You are my golden finger

Chapter 21 New House Completion

The beam-raising banquet ended in a lively manner.

The villagers enjoyed a sumptuous banquet that they had never had before. They all praised Lin Xijin's generosity and laughed at the Jiang family's greedy behavior at the banquet.

The villagers may be short-sighted and not very wise, but the kindness in their bones makes them believe that good deeds will be rewarded and that people should do good deeds to have good fortune in the future. They all think that the day when Jiang will regret it is yet to come!

The villagers just kept talking, but Lin Xijin didn't care and continued to be busy as usual every day.

A few days later, with the completion of the roofing work, the new house was completed. The hardening of the ground for the martial arts training ground, the brewery, the pharmacy, and the row houses for servants was also completed almost simultaneously with the efforts of the workers.

All that remains is the interior layout.

Lin Xijin also planned to dig a cellar in the northwest corner of the backyard to store food and wine. On the ground, he would build a greenhouse to plant some fruits and vegetables to cover the food he took out from the space in winter.

"Master Lu, please come to our house often in the future!" Lin Xijin said politely.

After completing the settlement for the house construction for Master Lu, Master Lu left with reluctance to leave Lin Xijin's family and satisfaction with the craftsmen.

Uncle Mu Xiong and a few workers continued to improve the facilities of the new house, while other workers began to dig the cellar.

Uncle Dafu and Uncle Jianan brought a few of the boys in the family to transport the made furniture to the new house, arranged them properly, and the decoration was completed in just a few days.

The dawn in the mountain village always comes early. On this day, the morning light slowly opened the curtain, and Lin Xijin and her two siblings were ready to move into the new house under the leadership of the clan leader and elders.

Xihui walked in front holding the incense burner, while Lin Xijin carried a shoulder pole, which contained the three animals for sacrifice, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, bean curd sheets and other items, all of which had good meanings.

Jiajia, Xinfeng and Xinlan followed closely behind, carrying school bags, abacus and scales respectively. After them came the clan leaders and elders with their young people.

Everyone surrounded Lin Xijin and her brother and walked towards the new house together.

"Grandma Qi, please move into our new home with us." Lin Xijin was still persuading Grandma Qi.

"Jin'er, don't worry, Grandma Qi will move in a few days."

Qi Po felt that she was an unlucky old widow, and no matter how much she was persuaded, she was unwilling to move into the new house on this day, and only said that she would move in a few days. Lin Xijin could not persuade her, so she had to let her be.

After entering the new house, the clan leader lit the stove in the sunset, lit lamps everywhere, and then held a solemn sacrificial ceremony.

Lin Xijin and Xinfeng and a few others quickly boiled hot water, made tea, and invited everyone to drink tea and eat fruits and snacks.

"Jin'er, congratulations!" Several aunts came over quickly after hearing the sound of firecrackers. These were the people who had been arranged in advance to come and help cook.

Because a big banquet was held on the day of the beam raising ceremony, Lin Xijin only invited the head of the village, the clan leader, the clan elders, and Uncle Mu Xiong's family to come to the banquet today. Together with the laborers who were still working, there were only about five or six tables.

There weren't many people, and they were very helpful to her, so Lin Xijin prepared a rich meal. On top of the banquet, she added a braised lion's head and dry-pot mutton, replaced the fried fish nuggets with a braised whole fish, and took out a few bottles of wine.

"Jin'er, you are really willing to give food to everyone. We are so blessed to follow you!" Everyone was very satisfied with the meal and praised Jin'er for her ability.

"You boys, you must listen to Jin'er from now on." After eating and drinking, the clan leaders and elders gave instructions to their younger generations, asking them to listen to Jin'er and lend a hand when they have problems.

"Jin'er, tell us what your plans are for the future?" After dinner, the clan leader spoke on behalf of everyone as they sat and drank tea and chatted.

Lin Xijin is now everyone's backbone, and everyone wants to hear about Lin Xijin's future development plans.

Looking at everyone's eager eyes, Lin Xijin felt a little helpless.

"Grandpas, uncles, I think we can do three things during the off-season. The first is to build roads. We need to widen and level the road from our village to the town. The second is to dig ponds. We need to dredge and deepen the ponds in Zhangshutou, and we will start raising fish, ducks, or pearl oysters in the spring of next year. The third is to build a school next to the ancestral hall in Zhangshutou, and invite a teacher to open the clan school after the New Year."

"Jin'er, these suggestions are good!" Everyone was excited after hearing Lin Xijin's words and talked about it.

The clan leader hesitated for a moment and said, "Jin girl, your idea is good, but all of these things cost money, and the clan cannot afford that much money."

"Master, I've thought about it. The clan doesn't need to pay for this. I'll pay for it. General Wu and Master Shangguan sent some medical fees a few days ago, and I have some money left after I built the house. I'll pay for the materials, fish fry, and the money for hiring a doctor in the first year. After we sell the fish and ducks, and the clan has money, we'll hire a doctor. But we'll have to do the hard work together. Do you think it's feasible?"

When the clan leader and elders heard this, their eyes instantly turned red.

"Jin girl, this is not good! Wouldn't it mean that the whole village is taking advantage of you? This won't do." The clan leader said while waving his hands.

"Uncles, my friends, only when our village and our clan are doing well, can I live a better life! It is my duty to take out some money to help the village and clan now. I will need your help in growing medicinal herbs and crops in the future."

"That's great. If you need anything from us in the future, just let us know and we, the uncles and aunts, will help you arrange it." The clan leader and elders patted their chests and made the promise.

So everyone agreed that in addition to the laborer who helped Lin Xijin dig the cellar, each family would provide one laborer to start building the road from tomorrow. After the road was built, the cellar would probably be dug as well, and then they could focus on building the clan school and digging the pond.

After all matters were agreed upon, Lin Xijin took out one hundred taels of silver and gave it to the clan leader as start-up capital, and then everyone went about arranging their own work.

The sunset glow gradually fades away, and the mountain breeze brings cool breezes, allowing people to clearly feel that autumn is deep and the autumn is chilly.

The nights in the mountain village are always exceptionally tender, and the autumn insects become silent, disappearing without a trace.

Lin Xijin's new home was more lively tonight than usual, because the two grandsons of the clan leader, Xingwen and Xingcheng, and Mu Xiongshu's son Xingwu were invited by Xihui to stay at home.

After dinner, the seven children played wildly in the martial arts training ground. Xihui even played the role of a temporary coach and practiced martial arts for a while. Each of them picked up a stick to act as a golden hoop and practiced it for a while in a very realistic way.

When decorating the house, Lin Xijin considered that the children were getting older, so she gave each of them a room, and also a large study room with wooden floors. But it was obvious that the boys didn't want to live separately tonight, so Lin Xijin had to let them all carry their quilts and sleep on the floor in the study room.

"Sister, let's live together tonight." Xijia and Xinlan didn't want to live separately, so they both stayed in Xijia's room.

After settling the children, Lin Xijin felt relieved. She washed up, returned to her room, threw herself on the soft bed, and rolled over several times.

A sense of comfort came over me. After nearly two months of hard work, I finally had a comfortable accommodation environment and an independent space.

Although Xijia and Xihui are his younger brothers and sisters, Lin Xijin is a mature and independent soul of a modern person. He is not used to hanging out with kids of his age.

Lin Xijin entered the space with confidence, practiced some internal skills, moved her hands and feet, and worked hard before returning to the soft bed and falling asleep.