About a dozen miles from Qingniu was a valley surrounded by mountains, with beautiful scenery and an abundance of water.
Three sides of the valley were surrounded by mountains.
Two streams flowed down the mountain slopes, meeting at the foot of the mountain and forming a small lake before winding their way out of the valley.
According to the System, the location was surrounded by mountains and water.
The small mountain behind the residence represented a solid backing and foretold a prosperous and numerous family.
Water represented wealth.
And this particular body of water had an especially favorable shape: it was impossible to clearly see where it came from or where it was going.
It wound through nine bends before quietly flowing away.
At the water’s exit, there were mounds of rich, fertile soil, a sign that wealth would continuously flow in.
The mountains to the left and right were the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger.
They represented brothers, noble people, and all kinds of assistance and support.
The land in front of the residence was broad and open, a sign of a promising future.
No matter how he looked at it, this place was a genuine land of good feng shui.
Prosperous territory.
It would be more than enough to make an entire village prosper, perhaps even an entire clan.
Zhao Baihui felt that the hundred yuan had been completely worth it.
So he hired the largest construction crew he could find in Qingniu and brought several dozen workers to the valley.
“Boss Wang, you’ve worked hard!”
“Don’t worry, Master Zhao. I’ve been doing this for half a century. I’ll do everything exactly as you’ve requested. It can only turn out better than you expect, never worse.”
Boss Wang’s reputation was well known throughout the area, so Zhao Baihui trusted him.
Zhao Baihui had spent one hundred yuan to have the System find this land with excellent feng shui.
Then he spent another one hundred yuan to have the System draw up the plans.
Afterward, he made several changes according to his own ideas and needs.
Finally, he decided to build his residence at the foot of the mountain, near the small lake.
According to the plans, the lake was approximately one kilometer wide and three kilometers long.
The northern half would be his private territory.
The southern half, on the other side of the lake, would eventually become a commercial district.
The first thing he would build was a private residence for himself.
It would occupy approximately one mu of land.
For now, as long as it was enough to live in, that would be fine.
A grand mansion could come later!
For the time being, he would have to make do with living in a simple earthen courtyard for a couple of years.
He had also left enough space behind and on both sides of the residence so that it could gradually be expanded in the future.
One mu was equivalent to roughly one thousand square meters.
They would build a three-courtyard residence with around thirty rooms in total.
The front courtyard would eventually be used by the workers, laborers, servants, and other household staff.
The central courtyard would serve as the work and administrative area.
It might also accommodate some people.
The rear courtyard would be where he and the four girls lived, while also serving as a storage area for important items.
The labor alone for constructing the house would cost around ten liang of silver.
That was the equivalent of twenty days of income from the System!
And that was assuming that most of the building materials would be obtained from the surrounding area.
The furniture and other household necessities could wait.
They could buy those little by little.
Construction began at full speed.
Some built the walls, others felled trees, some gathered dry grass, and several were responsible for cooking.
Under Boss Wang’s orders, everything was perfectly organized.
The structure of the house began taking shape at a speed that could practically be seen with the naked eye.
In just a little over ten days, the grand three-courtyard residence was completed.
Of course, there were no carved pillars or jade decorations.
They couldn’t even afford to talk about green bricks and white tiles.
Although the courtyard walls stood two meters high, they were nothing more than simple earthen walls.
The logs harvested from the mountains and used as beams could already be considered the most valuable materials in the entire construction.
But whatever else could be said about it, at least they now had a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
When the four girls arrived at the site, none of them could hide their excitement.
“Sir, is this going to be our home from now on?”
“Yes. It’s quite simple for now. Once we have more money, we’ll think about tearing it down and rebuilding it.”
“Let’s go to the rear courtyard. Pick your rooms. After that, we’ll ask Boss Wang to get some furniture. Once that’s done, we’ll be able to move in.”
[Ding! A journey of ten thousand miles begins with the first step. Congratulations on obtaining a permanent base! Reward: One Group-Level Draw.]
“Haha! Another draw! This time, I can finally use it.”
According to the information provided by the System, the draw ability was extremely rare and powerful.
It could even limit the draw to a specific field according to the user’s needs.
Ever since activating the System, Zhao Baihui had kept that first draw unused.
He wanted to save it for a truly important moment.
Or perhaps even for a dangerous situation.
“I definitely need to make more money. This damn house already cost me twenty days of System income. And in the future, I’ll need to hire people to cultivate the land and take care of all sorts of things. I’m short on money.”
“Use the draw. I want something simple to use that can generate money.”
[Drawing… Congratulations! You have obtained an integrated distiller. Select the location where you wish to place it.]
“Wait. I’ll decide where to put it after I’ve thought it through properly.”
Zhao Baihui was a little disappointed.
He had expected to obtain some kind of technology.
For example, something like the method of producing salt by evaporating seawater, an extremely profitable technique.
At the very least, he would have been satisfied with some technology capable of producing some strange and uncommon object.
But he had gotten a distiller.
Zhao Baihui calmly headed toward the rear courtyard.
There, he found the four girls chatting excitedly as they chose their rooms.
Zhao Baihui’s intention was simple.
Since there were enough rooms for now, each of them could have one of their own.
But in the end, the four girls decided to share them two to a room.
Jinyi and Jinyuan would share one room.
The other two girls, who were a little lazier, would share the other.
The newly built Zhao Manor was literally new from top to bottom.
Besides the rooms themselves, there weren’t even any windows or doors yet.
Much less furniture.
However, now that they had chosen their rooms, Boss Wang would send some men to get them furnished first.
Everything else could be done little by little.
After giving Boss Wang the necessary instructions, Zhao Baihui took the four girls back to Qingniu in a rented carriage.
Now they needed to choose beds, furniture, and other household necessities, and then have everything transported to the residence.
That not only required a great deal of time.
It also cost a great deal of money.
Fortunately, because Zhao Baihui had been selling rice, his warehouse had accumulated enough reserves.
Every two days, he sold food worth one liang of silver.
This had recently caused the price of rice in Qingniu to fall by one copper coin.
The grain shop owners were already beginning to show their dissatisfaction.
A few more days passed.
Several rooms in the rear courtyard already had doors and windows installed and had been furnished with the necessities for living.
A carriage slowly arrived at the entrance of Zhao Manor.
The four girls climbed down one after another, completely thrilled.
Zhao Baihui was the last to get down, as calm as ever.
“Sir, is this going to be our home from now on?”
“Yes. From now on, this is our home! The home of the Zhao family!”
The girls were so excited that their faces were completely flushed.
Jinxiu and Jinwen hurriedly opened the main gate and ran straight toward the rear courtyard.
Another carriage, this time without a passenger compartment, stopped behind them.
It was loaded with a large number of bed boards.
Besides the driver, it was accompanied by four thin, frail-looking men.
“Master Zhao, where would you like us to put these beds?”
“Jinyi, go and organize them. Find five rooms in the front courtyard and another five in the central courtyard. Install these ten beds first.”
“Yes, Sir.”
It was the first time Jinyi had ever given orders to other people, so she was a little nervous and excited.
Of course, ordering her three younger sisters around didn’t count.
Jinyi was thirteen years old.
Over the past month, she had eaten well, slept well, and regained quite a bit of strength.
Her face, which had once been pale and haggard, now had a healthy rosy color.
In Zhao Baihui’s eyes, she was still barely more than a child.
But in reality, a girl her age was already quite close to what was considered adulthood at the time.
Back then, it was completely normal for women to marry and have children at fourteen or fifteen.
Besides, Jinyi was now wearing new clothes.
Although they were made of coarse fabric, they were clean and had no patches.
Not everyone could afford to dress like that.
At first glance, she clearly looked like a maid from a wealthy household.
Even walking down the street, she belonged to the kind of people who inspired envy in others, almost like the daughters of small merchants.
The man leading the group was wearing dirty, tattered clothes.
In front of Jinyi, he didn’t even dare raise his head too high.
With some nervousness, he asked:
“Miss Jinyi, we’ll do whatever you say. Where would you like us to take these things?”
Miss Jinyi?
Jinyi’s heart gave a little leap of joy.
But she showed nothing on her face.
I can’t embarrass Sir.