Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Beside the wasteland at the foot of the mountain, small courtyards had sprung up. Although they were all made of mud and thatched roofs, every household kept their homes exceptionally tidy, indicating that the people in this village were very good at managing their lives.
In the wasteland in front of the village, many people were busy in the fields. The men were turning the soil, the women were cutting grass, and the children were clearing stones from the land.
The work of reclaiming wasteland was arduous, but the villagers of the small mountain village all had smiles on their faces.
The village had a rule that children under fifteen were not required to participate in reclaiming wasteland, but children from poor families matured early. These children had all voluntarily gone to the fields to help.
Er Lang, naturally, did not fall behind. This fellow had been very busy lately, working with the adults to reclaim wasteland every day, and also finding time to train with Jiang Wan in the back mountain.
His talent was good. The ropes that Jiang Wan had initially set up were no longer a challenge for him. The number of ropes had doubled, and Er Lang's progress was steadily improving.
Jiang Wan's house was also nearing completion. After the ridge beam was placed in two days, and the tiles were laid, they would have a new home.
Everything was developing in a good direction, but Jiang Wan was not very happy.
This was because her "energy tree" had run away more than half a month ago and had not returned since.
Jiang Wan had even prepared herself mentally for the possibility that they might never come back.
Yet, she still felt a sense of loss.
To prevent herself from being controlled by this emotion, she kept reminding herself: "What I gain is my fortune, what I lose is my fate."
Eventually, she simply told her little subordinate to stop watching that small courtyard, to avoid being disappointed every day.
Besides, the method of upgrading her abilities was not irreplaceable. Although the clumsy method was slow, as long as she persisted, she could improve little by little.
By persuading herself like this, she was able to maintain a normal state of mind.
No longer paying attention to the situation in the back mountain, Jiang Wan began to find joy in her daily life.
She trained with her second brother every day, herded horses, embroidered with her sister-in-law, practiced calligraphy and studied with her youngest brother, and also used her abilities in the fields from time to time, causing the weeds that the villagers had cut down to ferment and decompose rapidly. This would increase the fertility of the wasteland and prepare for the next planting season.
In addition, she had to go into the city every few days to chat with Madam Cheng.
On the day of the ridge beam placement for the new Jiang family house, Madam Cheng and her family of three came to celebrate, and the people of the small mountain village also came to join in. They had just arrived in Jiangnan and did not have many good things to bring, but the villagers still brought gifts.
Your family caught a wild chicken, my family caught a few fish. The gifts were simple, but the sentiment was priceless.
Madam Liu, who had maintained a distance from the Jiang family, also sent a modest gift, just like the other villagers.
Her house was also scheduled to have its ridge beam placed in two days. She had not participated in the village's wasteland reclamation this time, as she had never done farm work since childhood and was naturally unable to do such things. However, she had bought some grain for the village as her contribution.
The villagers, having received the grain, did not hold it against her for not coming to help with the work.
It was evident that Madam Liu was trying to integrate into the village.
For the feast to celebrate the ridge beam placement, Chen Yuezhi and Jiang Pan discussed it and bought a pig, as well as some chickens, ducks, and fish. They invited a few women from the village to help with the arrangements.
There were plenty of candies and fruits scattered during the ridge beam placement ceremony, and even some copper coins were prepared, making the children of the village beam with joy.
Jiang Wan was also delighted. She didn't know that building a house had such a ceremony. It was too much fun!
The children picked up a pile of fruits and candies, and even managed to grab a few copper coins, making them as happy as if it were New Year's. A group of children gathered together, comparing who grabbed more candy and whose fruit was bigger.
Cheng Sinian also joined in the fun with these children. During their escape from famine, he had become familiar with these children. This time, Madam Cheng had deliberately dressed him in ordinary clothes so that the village children would not feel any distance from him.
Magistrate Cheng was also very approachable. Initially, the villagers of the small mountain village were quite reserved. However, seeing Magistrate Cheng chatting and laughing with them, without any airs of officialdom, they gradually relaxed.
The feast at the Jiang family's was prepared with great sincerity. Although it wasn't refined, it was plentiful, and the villagers who had been working hard in the fields for days were very satisfied.
Magistrate Cheng also found it to be a unique experience.
He was from a scholarly family and had never eaten peasant food. Even though he was a good official, he had never truly mingled with the common people. From birth, there was no possibility of interaction between the common folk and families like his.
If it weren't for the Jiang family's life-saving grace, and for the escort provided by the small mountain village, he and the villagers of the small mountain village would not have been sitting together in a courtyard for a feast like today.
Today, the Cheng family attended the Jiang family's ridge beam placement ceremony as friends. Jiang Pan sat with him at the head of the table, accompanied by the old village chief and his son, as well as a few other respected elders from the village.
Madam Cheng and Chen Yuezhi, Jiang Wan, and Madam Su sat at one table, along with the old village chief's wife and daughter-in-law.
After the feast dispersed, the villagers helped clean up the courtyard and then left.
Jiang Pan accompanied Magistrate Cheng on a tour of the village.
This was Magistrate Cheng's first visit since the villagers had moved in.
The last time he visited, this place was still a wasteland. In less than a month, rows of houses had been built here, and that large expanse of wasteland had been reclaimed by the villagers into plots of paddy fields. After this wasteland had been nurtured for some time, it would be distributed to the villagers for the first round of sowing.
Looking at this scene of prosperity, Magistrate Cheng was very pleased. "Many people have registered and settled in Yao County during these past few days, but there are none as thriving as your village. Brother Jiang, you have governed the small mountain village very well."
Jiang Pan did not dare to take credit. "It is everyone's contribution. We were poor in Jianzhou before, and we experienced so many things along the way. Everyone cherishes the hard-won good life and is determined to put all their energy into building a new homeland."
Magistrate Cheng said, "The people of the small mountain village are all excellent. By the way, Brother Jiang, do you have any plans for the future?"
Jiang Pan smiled honestly. "Of course, it's to farm well, and then to earn some money with the few horse carts we have at home. Although we have some savings, we can't just live off them. I've looked, and there's a lot of work at the county's pier every day. I'll take Da Lang and Er Lang to haul goods, and we can earn a few taels of silver a month."
Magistrate Cheng did not entirely agree. "Brother Jiang, you have a lot of skills, and it would be a waste for you to just haul goods. Brother Jiang, if you don't mind, I can help you find a position in the yamen."
Jiang Pan repeatedly waved his hands. "That won't do, that won't do. You are a good official, and you shouldn't let your reputation be affected because of me. Besides, I'm illiterate, how can I work in the yamen?"
Magistrate Cheng was amused by his reaction. "Brother Jiang, you worry too much. It's just finding you a position, how could that affect my official reputation? What yamen doesn't have a few people loyal to the magistrate?"