“Really? I have picked two large bamboo baskets? Enough? If not, later I’ll go pick more. You stay at home and wash them. We’ll make jam together later.”
To his surprise, Ling Jingpeng did not ask more, but squatted down and carried one of the baskets on his back instead. Ling Jingxuan suspiciously looked at him but found the slightest doubt on his face, making him confused this time.
“Wait, now that we’re here, let’s cut some wild grape branches and plant in the yard. All that I planted last time are alive.”
But Ling Jingxuan did not tangle on that for too long. Isn’t it a good thing that his younger brother doesn’t doubt it?
Thanks to the water from the Crescent Spring, those wild pear tree branches and wild grape branches he cut back a few days ago all survived in the yard. The Crescent Spring not only could attract fish, but also could promote plant growth. According to his observation, it also had a lot of benefits to human body, the most obvious evidence was the wound on the small bun’s face. After using it to drink and wash face for a few days, the scar was almost gone. This also firmed his decision not to tell anyone about the Crescent Spring thing. The precious stone lands its innocent possessor in jail. He didn’t want to ask for trouble for himself.
“All survived? It’s only been a few days. Are you mistaken?”
Hearing that, Ling Jingpeng was a bit stunned, and couldn’t help looking at him with doubt. He himself was half a farmer at least, how had he never known that planting a branch was so easy?
“Ahem… how could I mistake it? Listen to me. I’m thinking of buying all the homestead land around here and turn it into a big farm orchard.”
Coughing a bit unnaturally, he said so while waving the sickle to cut a thick branch. Actually after obtaining the Crescent Spring, he began to think about purchasing the homestead thing, anyway, the place was laid unused, and no one dared to move here to live next to him, right? He bet it also wouldn’t be expensive. It’s just…the village head’s power was huge in the village, and the thought of dealing with his nominal second grandfather made him uncomfortable.
“Buying land…”
Ling Jingpeng felt startled again on hearing that, then heaved a sigh, picked up the sickle and helped him cut branches.
“What? Won’t they allow me to buy it?”
Aware of his strangeness, Ling Jingxuan asked. Ling Jingpeng shook his head, “No, just… forget it. Father and mother don’t let me tell you. But I guess you should know it already. The Ling family takes you a shame. That year they banished you to the foot of Yuehua Mountain, only wishing you’d end up dying here. Forget about the mysteriousness of the mountain, only those wild beasts in the mountain could kill you like a hundred times. If they go down the mountain some day, you’d be the first to die, which was what they were wishing for. Buying you three mu of land that year, you know, father and mother had kneeled before our second grandpa for a whole night. I still remember that they even couldn’t get off bed for a few days after coming back. And then only after our grandma (here it refers to Ling Jingxuan’s mother’s mother, not his father’s mother.) brought our uncles (here it means Ling Jingxuan’s mother’s brothers, not his father’s brothers) to make a scene at our second grandpa’s place and then he only agreed to sell it to us. Till now our second grandpa’s family is still holding grudge against our parents and grandma’s family. And our grandparents (here it means Ling Jingxuan’s father’s parents) became more and more estranged to them. So I’m afraid it won’t be that easy to buy land.”
They were families, but they only wished he would die soon. Just a man giving birth, premarital pregnancy, did they really have to do this?
Ling Jingxuan thoroughly lost the last piece of good feeling towards the whole Ling Family except his parents and younger brothers. The precious reputation in their eyes was basically worthless in his eyes. He’d rather have as few contacts with them as possible. Besides, he had to figure out a way to let his parents divide up the family with them as soon as possible.
“It doesn’t matter. Is our second grandpa even more powerful than the magistrate? The land is not his, he is at most to help run errands. Later I’ll go directly to buy land from the magistrate.”
The Qing dynasty explicitly stipulated that a small amount of land transaction did require local approval of the head village, but what if it was more than a thousand mu? Hum, he did not believe if there was anything he couldn’t buy with money!
“Look for county magistrate to buy land?”
Ling Jingpeng was totally stoned this time. How much land is he going to buy? Or does he think that the county magistrate has nothing to do and would care about buy a few mu of land in person?
“Ha ha… Do you think I was joking this morning when I said I was going to buy that half-salt land? Seen from now, no one but me can grow something on the half-salt land, and the county magistrate may be very grateful for me buying it. When I do grow something out of it, the county magistrate will have great merits. Do you think who is more powerful, me or the county magistrate?”
Stopping the work at hand, Ling Jingxuan said half jokingly, squatting on the ground. It was at least thousands of hectares of land. If he could really grow something out of it, maybe the county magistrate would call him dad. And that was the reality. Now what he had to do was to save money as soon as possible, before the flooding he could hire more people to make preparations for everything.
“Can you really grow crops there?!”
If the doings after Ling Jingxuan became normal surprised him, now one could say he felt excited. Some kind of vague intuition in the heart told him maybe his big brother could really make it.
“Well, there are some ideas. It’s too early to say. Come on, let’s go home.”
Now everything was armchair theory, or people would even think that he was daydreaming, but when the facts were presented before eyes in the future, he did not need to explain a word.
“Ah? Oh, OK…”
Getting no affirmative answer, Ling Jingpeng unavoidably felt a bit moony, but when they were carried up the bamboo basket of their own and he saw Ling Jingxuan take those thick branches and tie them together, Ling Jingpeng suddenly sobered up. He rushed forward and stuffed the two bags into his arms, and then walked ahead dragging those branches. In a place where Ling Jingxuan couldn’t see, a slightly dark and young handsome face slowly raised a smile. He believed his present big brother could definitely make it.