Chapter 159 Finale (Section Middle) 1

The farm called Lian Shui in Xi Lou was six-hundred-acre wide, which had been established for three years.

The farm was divided into two areas, the West and the East, and in the middle was a ten-acre mansion. There were rice paddy fields and ponds and lakes in the East, and the dry fields and forest in the East.

Surrounding the mansion were ranches. There were around one hundred households here where the people who took care of the paddy fields, the orchards, the lakes, and forest. There lived families of three or just the couple in their lovely cottages. They were all refugees from Yun Hui City in the East of Da Hui. Six years ago, they suffered from horrible floods and they had to leave their houses, becoming beggars on the street. Gradually, they came to Da Shi. Fan Luo Private Mansion of Da Shi allowed them to live here.

Reluctantly, Da Shi’s Emperor boldly asked Da Hui’s Emperor for a proper resettlement fee for these people. Then, he threw the money to Lin Si Yao, the man who managed He Yuan, and asked him to take care of those refugees.

Liang En Zai would never admit that he felt irritated when he saw his brother-in-law so leisurely While he was so busy like the bubbling, boiling water to expand and develop Da Shi, his brother-in-law was free, lingering in little He Yuan to grow rice in spring and harvest in autumn, planting lotus and catching fish, loving his wife… He would never admit that his envy, jealousy, and hatred of Lin Si Yao.

Lin Si Yao accepted the difficult matter and five hundred gold ingots – the resettlement fee for the refugees – that was thrown to him by the Emperor. Arching his sword-like brows, without hesitation, he bought the wasteland Xi Lou at the foothills of Mount Da Shi from Da Shi. He had spent three years mobilizing all the refugees that wanted to stay in Da Shi. Together, they had renovated this land to be a large farm with fertile soil, rich in products and even fish.

In the first year, the farm had to bear losses since the food they grew from the land wasn’t enough to feed the farmers in the farm. The situation got better in the next year as they had managed to feed everybody living there. And, coming to the third year, their farms began to finally produce surpluses. Except for the foods they kept to feed their residents, they sold the rest and had actually earned around three hundred silver ingots.

Lin Si Yao gave each family one silver ingot to prepare for the Lunar New Year and used two hundred ingots left to build a school near the main house of the farm. He invited the teachers from Fan Luo to teach the farmers’ kids.

Currently, in every four cities of Da Shi there is at least one education institution. As long as a child was at least five years old, he or she was allowed to enroll to learn how to read and write, manners, and math… These schools also taught them fundamental trade skills.

When the children turned ten years old, depending on their situation, they could ask to enroll in the biggest compulsory school in Da Shi. After four years studying, that person could join the yearly qualification test held by the Emperor according to their talents. If they get good results, they could be recruited to work in different departments of the imperial court with stable income, high status and also reputation. It also encouraged the kids from poor and ordinary families to strive to work harder.

And, after three years of development, the people in Lian Shui Farm now had stable income and lived happily in good security.

Besides, the outer area of the farm had special trading and residential areas. Grass and flowers were planted in every inch of previously empty land in Xi Luo City, which made the place a natural, green garden.

“It hasn’t been a whole year yet and this place has changed a lot!” The horse carriage stopped by the gate of the farm. Su Shuilian lifted the curtain aside to take in the lush green surroundings. She couldn’t help but beam at Lin Si Yao.

“Mm, I’ll take you around to sightsee later.” Lin Si Yao supported her to get off the carriage then turned around to fetch the one-month ceremony gift they had prepared. Today was the one-month birthday of Sun Yan’s son. He was the Chief Manager of the farm. Yesterday, the man had come to He Yuan to invite them to join the celebration.

“Yes, I want to visit the orchard. The bayberries should be ripe by now. With this year’s good harvest, I believe there will be a lot to pick from” Su Shuilian hooked her arm to Lin Si Yao’s arm as they were heading to the Sun family’s.

Every time they went out together, Su Shuilian wouldn’t bring any maid. Lin Si Yao was not used to it, and she also wanted to have more alone time with him.

Lin Si Yao looked at her satisfied face through the corner of his eyes. A smile arose from the bottom of his eyes. He retracted the arm she was hooking to pull her closer to him. “Are you tired?”

Su Shuilian smiled and shook her head. “We sat on a carriage for the entire trip. How could I be tired?” Although the horse carriage had taken the shortest route from He Yuan to this place, it was almost two hours. Anyway, the scenes along their ride were beautiful and he was keeping her company. She didn’t feel a bit tired. Quite the contrary, she thought the trip was a little short.

“Let’s go traveling after the new year!” Lin Si Yao’s black pupils moved, telling his wife the plan he had embraced for quite a long time.