Martial Arts: I Have Chapter 123 - 109: Cabin Upgrade

Chapter 123: Chapter 109: Cabin Upgrade

「Noon.」

「Tianduan Mountain, Inner Mountain Pass.」

"Big Brother, Big Brother, wake up."

A young, tender voice traveled from outside the door, growing closer and closer, waking Cheng Zongyang from his slumber.

He had returned with the dicinal materials in the middle of the night, just as the sky was beginning to lighten. He washed up and went to sleep.

"Little girl, what’s wrong?" Cheng Zongyang sat up and yawned.

Cheng Zongyun stood beside him, blinking her big, pretty eyes. Her tone was slightly rushed, her words tumbling out in a jumble of childish urgency. "It’s ti. Dad told

to wake you up, but Mom said to let you sleep in. Big Brother, you said to wake you when it was ti. Do you still want to sleep a little longer?"

Cheng Zongyang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Waking

up just to ask if I want to sleep longer?’

Before he could say a word, the little girl spoke again, her voice brimming with excitent:

"Oh, right! Dad and my uncles killed a huge, huge wild boar! Quick, let

take you to see it, Big Brother!" With that, she grabbed his hand and started pulling him outside.

Cheng Zongyang scrambled to his feet, slipped on his straw sandals, and let the little girl’s tugs lead him out.

The glaring sunlight made Cheng Zongyang’s eyes narrow slightly.

Soon, the little girl had pulled him over to the water pool, where a few adults were butchering a wild boar.

"Did we wake you?" Mrs. Zhou of the Cheng Family asked, looking at her son.

Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly. "No, I slept enough. What’s the story with this boar?"

His second uncle, Cheng Guangshan, who was standing nearby holding so dicinal materials, explained:

"It probably wandered down from the mountain. When your father saw it, he grabbed his bow and arrow and worked with your uncles to kill it. It’s pretty heavy."

Cheng Zongyang nodded, not dwelling on the matter. His eyes fell on the dicinal materials in his second uncle’s hands. "Aren’t the dicinal materials sorted yet?"

Cheng Guangshan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Have you forgotten how much you brought back? I’m starting to think you cleaned out every apothecary in town."

Cheng Zongyang chuckled. "Pretty much. The other families have plenty of dicinal materials anyway, they won’t miss this little bit. I’m going to go brush my teeth first."

After washing up, he grabbed a large bowl of thick congee his mother had heated up for him. Eating it with so salted dried at, he walked over to his second uncle, who was still mixing a large basin of Seven Herbs Powder.

"Doesn’t everyone have so already? Why are you making so much?"

Cheng Guangshan said, "This isn’t just for us and the house. I plan to sprinkle so outside the fence and across the river, too. It’ll drive away more of the snakes, insects, rats, and ants. Your maternal grandfather checked out that plot of land on the other side. It’s good. If we clear it, it’ll be no worse than what we have here. It’s perfect for planting."

Cheng Zongyang understood. He smiled and said, "Let’s take our ti. With so few of us, we can’t even use all the land here. But your idea is sound. The Inner Mountain is full of venomous creatures. People here often die not from the jaws of wild or fierce beasts, but from the careless bite of a snake or insect."

"That’s what I was thinking. By the way, the houses should be more or less finished in a few days. After that, we’ll get ready to clear the land. Your maternal grandfather is already scouting locations. Once we’ve prepared the soil, we can start planting next spring."

"Alright, let’s go with what everyone wants. I’ll stay out of it," Cheng Zongyang said indistinctly, his mouth full as he shoveled in a few more bites of congee and chewed on the dried at.

"You kid... Fine, just finish your congee first," Cheng Guangshan said, shaking his head. He went back to sorting his dicinal materials.

Cheng Zongyang quickly finished his bowl and got another. With plenty of grain and at available now, there was no need to be frugal.

Holding his bowl, he walked a lap around their settlent, checking on things.

The so-called fence was just a simple enclosure around the camp. ’It’ll have to be expanded later.’

The old man was asuring out the area to be cleared. As a veteran farr, his agricultural experience was second to none.

With more children in the family now, the little girl had more playmates and was less clingy with him.

The two sisters from the Chen Family had opened up quite a bit, and the color had returned to their cheeks.

’But what’s the deal with my second brother always being by their side? Has he taken a liking to one of them?’

Cheng Zongyang wasn’t too concerned about his second brother’s future marriage. For the Cheng Family to flourish and expand in the future, the responsibility of growing the family’s population rested on the two of them.

’No matter how many won I have, my brother will likely have his fair share too. Even if he only has one, she’ll have to bear many children.’

He didn’t dwell on it. After completing his patrol, he was generally satisfied. The only thing was that the houses were simple wooden huts. Once everything was on the right track, they would have to be replaced with earthen houses before winter. Although it never snowed in Xiangyang, the cold was still bone-chilling. And since they were in the mountains now, they might have to build heated earthen beds.

Once he was full, Cheng Zongyang started chopping down trees to clear out the area for cultivation.

"Grandfather, are you sure? Ten mu? All as paddy fields?" Cheng Zongyang was a little surprised by his maternal grandfather’s decision.

Zhou Fengshun laughed. "The soil here is very fertile. It’s a bit dry from lack of water, but as long as we handle it properly, divert water for irrigation, and prepare the land, it will beco top-grade paddy fields. Plus, with the Seven Herbs Powder to drive away pests, we’re guaranteed a bountiful harvest when we plant next year."

Just then, a few other adults arrived, carrying farming tools on their shoulders.

They had obviously heard the old man’s words, and smiles appeared on all their faces. Cheng Guanghai laughed and said, "Since Father said so, it can’t be wrong. Let’s just get to it."

For farrs, nothing was more important than grain and cultivation.

A bountiful harvest was the greatest hope they could ask for.

"Hahaha." The old man, praised by his son-in-law, bead. "I don’t know why there’s such a huge difference between the Inner Mountain and the Outer Mountain, but as long as we can grow grain, we won’t have to worry about going hungry."

"Hah, who cares why?" Zhou Hanchang laughed. "What kind of strange and bizarre things haven’t we seen in the Inner Mountain? A few years ago, firestones fell from the sky into the mountains, burning who knows how much of the forest. A ton of wild beasts fled out, and everyone killed quite a few. We ate our fill of at that year. It’s just like now—eating at every day. This is the life."