After dinner, Qingmu moved the bed into the new house first, with help from Zhang Huai.

Juhua asked, "The floor isn’t even level yet, and you’ve already moved the bed in. How are we going to fix the part under the bed later?"

Qingmu smiled. "We’ll just have to move the bed when the time comes. If we wait until everything is perfect to move in, who knows how long that’ll take? You’re sleeping in your new room tonight. I specially chose this south-facing room on the east side for you. The east side is best."

Juhua was happy to hear this. Gazing around the room with its still-unfinished floor, she felt a sense of peace settle over her. The space had been partitioned into northern and southern halves, making it feel cozy and compact rather than vast and empty. She was certain it would feel warm and inviting once everything was in its proper place.

That night, sleeping in her new home for the first time, was incredibly peaceful, even though she shared the bed with her aunt. At dawn, she woke to the sound of birds singing on the back mountain, just as she always had, feeling completely comfortable and at home.

Over the next few days, thanks to the neighbors who continued to help, they managed to build the kitchen, pigsty, and courtyard walls in one continuous effort. With so many hands available, they even went ahead and helped plaster the interior walls of the house.

In the evenings, Zheng Changhe, Qingmu, Juhua’s two uncles, and even Zhang Huai and Zhao San stayed behind. By the light of oil lamps, they used stone rollers and large mallets to level the floors inside the house. By pushing themselves like this, the interior was already starting to look like a proper home by the time the kitchen and courtyard walls were done.

Only then was the new house considered truly complete. The rest of the miscellaneous chores would have to be handled by the family, one step at a time.

After all the helpers had gone home, Juhua stood in the courtyard, now twice its original size, and smiled contentedly.

At Juhua’s specific request, the wild chrysanthemums that once grew by the old fence had been carefully dug up, roots and all, by Qingmu and the others and transplanted to the base of the new inner courtyard wall. The mujin bushes were moved to the outside of the wall. Even the salvageable vegetables from the garden patch were relocated to the backyard. If they had simply torn everything out, they would have to go for quite a while without fresh vegetables while waiting for new ones to grow.

The pigs had already been herded into their new sty, but the chickens and ducks were just milling about the yard, seemingly unimpressed with their new residence. They no longer made a beeline for their coop at dusk as they used to. Instead, they wandered around like headless chickens, unsure of where to go.

Juhua had no choice but to slowly shoo them toward the chicken and duck coops in the backyard. She figured it would take them quite some time to get used to their new home.

At dinner, Zheng Changhe said with a smile, "We’re going to gather acorns tomorrow. Get the baskets and sacks ready later. We planted the wheat in such a rush that we haven’t had any time to tend to it. I’m afraid we won’t have much of a harvest next year. If we don’t feed the pigs well on top of that, we’ll be at an even greater loss."

Qingmu said, "Don’t worry, the wheat still has the whole winter ahead of it. We can add more fertilizer later, and it’ll grow just fine. Let’s focus on gathering acorns tomorrow."

Yang Family smiled. "Now that the house is built, I feel so much more at ease. Everything else can be done slowly. Just gather enough acorns for the pigs to eat, and that’ll be fine. No need to compete with everyone else for them. Besides, we’re only raising four pigs—it’s not like we can get any more right now. Even piglets are hard to come by. These things have to be taken slowly; you can’t get fat from a single bite. Next year, when the families with sows have new litters, it will be easier to get piglets."

Zheng Changhe said, "Qingmu, you’ve already taken so many days off. You should go back to school tomorrow. Your mother and I can handle the work at home. You should focus on your education; don’t treat it lightly."

But Qingmu replied, "I’ll help gather acorns for one more day, then I’ll go to school the day after tomorrow. From now on, I’ll catch up on my missed lessons with Yangzi in the evenings."

Juhua didn’t know what to say.

Building the house had delayed so much of their other work. If they didn’t gather enough acorns and the pigs went hungry next year, it would be a major loss. After all, the entire village would be out gathering acorns this year. If they were even a little slow, they might not be able to get any at all.

So, she spoke up, "Let Brother help for one day tomorrow. If it’s like last year and we can gather many bags in a single day, then he won’t have to go again after that."

Zheng Changhe chuckled. "How could it be that easy? Last year, we were the only family out there gathering them."

The days that followed were indeed as hectic as the rice harvest season. The Zheng Family had no spare time to tidy up their new house or organize the yard and surrounding areas. Gathering acorns was, of course, an all-hands-on-deck affair. Even in the mornings and evenings, Juhua still had to go out and pick wild chrysanthemums—those flowers waited for no one. They bloomed on their own time, and if she didn’t pick them, they would simply wither away.