165 – Qilin Summer Mountain Villa

After the road was mended, the villagers threw themselves into the busy farming season and the work in the processing yard.

Qin Mian made use of the small brick kiln and had his servants baked some black bricks. He also mended and reorganized the road in front of Leisurely Farmhouse. The black bricks were laid from the gate of Leisurely Farmhouse, along the wall to the west, around the north of the processing yard, to the place bordering the village road. Afterward, when it rained, the family carriage would not roll through the mud.

The black brick road was about ten chi¹ wide. On the outside of the road, a tree and a flower were planted every ten chi or so. May it be winter jasmine, jasmine, chrysanthemum, or plum blossom, all were dug out from the mountain.

After the busy farming season, the villagers suddenly found the changes outside the walls of Leisurely Farmhouse. They thought their own house gates would be more beautiful like this. They also joined hands in twos and threes to make some black bricks to pave the road of their own houses. Some villagers were quite creative. When they paved the ground, some round stones were mixed between the bricks to form a pattern of flowers or animals. It was particularly beautiful.

After the brick roads in front of each house were connected together, the villagers suddenly realized that the whole Green Mountain Village was much more beautiful than before.

This was Qin Mian’s purpose – imperceptibly led the villagers to transform Green Mountain Village and finally made Green Mountain Village a land of idyllic beauty.

On a pleasantly cool morning, Qin Mian and Lei Tie came to Li Zheng’s home again. Lei Tie even had a scroll in his hand.

Quite a few villagers who accidentally saw them followed curiously. It was not easy for Li Zheng to drive them away.

“Tie-zi’s wife, what good idea is there still?” Li Zheng recalled being summoned and praised by the County Magistrate last time, so he was still excited that his face flushed with vigor.

Qin Mian said with a smile, “Uncle Li Zheng, A-Tie and I came this time for two things. First, we want to ask if we can buy the mountains around our village?”

“You want to buy mountains?” Li Zheng thought to himself: it’s hard to understand what rich people think. In his opinion, those mountains were of little value since they couldn’t grow food.

Qin Mian nodded.

Li Zheng said, “There’s nothing that can’t be bought. I’ll go to the county to get you the title deed.”

Qin Mian said, “We want to buy Mount Eagle at the back of the village. How much does it cost, do you think?”

Li Zheng pondered, “Mount Eagle… That mountain is not small. I remember that a few years ago, a landlord of a village in Running Water Town bought a mountain near their village and spent more than 300 taels of silver. Mount Eagle should not exceed 500 taels.”

“We’ll buy Mount Eagle.” Qin Mian said, “Later, A-Tie and I will follow you to the county. I’ve been bothering you so many times. We must treat you to a meal in any way.”

“Haha, alright.” Li Zheng was only too glad to accept it.

A villager asked curiously, “Tie-zi’s wife, what do you buy that mountain for?”

Qin Mian did not conceal, “We plan to build a summer villa on the mountain.” He was not afraid that others would follow suit. On one hand, other people’s design of the summer villa could not surpass his; on the other hand, he had a cheat device – his well-built summer villa must be better than others’ summer villa.

The few villagers were both amazed and admired them.

Li Zheng asked, “What’s the second thing?”

Qin Mian asked with a smile, “Uncle Li Zheng, do you want to make Green Mountain Village more beautiful? Do you want to make the villagers of Green Mountain Village richer?”

Li Zheng’s expression was serious, “Of course!”

Qin Mian looked at the five villagers who were so excited that their eyes were shining. “Elder brothers, please leave us.”

Although the five villagers wanted to know what good idea Qin Mian had, they changed their minds for fear of making him unhappy. They all smiled and politely cupped their hands in obeisance to him and Lei Tie before leaving.

Only then Qin Mian said, “To make our village more beautiful, first, plant flowers; second, plant fruit trees, so that there are flowers and fruits in four seasons. Flowers and trees are not planted randomly but in a planned way. For example, flowers should be planted on this piece of land and trees should be planted on that piece of land. Also, not everyone grows the same fruit trees, but one household plants peach trees and another household plants pear trees. It is convenient to take care of and can ensure that every household has income. Just imagine, if everyone grows peach trees, it will be difficult to sell the fruits when there is a lot of it. Besides, the variety is too solely.”

Li Zheng nodded, incessantly.

Qin Mian unfolded the scroll in Lei Tie’s hand and put it on the table. “This is the transformed Green Mountain Village. Have a look.”

Li Zheng looked at the neat housing, the spacious roads, the beautiful sea of flowers, and the fertile fruit trees within the painting… perpetually wondered at the scene.

“Good! These fields?”

Li Zheng saw the name of the painting.

Qin Mian nodded, “That’s right, the fields in the painting are no different from those in our village in both quantity and location.”

“You painted it? It must have been a lot of work.” Li Zheng patted him on the shoulder.

Lei Tie said, “Four days.”

“You two have taken a lot of trouble,” said Li Zheng with emotion.

“Just a little bit of planning. If we really want to transform Green Mountain Village, some villagers’ fields need to be replanted with fruit trees.” Qin Mian hesitated, “This is only our idea. Whether it can be realized or not depends on Uncle Li Zheng’s ability. The only thing we can guarantee is that we will do our best to teach the villagers to plant flowers and fruit trees.”

Li Zheng frowned for a long time. If he could make Green Mountain Village more beautiful and the villagers richer, he would certainly like to. But it was not that simple. It was useless for him to agree because he had to consider the villagers’ opinions. Farmers had to pay a certain amount of land tax every year. If some of the fields used to grow grain were used to grow fruit trees, the grain output would be lower. If the output was not enough to pay the land tax, the villagers would have to pay with money to make up. If they couldn’t make money from planting flowers and fruit trees, wouldn’t he drive the villagers to a dead end?

Qin Mian understood his concerns, “There’s no need to rush to decide on this matter. Uncle Li Zheng can think about it slowly. Even if you don’t agree in the end, it’s alright.”

Li Zheng’s anxiety slowly receded, and he laughed at himself, “On the contrary, I’m inclined. That’s right, it’s not urgent. Let’s solve the problem of you buying the mountain first. How about going to the county tomorrow?”

“No problem.”

Other villagers heard from the five villagers that Qin Mian wanted to give the whole village a good idea to make money. They were excited and went to Li Zheng’s and Qin Mian’s houses to ask for information. Unfortunately, both Li Zheng’s and Qin Mian’s gates were closed. The villagers had to restrain their anxiety and waited for Li Zheng to call them for a meeting.

The next day, Qin Mian and Lei Tie took Yuanyuan, Manman, and Li Zheng on the family’s carriage to Zhaoyang County.

Li Zheng also brought his six-year-old grandson, Little Luobo². The Luo Family taught Little Luobo very well. He was young but sensible and clever. He was a qualified small elder brother in front of Yuanyuan and Manman.

When they got to the county town, they went to the County Office first and spent 450 taels of silver to buy Mount Eagle and 10 taels of silver to handle the title deed and bribed the commissioner.³

After finishing their proper business, the three adults and three children strolled in the street, bought some small toys for the three children, and had lunch in Nie Heng’s wine house near noon.

Nie Heng happened to be there.

His wife, who was now more than two months pregnant, kept nagging in Qin Mian’s ear several times before when she went to Double Xiang House to borrow Yuanyuan and Manman to live in her house for a while. It was a pity that Qin Mian and Lei Tie were not free. If they allowed Yuanyuan and Manman to go by themselves, they wouldn’t feel at ease. So then, they didn’t go.

“If Yuanyuan and Manman are willing to stay with me for a few days, my wife will surely get a boy,” said Nie Heng with regret.

Qin Mian laughed at him, “Do you want a son so much? Be careful, if your wife knows, she will make you kneel on the washboard.”

Nie Heng smilingly said, “It’s just that Yuanyuan and Manman are so adorable. I hope to have a son as adorable as them.”

Manman took out a piece of fruit candy made by Qin Mian from his big pocket and handed it to Nie Heng. He said with a serious face, “Uncle Nie, this candy is for Aunt. Aunt will surely give birth to an adorable little brother.”

Nie Heng was taken aback but felt warm in his heart. He rubbed Manman’s little head, took the candy, and put it into his pocket. He laughed, “Alright. Thank you, Manman. I will definitely give this candy to your Aunt to eat.”

Nie Heng came home and put the candy into his wife’s mouth. Young Madam Nie thought that her husband finally knew how to coax people. She smiled continuously for several days…

Back to Green Mountain Village from the county town, Qin Mian and Lei Tie started building the Qilin Summer Mountain Villa.

Three days later, Li Zheng called all the villagers to his home again to discuss an official matter. He relayed Qin Mian’s words and asked them to think it over.

Qin Mian and Li Zheng did not expect the reaction of the villagers. No one opposed or hesitated. Everyone believed in Qin Mian’s ability and was willing to gamble with him.

Qin Mian was moved and felt that these villagers also had a lovely side. He had more confidence in the transformation of Green Mountain Village.

At the same time that Li Zheng was gratified, his decision also firmed up. Even the villagers believed in Qin Mian and Lei Tie so much, and thus he should believe in them. As long as they all worked together, they would be able to succeed.

The best season for planting flowers and trees was spring, so the plan to transform Green Mountain Village was put on hold for a while.

Before dismissing them, Li Zheng told the villagers to keep it secret so as not to cause other side issues.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie continued to work on Qilin Summer Mountain Villa – went uphill to cut things, dug trees, dug earth, built roads, bought stones and materials… From the beginning of construction to the completion of the project, more than 100 workers were employed. They were busy from the 7th month to the end of the 12th month, which took nearly half a year for Qilin Summer Mountain Villa to take on a complete look.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie became the first people to live in Qilin Summer Mountain Villa along with Yuanyuan, Manman, White Spot, and Golden Fur.

The whole Qilin Summer Mountain Villa was basically made of wood. There were six establishments in total, and due to it being a “summer” mountain villa, their names had a refreshing flavor. Their names were Clear Spring Pavilion, Cool Summer Residence, Cold Autumn Building, Chilly Winter Courtyard, Left Frost House, and Right Snow Park. The style of the six establishments was totally different. The pavilions and kiosks arranged in picturesque disorder; insects, fish, birds, and beast, stirred the brush tip to fly⁴. Inside and outside the summer mountain villa, tall trees stood in great numbers and vegetation was serene and hidden in-depth – it was such a nice quiet place. One could imagine that in summer, this place would be a well-known summer resort.

T/n: I’m the only one. Not guys either, I’m a fish.

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