At this moment, Chen Qiaoer suddenly ran into the room with a bowl of water and handed it to Chen Xiaobei, saying, "Brother, drink some water."
Chen Xiaobei took it and drank a large bowl in one go, then smiled as he handed the bowl back, "Qiaoer is so good."
After complimenting his sister, Chen Xiaobei remembered that he had promised to boil water for Lidong and the others.
Just as he was about to speak, however, Cui Hongyu spoke first. She pointed to the kitchen and said, "Husband, you rest for now. I'll take some water to Lidong and the others."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. Thinking of the comments those men had made earlier, he realized that if Hongyu went, they might make crude jokes that Hongyu wouldn't be comfortable with.
Thinking about this, he stopped her. "I'll go instead and see how they're doing."
Chen Xiaobei took a wooden bucket, poured boiling water into it, and placed the dipper on top.
After all, they didn't have that many bowls at home, so they'd just have to make do.
When Lidong saw that Chen Xiaobei had brought water, he waved to everyone to take a break.
Two people were soaking in the river, and Chen Xiaobei felt a bit guilty. He first scooped up half a dipper of water and handed it to them.
"Here, drink some water, rest a bit before continuing."
One of the men in the river was from the village, named Dayong.
He looked at Chen Xiaobei with a confused expression. "I heard you're paying ten copper coins a year for this piece of land!"
Chen Xiaobei nodded. "Yes, that's right, ten copper coins a year, and I have to pay for twenty years."
Dayong sighed. "Xiaobei, you're really getting taken advantage of. This land was wasteland, no one was farming it."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "It's fine, it's fine. Now that I've paid the rent, I feel more at ease."
Lidong teased, "Exactly, Xiaobei just needs to raise some fish. He can sell a few at the county and make his money back."
Dayong looked at Chen Xiaobei in disbelief.
"Are you serious? There are so many fish in the river, and you still want to raise your own?"
Chen Xiaobei smiled. "Yes, Dayong, relying on the river's fish is like relying on the weather. It's unreliable. I'd rather raise my own fish."
Dayong couldn't help but point ahead.
"The reed bed over there has plenty of young fish. Just catch them, but if you want them to grow, it might take a long time."
The group burst into laughter again.
Lidong coughed and said, "Alright, back to work, stop with the sarcastic remarks."
Xiaobei took the opportunity to stand up and head back. This trip for water wasn't wasted; at least he got some useful information, namely that there were many fish fry in the reed bed.
However, raising fry alone wouldn't be enough; he also needed some bigger fish.
So, one fishing net wouldn't be sufficient.
But he felt bad about buying another umbrella—each one costs five big coins.
Learning by doing, he decided to make his own.
Although he wasn't a carpenter, his hands-on skills were decent.
He tied wooden sticks and ropes together and attached the net to it. It wasn't the most refined work, but it would suffice. Of course, the biggest advantage of doing it this way was that it was easy to repair. If a big fish broke it, it wouldn't be as painful, and he could just sew it up and keep using it.
Thinking about this, Xiaobei felt excited. He went home, put down the wooden bucket, and immediately headed to Dachun's house. He knew Dachun had a lot of ropes.
When he arrived at Dachun's house, the scene in front of him stunned him.
Dachun was sitting in the shade of a tree in the yard, lost in thought. He didn't even notice Xiaobei walking in.
"Dachun, what's wrong?" Xiaobei couldn't help but ask.
Dachun snapped out of his daze and, seeing him, looked a bit flustered.
"Xiaobei, sit down, please, sit down."
Xiaobei sat down with a concerned look. "What's going on? You seem distracted."
Dachun quickly shook his head. "It's nothing, nothing at all. I'm just about to leave this village, and I feel reluctant."
Xiaobei was stunned. "You... you're leaving? Where are you going?"
"To the city. I bought a house in the county town, and I'm moving there in the next couple of days. Oh, and by the way, if you ever go to the city, you can stay at my place."
"Brother, buying a house in the city is not a small expense!" Xiaobei couldn't help but express his surprise.
Dachun paused for a moment, perhaps not realizing that Xiaobei wasn't aware of this.
"Xiaobei, I owe this to you. You saved Liu Tie, and I... I feel undeserving."
Upon hearing this, Xiaobei understood. Back then, Liu Rumei had also wanted to give him money, but he had refused and taken a waist token instead, not knowing what it was for. Meanwhile, Dachun had been more practical—he accepted the money and immediately bought a house in the city.
But then, thinking about it, if he really went into the city, what would he do? It seemed like he couldn't do anything.
Dachun continued, "Since you're here, I should have come to find you. I had already discussed with my mother that after we leave, the five acres of land at home would be handed over to you to cultivate. It's not easy with your family expanding, so just pay the rent for us, and I won't take any of the rest."
Well, that was straightforward. If they were really cutting ties with He Tou Village, they wouldn't even keep the land.
"Brother Dachun, think about it again. If you go to the county town, you'll need a livelihood, a way to earn money."
Dachun smiled broadly. "I've already thought it through. We'll open a steamed bun shop. Don't worry, you can come eat buns anytime, I won't charge you any silver."
Well, since he already had a clear business plan, Xiaobei could only wish him good luck and safety in life.
After all, Dachun was giving him the five acres of land to cultivate.
Then Dachun stood up. "Come on, I'll take you to the field and show you the boundaries, so you don't get confused."
Walking out of the yard, Xiaobei fully understood. No wonder Second Aunt Xiumei came to talk to him about repairing the house—Dachun couldn't handle it.
It wasn't because of health issues, but because he didn't care for such hard work.
Fine, since Dachun wouldn't do it, he'd give the job to Lidong. After all, someone would always be there to do the work for him, so he didn't have to worry about that.
What made Xiaobei feel a little regretful was that, from his memory, growing up in He Tou Village, it seemed like Dachun was his only true good friend, with everyone else just casual acquaintances.
But then again, in these times, if you had silver, you were in charge, and your words carried weight.
Dachun's land was quite far from the village, almost reaching the southeastern foot of Qing Niu Mountain, winding along the base of the mountain.
There was a small stream winding down from the mountain.
Unless it was a drought year, watering wouldn't be an issue.
As Xiaobei reached the land, his first impression was that the place felt unusually stuffy.
Looking at the field, it also seemed drier than the others.
"Brother, my field needs watering. Remember, it needs to be irrigated every few days. My land requires more water than other places."
Well, this place was obviously much drier than the others.
"Alright, I've got it," Xiaobei nodded. This kind of land couldn't be worked with shortcuts; five acres would yield a lot of grain by autumn.
"Brother Dachun, let's keep things clear. I need to pay you the rent," Xiaobei said seriously.