The whole family stocked up on supplies two years in advance, so they could live a life of luxury wh

That evening.

Xing'er told her father that she had earned another twenty taels of silver from selling mountain products.

She gave the gleaming silver to Zhang.

They made no mention of asking for the money themselves.

Upon hearing this, Li Fusheng and Zhang asked in surprise:

"When did you go and get some mountain produce? How come we didn't know?"

Xing'er smiled mysteriously:

"Naturally, while you were all asleep, I secretly went to the mountains, hunted a wild boar, and sold it in the city. That's how I got back the money that was stolen from our family."

So Dad, don't worry.

We have forty taels of silver on hand right now.

The other members of the Li family couldn't help but gasp in surprise upon hearing this.

Li Yushan opened his eyes wide and asked:

"My God, we have so much money now! Should we build a super big house with a yard, and each of us can have our own room?"

"Great! Great! We can each have a big room now!"

Li Fusheng listened to the children's words, first smiled, then frowned and said:

"Yu Niang, the children are all grown up and should have their own rooms, but we don't have the means. Let's pay back the money owed to Master Shen tomorrow, otherwise the interest will keep piling on and we'll never be able to pay it back."

"Honey, don't worry, I know what to do. I'll go pay back the money to the Shen family first thing tomorrow morning, then at least we'll be debt-free. The weather's been bad lately, so we can only get the foundation laid first."

"You can handle it as you see fit."

"Xing'er, come here. I have something to discuss with you."

Xing'er was taken aback. She couldn't recall what she needed to discuss with her, but she still obediently went over and sat on the edge of the bed, whispering:

"Father, what is it?"

"Your father has two things to tell you. First, don't take the villagers into the mountains to look for wild game or hunt, because you can't protect everyone. If something happens, you'll be the sinner of the whole village."

Secondly, you should also be careful not to attract too much attention. The bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow. Our lives are better now. I don't know how your older sister is doing. She hasn't been home for three years since she got married.

"But it's also Dad's fault. Back then, the family was poor, so he married off your eldest sister for a small dowry, without even knowing anything about the other party."

Xing'er frowned. She could understand the first thing, but she was puzzled by the second. She felt that she had no recollection of her eldest sister, Li Chunhua.

After thinking for a moment, she nodded and said:

"Dad, I understand. It's getting late, so take your medicine and go to sleep. I have another kind of medicine here, called painkillers. Take one if you feel any pain."

However, you can only eat it a maximum of three times a day.

"Xing'er, where did you get such a magical medicine? Will it stop hurting after taking it?"

"Yes, it was all taught to me by the ancestors in my dreams. The ancestors also said that there are many treasures in the mountains, and told me to go for a stroll in the mountains whenever I have time, and that they would protect me from encountering wild beasts."

Hearing this, Li Xiaoshan, who was standing to the side, was displeased.

"Our ancestor is so biased. All the good things are given to our third sister, and none of us get anything."

Hearing this, Zhang gently patted his head and said, "You rascal, didn't your third sister get struck by lightning? She was just lucky to escape from the clutches of the King of Hell."

She deserved to suffer this punishment; don't be ungrateful. Your third sister is getting better; do you think she would abandon you?

Upon hearing this, Xing'er seemed to remember something and got up to walk to the corner of the tent. Then she took out the trinkets and snacks she had bought at the market that day and handed them to her family members one by one.

"Big brother, second brother, third brother, these are the bows and arrows I bought for you. You can use them to hunt birds whenever you want."

The three Li brothers fell in love with the exquisitely crafted bows and arrows at first sight. With a gentle pull, they were incredibly elastic, and each quiver contained ten matching small arrows.

"You bought this for us, really for us?"

Li Yushan was extremely excited.

He dreamed of having a bow and arrow.

"Of course they're for you."

After she finished speaking, she turned around and took out the hair tie, hair flower, and two wooden hairpins, handing them to her grandmother, second sister, and fourth sister. "Grandma, Mother, these two hairpins are for you."

Second sister, fourth sister, these hair flowers and hair ties are for you.

Grandma Li and Madam Zhang sighed with happiness. This was the first time they had ever held a wooden hairpin in their hands. They used to admire it when they went to the market, but they never had the money to buy it.

Unexpectedly, it was Xing'er who bought the first one for them.

Li Taohua and Li Lanhua were overjoyed, holding the brightly colored velvet flowers and hair ties.

"Thank you, Third Sister, I really like it. I'll wear it on my head tomorrow."

Li Taohua was still holding it in her hand when young Lanhua, beaming with delight, put the velvet flower on her head and asked with a grin:

"Third sister, am I pretty?"

Everyone laughed at her vain expression and praised her for being very pretty.

.......

The next morning.

As soon as dawn broke and the first hint of light appeared in the east, the villagers rushed over to help. Everyone said that the rain would stop for a few days, and they should take advantage of this time to quickly build the houses.

Otherwise, it will be troublesome if it rains continuously for several days in the future.

Everyone is busy working.

Zhang and her young wives had already started washing the mung beans, planning to cook some mung bean soup to quench everyone's thirst.

Everyone was busy.

Shen the rich man's steward, accompanied by an accountant, walked toward Xing'er's house.

As he walked, he spoke to the accountant behind him:

"Look, even in the poorest mountain village in Chizhou, some people have become rich. It's only been a few days since I last visited, and this family is already building a new house. That new house will cost a lot of money."

"Even in the poorest places, there will always be a few talented people; that's normal."

The accountant never looked down on people from poor mountain villages, after all, he himself came from the village to Shen the rich man's house.

Xing'er didn't want to stay at home, so she told her father that she wanted to go to the mountains to take a look, and maybe pick some wild vegetables or mushrooms to sell and exchange for seeds.

Li Fusheng did not object, but calmly reminded her not to go too far, as there were wolves and tigers in the deep mountains, and she should be careful, especially the tigers in the deep mountains.

I heard that many people who have crossed the mountain have eaten it.

Xing'er nodded repeatedly.

After speaking with her father, she greeted the villagers before turning and walking back into the village.

Xing'er turned her head occasionally, and her gaze met that of the old butler.

The old housekeeper glanced at her unexpectedly, then went to find Li Fusheng, who had asked for the money.

Xing'er also glanced at him in surprise. She thought that the man must be one of Shen the rich man's men. She didn't expect him to come to collect the debt so soon. However, the old butler looked kind and benevolent, so she felt that nothing should happen.

She then decided to go to the village to check on the situation.

After wandering around, she found that all the firewood and hay in Xinghua Village had been picked up, leaving the village bare and the fields very barren. She remembered that the villagers planted crops without using fertilizer.

This method relies entirely on the soil's natural fertility, essentially a predatory approach to farming. It quickly depletes the land, resulting in increasingly poor soil quality and reduced food production.

As she looked at the fields in the village, she glanced at her own fields, and one idea after another flashed through her mind.