Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 268 268. Tamura 2
After selecting the location, they first measured eight acres of wasteland at the foot of the mountain. This was because the regulations stipulated that each person must reclaim two acres of wasteland per year. Xu Shuanghong and her two daughters were not exiled prisoners. Based on their current household registration, there were exactly eight people, young and old. As for the other eight acres of wasteland, they would have to go up the mountain and measure them together later.

“We really want to settle down here,” Liu Yun said, standing on the foundation of the future. The ground beneath her feet was full of gravel, and building a house on it would be a huge project.

Even if they work for a year, they might not be able to finish building the house after clearing away all the gravel and laying the adobe bricks.

"How can we live here?" Xu Yulan couldn't understand either. Even if she slept on the floor like before, the pebbles on the ground would be too sharp to hit.

"Clear it out first. Tomorrow, the eldest and second eldest will go to the city to see if they can hire a construction team to build a house." Gu Baijiang didn't expect these guys to be able to build the house.

“That’s a great idea,” Xu Yulan said, her eyes lighting up. “When we build a three-courtyard house, this space seems a bit too small.”

“What are you thinking? This place can only accommodate four rooms at most,” Gu Kaichen shattered his fantasy. “Just have something to shelter you from the wind and rain, don’t give me any more orders.”

Who wouldn't want to live in a big courtyard? But it's unnecessary to spend too much money in this godforsaken place. If it weren't for the fact that his father didn't have enough money, he would have liked to bribe the county magistrate in the county town so that the whole family could stay in the city. It would be better than this poor, remote place.

"There are only four rooms, how are we going to fit so many people?"

“How can we live here? Of course we’ll have to squeeze in,” Gu Kaiping said, already drawing on the ground with a stick. “This room can’t even be big enough. It’s already good enough if we can fit a bed and a cabinet.”

Gu Antong silently calculated in her mind that her grandfather, parents, and second uncle would need three rooms, and she, her two younger brothers, and Xu's mother and daughter would all be crammed into a fourth room.
“Add a kitchen,” Gu Baijiang said, looking at the drawing, which seemed quite realistic. He then pointed to a small open space in the corner, “If you clean this area up, you can build a kitchen.”

"Grandfather, are three rooms not enough?" Gu Antong was fed up with everyone being crammed into a small space, and she didn't want to go through that again.

Most importantly, Liu Yun's allergy seems to be getting worse, with red bumps covering almost her entire body.

Besides, she's getting old now, what kind of logic is it for her to live with her parents?

Before, everyone lived like this on the road to exile, without so many rules. But now that they have to settle down, why is she, a young woman, crammed into a room with her parents and brothers? Doesn't she care about her reputation?

“This place is so small, we can’t squeeze out many rooms. Why don’t we go somewhere else?” Liu Yun chimed in. “We’re such a big family, we can’t possibly have three rooms.”

Since it was related to their own interests, everyone chimed in. Having finally arrived at their destination, everyone wanted to make their lives easier, eat well, and stay in more spacious accommodations, which wasn't unreasonable.

Gu Baijiang: “Go ask the village chief how much land each household can occupy.”

We chose this plot of land because it was a place no one wanted; otherwise, the house foundation would be even smaller.

"Can't we just buy it?" Xu Yulan was dissatisfied with everything she saw. The surrounding area was all fields, and those damned mud-covered people had poured something into them, giving off a stench.

"Buy?" Gu Baijiang sneered. "With our current status, do we have the right to buy land?"

Forget about buying land, we also have to reclaim a fixed amount of land every year. If we don't complete the task, the government will hold us accountable.

For the first two years, they didn't have to pay taxes, but after that, most of the harvest had to be handed over to the government, and these fields couldn't be taxed; they all belonged to the government.

Everyone understands these principles, so why say such foolish things at this time?

Silence fell over the scene; the initial joy of arriving had vanished. "Alright, let's not waste time here. Let's quickly set up a tent and get through the night first." Although the climate in Lingnan is warmer, it can still freeze to death at night.

Whether they liked it or not, everyone got involved.

Fortunately, they trained along the way and quickly built a shelter from the wind and rain using tarpaulin.

No one noticed that not far from them, the Chen Dafu and Zhou Gang families had settled down.

When Zhou Gang saw that Chen Dafu had allocated such a large piece of land, he became envious. "Lord Chen, how come you got such a big piece of land? How much did you bribe the village chief?"

Chen Dafu rolled his eyes at him. "Look at what Lord Zhou said. We were just following the rules and didn't give any benefits."

"Then what about you..."

"Of course, we divided the family property among our seven sons a long time ago. If we put it all together, the place would be much bigger."

Zhou Gang saw his sons standing in a row behind him and pouted. That's true, otherwise, with so many of them, they probably wouldn't even have been able to build a place for them to lie down.

"Lord Chen is truly shrewd and calculating. You foresaw all of this in advance. With your seven sons and your land, you could build a mansion."

Chen Dafu seemed oblivious to the sarcasm in the other person's tone and cheerfully replied, "There's no other way. I have too many sons. If so many people were to eat from the same pot, they would be exhausted."

As for large mansions, that's unthinkable, but at least everyone can live in more spacious accommodations.

"It's a pity your son is still young, Lord Zhou, otherwise you could have done the same."

Under the scrutinizing gazes of so many burly men, Zhou Gang felt somewhat timid, but thinking of what was to come, he brazenly asked, "Lord Chen, may I speak to you in private?"

Chen Dafu glanced at him, then turned and told his son and the others to hurry up and tidy up the place. He then followed behind Zhou Gang with his hands behind his back, saying, "Let's go take a look at the stream ahead."

Once they were alone, Zhou Gang immediately asked, "Lord Chen, your choice of this place is quite interesting. I wonder who's behind you?"

Chen Dafu looked at him with surprise, thinking that the old man was going to ask him something, but he didn't expect that this was the problem.

"I don't know what Lord Zhou is talking about, please enlighten me."

"Lord Chen, don't play dumb with me. You've been keeping a close eye on Gu Baijiang the whole way. We have the same goal."

Chen Dafu said, "Lord Zhou, this is slander. When did I start keeping an eye on Gu Baijiang? We're all exiled, so it's normal for us to get together."

I don't have many hobbies, but I like to watch the excitement. There are a lot of things to do with my family, so following behind them at least helps me pass the time.

But Lord Zhou, why would you ask that? Do you have ulterior motives? Do you have a grudge against Lord Gu, or…?