Chapter 33: Evil Will Be Rewarded

The next day, the Ma brothers started working. With the two huge carrots of watching the fields and raising pigs, they did not need supervision at all and were full of energy while working.

When Sun Shuping saw the Ma family members, he walked up to them with a smile and started talking to them. When he learned that they were reclaiming land for Lin Xi, the smile froze on his face for a few seconds and he turned around and went home.

As soon as he entered the house, Sun Shuping's face became uglier than ever. He touched the broom on the ground and kicked it hard to the side, as if he had a grudge against the broom.

Old Lady Sun rarely saw Sun Shuping so unhappy, so she quickly asked, "Son, why are you so angry?"

Sun Shuping glared at Wang Xiaoling who was not far away. "Mom, guess what I saw today. The Ma family is helping Linxi to open up wasteland again. It is said that they will cooperate in raising pigs in the future."

Old Mrs. Sun was stunned.

"When Lin Xi built the house, I worked with the Ma family. How come people only think of the Ma family now and not our Sun family! Look at Aunt Wu's family in the village. Just because they helped Lin Xi, her daughter has learned the skill of making steamed buns. Look at them, they are preparing to start building a new house. Look at us!"

At this point, Sun Shuping pointed at Wang Xiaoling beside him and said excitedly, "I sold a pig to someone else, but you actually brought your brothers from your mother's family to replace it with a pig. Your Wang family has always been at odds with Lin Xi, and now you want to implicate our Sun family. How could I marry you!"

Sun Shuping was so excited that his voice broke, but Old Lady Sun heard it clearly.

Now Lin Xi is going to lead the Ma family to make money, but those who have offended Lin Xi don't want to have anything to do with them at all.

"Oh, what misfortune for our family. Why did I become so obsessed with proposing a marriage to the Wang family?" Old Mrs. Sun also regretted her decision and wailed.

Wang Xiaoling was trembling and didn't dare to speak. She had been severely beaten at home for the last time when a good pig was exchanged for a sick one. Now she didn't dare to breathe at the Sun family and could only wipe away her tears.

But now, the more Wang Xiaoling cried, the more annoyed Old Lady Sun and Sun Shuping became.

…

The Ma family takes care of the family affairs. Lin Xi and Xiao Yongyan came to the town to choose a store.

Fenghe Town is not big, and there are only two truly prosperous streets: Yuxi Street running east-west, and Xiangxue Street running north-south. The intersection where these two streets meet is where the restaurants are most concentrated.

Unfortunately, everyone likes good locations, but there is not a single store for rent now.

The two walked eastward along Yuxi Street and saw several nice shops. What was even more surprising was that there was a shop right next to the house.

"Husband, what do you think of this place? I'm doing business in the store, and you can stay in the house with the children to study." Lin Xi fell in love with this place at first sight.

The landlord was inside the house. When he heard that Lin Xi was looking for a store, he immediately came out to introduce him.

Although his store is not in the best location, it is large and has a small yard at the back.

The rent was also within Lin Xi's acceptable range, one tael of silver per month, with an additional one tael of silver as a deposit.

Lin Xi now has dozens of taels in her hands, and this rent is cheaper than she imagined.

"Shopkeeper, it seems that there are not many people living in the house next to yours. Can we rent it?" Lin Xi asked.

The shopkeeper looked embarrassed and looked at Lin Xi, "To be honest, the house next door has been abandoned for a while. Someone died in it, and then the family moved to the town. They would like to rent this place, but others are afraid to rent it."

"Someone died?" The ancients were superstitious about these things, which Lin Xi could understand, but as a young person who grew up in a materialistic era, she didn't care.

"That's right. The daughter-in-law of this family died during childbirth. Young couples like you should not live here. It's a bad omen." said the shop owner.

"It's really strange. I've never heard of a house in the countryside where someone died being abandoned for habitation." Lin Xi said.

"This," the shopkeeper couldn't explain, "isn't it just a bad omen?"

"It's okay, shopkeeper. Could you please go to the town and tell this family that we want to rent their house and ask them to send someone to handle it?" Lin Xi said as he stuffed a handful of copper coins into the shopkeeper's hand.

The shopkeeper pretended to decline, "Oh, that's impossible. It's just a question. I'll make the trip for you."

Having said that, the shopkeeper turned around to get paper and pen to sign the contract.

Xiao Yongyan walked up to Lin Xi and asked, "Are you really not afraid?"

Lin Xi raised her eyebrows, "Are you afraid?"

"Why should I be afraid? Now I am a guy who has crawled out from a pile of dead bodies." Xiao Yongyan slightly raised the corners of his mouth and looked into the distance with a rare desolate look in his eyes.

"That's fine. I've thought about it. If this place is really going to be turned into a school, it would be best to invite someone to perform a ritual. Not for us to see, but for others to see."

Xiao Yongyan knew Lin Xi's intention clearly, which was simply to eliminate other people's fear.

Soon, Lin Xi finalized the contract, and then the couple found a carpenter with the introduction of the store owner and prepared to build some counters, tables, chairs and benches for selling goods.

After finishing all these, it was almost dusk.

This time they went out, they borrowed the Ma family's ox cart, but from now on they would have to travel back and forth between the village and the town every day, and they couldn't keep borrowing someone else's cart.

"How about we buy a carriage?" Lin Xi asked.

Xiao Yongyan also agreed with Lin Xi's idea, but after a little inquiry, he found out that horses were not available in Fenghe Town at all, and if one really wanted to buy one, one had to go to the county town.

Going to the county town was always risky, so Lin Xi thought about it and decided to give up. He settled for the next best thing and bought a donkey cart, spending ten taels of silver.

The fact that Lin Xi bought a donkey caused a small sensation in the village. They all laughed at Lin Xi for being stupid. Donkeys can pull goods, but farming still requires the hard work of cows.

Lin Xi has been constantly reclaiming wasteland and planting crops. When it comes time to plant the second crop of rice in July, let’s see how she can handle it.

The Ma family chose to keep silent. At worst, their whole family could go to help Lin Xi. After all, they had more people and more strength.

Lin Xi doesn't have time to pay attention to these gossips now. She is concentrating on preparing for the new store.

The store she rented was actually not small, and it seemed a bit of an overkill to use it only to sell bacon. However, Lin Xi thought that when her golden carp and ducks grew up, they would eventually be sold in the store, so she specially rented a larger one.

Xiao Yongyan had already written Lin Xi's sign and was just waiting to find someone to make a flag.

But soon, Lin Xi discovered a new problem.

No one has ever tasted bacon, so it may not be easy to sell in the beginning.

The best way is to let everyone taste it themselves, but there are many ways to cook bacon, and Lin Xi can't cook.

As for Xiao Yongyan, he will definitely be busy with school matters at that time, so it is impossible for him to cook.