Zheng Wei's voice was a little hoarse, carrying a lazy feeling as if he had just woken up. In the words of his previous life, it meant his ears were pregnant.
"Xiao Yan, what are you thinking about?" Zheng Wei asked again when Shen Xiao Yan remained silent for a long time.
"Ah? Nothing, hello village chief, hello big brothers." Shen Xiao Yan snapped back to attention and quickly greeted the three of them.
As for the blush on her face, none of the four, including Zheng Wei, suspected anything. After all, Shen Xiao Yan had just been loosening the soil, which was strenuous work, so a blush was definitely from exertion.
"Shen Xiao Yan, since you're married here, live a good life. There's no rush to clear the land, just don't overwork yourself," the village chief Bai Yonggui said slowly after examining Shen Xiao Yan for a moment.
Bai Yonggui was the village chief of Baiyun Village for this generation, only in his early fifties.
Baiyun Village was not just named so because it was adjacent to Baiyun Peak. It was also because the dominant surname in the village was Bai.
There were about 200 households in the village, and half of them were surnamed Bai. With a bit of tracing, they were all related somehow.
The remaining over 100 households had all sorts of surnames, some who had lived there originally and some who had settled there later.
Shen Xiao Yan's ancestors were also newcomers, but they had lived there for several generations and were now considered old residents.
Therefore, Bai Yonggui knew about the affairs of Shen Xiao Yan's family.
He also felt it was a pity, but as for other people's matters, even as the village chief, he couldn't interfere too much.
"I know, village chief. However, we don't have land, and it's not enough to rely on my husband alone for hunting. Wasteland is cheap, and it's a good choice for us to clear and cultivate it," Shen Xiao Yan said with a smile, wiping the sweat from her forehead, which was roasted by the sun, with her sleeve.
"Shall we go measure the land?" Bai Yonggui nodded at Shen Xiao Yan and then addressed the two men behind him.
These two had no objections; they wanted to finish quickly and return to town.
Zheng Wei led the three of them out of the courtyard, and Shen Xiao Yan and Shen Xiao Ming followed, curious to see how the land would be measured.
After watching for a while, Shen Xiao Yan lost interest.
Zheng Wei stood by and told her that they were buying 6 mu of land this time, which, combined with their original 2 mu, would bring them to 8 mu. Any more than that, and the two of them wouldn't be able to cultivate it all.
Shen Xiao Yan nodded upon hearing this, acknowledging it was the truth and they should act within their means.
After the land was measured, the two men placed wooden stakes at the four corners of the plot.
The stakes were quite thick and hammered into the ground with a hammer, leaving only about twenty centimeters exposed.
Once they finished, the two men returned to the courtyard, opened a bundle, and took out ink and paper. They wrote a land deed, had Zheng Wei sign it, and then left with the deed.
This had to be taken to the county office in the county town to be registered. After it was stamped, this piece of paper would become valid, and the land would truly belong to them.
Zheng Wei took out two taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to the two men. "This is for the processing fee. The excess is for drinks, as I troubled you both to make this trip."
When the two men saw the money, their eyes lit up. People who bought wasteland were usually poor, otherwise, why would they buy wasteland?
Unexpectedly, he was also considerate. One of them took the money and put it in his pocket. "You're too kind. Actually, we're going back to the county town soon anyway, so we can probably bring back the deed by tonight. You can just come and pick it up tomorrow."
After speaking, the two men prepared to leave.
Bai Yonggui exchanged a few more polite words with Zheng Wei before leaving with them.
Only after the three of them drove the ox cart towards the town did Shen Xiao Ming speak, "Sister, brother-in-law, is this land ours now?"
Shen Xiao Yan and Zheng Wei nodded simultaneously. Seeing this, Shen Xiao Ming immediately smiled, "That's great, we have land now."
"We have 7 taels of silver left. I was thinking I'll go into the mountains again to see if I can hunt anything valuable to sell in town tomorrow. Then, we can build a courtyard wall and enclose this yard," Zheng Wei said after a moment of silence.
Shen Xiao Yan was a little confused when she heard him say that. "Why build a courtyard?"
"If you want to grow fruits, especially varieties we don't have here, wouldn't you be afraid of someone causing trouble?" Zheng Wei's voice held a hint of teasing.
Shen Xiao Yan then realized that, indeed, a courtyard should be built. However, wouldn't building such a large courtyard cost a lot of money?
"Adobe bricks are very cheap, and there are still half a month before spring plowing begins. It should be relatively easy to find people now. About 10 taels of silver should be enough," Zheng Wei explained.
Shen Xiao Yan nodded. In that case, let's build it. Once it's built, she'd be at ease and could plant whatever she wanted.
After lunch, Zheng Wei took his bow and crossbow and went up the mountain again. Shen Xiao Ming, having taken his medicine, was sent back to bed by Shen Xiao Yan. Shen Xiao Yan herself continued loosening the soil in the courtyard.
Shen Xiao Yan was strong, and now that she was alone, she had no reservations. Before sunset, she had loosened all the soil in the courtyard. She even picked up small stones and arranged them into a path in front of the door.
The path was only a meter wide and ran from the main house to the gate, and then connected to the kitchen door.
This kind of path, built entirely of piled stones, was very loose and not very practical.
However, Shen Xiao Yan didn't know any other way and could only ask people to help her renovate it when they built the courtyard wall.
By the time Shen Xiao Yan had finished preparing dinner, it was completely dark. Zheng Wei walked into the courtyard covered in wild game.
Shen Xiao Yan went forward, fetched a basin of water for Zheng Wei to wash his hands and face, and then they both entered the house.
The courtyard was very dark, and there was no moon that night. Shen Xiao Yan hadn't noticed Zheng Wei's condition earlier.
Now that she was inside, Shen Xiao Yan saw that Zheng Wei's clothes were torn, not by branches, but likely by sharp claws.
Shen Xiao Yan's heart tightened. "What happened?"
Zheng Wei curved his lips into a smile. "Nothing, I just encountered a wolf."
"A wolf?" Shen Xiao Yan exclaimed.
Wolves lived in packs. If he encountered a wolf, he could still say it was nothing?
"I only encountered three wolves, not a pack. Besides, I'm not injured," Zheng Wei quickly said.
Shen Xiao Yan examined Zheng Wei from head to toe and found no bloodstains apart from his torn clothes. His complexion was normal, so she finally felt relieved.
"No wonder you were laden with game earlier. Did you bring the wolves back?" Shen Xiao Yan recalled the mountain of wild game she had seen thrown in the courtyard earlier and asked.
"Yes, once these are sold, we can build a courtyard wall with blue bricks, which will be more durable," Zheng Wei nodded and said.