To build a house, one had to inform the village head and the chief, because the location Old Zhou chose was right next to his own home, not farming land, and didn't even require spending any money.
When the other villagers learned that the Zhou Family was going to build seven stone houses at once, most didn't mind, except for Zhou Dayuan's family, which was some distance away from Manbao's house.
Between the two families lay a large patch of wasteland, overgrown with weeds and littered with stones, that no one had wanted for years, naturally leading to neglect. However, if the Zhou family were to build a symmetrical row of seven houses, they would inevitably take up the majority of that land, reducing the distance between the two homes even further.
