Chapter 526: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 526: Orchard Harvest
The ancestral hall was built on a vacant lot in the southern part of the village. Following Mo Fang’s suggestion and consulting a feng shui master, Mo Yan spent two taels of silver to purchase the one-and-a-half-acre plot.
The ancestral hall didn't need to be very large. Typically, a main hall to honor the ancestors, surrounded by a courtyard, would suffice, costing no more than thirty taels. However, Mo Yan allocated two hundred taels to construct a main hall, two side halls, and two rows of houses on each side, each row consisting of three rooms, totaling six large rooms.
"The houses in the village are mostly thatched cottages, and in winter, with strong winds and heavy snow, they are at risk of collapsing! These houses will be kept empty and used temporarily if anyone's house becomes uninhabitable," Mo Yan explained calmly to the puzzled Mo Fang and other clan members.
Since they were building the ancestral hall, it had to be done properly. Having those extra houses ready was better than having people seek shelter at her home if their houses did collapse. Besides, the additional cost of a few dozen taels of silver was insignificant to her.
"Yan girl, on behalf of the Mo clan, I thank you," Mo Fang said gratefully, unaware of Mo Yan’s true intentions. He thought she was solely focused on the clan’s welfare.
As the clan leader, he considered the bigger picture. Even if the clan didn’t need these houses, they could be lent to other villagers, which would elevate the Mo clan’s status in Liuyang Village.
That night, Mo Fang gathered all the clan members except the Mo family, including a few from the old Mo family, and shared what Mo Yan had said earlier.
Seeing some people’s suspicious expressions, Mo Fang’s face darkened as he sternly warned, “Liuyang Village is large, but our Mo clan has less than ten households and fewer than sixty people, making us vulnerable. Therefore, we must unite to avoid being bullied by outsiders! I don’t want to see internal conflicts or anyone envying the Qingze family’s good days and doing harm to the clan. Otherwise, don’t blame me for enforcing the clan rules strictly!”
Those who harbored small schemes were frightened by Mo Fang’s warning look and quickly dismissed their thoughts, but they couldn’t help glancing at the old Mo family members. They hadn’t forgotten that back in Mo Village, this family had schemed against the Mo family the most.
Noticing these strange looks, the old Mo family members’ faces turned extremely ugly, but they pretended not to see and had no way to argue.
Mo Fang also looked at the old Mo family members and shook his head almost imperceptibly. People shouldn’t act too ruthlessly, or retribution would come someday!
The events of that night soon reached Mo Yan’s ears. She smiled and continued calculating the costs of purchasing materials for the winery.
By mid-July, the ancestral hall was completed, and the newly made ancestral tablets were placed inside.
The weather had started to cool down, and although the late summer heat persisted, Mo Yan’s mood was unaffected.
“Yan girl, these pears are large and juicy, much better than any I’ve had before. It seems our feng shui is truly good. The same tree variety yields different quality fruit here,” Aunt Tong praised, smiling while eating a pear. Her wrinkled face looked even more amiable.
Mo Yan casually picked a pear larger than her fist, wiped it with a cloth, and took a bite. It was indeed juicy and sweet, comparable to the best varieties she had cultivated in her previous life.
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