After more than a month of constant hammering, Xiao'er's new house was finally completed, and they were now building the courtyard walls. Xiao'er planned to enclose even the wasteland and barren mountains, which made the villagers consider her family crazy. The amount of money it would cost to encircle such a large piece of land could build them several more houses.
Xiao'er didn't care about what others said, she asked Shen Chengzu to hire twenty well-reputed men from the village to help. They would be paid 25 coins a day, without meals included. When villagers from other villages heard this, they scrambled to sign up, and Shen Chengzu picked up some diligent and honest ones, hiring a total of forty-eight people.