Heavenly Blessed Baby: Fleeing Famine, Busy to Prosper!-Chapter 171: This Is a Huge Pond!

After each family returned to their own rooms, they all had their own discussions, unknown to each other.

In Qi Quanjin’s room, while Yi Meng was taking care of the children’s washing up, she asked Qi Quanjin, "Brother Jin, previously we talked about growing vegetables with three other families. We didn’t hear our dad mention it today. Are we not planning to include them?"

"Well..."

Qi Quanjin was squatting on the ground washing the family’s socks, and after thinking for a moment, he replied, "I guess dad wants us to try it first, and if it works, then we can bring everyone along!"

Yi Meng frowned, "If that’s the case, then we’re being kind. But..."

Thinking it over, Yi Meng decided to voice her concerns, "Small greens won’t be worth much in the summer, only selling fresh in the winter. If we wait until we’ve succeeded to inform the other families, I’m afraid they won’t catch the good timing before the new year."

This made Qi Quanjin feel troubled as well.

Just then, Qi Manman was sitting on the kang bed in her undershirt, picking at her toes. She suddenly said, "Mom, I want to sleep with grandma."

"Huh? You’re already undressed, let’s not go over tonight. Just sleep with mom!"

Yi Meng didn’t want her daughter to fall sick from the hassle.

Qi Manman shook her head seriously, "No, Manbao wants to sleep with grandma!"

Seeing the little girl so insistent, Yi Meng sighed helplessly, took a blanket to wrap her daughter up tightly, and let Qi Quanjin carry her to the old lady’s room.

Before leaving, Yi Meng suddenly thought of something and advised him, "Ask dad what he thinks, see what exactly the old man plans."

"Hmm, got it."

Qi Quanjin didn’t pause in his steps, carrying his fragrant and soft daughter, he walked out of the room without turning back.

Not long after, Qi Quanjin returned and brought back a message for Yi Meng: "Dad said he’ll call the uncles from the three families over tomorrow and sit down to discuss this matter seriously. If they want to do it, we’ll include them. If not, we’ll think of other ways to make money."

"Fine, as long as dad has an idea."

Yi Meng didn’t think much of it, tidied up and went to rest.

The next morning, Qi Family’s second courtyard was bustling with activity.

According to the previous rules at home, the wives of the families from the eldest to the fourth formed pairs, one group per day, taking turns to be responsible for the family’s three meals a day.

Though Yi Meng cooked well, Mrs. Qi disliked her using too many ingredients, so generally didn’t let Yi Meng into the kitchen.

Yi Meng wasn’t idle, she took over the task of checking the household grain storage directly.

Qi Ercai and Qi Quanjin went out early, but instead of going straight to the government office, they went to the bank.

Previously, the silver was cut into uneven broken silver by the brothers. Especially the areas with imprints were all polished off.

They visited several banks in town, eventually exchanging them for four silver notes worth five hundred taels each.

After the hassle, they went to the government office, and by noon, they had managed to register a land deed of over two hundred acres in Qi Zheng’s name.

The remaining four Qi Brothers, along with Qi Dalang, left early to go out of town to chop firewood, also calling on the other three families to join in.

So Yi Meng called on Qi Erlang and Qi Sanlang to help move grain, while Qi Silang and Qi Wulang helped record data.

After breakfast, Qi Zheng took his tobacco pipe and headed to the courtyard where the three families lived.

Soon, four old men arrived at the second courtyard.

...

After a busy day, the five horse carts brought out for firewood chopping were piled high with stacks of firewood. One cart was given to the other two courtyards, while the remaining four carts were brought into the second courtyard.

It was winter, and everyone was too lazy to go out; otherwise, such a grand scene would have frightened the neighbors.

During dinner, Qi Zheng mentioned that the other three families would also join in growing vegetables.

However, their yard was small, with only a small garden; digging the soil wouldn’t be easy.

The Qi Family’s backyard intended to expand the pond a bit, so it was suggested that they take soil from here.

That night, Yi Meng personally took her daughter to the grandparents’ room, while bringing up another matter: "Dad, we’ve dug a pond in the backyard and stored snow, but we haven’t paid the rent for this yard for several months. Do you think we should have Brother Ercai extend the lease, or maybe just buy this yard?"

"What?"

Mrs. Qi was startled, "Buying this yard? How much would that cost!"

Not only Mrs. Qi, but even Qi Zheng was taken aback.

Yi Meng anticipated her mother-in-law’s reaction, and calmly explained, "Dad, Mom, think about it, the land we bought is not close to town; it’s three hours back and forth. If we ever encounter rainy weather when coming to town, it won’t be safe to travel."

"So, I think we should buy this yard. That way, if there’s ever a special situation, we can come into town directly, without worrying about not having a place to stay."

Yi Meng actually wanted to say that if faced with bandits or war, hiding in town was better than hiding in the village.

Though they mentioned building a wall for the new village, who knows when that would be done!

But she held back from saying it, fearing it would keep the elders worrying all night long.

Qi Zheng glanced at Yi Meng, "We’ll think about it, you go rest first."

"Okay."

Yi Meng didn’t say much, left her daughter, and departed.

What Yi Meng didn’t know was that the worry she didn’t dare voice was brought up by the elders during their bedtime chat.

As it turned out, just as Yi Meng had thought, the two elders were tossing and turning like a pancake, unable to sleep.

Yet there was no conclusion about buying the yard the next day; everyone continued with their prior plans.

The three families didn’t go chopping firewood today as they had worked all day yesterday, and there was plenty of firewood at home. The elders didn’t want their sons and grandsons to endure more cold.

Besides, they needed to dig soil in the backyard of the second courtyard, and the old folks couldn’t do it on their own.

So, Qi Brothers naturally used the excuse of continuing to chop wood to head out of town.

This time they brought full set of tools, plus more manpower, and within half an hour, they discovered what that hole Qi Manman found was.

"This, this is a big pond!"

Qi Dafu looked at the ice surface in front of him he had uncovered, and couldn’t help but gasp, "Who knows how big this pond is. If it’s big enough, it’ll make our daily water use much easier."

The piece of land they bought is indeed large enough, but there’s no... nearby water source.

The nearest water source requires quite a long walk.

Qi Quanjin was also surprised to find this was a pond, and asked everyone, "Should we keep digging today, and later in the afternoon chop some firewood to bring back?"