Village Chief.”
Lin Wan smiled confidently.
“I came today to ask for your help recruiting honest, hardworking masons and laborers from the village.”
Then she offered an irresistible deal.
“I’ll pay the same daily wage as in town—thirty copper coins a day. On top of that, everyone gets one filling meal every day. Unlimited white flour steamed buns, and there will definitely be meat in the dishes.”
Thirty copper coins a day… with meat included?
Grandpa Li’s eyes widened so much that his pipe slipped onto the kang.
Such generous terms were unheard of—not just in Xinghua Village, but even in town.
“Y-you’re serious?”
“I always keep my word. If you can gather everyone today, we’ll start construction tomorrow.”
Grandpa Li slapped his thigh excitedly.
“Good! You’re a straightforward girl. Leave this matter to me!”
Money really could make even ghosts push a mill.
In less than half a day, news spread throughout Xinghua Village like a whirlwind.
Lin Wan was spending a fortune to build a blue-brick, tiled-roof house, and she was providing meat with every meal for the workers.
Every able-bodied man in the village who could lift a stone rushed toward the village chief’s house as if possessed.
No one wanted to miss such an opportunity.
“Village Chief, count me in! I’m strong enough to do the work of two men!”
“Grandpa Li, I know some masonry work! Let me join!”
The entrance to the village chief’s house was packed tighter than during the New Year’s pork distribution.
Grandpa Li carefully selected twenty of the most honest and hardworking men.
Those who were chosen grinned from ear to ear as if they had passed the imperial examination.
Those who weren’t selected could only stand aside, watching enviously and stomping their feet in frustration.
“Oh my, that wretched girl must have struck it rich. She’s really showing off by building such a grand house.”
Old Lady Liu, one side of her face still swollen, stood at the edge of the crowd, grinding her teeth in jealousy.
“Exactly. Thirty copper coins a day plus meat? She’s not afraid her bragging will come back to bite her.”
Several rejected men muttered sourly in agreement.
But jealous or not, the next morning all twenty selected workers arrived at the ruined temple right on time.
Without wasting any words, Lin Wan handed out the advance payments and immediately began directing the construction.
The ruined temple was quickly demolished.
The foundation was dug deep and reinforced with the hardest bluestone, mixed with sticky rice mortar and lime.
One ox cart after another, loaded with high-quality blue bricks and roof tiles, rolled into Xinghua Village from town.
The impressive procession left the entire village staring in amazement.
When lunchtime arrived, Lin Wan kept her promise.
Two huge pots of steaming white flour buns were prepared.
Beside them was a large pot of pork stewed with Chinese cabbage. The meat was cut into chunks nearly the size of half a palm, glistening with rich oil and filling the air with an irresistible aroma.
“Eat as much as you like. If it’s not enough, there’s plenty more in the pot.”
Holding a large ladle, Lin Wan served every worker a generous portion of meat and vegetables.
The food was even better than what laborers on a wealthy landlord’s estate usually ate.
The men devoured the meal enthusiastically, mouths glistening with grease, and afterward worked even harder, putting every ounce of strength they had into the construction.
Naturally, news of the bustling construction site reached the Old Lin family.
Inside their shabby thatched cottage, the atmosphere was as gloomy as a storm cloud.
Lin Daqiang lay on the kang with cheap herbal medicine plastered across his injured waist, groaning in pain.
Hearing the distant sounds of excitement and smelling the aroma of meat drifting through the air, he slammed his fist against the edge of the bed.
“Mother! Listen to that! That wretched girl is actually building a blue-brick house!”
His eyes turned bloodshot as jealousy gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.
“That house should have been ours! That meat should have been mine!”
The bloody cuts on Zhang Shi’s face had only just begun to scab over, making her look especially terrifying.
She gritted her teeth while viciously tearing at the rag in her hands.
“That heartless little bitch! Instead of honoring her elders after getting rich, she’s wasting her money on outsiders!”
“She’d rather feed all that meat to those peasants than to her own family. She deserves to have her life shortened!”
Old Madam Lin sat in the darkest corner of the room, her triangular eyes gleaming with the cold malice of a venomous snake.
She gripped her cane so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
“She wants to live in a blue-brick mansion? Dream on.”
She sneered, her voice as harsh as a screeching owl.
“In Xinghua Village, only the Old Lin family has the final say. She’s just an independent woman who severed ties with the family. What gives her the right to stand above us?”
She motioned for Zhang Shi and Lin Daqiang to come closer.
“Daqiang, don’t you know a few local thugs in town who collect protection money?”
Lin Daqiang’s eyes immediately lit up as he realized what she meant.
“Grandma… are you saying…”
“Hmph. Isn’t she happily building her house?”
A vicious gleam flashed through Old Madam Lin’s eyes.
“Go find those friends of yours. Once her house is halfway finished…”
“We’ll add a little ‘extra’ to it and turn that new house into a haunted house for good. ‘’