After Zheng Ren left, Zhu smiled and lifted the cotton curtain and entered the house.

"Dad, Mom, did your uncle ask you to move to the town?"

Old Mrs. Zheng looked at Old Man Zheng and saw that he didn't express his opinion, so she said, "I haven't decided yet. We have lived in the village all our lives. I'm afraid I won't get used to the town, and Rong grew up by my side, so I can't bear to leave him."

Zhu sat on the kang, took Old Mrs. Zheng's hand and persuaded her, "Life in the town is certainly more comfortable than in the village, and life at your uncle's house is much better than ours. You two old people will go with me, and you will enjoy it! Many people in the village dream of moving to a big house."

Huaishu Village is close to the town, and in recent years, the richer families have moved to the town. Anyway, it's convenient to go back and forth. All of Old Lady Zheng's sisters moved away with their children and grandchildren.

But Old Lady Zheng still hesitated, "Let me think about it with your father."

Zhu didn't understand what was so good about it. Although she didn't know how much money Zheng Ren could make a year, judging from the way the eldest wife behaved, it was probably about 100 taels of silver a year. If she went to the town, Zheng Ren might even buy two maids to serve her, good food and drink, a high bed with soft pillows, and maids to use... If she had such a life, she would wake up laughing in her dreams.

Zhu kept on talking, "Dad's legs have become more and more inconvenient in the past two years. They hurt when it's windy or rainy. It's more convenient to go to the town to see a doctor and get medicine. Uncle is so filial that he will definitely have someone to serve him. Mother, even if you don't want to go, you should consider Dad."

Old Mrs. Zheng also thought seriously. Her old man suffered too much when he was young, and his health has indeed been getting worse in recent years.

Before she said anything, Old Man Zheng had already said, "Okay, second wife, I will think about this matter carefully with your mother, so don't say anything more. It's almost time for dinner. Have you made lunch?"

Zhu had just returned from her mother's house early in the morning and happened to hear Zheng Ren and the two elders talking in the house, so she stood under the window. After Zheng Ren left, she came into the house to persuade them that there was no housework to do. After hearing what old man Zheng said, she had no choice but to go out to work.

When she was at her mother's house, she was squeezed by several sisters who returned to Ning. They openly and secretly ridiculed her for marrying a lazy man with no future. She also made up her mind that if she found an opportunity, she must make her family's life more and more prosperous and not let them look down on her! Unexpectedly, this opportunity came so quickly, and she naturally couldn't let it go easily.

Before leaving, Zhu still said, "Mom, you eat bean rice at home, but when you go to your uncle's house in town, you will eat white rice every meal." How could she know that Zheng Xiu and his family actually had meat every meal? It was just that in her opinion, being able to eat white flour and glutinous rice every meal was already a very good life.

Bean rice is not easy to digest, especially for the two old people, who have poor stomachs and intestines, and it is even more uncomfortable to eat it. Sometimes at night, they feel that their stomachs are bloated and it is difficult to fall asleep. Even defecation has become a torment for them.

After she left, Mrs. Zheng asked Old Man Zheng seriously, "Old man, what do you think?"

Although Old Man Zheng is usually a man of few words, important decisions in the family are all made by him.

Old man Zheng closed his eyes and rested, "Why do you talk so much? I've already told you to think about this matter again."

Zheng Xiu got the land deed, took half a basket of eggs and went to Li Zheng's house.

There were also guests at Li Zheng's house. They were a family from a farm in the village who were preparing to divide the family after the New Year and came to ask Li Zheng to be a witness.

The family's surname was Du. They had three sons, two of whom were very capable, but the youngest son was a fool. The two elder brothers are now married and have children. Seeing that their children are growing up, they are unwilling to support their foolish younger brother. Zheng Xiu didn't recognize them, but she thought the square-faced woman among them looked familiar.

Li Zheng's wife came up to her warmly and said, "Happy New Year, Miss. Come in and sit down."

Zheng Xiu said, "I came to see Uncle Li Zheng for something, but he seems to be busy. I'll wait a moment."

Li Zheng's wife handed her a handful of melon seeds, "Miss, peel two melon seeds first. I'm afraid your Uncle Li Zheng will have to wait for a while. If you're in a hurry, you can tell me in advance."

"It's not an urgent matter. My father said that he will take us to the town after the New Year. I'm afraid it will trouble Uncle Li Zheng to rent the land again after the New Year."

The two of them didn't avoid people and went into the house while talking.

The Du family was sitting in the main room, so Li Zheng's wife led her to the inner room. The two of them peeled melon seeds and chatted about family matters.

Li Zheng's family has only one son, Zhang Xiucai, who passed the imperial examination. Zhang Xiucai also studied in Qingzhu Academy and did not return home all year round. Even during the New Year, he was busy gathering with his classmates and friends. Li Zheng's wife followed him, but she couldn't help feeling lonely. When Zheng Xiu came, she seemed to open up her mouth. When she heard her family was going to move to the town, she said, "It must be good to move

to the town. Usually, only you and your brother are at home, which always makes people worried." In fact, Li Zheng's family is also considered wealthy. If it were not for saving money to support their son's studies, they would have moved out of the village long ago.

Zhu was busy at the stove when she heard someone calling her in the yard.

She wiped her hands and went out to see that it was Mrs. Du from the village. Zhu had been married to Huaishu Village for so many years, but she had not made many friends. She just got along well with this Du Dasao.

When Du Dasao saw her, she waved to her, then pulled her aside and said softly, "I just came out of Li Zheng's house. Guess who I met?"

Zhu smiled and said, "Who else could it be? There are only a few people in our village."

Du Dasao looked around and confirmed that there was no one around, then continued, "I met the eldest daughter of your uncle's family! She said she wanted Li Zheng to help her find a tenant." She was close to Zhu, so naturally Zhu's man was not very good. He had squandered all the land he had received when the family was divided in the early years, and now he relied on farming the land of his parents and brothers for a living.

When Mr. Zheng was dividing the family, he felt that he no longer had the energy to take care of the land, so he gave the fertile and good land to his two sons, and kept a few acres of thin land for himself. Zhu's family actually mainly relied on farming the brothers' land to make a living.

Sure enough, Zhu was furious when she heard this: "Hasn't their land always been farmed by our family?!"

Mrs. Du just came to pass on a message to her and didn't want to interfere in her family affairs, so she said: "I only heard that one sentence, I don't know anything else. My family is waiting for me to go back and cook, I'll go back first."

Zhu didn't want to be polite with her. Zheng Quan went out to drink with others, so she hurried to Li Zheng's house alone.

At that time, Zheng Xiu had already shown the land deed to Li Zheng and negotiated with him.

Mr. Zhang, the son of Li Zheng, still needed Zheng Ren's care in the academy, so he would naturally respond to his requests. If it weren't for Zheng Xiu's insistence, he would not even accept the half basket of eggs.

Zhu wanted to stop Zheng Xiu, but it was too late. When she arrived, Zheng Xiu had finished her talk and was about to go back.

Seeing her hurriedly walk into the house, Zheng Xiu then recalled the familiar square-faced woman, who seemed to be a woman that Zhu knew. However, she did things without hiding from others, and there was nothing that Zhu could not know.

"Second aunt is here." Zheng Xiu greeted her indifferently.

"Xiu girl, I heard... I heard that you are going to rent out the family's land again?"

Zheng Xiu nodded, "Our family is preparing to move, and there is no one to take care of the family's land, so I came to ask Uncle Li Zheng to be a witness." Zhu said

anxiously, "Why is there no one to take care of it? Hasn't your second uncle been taking care of it all the time!"

Zheng Xiu sneered, "Uncle Li Zheng is here, second aunt might as well tell us how much grain your second uncle can grow in a year and how much he gives to our family."

Zhu naturally couldn't say it.

Zheng Xiu added, "The land belongs to our family, so we can rent it to whoever we want." Moreover, during the years when her second uncle cultivated the land, her father, out of consideration for family affection, did not even sign a written agreement.

Zhu was extremely anxious, "What do you mean? We are a family, if you rent the land to someone else, wouldn't that mean the death of our entire family?!"

Everyone in the village knew about the capable Zheng Juren, and naturally everyone also knew that he had a very unpromising younger brother.

Mrs. Li Zheng was worried that Zheng Xiu could not handle the troubled Zhu alone, so she said, "Mr. Zheng Quan, what you said is true. When your family split up, I was the head of the family. You have more land than others, not less. Why do you still rely on other people's land to make a living?" How

could Zhu say that her own land had been sold long ago to pay off Zheng Quan's gambling debts? Although that was a well-known fact, she couldn't let the family shame be exposed. So she just put her hands on her hips and said, "Anyway, this land has always been cultivated by our family. If you want to give it to others, that's impossible!"

"Oh?" Zheng Xiu crossed her arms and looked at her coldly, "Second Auntie is quite arrogant. I have never heard of anyone's land being rented to someone else, and it is up to the tenants to decide."

Many people came to visit Li Zheng's family during the New Year. After Zhu's quarrel, many people were already waiting at the door.

Li Zheng's wife helped, saying, "What the eldest lady said makes sense. Zheng Quan's family, don't make a fuss. The land deed is complete, and our head of the family has already agreed." Li Zheng

was a fair man, and he didn't want to get involved in the quarrel between the women. But at this time, he said, "In less than half a month, we will naturally find other tenants. Zheng Quan's family, if you want to make trouble, go to your own house, don't make trouble at my house."

Zheng Xiu said in a high tone, and left without paying any attention to Zhu's family. Zhu followed her and talked to her, but she ignored him.

... Are you worried now? Weren't you so arrogant two days ago?

"No way out, no way out!" Seeing that she ignored her, Zhu sat down on the ground at the door, not caring about her image, and pretended to cry: "Zheng Ju is going to force my brother's family to death!"

Zheng Xiu just let her embarrass herself. The villagers who were whispering were not stupid. One of them said: "Your men have hands and feet? Why are you still thinking about your brother's land? If they don't want to rent it to you, then don't rent it. What's the point of making such a fuss?"

Many people echoed. Most of the villagers were honest and simple, and they were not used to Zheng Quan's lazy man.

The people who were watching the excitement gradually dispersed.

Zhu had no choice but to stop crying and stand up.

When Zheng Xiu returned home, she called Zheng Yu aside to talk and asked him to bring Ji Lei from Xue Shao's family over.

Zheng Yu went there jumping and skipping.

Not long after, the majestic big dog appeared at the door of Zheng's house.

Zheng Xiu curled her lips with satisfaction. If the second aunt dared to come to the house to make trouble again, she would let her know how powerful Ji Lei was!

Besides, Zhu was not stupid. She made a scene in front of so many people in Li Zheng's family, but Zheng Xiu ignored her. If she went to her house and Zheng Ren was there, Zheng Xiu would probably not give her a good face. She went home first, hoping that Old Man and Old Lady Zheng could help. When approaching the house, Zhu pinched her thigh hard, forcing a few tears out.

"Dad, Mom, Uncle is going to force us to death!" She cried as she entered the house.

Old Lady Zheng hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? What did the old man do?"

Zhu told her what happened just now, and cried again, "This is going to force our family to have no way to survive! Dad, Mom, you have to make a decision for us!"

Old Lady Zheng frowned and turned to look at Old Man Zheng.

Old Man Zheng still closed his eyes, leaning on the kang with a calm expression.

Mrs. Zheng was at a loss for a moment. "The land was given to the eldest son when the family was divided in the early years. It's their own thing, so they can make the decision."

"Mom, our Arong and Xiaoxian are your grandsons and granddaughters. If not for anything else, just for the sake of the children, you have to help us!"

Thinking of Zheng Rong and Zheng Xiao, Mrs. Zheng also softened her heart and went downstairs to put on her shoes. "Let's go, I'll go to the old house with you to take a look."

Zhu's face was happy, and she wanted to take Mrs. Zheng out.