Several families discussed and decided to buy the open spaces in front of and behind their own courtyards.
As for the three courtyards, Third Grandpa said: "My family will buy one."
He and his wife lived with Dashan's family and didn't buy a house; they needed to buy one, so when Fuyan's family found one, they would also have a place to stay.
The remaining two courtyards were all taken by Gu Jinli's house.
Gu Jinli wanted to make soy sauce, and his tofu business was expanding, so he needed one courtyard to be used as a workshop, while the other one was reserved to house Aunt Daya's family once they were found.
Clerk Gao was efficient; he went from one family to another. Within 30 minutes, he got their house and land deeds processed.
At this point, Gu Jinli's house now owned three old mud-brick courtyards, each occupying two acres. Processing the house and land deeds for these three courtyards cost twelve taels of silver.
