Ning spread the household map across the assembly barn table and asked each family to check its work, sleeping, and water locations.
The paper had grown crowded. New notes filled the margins: a borrowed bed, a shed shared by two trades, a clinic shift, and the route to the border farms. Olan marked the eastern orchard plot as temporary, pending an inspection of the well. Jori added the mill shed as a shared workshop. A family planning to remain near the border asked to keep a delivery route open for tools. Bai drew the road and estimated how often a cart could travel safely.
Each mark changed the supply plan. A clinic delivery could not be left at a house that was empty during the day. The workshop needed wood before the irrigation crew took its next shift. Ning asked the families to verify the map before she made a clean copy.
A local elder named Sare approached the table and frowned at the boxes drawn around the fields. “This makes it look as if newcomers can claim land by drawing a square.”
Ning laid the receipts beside the map. “Every mark should reflect an agreement signed by the landholder. If one does not, we need to correct it.”
