Chapter 90: A Great Start

Hu Zhaodi entered the main room and spoke with a smile, “Grandpa Ji, we need to add one more, and that’s the child from Sister Chunlan’s family.”

The old scholar nodded. “Alright, I’ll add them right away.”

From the kitchen, Aunt Ji voice came, “Zhaodi, wash your hands and come eat.”

“I’m coming!”

Two days later, the private school officially started.

In the classroom, Ji Chunhua’s two daughters were the only girls; the rest of the students were all boys.

As the old scholar was teaching the children, someone noticed Hu Dashan standing nearby under the shade of a tree, looking lost. His eyes were red as he stared at the private school, listening to the sound of children reading.

If his son hadn’t died, would he be sitting in that classroom now, reading along with the old scholar?

Unfortunately, there were no regrets in this world. It was too late to regret now.

After the private school had started, Hu Zhaodi also began making arrangements for the construction of the house.

The villagers had finished planting the wheat and were now waiting for Hu Zhaodi to begin the construction, so they could earn some wages.

Hu Zhaodi told Grandpa Ji to announce that any family with children in the private school would receive an extra 500 wen in wages each month as a subsidy for their children’s education.

For families without children in the school, the monthly wage would be two taels of silver.

Once this announcement was made, those who hadn’t sent their children to the private school became restless, especially those with boys.

In the village, most people valued boys over girls, and with the tuition fee being ten taels of silver per year, no villager would ever send a girl to school.

That very evening, two or three villagers came to Ji’s house, asking if their children could still enroll in school.

Of course, Hu Zhaodi wasn’t going to turn them away. She immediately agreed to their requests.

That night, after three busy days, Hu Zhaodi lay in bed and focused her thoughts on the space in her bracelet.

Since planting the ginseng seeds, she hadn’t checked on the space.

She was startled when she looked inside, jumping up from the bed in disbelief, feeling like she was dreaming.

She pinched her cheek—it hurt a bit.

This time, she placed her right hand on her left wrist, and the entire space appeared in her mind.

To her surprise, in just three days, the ginseng not only sprouted, but the seedlings had already grown to about ten centimeters high.

With a thought, she entered the space, leaving the ancient jade bracelet lying quietly on the bed.

Standing next to the spirit spring, Hu Zhaodi couldn’t shake the feeling of unreality.

It must be the spirit spring’s effect.

Not only did it help her grow taller, but it also made the ginseng sprout and grow quickly.

What a great thing!

In just three days, the ginseng had grown so much. If she planted ginseng across the entire space, once it matured, it would be a fortune—pure silver!

She was going to get rich!

In a few years, she would be the wealthiest woman in the entire Lingxiao Kingdom!

She quickly closed her eyes, focusing her mind on clearing the land.

A whole incense stick’s time passed quietly, and Hu Zhaodi was sweating heavily on her forehead.

She was exhausted!

Hu Zhaodi couldn’t help but complain, “Using my mind to clear the land for an incense stick’s time is more tiring than working all day.”

When she opened her eyes, she saw that there was still about a third of the land around the spirit spring left to be cleared.

Though it was tiring, she couldn’t be more satisfied with the results.

After drinking some spirit spring water to recover her strength, she used her mind to bring out more ginseng seeds.

Thankfully, the ginseng seeds she had acquired in her past life were inexhaustible—she could plant as many as she wanted.

She planted ginseng seeds in all the cleared land and used her mind to water them with the spirit spring water.

Afterward, she walked upstairs to the supermarket’s third floor, took a shower, dried her hair, and returned to the space, lying down to sleep.

—

The Next Day

Finally, the day had arrived for the construction of the small pine forest to begin.

Before dawn, Hu Zhaodi was already up and in the kitchen, quietly adding some spirit spring water to the water tank.

The spirit spring water was not only sweet but also had the effects of strengthening the body and relieving fatigue. Most importantly, Ji Chunhua’s two daughters were still below the standard height, so Hu Zhaodi hoped that adding some spirit spring water would help them grow taller.

After breakfast, Hu Zhaodi and the Ji family headed to the small pine forest.

Almost all the villagers who could work showed up with hoes in hand, except for Hu Dashan’s family, who were noticeably absent.

The craftsmen were the same ones who had helped build the private school. After a flurry of activity, they measured the land, and the craftsmen set up a plumb line.

Grandpa Ji also took out a red cloth and tied it to a hoe, the bright red standing out like a beacon.

At mid-morning, as Hu Zhaodi was about to ask Uncle Ji to set off the firecrackers, she heard a distant, urgent call.

“Zhaodi! Hu Zhaodi, where are you?”

From the voice, Hu Zhaodi immediately recognized it as Han Dongsheng.

This guy must have left before dawn to get there so early.

She quickly signaled to Uncle Ji to wait a moment.

“Brother Han, I’m over here!” Hu Zhaodi called out.

All the villagers turned their attention to the road.

Soon, Han Dongsheng and Wu Yinghai appeared in view.

Han Dongsheng hurriedly asked, “Zhaodi, have the firecrackers been set off?”

Hu Zhaodi laughed and shook her head, “Not yet. Why are you two here so early?”

Han Dongsheng wiped the sweat from his brow. “If I hadn’t come early, would you have already set off the firecrackers? We can’t miss your groundbreaking ceremony! Wu Yinghai and I had to come and join the fun.”

Wu Yinghai also wiped his forehead, grinning. “That’s right! Something so important, we can’t miss it. We, as your brothers, had to be here!”

“Is it the right time? Give me the firecrackers, and I’ll set them off,” Han Dongsheng urged.

Uncle Ji quickly handed over the firecrackers to Wu Yinghai.

After lighting the firecrackers, Wu Yinghai stepped aside, and the sounds of cracking firecrackers filled the air.

When the noise subsided, Han Dongsheng and Wu Yinghai shouted in unison, “A prosperous start!”

Grandpa Ji handed Hu Zhaodi the hoe with the red cloth tied to it, asking her to symbolically dig the first turn of earth.

“Let’s begin!”

With Grandpa Ji’s call, some of the villagers raised their hoes and began digging the foundation, following the lines drawn by the craftsmen.

The rest of the villagers, as Hu Zhaodi had instructed, began clearing the land.

By noon, Han Dongsheng and Wu Yinghai’s hired carts arrived.

A full ten carts, all carrying blue bricks.

Hu Zhaodi was exasperated. “I say, you two brothers, this is my house I’m building, but here you are, sending me blue bricks. What’s the meaning of this? Do you plan to move in with me?”

Han Dongsheng shrugged. “Is that a problem? When we have free time, we actually do want to come here and relax.”

“I’ll always welcome you, but when you do this, it makes me feel guilty.”

Wu Yinghai chimed in, “What’s there to feel guilty about? You’re our sister! Our home is your home, and vice versa. You’re building this house for all of us!”

Hu Zhaodi couldn’t help but smirk. Well, they did have a point.

“Wait a minute, when did my house become your house?” she asked playfully.

Han Dongsheng flashed a mischievous grin. “Can’t we come to our sister’s house?”

“Of course you can,” she replied, defeated.

“Then that’s settled,” he said with a wink.

Fine, Hu Zhaodi didn’t feel like arguing anymore.

That day, she stayed at the small pine forest and didn’t go into the mountains at all, supervising the work and making sure everything was on track.