Chapter 19: New Home (1) 2/3

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  Contrary to Cao Peng's expectations, Deng Ji and Old Master Deng got along very well.

  The abandoned mansion in the peach forest was like a chicken rib to Old Man Deng, it had no meaning at all. When the Nieyang Zhang family gave up this land initially, there were reasons for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebellion, but more importantly, this land was useless anyway.

  The peach forest is a wasteland with poor soil quality, unsuitable for farming.

  Old man Deng took over this land, paying a full twenty taels. The county of Jingyang thought that since the land was adjacent to Deng Village, it should be taken over by Deng Village. Even if old man Deng didn't want to, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and pay up. But after all these years, this land hadn't brought him a single penny in wealth. So in old man Deng's heart, he had long wanted to get rid of this land, otherwise every year he would still have to pay a certain amount of taxes.

  Deng Ji was willing to use the village's houses as an exchange, and Lao Taigong naturally had no problem with that.

  Moreover, he had a good relationship with Deng Ji and did not intentionally make things difficult for him. After all, the peach forest was remote and couldn't be compared to the village... Furthermore, someone in the village had already wanted to take away Deng Ji's homestead and use it for house expansion. In terms of value, Lao Taigong still made a profit.

  However, the house in the peach forest is indeed a bit old and worn out.

  It would take a lot of money to repair it. Deng Ji was not wealthy, but he had some savings. Adding the gold ingot contributed by Cao Peng, which was worth about 30 yuan, it wasn't too difficult either. However, when repairing the house, Cao Peng expressed different opinions.

  According to Deng Ji's idea, of course, he wanted to renovate and buy some new furniture.

  Ke Cao Peng disagreed, thinking it unnecessary to spend so much. His opinion was: repair the courtyard wall, raise it a bit; replace the two large doors, add windows to the house, and basically it would be fine. The houses in the compound were generally well-preserved. Some places with leaks, damage, just needed repairs and could continue to be used. Even including furniture, there was no need to rebuild from scratch.

  It's okay to buy some old furniture and just refurbish it a bit...

  "A Fu, now that you've moved into a new home, why don't you decorate it properly? With all these tattered and worn-out things, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

  Cao Nan also expressed some disagreement with Cao Peng's opinion and raised a question.

  Cao Peng Zheng said with a serious expression: "What I'm doing is reasonable."

  Here is the translation:

  "Firstly, my parents and I, as well as Old Man Wang and Tiger Head, are all outsiders. Although we have this layer of relationship, we are still ultimately outsiders. Suddenly taking out so much money will not only arouse suspicion but may also bring unnecessary trouble... You know, one should not show off their wealth. Brother-in-law, can you guarantee that no one in the village is jealous of us? You just got a good deal at the county government and severely beat Ma Ying, offending a group of petty people. Are you not afraid that building such a grand house will attract other people's attention and bring trouble?"

  Deng Ji listened to Cao Peng's words and couldn't help but express his agreement.

  After all, it's hard to fathom human hearts and measure the sea. Although Deng Village is a single-ethnicity village, who can guarantee that people in the village won't have other ideas?

  "Dad, mom, Ah Fu is right."

  Cao Nan asked again: "If there is one, can there be two?"

  "Of course!"

  Cao Peng took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Who can guarantee that this thorny situation won't ignite a war? Once the war breaks out, if we've made our new home too good, we'll definitely be unlucky. Moreover, when the time comes, even if we have to flee, we need to have some money on hand as a precaution. Can't just sell our property at the last minute, can we? Hehe, not to mention whether it can be sold or not, even if it is sold, how much will it be worth?"

  Deng Ji took a deep breath in, and couldn't help but nod repeatedly.

  During the Taiping Rebellion in his youth, he personally experienced it. Although at that time he was young and his experience was not profound, he still left an indelible memory.

  "Wealth should not be displayed outwardly; being prepared is having no worries!"

  He said to Cao Nan: "A Fu thinks more thoroughly than I do. In my opinion, let's just do what he says."

  Cao Nan said: "What's going on, why bring up war again? This Jingzhou has Liu Jingzhou, that is a relative of the Han imperial family, who dares to offend?"

  Who dares to commit a crime?

  At least Cao Cao dares...

  But Cao Peng couldn't say something like that, and only said faintly: "Sister, a steady boat sails for ten thousand years."

  We are more careful today and will have less trouble in the future. Since the land deed is in our hands, we can renovate it later when we want to.

  "A steady hand can sail a ship for ten thousand years."

  "A Fu, you always like to say some strange things. However, what you said isn't unreasonable... Since everyone agrees, I don't have any opinions either. A Fu, remember when you were a kid, you didn't like to talk, how come now you can talk non-stop?"

  As she spoke, Cao Nan stretched out her hand and roughly ruffled Cao Peng's hair.

  Cao Peng was dissatisfied in his heart, but he could only silently endure. After all, he had ruined his sister Qiao's beautiful dream of a new home...

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  The weather is cold, so most villagers are idle.

  Deng Jituo's wife mentioned it in the village and the villagers immediately agreed.

  They are all of the same clan, and it's inevitable that talking about money would hurt their feelings a bit. Deng Ji didn't need to pay any labor costs, but he had to prepare two meals as compensation.

  At this time, the prices in Jingzhou were not high either.

  Two meals for twenty-three people don't need to cost too much.

  With Hong Niangzi's help, even the person who bought vegetables and cooked meals was spared. Deng Ji gave Hong Niangzi three strings of cash, and Hong Niangzi readily agreed.

  So, from the second day on, Deng Jie and Cao Jing devoted their energy to decorating the new house.

  Wang Mai was a restless person and followed Cao Ju to Taolin. Only Zhang Shi and Cao Peng were left at home to take care of Cao Nan.

  Cao Peng did not allow large-scale construction and had his own plans.

  He was very clear about what would happen in the future, and all the good things now were just a mirage. Why bother to care too much? Since he had been reborn once, and it was still an era he knew well. If he didn't make something of himself, wouldn't he be wasting heaven's gift? In Cao Peng's heart, Jinyang was just a temporary place to rest his feet. His destination was definitely not here...

  Everyone has started to get busy!

  Cao Peng finally calmed down and seriously thought about his future.

  Simahui's intention of giving the carriage, Caopeng could guess some of it. In his heart, didn't he also hope to go to Xiangyang to study? But he was clear that he couldn't go.

  One knows how many bowls of plain rice he can eat himself.

  That's right, he is familiar with this era, but what can be done about it?

  Not to mention the difference between "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the real Three Kingdoms. Even if he understood every step of this era, what else would he know? He studied forensic science, and most of what he mastered was miscellaneous knowledge. Wanting to blend in with this era without any real skills is simply impossible. The concept of "ten wins and ten losses" wasn't even from his own writing. Once or twice, maybe he could bluff his way through, but ten times, twenty times, could he keep getting away with it? In the Shuijing Mountain Villa, they wouldn't just discuss the grand situation of the world; how much of those basic things did he really grasp? Rather than waiting for others to discover that he actually didn't understand anything, it's better to keep a distance and maintain an air of mystery.

  Cao Peng was very calm, and he was still very weak at this time.

  So every step of the way must be kept within one's own grasp...

  Rather than thinking about how to rise to fame and wealth, it's better to think about how to keep this family safe, and how to let the people at home live a good life.

  After he was idle, he carefully sorted out what he had learned in his mind.

  Kung fu needs to be practiced, and the body needs to be good... apart from this, one also needs to learn the lessons of this era, otherwise how will you bluff others in the future?

  Thinking about it, there are still many things to be done.

  It's hard to say about other things for now, so I might as well exercise properly.

  This frail body is really a hindrance... Cao Peng certainly doesn't wish to be like that Guo Jia, dying before fulfilling his ambitions!

  But where to start?

  The White Ape Transmits the Back Fist, when gathered it forms a shape, when scattered it becomes wind.

  Take the momentum of the ape, but not take the shape of the ape. The physical requirements are very high, and with his current condition, it is difficult to achieve results.

  If he's not careful, his kung fu won't be accomplished, but he'll practice himself to death first.

  His body belongs to congenital malnutrition. So the top priority is not on exercise, but on nourishment. However, wanting to nourish his body well is also not an easy task. Apart from self-cultivation and exercise, it also requires the help of some external forces.

  Take food for example!

  Cao Peng found out that crossing over wasn't as simple as he thought.

  After careful recollection, he finally chose the Tai Chi Fist, which is almost universally known in later generations, from among the various fist techniques and skills he had learned.