Siheyuan: Starting with one acre and three fen of land

Time passed slowly and inadvertently. These days, He Yuzhu's daily life was dull and regular.

Every morning, when the first ray of sunlight shines into the house, he gets up and enjoys a simple breakfast.

After dinner, He Yuzhu began to busily tidy up the housework. After he finished, he stood in front of the stage in the porch, holding a heavy iron pot, and began his journey of flipping the pot.

Every movement requires precise control and coordination. His wrist turns flexibly and the iron pot draws graceful arcs in the air.

Such practice cannot increase cooking experience overnight. It takes two or three days to gain one experience point, and the efficiency gradually becomes lower and lower.

Despite this, He Yuzhu did not stop, as he knew that improving skills requires time and patience.

He did not hesitate to add the little experience that he gained automatically every day to his wrestling skills. Wrestling can not only exercise the body, but also protect himself at critical moments.

Every time he added points, he could feel a new information pouring into his mind, and the experience and skills of a wrestling master flashed in his mind. However, to He Yuzhu's regret, the physical value on the interface did not increase.

He remembered that when his wrestling skills were upgraded before, a warm current had flowed through his body, but it did not happen this time. He guessed that perhaps such a change would only occur when the skills were upgraded.

Although he was a little disappointed, He Yuzhu did not stop moving forward. He knew that as long as he persisted, he could upgrade his skills when his experience points were full.

During these days, He Yuzhu also had brief exchanges with the neighbors in the courtyard and gradually got to know their situation.

The house in the back of the front yard was still empty, no one lived there, only some sundries were randomly piled there, looking a bit messy. The houses on both sides of the hanging flower gate were also empty, no one lived there.

The house on the western side of the front yard is occupied by the Li family who moved in a few years ago. The head of the household, Li Changsheng, is a middle-aged man in his thirties who works as a teacher at Qiushi Middle School. He is a relatively modest person.

His wife, Li Wang, took care of their daughter, Li Huaiyu, a lively and lovely four-year-old girl at home.

Their son Li Huailiang, thirteen years old, is studying at Qiushi Middle School and gets along very well with other children in the courtyard.

The situation in the middle courtyard was slightly different. Among the three rooms in the west wing, Jia Zhang's family lived in a room close to the main house.

Jia Zhang had not yet transformed into the necromancer she later became, nor was she the chubby girl she later became. Her behavior did not yet have the aggressiveness that made her throw tantrums at every turn. Old Jia had long since passed away, dying in the steel mill.

Lou Bancheng was also very wealthy, and in order to settle the casualties caused by the accident, he generously paid the Jia family a large sum of compensation. Not only that, he also allowed Jia Dongxu to work in a steel mill when he came of age.

Two years ago, Jia Dongxu stepped into the steel rolling mill and started his career as a fitter.

He became a disciple of the experienced Yi Zhonghai, and under Yi Zhonghai's guidance, he was finally promoted from a fitter apprentice to a junior worker at the end of the year.

The other two rooms were occupied by the family of Zhao Dezhu, an electrician at the steel mill. Zhao Dezhu's wife, Zhao Qian, was a hardworking and virtuous woman who took care of the whole family at home.

He Yuzhu only remembered seeing the eldest son, Zhao Xincheng, when he was a child. He had been away from home for many years and had never seen him again.

The second son, Zhao Xinren, worked as an electrician apprentice with Zhao Dezhu in a steel mill and was diligent and studious. The third son, Zhao Xinli, was about the same age as He Yuzhu and often went to school with Li Huailiang.

The youngest daughter, Zhao Xinrui, is the same age as He Yushui. The two often play together and are very innocent.

The room in the east wing, which is close to the main house, is where He Yuzhu lives now. The other two rooms are occupied by Yi Zhonghai and his wife Wang Yayan, who are later called the uncle and aunt.

From our current contacts, Auntie Yi is a well-educated woman, and Yi Zhonghai seems to be a man of honest character and fair in his dealings.

The situation in the backyard was different. The two rooms in the west wing were occupied by Xu Damao's family of four. His father Xu Degui was now Lou Bancheng's driver, his mother Wang Qianli was a servant in Lou's family, and his younger sister Xu Xiaoling was about the same age as Yu Shui, and usually went to Lou's house with Xu's mother.

The east wing is temporarily vacant, waiting for new residents to move in.

In the middle of the back room lived a deaf old lady. Because of her mobility problems, she often asked the aunt to help her buy some food and oil. After many interactions, the aunt would often visit the deaf old lady to chat and help her take care of the house.

To the left of the deaf old lady's house lives old man Zhang Baishu, an old Chinese doctor with great reputation in the alley. If anyone has a headache or fever, they would go to see old man Zhang. His fees were cheap and his medicine was effective.

He is older than the deaf old lady, but he is in good spirits and often walks in the yard and chats with everyone.

The room on the far right is empty, waiting for its future owner.

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That night, He Yuzhu hurriedly finished dinner, cleaned up the dishes in a hurry, and ran to his room eagerly.

The reason why he was so anxious was that the seeds of crops planted in the blessed land were about to mature. With anticipation and excitement, he took off his shoes and lay gently on his bed.

As his consciousness gradually sank into the blessed land of planting, the scene before him made him extremely happy.

All I saw was a field of golden rice and wheat that had ripened, with the heavy ears swaying gently.

A smile broke out on He Yuzhu's face involuntarily, and the joy in his heart was beyond words.

As soon as he thought about it, the mature crops were quickly harvested. He clearly received the harvest information from the blessed land: 8 kilograms of wheat and 10 kilograms of Jingxi rice.

Faced with such a harvest, He Yuzhu couldn't help but frown and uttered: "Damn, so little?"

He originally thought that his amazing planting conditions would at least bring him a richer harvest, but he didn't expect the results to be so unsatisfactory.

He couldn't help but think, if it were an ordinary farmland outside, how much could he harvest after busy farming for a year?

He Yuzhu sighed and couldn't help but feel full of respect for the agricultural workers of later generations.

Through their unremitting efforts and technological advances, they have significantly increased grain yields per mu and made great contributions to the survival of their compatriots.

Although the number is not large now, it is enough for He Yuzhu to plant an acre of land without having to worry about wasting land.

He Yuzhu sensed the primary processing function of the blessed land and carefully selected 5 kilograms of wheat and rice seeds to directly start the next round of planting.

The remaining 3 kilograms of wheat are processed by Fudi and turned into 1.8 kilograms of refined flour. Its delicate texture seems to foreshadow the tempting taste of future delicacies.

After hulling, 5 kilograms of Jingxi rice becomes 3.6 kilograms of rice, each grain of which is plump and crystal clear.

What surprised He Yuzhu even more was that the remaining straw could also be processed into practical straw bags.

He plans to use these woven bags to pack rice in the future, so he won't have to spend money to buy additional grain bags. You know, bags are not cheap nowadays.

Looking at the harvest in front of him, He Yuzhu's heart was filled with satisfaction and joy.

He smiled and thought about where to go tomorrow to test the waters and sell these precious grains in exchange for more starting capital.

That night, he fell into a sweet dream with full of expectations and plans.

Just as He Yuzhu fell asleep, in a quiet house, an old man was still meditating under the lamp.

He sat on an exquisitely carved mahogany chair, leaning against the solid backrest, stroking his gray beard with his fingers from time to time, wondering what he was thinking about.

The old man frowned, his face full of worry. As the New Year approaches, the rice and flour reserves at home have become a major concern. The master's face cannot be lost, the rice and flour for the New Year must be of high quality, and there can be no carelessness.

But where can we get such high-quality rice and flour?

The old man's thoughts were erratic, and he sometimes recalled the grand occasions of previous years. He knew that if this problem was not solved, the master's face would be damaged.

He sighed, stood up, and paced around the room, trying to find a solution. The old man's figure under the light looked particularly vicissitudes of life.