Acquiring land was, in fact, a necessary move; the reason it hadn’t been discussed earlier was that although the Lian Manman family had so money, their foundations were still quite modest.
The Lian Family had many mouths to feed, and Old Master Lian planned to build additional housing in the courtyard, preparing residences for Erlang and Sanlang. Eventually, Si Lang and Liulang would also need to marry and have their own hos. Lian Shouxin’s family of six only had half a courtyard to themselves, and if they were to build houses for Wu Lang and Xiao Qi as well, there obviously wouldn’t be enough space. The large plot of land next to the temple was well-located and big enough for two sons’ houses, and not just for them; even their future grandchildren would have ample room to build hos and there would still be plenty of land left for a large vegetable garden.
Thinking about the long-term prospects, Lian Shouxin stood up excitedly, ready to go to the temple to negotiate the land purchase with the Abbot.
"Dad, just say we want to build thatched cottages and start a vegetable garden; the rest can wait until after we’ve bought the land. It won’t be too late then," Lian Manman quickly reminded him.
"Don’t worry, Dad isn’t foolish. This matter, I guarantee we’ll succeed," said Lian Shouxin.
"Dad, let go with you," Wu Lang also got down from the kang.
"I’ll go too," Xiao Qi added.
"Alright," Lian Shouxin was very happy. This was about acquiring property for his descendants, taking his two sons along to help was one of life’s proud monts, and this could certainly count as one.
...
The land purchase went very smoothly; after asuring, the land from the temple totaled one acre and two fen, which they sold to Lian Shouxin for only four taels of silver. The mixed woodland totaled half an acre, the unclaid wasteland was another two acres and one fen. Combined, these lands purchased from the village cost another four taels of silver, and two other households’ land, totaling seven fen, cost three taels and five silver coins.
All together, the lands amounted to four and a half acres, costing a total of eleven taels and five silver coins. When drafting the land deed, Lian Manman also requested to include the strip of riverbank land, and Lizheng and others were willing to do them a favor and agreed. The Broker they engaged was Wu Yugui, who quickly arranged the Red Deed. When Lian Shouxin offered his service fee, Wu Yugui initially refused quite a bit but eventually had to accept it reluctantly. The following day, not only did he bring a congratulatory gift, but he also organized a banquet to host Lian Manman’s family.
After obtaining the Red Deed that sa day, Lian Manman’s family took a careful tour of their newly acquired land, planning to place additional boundary stones at the edges. Lian Manman also took a ruler and asured each spot ticulously, taking careful notes.
Finally, standing on a low hill at the center of the land, Lian Manman looked around. While the land had been purchased, to turn it into the ideal estate she had in mind, there was still a long way to go. With limited silver coin at hand and many necessary expenses, the estate works had to be completed in stages, in several phases.
Back at ho, Lian Manman imdiately fetched a large piece of paper, Xiao Qi prepared the ink, and with a brush in hand, Lian Manman sketched a rough map of the fields.
The entire family gathered around, jointly planning for their hostead.
The most important facility was the new breakfast shop, which had to be built in a conspicuous location beside the official road. Then ca the public latrine, to be constructed at a proper site downwind. After the shop and latrine, large tracts of land were earmarked as the vegetable garden, and the Lian Family’s own houses were planned to be built on the highest patch of land in the middle of these fields.
After discussing, everyone agreed, and Lian Manman circled several large sections on the map, finalizing the general layout and planning of the estate.
Next was the imdiate priority, the first phase of the project—the construction of a public latrine. The location for the latrine was already marked, and then they determined the size of the construction.
"Let’s utilize this area with the low shrubs; build it larger," said Lian Manman. "After the work on the mountain is done, there will definitely be many people coming to offer incense and to sightsee. Our breakfast shop will also expand eventually, so let’s do it right the first ti and build it big."
Everyone agreed.
"Plant so flowers and plants around the latrine, too. Don’t discard those low shrubs we dig up; replant them in this area. It’ll look nice and help with the sll," Lian Manman said with a smile. This beautification was necessary, and, of course, it would also help with soil and water conservation.
Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin thought it was just their daughter’s love of beauty, wanting to decorate and prettify everything.
As it was the slack season in agriculture, the next day, Lian Shouxin gathered enough workers to begin construction. Except for so decorative red bricks, materials like sand, stone, and soil could be gathered locally, requiring only labor without any additional expenses. The designated plot for the latrine already had a large pit, which they utilized by deepening and expanding it, using it as the foundation for the latrine.
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