Soon after getting everything packed, a large group of people set off mightily towards the village.
Rice Ball followed closely behind He Zhiran, afraid that its owner would leave it behind.
There were many eyes in the village, and He Zhiran was worried that Rice Ball would be too conspicuous. So she slowed down her pace and fell behind the crowd. With a wave of her hand, she put Rice Ball into her space.
Everyone was busy moving now, surely no one would notice Rice Ball's disappearance.
Even if someone did notice, she could just say the little one had run out to play.
Zhao Clan Chief and Zhou Clan Chief led a few clansmen and waited in their respective directions. Seeing the mighty crowd coming, they quickly went up to greet them.
Mo Jiuye walked at the very front. He first introduced the two chiefs to the Fang and Xie families.
The Fang and Xie families knew they were renting the Zhao Family's yard.
So they went directly to Zhao Clan Chief to pay the rent.
Mo Jiuye did the same, going with He Zhiran to Zhou Clan Chief to pay the rent.
"Chief Zhou, how much rent in advance do you think is appropriate?"
Mo Jiuye was thinking that they could rent for half a year at most. When spring arrived next year and flowers bloomed everywhere, they could build their own houses and naturally would have to move out after the houses were built.
If the other party asked for a whole year's rent upfront, he would definitely have to say something.
Zhou Clan Chief was also simple and honest. He smiled and said, "I guess you all rushed here from the capital city and don't have much silver on you. Just pay monthly."
This was beyond what the two had expected.
When they rented houses around Salt Lake, the landlord insisted that they pay at least three months' rent in advance.
If it hadn't been for the high rent and Fifth Elder Brother's eloquence, they probably wouldn't even have gotten a house rented to them if they only offered one month's rent.
However, this old man had considered their possibly straitened circumstances and only asked for one month's rent.
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran's good impression of this old clan chief kept rising.
They accepted this kindness from the old man.
Just as He Zhiran was about to take money out of her space, Fifth Elder Brother, supported by Fifth Sister-In-Law, walked over.
"Ninth younger sister, Fifth Elder Brother said he earned some silver from hunting. We'll pay the rent."
After she finished speaking, Fifth Elder Brother had already taken out a cloth bag of indistinguishable color from his bosom. In front of everyone, he poured out some broken silver and took out a piece to give to Zhou Clan Chief.
Zhou Clan Chief grasped the broken silver in his hand and weighed it roughly, only to find it was more than enough.
The old man was quite meticulous in his affairs.
"I can't weigh this silver now. I’ll have my family members take it to town tomorrow to weigh it properly. Any extra I’ll pay you back in copper coins."
Such a sincere old man, He Zhiran quite liked.
"No need, Old Father. You can keep any extra to buy meat to eat. If it falls short, you can ask us again."
A person who spent his whole life digging in the dirt would begrudge every copper coin he could squeeze out for use.
After being taken advantage of by the Cui Family all these years, she didn't want to take advantage of others like the Cui Family did everywhere.
"No no no, renting is renting. If there's any extra I must pay it back."
Seeing the old man's sincere attitude, He Zhiran simply didn't want to waste words on this topic.
"Old Father, it’s getting late. Let’s go to the yard early to tidy up a bit. You should also go back early to rest."
Zhou Clan Chief smiled and nodded. He thoughtfully called over a few young tribesmen to help the womenfolk move things.
The Xie and Fang families received the same gracious treatment. Zhao Clan Chief only collected one month's rent from them before sending people to take them to their lodgings.
After the Mo Family group arrived at their lodging, Old Lady Mo looked it over before personally assigning rooms for everyone.
The main central house naturally went to her, this elder. The five adjoining central houses on either side were given to Mo Chongyuan and his wife, Mo Chuhan and his wife, and the couple Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran got one.
Of the remaining two, considering that Mo Yunfeng was still alive, one was given exclusively to Third Sister-In-Law.
As for the last one, the sisters-in-law unanimously felt that living together would allow them to keep warm and have someone to chat with, so they asked to stay in one room together.
Seeing this, Old Lady Mo gave them the room with the largest earthen bed.
As for Mo Hanyue, she was assigned to the east wing close to the main house.
Old Lady Mo did not forget about Liang Hao and the others either. The five of them would temporarily live in the west wing.
Having already gained some experience of village life, when Fifth Elder Brother saw that the rooms were icy cold, he went to gather some firewood to warm everyone up.
Gathering firewood was a given, but with so many grown men around, no matter what they could not let such a physically frail person do the work.
Just as Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan had stopped Fifth Elder Brother and were about to go themselves, they heard footsteps coming from outside the yard.
The two brothers strode to the door to check.
They saw two men from the Zhou Family carrying over bundles of firewood over their shoulders.
They directly put the firewood down at the Mo Family's door.
"The Chief sent these over. Old Father said you all might not be able to go up the mountain for firewood tonight, so use these first."
Looking at the four big bundles of firewood before them, He Zhiran hurriedly took out a string of copper coins from her space to give them.
But the two men quickly refused.
"We gathered this firewood from the mountain. No need for money."
Having said that, the two turned and ran off.
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran looked at each other, both smiling helplessly.
There was such a huge gap between people of the same village.
The Cui Family was petty everywhere and always tried to take advantage. Meanwhile, the Zhou and Zhao families were so simple and honest.
Having such people as neighbors in the future could be considered a blessing.
The Mo brothers each carried two bundles of firewood back.
The sisters-in-law rushed forward, vying to start the fire.
They had basically learned living skills along the way. Building fires and cooking were no longer difficult tasks.
Liang Hao and the others were not idle either. Seeing a large water vat in the kitchen, the few men carried the vat to the well, scrubbed it clean, and drew it full of water.
The others returned to their rooms and simply tidied up the dust a bit before going to bed.
It was late after they finished busying about.
After the sisters-in-law extinguished the kitchen fire, they each returned to rest.
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran's room was the cover, so the two flashed directly into the space.
He Zhiran had been busy outside for a whole day and was covered in dust. At this time, it was absolutely necessary to take a nice hot shower.
After playing with Rice Ball for a while, she went into the bathroom to wash up.
Mo Jiuye also washed himself until fresh and fragrant before climbing into the king bed.
He Zhiran was truly exhausted. Soon after her head hit the pillow she went to meet Master Zhou (god of dreams).
Mo Jiuye lightly kissed her on the forehead before lying down contentedly beside her to enter dreamland.
No matter how tired they were, the two could still wake up at first light. After tidying up, they brought Rice Ball out of the space together.
Liang Hao and the others had long since woken up and gone up the mountain to chop firewood, while the sisters-in-law had also come out of their rooms to prepare breakfast.
