Amid all the busy work, Qin Dashu managed, through Qin Dafu’s connections, to purchase twenty-five mu of sloped land adjacent to the rapeseed fields. The land was uncultivated wasteland with no owner, and newly reclaimed land would be exempt from taxes for five years.
Li Xiaoxiao led her sons, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters around the hillside, trying to figure out how to make the purchase worthwhile this year.
“Mother, if you ask me, buying this land was a waste,” Qin Erlin finally said after watching his mother circle the twenty-five mu twice with a furrowed brow. “Look at it—it’s covered in weeds, full of rocks, and uneven everywhere. Sure, it was cheap, but what can we even do with it?”
Qin Dashu secretly gave his younger brother a mental thumbs-up.
When it comes to saying what everyone else is thinking, Second Brother is truly fearless.
The truth was that none of them understood what their mother was planning, but they did not dare question her.
“You blockhead! What do you know?” Li Xiaoxiao snapped, feeling a headache coming on. She had clearly underestimated how difficult land reclamation would be.
The first problem was the weeds. They were as tall as a person and incredibly dense. Wild pheasants and rabbits occasionally darted out from them, and snakes could also be seen slithering through the grass.
“Dashu, what do you think?” she asked.
Deciding to pass the troublesome question on to her children, she looked toward her eldest son.
“Mother, I think we should use our spare time during the farming off-season to clear the land ourselves. Once it’s reclaimed, we can plant soybeans, mung beans, and red beans for a couple of seasons to improve the soil. What do you think?”
Qin Dashu cautiously offered his suggestion.
After all, the land had already been purchased. They could hardly leave it abandoned.
“Third Son, what about you?”
Li Xiaoxiao deliberately ignored the sulking Qin Erlin and turned to Qin Sanmu.
“Mother… I agree with Elder Brother.”
Qin Sanmu honestly felt there was no need for him to think too hard in this family. Following his eldest brother’s lead was usually enough.
What a useless answer.
Li Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes.
“Grandma,” Xia Erya suddenly spoke up, “with such a large piece of land, how long would it take us to clear it ourselves? Why don’t we hire workers like we did during the summer harvest? It would be much faster, though it would cost more.”
Having experienced the benefits of hired labor firsthand, Erya immediately thought of that solution.
Li Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up.
“See? Children think faster than adults sometimes!”
She continued,
“Our rice seedlings still need about half a month before they’re ready for transplanting. Most other families are at least twenty days behind us. Why don’t we hire the same workers as before? They’re hardworking and don’t slack off. In fifteen days, they could probably clear five or six mu. Then we can continue hiring people during the farming off-season. It’ll be much faster overall. What do you all think?”
She looked around at her sons, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters.
“Mother, that would cost a fortune!” Qin Erlin immediately objected.
“Oh really?”
Li Xiaoxiao planted her hands on her hips and pointed at him.
“Then this entire hillside belongs to you! Reclaim it by yourself this year! I want to plant crops here next year. If you can’t finish it, I’ll skin you alive!”
Seeing trouble brewing, Zhang Ermei quickly pulled her daughters farther away from Qin Erlin to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
After scolding him, Li Xiaoxiao finally felt much better.
She gathered everyone together and used a stick to draw in the dirt while explaining her plan.
She intended to transform the twenty-five mu hillside into terraced fields.
The rocks scattered throughout the slope would be used to build retaining walls for the terraces. Each terrace would be about half a mu wide and stretch across the entire length of the hillside, creating five levels in total.
The flat portions would be planted with grain or watermelons, while fruit trees would be planted along the terrace walls to stabilize the soil.
A small stream conveniently ran alongside the hillside.
Li Xiaoxiao planned to dig a pond measuring two zhang square on each terrace level for water storage. Channels would connect the ponds, allowing water to flow between them. At the end of the drainage channels, bamboo barriers would filter the water while maintaining circulation.
This system would both store water and prevent flooding during the heavy summer rains.
Lotus roots would be planted in the ponds, and fish would be raised there as an additional source of income.
Fruit trees would also be planted around the ponds to reduce the risk of erosion and landslides.
When she finished explaining, her sons and daughters-in-law all thought the idea sounded surprisingly good.
The next day, the three Qin brothers spread word among the temporary workers who had helped during the summer harvest.
The offer was simple:
As soon as the news spread, Qin Family Village erupted with discussion.
People commented that Widow Li’s family was no longer what it once had been. Others speculated endlessly about her purpose in reclaiming the hillside.
But most people cared less about the reasons and more about the opportunity to earn money close to home.
Who wanted to travel long distances under the blazing sun when work was available right in the village?
Originally, Li Xiaoxiao expected around twenty workers.
Instead, twelve households signed up, totaling more than a hundred people.
The Qin brothers had deliberately selected families with many mouths to feed but little farmland of their own—hardworking people whose small plots left them with plenty of spare labor.
Many hands truly made light work.
Entire families participated, and within half a month they reclaimed fifteen mu of hillside land.
Any pheasant eggs, wild pheasants, rabbits, or snakes found during the clearing process belonged entirely to the workers. Li Xiaoxiao claimed none of them.
She also specifically instructed her sons to take turns supervising the worksite every day.
Her greatest fear was that someone would continue working through the scorching midday heat and suffer heatstroke.
In this era, heatstroke could easily be fatal.
The last thing she wanted was a death on her conscience—or a legal dispute.
While the land reclamation continued at full speed, Qin Dashu and his brothers finally finished flooding all their rice paddies.
They then hired twenty temporary workers from among the reclamation crews.
The wages remained twenty-five copper coins per day, paid daily, with no meals provided.
The twenty workers spent four days transplanting rice seedlings into all fifty mu of fertile farmland.
At the same time, Li Xiaoxiao led her family in harvesting the fully mature corn and beans growing along the field ridges.
The villagers watched with envy.
The corn and beans not only kept weeds from growing along the ridges but also produced an astonishing amount of food.
Many villagers immediately began planning to do the same.
Who would have thought that such narrow strips of land could yield so much grain?
The family worked cheerfully together.
The corn was spread across the courtyard to dry, while the bean stalks were hung along fences and walls. Once fully dried, the beans could easily be threshed and collected.
By the time the rest of the village began transplanting their rice seedlings, Li Xiaoxiao’s terraced hillside project had finally been completed after a full month of work.
After paying everyone’s wages, she settled all accounts fairly.
The villagers left satisfied and repeatedly told her:
“If you have more work in the future, don’t forget about us!”