Chapter 123 Forced Purchase of Land

By the time the two got up from bed, it was already past noon. Ping'er brought them food. Jun Moye looked at the charm in Su Hanchu's eyes and eyebrows, and suddenly felt that the rice in the bowl was more fragrant than usual.

After the rice fields are planted, the busy farming season is over and there will be some free time. With so many people in the Jun family, it is not a good idea for them to just sit idle.

Su Hanchu and Jun Moye went up the mountain to chop more firewood. After all, cooking for so many people every day would definitely consume a lot of firewood, so they also wanted to see if they could find anything valuable.

Su Hanchu, who was collecting firewood, suddenly found several clusters of mushrooms growing on a dead tree. They were semicircular in shape, with a light gray and shiny surface. After observing them, he found that they were similar to modern oyster mushrooms and were completely edible.

Maybe I can try to grow some different kinds of mushrooms. If I can produce them in large quantities, I can sell them in town. Besides, You Chatou and others should be leaving the northwest soon.

Then I will be completely free. I can open a restaurant in the town. I will have my own rice fish and fresh mushrooms raised at home. It will definitely be very profitable to sell my own products.

"Jun Moye, look at this mushroom. It doesn't change color even when you cut it with a knife. This kind of mushroom is edible."

Jun Moye squatted beside Su Hanchu and took a look.

“Yes, it is edible.”

Su Hanchu had a smile on his face.

"Hurry, look around. If there's dead wood like this that can grow mushrooms, there must be some more dead wood. Let's find them and take them back. Maybe I can even grow some mushrooms myself."

At this moment, Jun Moye felt that his wife really knew everything. He spoke while looking for dead trees with mushrooms growing on them.

"Chu Chu, is there anything you can't do?"

Su Hanchu spoke with a proud look on his face when he heard this.

"Not yet. Aren't you very happy to have a beautiful and intelligent wife?"

Jun Moye looked at her lovingly.

"Yes, yes, it's my blessing to have such a beautiful and intelligent wife like Chuchu."

Perhaps because it was already April and the temperature was mild, the two of them found a lot of fresh mushrooms and filled their baskets. Of course, they also tied up the dead tree branches that grew mushrooms and took them back.

After returning to Jun's house, Su Hanchu asked Chuntao and Qiukui to go to the village to collect some rice husks and corn cobs.

Wait until the two men come back with a bag of rice husks and two bags of corn cobs.

Su Hanchu asked someone to boil water in a pot and put the rice bran into the boiling water for high-temperature disinfection.

Then, after sterilizing the kitchen knife and cutting board at high temperature, chop the collected mushroom roots into fine pieces.

Then put it in the boiled and cooled water in the basin, stir it evenly, put the rice bran in and mix it evenly, put it in a basin, cover it with a cloth boiled at high temperature, and place it in a cool and humid place. Then water it three to five times a day and wait for the fungus to grow.

Of course, the conditions for making the fungus strains were not as complete as those of modern times. In order for the fungus strains to grow smoothly, Su Hanchu used spiritual spring water to water them.

Half a month later, You Chatou and others had left.

Su Hanchu's fungus had already grown. He sterilized the corn cobs he had collected earlier with high temperature, and then spread a layer of soil he had brought back from the woods on the ground.

Lay a layer of corn cobs, sprinkle with torn into small pieces of fungus spawn, then lay a second layer of corn cobs, continue to sprinkle with fungus spawn, lay another layer of corn cobs, and then cover it with moist soil brought back from the woods.

Cover it with a cloth boiled at high temperature, compact it with wooden boards, and sprinkle it with spiritual spring water once every two days.

Su Hanchu was watering the corn cobs when Chuntao suddenly came running over in a hurry.

"Ma'am, the village head wants everyone to gather at the dam..."

Su Hanchu put down the watering can.

"Chun Tao, didn't you go with Qiu Kui to water the fields?"

Chuntao spoke after hearing this.

"Yes, we met Zhao Shun at the east end of the village. He was beating drums and gongs to notify every household to gather at the village dam. He happened to run into us, so he asked me to come back and tell the young master and the lady."

Su Hanchu nodded slightly when he heard this and asked everyone to gather, not knowing whether there was something big happening.

Soon he took all the Jun family members at home to the dam.

Guanping Village Dam, most of the villagers have already arrived.

The village head had a smile on his face. There were a dozen strangers around him. There was a table next to him with writing brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone, as well as a box of red clay.

Su Hanchu was puzzled as to why so many strangers came, and the smile on Zhao Lizheng's face seemed a bit flattering no matter how you looked at it.

Zhao Lizheng saw that almost everyone was present, so even if one or two people were missing from one family, it would not affect his announcement.

"Everyone, I've gathered you all here today because I have some great news to share with you. Mr. Yan, who's with me, is a well-known merchant who has traveled extensively for many years. He's here today to discuss a big deal with us. Now, let Mr. Yan speak to you."

Upon hearing this, Master Yan smiled and bowed.

"Everyone, I'm here in Guanping Village today because of fate. The land here is very suitable for growing fruit trees. My Yan family is interested in establishing an orchard here, so we want to purchase the land from you. I've already prepared the official documents. As long as you sign today, our Yan family will immediately give you a sum of money."

The villagers heard this and whispered to each other.

"Buy land?"

“You’re actually buying our land?”

"That won't do. This land is the life of us ordinary people."

Su Hanchu frowned and looked at Jun Moye, who also looked solemn.

Seeing that no one responded to him, Master Yan looked at the head of the village and winked at him.

Zhao Lizheng looked at everyone and spoke.

"Everyone, this is great news. We work hard farming all year round, but we don't earn much money, and sometimes we can't even eat enough. Why not sell the land to Master Yan's family? We will immediately have a large sum of money. I have already made an agreement with Master Yan that we can come to work in his orchard in the future, and our life will be much better than it is now."

Aunt Zhou, who is usually the most active, was the first to step forward and speak.

"Li Zheng, you are the Li Zheng of our Guanping Village. How can you speak to outsiders? We rely on the few acres of land at home to make a living all year round. How can you let us sell it?"

A few brave ones also spoke up.

"How can we sell this land? Land is our life. We won't sell it anyway."

"And we don't want to sell it either. We've lived on this piece of land for generations. How can we just sell it off?"

Zhao Lizheng felt a little guilty when he heard this, but he smiled awkwardly.

"Aunt Zhou, I'm doing this for everyone's benefit. After all, Master Yan has the official documents in his hand, which means the government has agreed to sell this land to Master Yan. Everyone will be happy if they get the silver."

Su Hanchu looked at the appearance of Zhao Lizheng and was afraid that Zhao Lizheng had been bribed. How could the common people's land be sold so easily?

Although Aunt Zhou is usually warm and enthusiastic, she also has a somewhat hot temper.

"If your family wants to sell it, that's your business. Our Zhou family won't sell it anyway."

Most people followed suit.

"Yes, we don't sell it either."

There was a hint of anger in Master Yan's eyes.

"Everyone, we have the official documents. It's not up to you to decide whether to sell or not. I've already prepared the land sale agreement. I'll give you eight taels of silver per acre, which is already a high price. The land deed is ready. Please sign and seal it one by one. Once you get the money, we'll all be happy."

Su Hanchu was about to say something, but Aunt Zhou spoke first with an angry look on her face.

"I've already said we won't sell it. What's the big deal about a few bucks? Even if everyone says it to the sky, we won't sell our land."

Master Yan's face was stern and he slapped Aunt Zhou in the face.

"As expected, ignorant village women are foolish. The government agrees, and your village head agrees. What qualifications do you have to disagree? Today, my Yan family has already purchased this land."

After this beating, Uncle Zhou quickly reached out and pushed Master Yan away.

"Why are you hitting people? Do you really think our village is easy to bully?"

Master Yan wanted to make an example of someone, so he gave a look and several people behind him rushed out and grabbed Uncle Zhou, starting to beat him up with punches and kicks. Even Aunt Zhou was beaten.

Zhao Lizheng stood by and did not stop it.

The villagers all looked panicked, and those who were on good terms with the Zhou family looked worried, but seeing that there were so many of them and it would be difficult to fight them, they did not dare to take action.

"Stop hitting me. How can you hit me?"

"If you hit anyone again, we will report you to the police..."

“Stop it now…”

Since coming here, the Zhou family has helped the Jun family a lot. Su Hanchu naturally couldn't just watch the Zhou family get beaten. Just as she was about to rush over, Jun Moye had already seen through her thoughts. He leaped over first and kicked away those who beat Uncle Zhou one by one...