Chapter 80 Everyone is happy

A contract wasn't strictly necessary; Zhao Liya simply wanted the villagers to gradually adapt to this approach. Perhaps in the future, there would be more ways to make money, and it would be necessary to bring everyone along. Without a contract and rules, things would easily get out of hand.

This time, Zhao Liya simply let Qu Yutao take charge of the whole process, letting her give it a try and accumulate experience.

After all, they are in this village and at home. If Qu Yutao doesn’t understand or makes a mistake, I can remind her, and Hu Ling can also remind her.

Hu Ling's father used to be a housekeeper, so he learned a lot about the management side of things from his father. With only a few dozen households, it was quite easy to help coordinate and arrange things.

The news quickly spread throughout the village and the villagers were in an uproar.

"Is this true?"

"There's such a good thing!"

"Come on, let's go ask everyone! If it's true, then let's give it a try."

"Let's go, I want to try it too."

One mu of land can earn you six or seven hundred coins, and two mu of land can earn you nearly one and a half taels.

Anyway, there is nothing to do in winter and the land is idle. If I can earn this much by farming for two months, I can have a good New Year.

You can cut a few more pounds of meat, buy some new clothes, replace the quilt you have been using for several years, and buy some candy for the children. Who wouldn't do such a good thing?

Isn’t it easy for a family to take care of two acres of land?

The villagers were very enthusiastic and came to ask questions one after another.

From the moment they met the villagers, Qu Yutao was the first to take charge. She was a little nervous, but Hu Ling ran around to help, offering her occasional advice. Qu Yutao was grateful, and thinking they were all familiar faces from the village, whom she saw often, she gradually felt at ease. She became more fluent, explaining things to everyone in a brisk and clear tone.

Everyone wants to plant, but the only hesitation is the contract. They worry about what if there is a trap, what if they sell out the people?

Qu Yutao was at a loss for words. She patiently explained and added, "There are people in our village who are literate. We can all tell what the contract says at a glance. Besides, with this contract as a guarantee, everyone can plant the crops with confidence without worrying about not being able to sell them, right?"

That’s true!

Everyone nodded.

Once someone took the lead in signing the contract, the others became anxious and rushed forward, vying to sign.

Hu Ling couldn't get away with just shouting, so he had to take action and pull them into line one by one.

Garlic sprouts are expensive, so each household is limited to planting one acre. Celery, like garlic sprouts, has a higher yield, so it's limited to one acre. Choose one of these two. First come, first served.

By the end of the day, all eighty acres had been claimed. Of the fifty or so households, only a few remained unclaimed. They were either lazy or well off and didn't care about the small amount of money.

Uncle Luo's family also claimed two acres of land. Qi was jealous and urged Uncle Luo to claim two acres as well.

"Isn't growing vegetables quite simple? Just scatter the seeds on the ground and that's it. No matter how much you harvest, you won't lose money at all." Qi said, feeling sad in her heart.

Even with all the hard work, he only earned a little over one or two taels of silver. In the past, he wouldn't even bother picking up a tael of silver if it fell in front of him. During festivals, he would also give one or two taels of silver to each of the maids around him.

Uncle Luo refused to go.

Ever since he sold the dying concubine's daughter to someone for a ghost marriage, he has had nightmares from time to time, and sometimes he feels guilty when he thinks about it.

He hated himself for being like this, and he knew that if he had to do it again, he would still do it. However, the guilt was also very real.

He knew that because of this incident, everyone in the village looked down on his family, and people would spit at him when they passed by his door. Didn't he want to go to crowded places and be despised by others?

He closed his eyes, fell onto the bed, and pretended to be dead. No matter how Qi scolded him, he did not move.

He hated Qi very much, but he had to admit that if Qi was not in this family, he would probably have to beg for food.

Anyway, this is how his life will be, so he'll just live with it.

Qi was still unwilling to give up, so he also went to queue up to receive it.

Sure enough, as soon as she arrived, countless pairs of eyes looked at her. The people in front of her leaned forward subconsciously, and the people behind her took small steps back, keeping a clear distance from her.

It is common for a stepmother to treat her illegitimate children harshly, and for a stepmother to treat her ex-wife's children harshly. Although people may gossip about them behind their backs, their attitude is clearly that it is "excusable" because, after all, they are not their own children.

Especially for children born out of wedlock, their mother is even in opposition to the legitimate wife. How can they ask the legitimate wife to treat them well?

But everything has its limits.

If it goes too far, it becomes inhumane, vicious and cruel.

No one would want to be friends with a person who is devoid of humanity and vicious and cruel.

I'm afraid it will bring bad luck if I get involved with it.

Qi is also a human being, and as a human being she has social needs. Even if she doesn't care whether others want to make friends with her or not, she definitely doesn't want others to treat her like the plague or give her secret advice.

Qi deliberately ignored the strange looks and gritted her teeth secretly.

Qu Yutao was also stunned when she saw her in the team. She really didn't expect her to come and felt disgusted.

Luo Shuyan is still living quietly in the Zhao family.

Although she escaped successfully, she had taken the medicine given by Yu Xiaofang in order to make the acting more realistic, and her body was indeed damaged. Although it did not damage her basic vitality, it would take time and nutrition to recover.

Fortunately, Qi and his men fell into the trap easily and got rid of her. She took the antidote early, so the damage was less.

Even so, with the medicine prescribed by Yu Xiaofang, he only now looks a little better.

But she couldn't sit still. Knowing that everyone liked her cooking skills, she insisted on cooking every day.

Who wouldn't like such a kind, capable, gentle and strong girl? Who wouldn't feel sorry for her past?

Qu Yutao felt a little uncomfortable letting Qi earn this money.

Hu Ling was also a little disgusted, but he winked at Qu Yutao and whispered a few words of comfort.

This matter is open to all families in the village, and there is no reason to target the Qi family. However, you can ask her a few more questions.

Qu Yutao thought about it for a moment, understood, and her brows relaxed as she smiled at Hu Ling.

Hu Ling's heart suddenly started beating uncontrollably faster, his heart trembling slightly. What was going on with this inexplicable joy and happiness?

When it was Qi's turn, everyone got excited and looked over in unison.

Everyone thought the same thing: How could she do it, even though she was from Yancun too?

When Qi said stiffly that she wanted to plant one acre of garlic sprouts and one acre of spinach, Qu Yutao looked at her and said with a smile, "Aunt Luo, are you sure? Two acres is a lot of land. Can you really plant it? After all, Aunt Luo is not familiar with farm work. I'm afraid she doesn't know how much two acres is! It will be very tiring."

(End of this chapter)