Because Tian Jing took the lead, the family planning office persuaded the villagers to follow the model of their village.
What a damn model!
The villagers did not admit it. They would never do something that would lead to the extinction of their lineage.
Ouyang Meihua and Le Xia also got IUDs after hearing from Tian Jing that they could still try for a baby after removal if necessary.
Sister-in-law Niu and her husband discussed it. Anyway, her age was no longer suitable for childbirth, so she also got one.
Wang's two daughters-in-law, Guo Hong and Liu Mei, both got them.
The infamy they received was being called the running dogs behind Tian Jing.
No matter how much the villagers scolded them, these families ignored them. They were just jealous that they were making money by following the Li family, and used this matter to start scolding.
The village was in an uproar. After a few days of rest, Tian Jing went up the mountain.
The private vault still needed to be found.
Li Zhengguo went to the provincial capital to deliver vegetables, and to purchase flowers and grass seeds.
The courtyard house was almost completed.
...
Countless attempts, countless times of being repelled.
Tian Jing ran to complain to Xiao Song.
Xiao Song wanted to cry without tears. It wanted to hide, but why was it so difficult?
"Tian Tian, when will the helicopter you mentioned appear?"
"Government ones have existed for a long time, private ones will take another dozen years."
"The government won't send a helicopter to do meaningless things unless you are exposed, unless there is a mine on this mountain."
Xiao Song breathed a sigh of relief, "Then you can try slowly. You will definitely be able to get in, otherwise, wouldn't your ancestors have gone to all the trouble for nothing?"
Thinking of the complexity of the map, Tian Jing suspected that this formation might not be easy to break.
She and Brother Zheng knew nothing about formations. All they had left was brute force.
However, she had tested it. The more she used brute force, the greater the rebound force.
...
The courtyard house was completely completed.
Including the garden on the first floor, including the private park on the east side.
The ancient-style courtyard house stood amidst red flowers and green grass, magnificent and beautiful.
Many people did not understand the Li family's act of planting grass.
Of course, for farmers who hated grass growing in their fields, grass grew very quickly.
Therefore, the lush lawn on the east side did not arouse any suspicion from the villagers.
Even with all the anger they had towards Tian Jing, standing in front of this fairy-tale-like courtyard house at this moment, the villagers had to admit that they were completely on a different level from Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo.
For the housewarming banquet, Tian Jing still did not invite the villagers. They had already fallen out, so why pretend to be polite?
Grandpa Xiao also followed his granddaughter.
Just because she responded to the national policy, the villagers almost cursed her to her face. How could he still have any sympathy?
Doctor Yang, Doctor Yuan, the entire Wang family, Brother Niu's family, Li Liguo's family, Chen Suozhu's family, Secretary Yang's entire family, Village Chief Ou's entire family, and the two families who helped with the cooking.
Then there were the masters and workers. This made more than a dozen tables.
The tables were all set up inside the courtyard house.
The villagers could not see the feast. Whether they ate was secondary. What they cared about was that they could not go inside to see what the courtyard house looked like.
This courtyard, which had been under construction for over a year, was at the entrance of their village, yet they could not feast their eyes on it.
Li Zhengguo lit the firecrackers, which were wrapped around the railings of the first and second floors, and prepared to light them.
This staircase railing was cast with cement. Exposed to the wind, sun, and rain, no wood would have been suitable, so a mold was carved and poured with cement.
"Congratulations, congratulations."
A hearty voice interrupted Li Zhengguo's action of lighting the firecrackers.
"Town Mayor Ji? Quick, quick, go to the second floor. I'll light these firecrackers."
"Good, good."
Lighting firecrackers also required auspicious timing. Town Mayor Ji, with his secretary, ascended the stairs.
The firecrackers exploded. Village Chief Ou and Secretary Yang, who were toasting in the inner courtyard, saw Town Mayor Ji and quickly put down their wine glasses, inviting him to sit down.
Town Mayor Ji gestured for his secretary to sit first and went to Grandpa Xiao's table.
"Welcome Mr. Xiao back to China to settle down. Congratulations Mr. Xiao on your new home. May everything be as you wish."
Grandpa Xiao learned from Village Chief Ou's greeting that this was Town Mayor Ji, who was dedicated to agriculture.
"Thank you for coming, Town Mayor Ji. Please sit down."
Grandpa Xiao invited Town Mayor Ji to sit at his table.
Town Mayor Ji waved his hand. "I'll sit with Village Chief Ou and the others. I have some things to discuss."
"Then I'll call Zhengguo to accompany that table."
"Coincidentally, I also have some things to discuss with Comrade Li Zhengguo."
Li Zhengguo returned to the second floor, glanced at Town Mayor Ji's location, and went over to accompany him.
After a satisfying meal, the tables and benches in the courtyard were cleared and moved downstairs by the workers, carried across the river, and loaded onto a large truck.
That's right, these tables and benches were borrowed from the workers' homes.
Li Zhengguo offered to pay rent, but the workers refused. They were transported by car and only used for lunch, so why should they be paid?
Hadn't they earned enough here for more than a year? Accepting this kind of money felt like burning their hands.
Town Mayor Ji set aside everyone and spoke with Li Zhengguo alone for a while before bidding farewell to Grandpa Xiao.
He did not contact Tian Jing again throughout the entire process. He did not want any more rumors, even though they were fabricated by others.
After the guests left, what remained was not an empty silence, but the joy of moving into a new home.
The west room of the main house was still Tian Jing's, and the ear rooms were made into children's rooms.
The bedding inside was a double-decker bed made by Li Zhengguo according to the design of "bed above, desk below" from later generations.
The furniture in their bedroom in the west room was also made by Li Zhengguo with Chen Suozhu.
The furniture in Grandpa's east room was made by the four grandsons of the master craftsman. The fusion of classical and modern looked very minimalist.
The other rooms were made by Li Zhengguo with the workers. The requirements were not high, just standard rural wooden beds.
Of course, the essential kang for winter had to be prepared. It was placed under the south window, not high, and made according to the height of the windowsill.
It was no longer a kang heated by firewood, but a kang made of bricks for burning coal.
Therefore, the rooms in the main house were larger than those in the courtyard house in Kyoto.
However, the size of the inner courtyard did not change. The size of the first courtyard did not change. Only the third courtyard changed.
This was not only because the main house was set back a bit, changing the size of the third courtyard.
But also because there was a step down to the first floor in the third courtyard.
So, only half of the west side of the third courtyard was built, and this half on the east side was left as a courtyard.
The steps were along the east wall of this courtyard, completely enclosed by a wooden fence.
When needing to go down, the small gate at the head of the steps was opened.
Afeng also moved in.
She lived in the third courtyard because she intended to raise chickens, so a beautiful chicken coop was also made for her.
Tian Jing was worried that she would feel uncomfortable, but Afeng didn't care at all.
"I'm over thirty years old. I don't care about those gossip. There's never anything good to say from these villagers."
Saying this, she happily spread her arms and ran a few laps in the courtyard.
"It feels so comfortable. A courtyard house in the countryside, only you would dare to think of it."
Tian Jing smiled, "As long as you have money, what wouldn't you dare to think of?"
...
In the inner courtyard, Xiao Shuyuan was walking with his grandfather in the covered corridor.
"It's exactly the same, as if they moved the one from Kyoto here. Master Zhao and the others have done an excellent job."
Since the courtyard house took shape, Grandpa Xiao came here to look at it every day.
Bit by bit, stone by stone, pillar by pillar, it was slowly built up before his eyes.
"Yes, the masters' craftsmanship is excellent."
But they also needed the capital to attract the masters to work diligently.
The dried vegetables laid out to dry, the carefully arranged meals every meal.
All kinds of materials were used freely, without fear of mistakes or waste.
Which of these conditions did not make the masters happy?