Yang Ge sat outside the courtyard gate, his head resting against the doorframe, squinting at the sunset on the horizon, while the smell of grass and earth lingered at the tip of his nose, and the clamor of insects and birds echoed around him...
He felt exhausted but also experienced a long-lost sense of peace.
...
The next day, dawn was just breaking.
The early rising couple of the Yang Family pushed open their house door only to find the hillside next to their courtyard transformed into a freshly flattened foundation of soil, with Yang Ge, wearing a robe, holding their stone roller, tamping the ground with a rhythmic up and down motion.
The sight completely astonished the couple. They had just received money from selling that plot of land to Yang Ge the previous night, and the deeds weren’t even finalized yet. Had he leveled the foundation overnight?
"Erwai!"
Yang Dashan rubbed his eyes hard as he walked out of the house, disbelieving as he looked at the neatly leveled foundation that covered more than an acre, he exclaimed, "Did you do this all by yourself?"
"Shan, good morning."
Yang Ge smiled and waved, saying, "Didn’t I tell you yesterday? I’ve practiced a few farming techniques, it’s normal for me to have some strength."
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.
Yang Dashan watched him handle the several hundred-pound stone roller as easily as if it were a stalk of hay, and swallowed hard before he stutteringly asked, "Is that really normal?"
Yang Ge laughed, "It’s normal, see, I’m quite strong, aren’t I?"
He had also grown up in the countryside since childhood. Although he might not be fully aware of the country’s minor squabbles and thefts, he had heard of them, and in the eyes of the locals here, he, Yang Ge, was a lone outlander who had come to settle here...
Showing off a bit could avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.
"It’s pretty strong!"
Yang Dashan marveled, saying, "With that kind of strength, you wouldn’t even need oxen for plowing, right?"
Perhaps because Yang Ge had told him the night before that his ancestors had originated from their cove, Yang Dashan was very amiable towards Yang Ge, and did not possess the local’s common rejection or wariness towards outsiders.
Yang Ge laughed heartily, "Definitely not needed, where could an ox be as handy as me... By the way, Shan, which one is your family’s firewood forest? I need some wood for building, sell me some wood!"
Yang Dashan gestured behind him towards a hillside, "That firewood forest belongs to our family. Cut as much timber as you need, don’t worry about the money, you paid enough last night... need a hand?"
"No need, I’m strong enough to manage alone."
Yang Ge smiled and shook his head, "But I still insist on paying, clear accounts make good friends!"
"Oh right, when are you free today or tomorrow? Let’s find a middleman to finalize the deeds, anywhere in the village or town is fine."
Yang Dashan, "This matter is important, let’s do it after noon. We can visit the clan’s elder to act as a middleman, and you can check the family records too. Maybe you’ll find your ancestor’s name? Wouldn’t that be like coming back home?"
"Ah!"
Yang Ge nonchalantly responded, "Then I’ll trouble you, Shan."
After a pause, he added, "Shan, does your courtyard need some repairs? Since I’m already at work, if your house needs fixing, let’s fix both together. I’m strong and quick, won’t take more than a couple of days."
Yang Dashan turned back to glance at his family’s low and aged old house, somewhat hesitant, he said, "That would be troubling you a lot..."
"Not at all!"
Yang Ge grandly gestured, "Family doesn’t speak of two sides, just think about how you want to fix it, let me know once you decide, and I’ll do it for you!"
"Sure!"
Yang Dashan no longer said more, instead turning around and shouted towards the kitchen where his wife was starting a fire, "Huang, add more rice to the pot, Erwai’s been working hard, needs to eat more..."
"Ah!"
The kitchen, attentive to the brothers’ casual chat outside, Yang’s sister-in-law energetically responded.
Yang Ge laughed, "Thanks, Shan."
Yang Dashan grandly gestured, "Family doesn’t speak of two sides!"
After the breakfast, the Yang Family of three went about their tasks—the ones that should go to the fields went to the fields, and those that should tend the cows did so.
Yang Ge waited until the family of three was far away, then single-handedly picked up the stone roller and walked to the outside of the foundation, clenched his fist, and punched down towards the foundation from mid-air.
"Boom."
A muffled sound followed; the ground trembled slightly, and the foundation sank three feet into the ground.
Seeing this, Yang Ge sent a palm from afar towards the side of the soil hill, causing it to collapse, and a large mass of fresh soil slid into the foundation.
Yang Ge clenched his fist again and repeatedly hammered the air.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The dense muffled sounds made the uneven foundation smooth out rapidly, just like dough under a pastry chef’s hands.
After the foundation was leveled again, he punched down powerfully once more.
A single boom was heard, and the foundation sank another two feet.
Yang Ge sent another palm to scatter the adjacent soil hill, sloping more soil into the foundation...
After repeating this three times, the smooth foundation was exactly half a foot higher than the Yang Family’s courtyard. Just adding a layer of stone around it would prevent it from being washed away by rainwater.
Yang Ge stepped into the foundation and stomped a few times; the feedback from under his feet told him that the soil layer, 20 to 30 meters deep, had solidified as one, hard as rock… With this foundation, a seven or eight-story building would stand firmly!
Pleased, he patted his hands clean, looked around to make sure no one was around, and soared into the sky...
Shortly, a streak of golden light appeared above the foundation and gently two square stone bars descended back and forth.
When the Yang Family returned home to prepare for lunch, they were astounded to find that not only had Yang Ge finished the foundation, but he had also completed the beams and columns for three rooms and two floors of the tile house. All that was left was to finish the earthen walls and put on the tiles, and his courtyard would be complete...