An Jing and Xiao Changyi wished to purchase farmland because although they had managed to convert eight of their ten acres into paddy fields, considering the poor fertility of the land from the previous year, even if they planted rice, the yield might not be significant.
Thus, they planned to casually plant some crops on those eight acres, and if the crops failed to harvest, they would simply let them rot in the field, which would serve as fertilizer, waiting until the second half of the year or the following year to seriously cultivate the land.
By this reasoning, their family still only had one acre of land to plant rice, which was hardly enough for the two of them to eat.
Since they had chosen this simple and ordinary farmer's life, the crops they grew would have to suffice to sustain them, wouldn't they?
Then, they thought about buying another three acres of land.
And the land was close to their home, contiguous, which would make it convenient for them to manage.