Chapter 240 Cao Yingying Sends Land
Just after breakfast, Old Man Zhao and Afu carried a large trunk into the yard.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, here are the hundred molds you requested!" Old Man Zhao took out a mold from inside. "I tried several styles of this, but none of them worked. Finally, Afu suggested engraving the four characters 'Dahe Zhao Shi' on the bottom of the mold, and adding a lid on top. The lid should also be curved. The finished product will be exactly the shape you drew..."
The old man grabbed a handful of soft, wet mud from another basket, put it into the mold, pressed it firmly, and then tapped it to release the mud ball. The four characters were imprinted on the front of the mud ball, and it looked beautiful.
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "Dad, thank you so much! This is exactly what I wanted!"
The molds are ready, the workshop is built, and now we can officially start work.
Old Zhao breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as you're satisfied."
If his eldest daughter-in-law is not satisfied, he will have to spend time figuring things out. He really doesn't have that talent; he's racking his brains until his head hurts.
"Father, I'll pay you ten coins per piece," Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. "There are a hundred in total, so that's one tael of silver."
She asked Zhao Sidan to go inside and get the money.
Old Zhao quickly waved his hand: "No, no, I just did it casually, it was something I did on the side, how could I take your money? Besides, we're all family, family doesn't need to be so formal. Alright, I'm leaving."
"Oh, Dad!" Cheng Wanwan said helplessly, "If you do this, how can I ask you to do chores in the future? Please accept this."
She forcibly stuffed one tael of silver into the old man's hand.
Old Zhao rubbed his hands together: "This matter has become... As an elder, I'm shameless when it comes to money. One tael of silver is a bit too much..."
Just as he was about to decline, two people walked in through the courtyard gate. It was the village head, followed by Cao Yingying.
The village head walked in with a surprised look: "Auntie Dashan, why are you buying land again?"
Cheng Wanwan was even more surprised: "No."
Her family's 60 mu of wasteland has not yet been dealt with, and she has no plans to buy land for the time being.
The village head said, "Miss Cao said you wanted to buy hundreds of acres of land. I knew it! Your family just built a house and bought a carriage. Where would you come up with two hundred taels of silver to buy land?"
Upon hearing the price of two hundred taels of silver, Cheng Wanwan snapped out of her daze: "Yingying, do you want to buy land in Dahe Village?"
Cao Yingying nodded: "I want to use all two hundred taels of silver to buy land, the land next to my aunt's house. I'll buy it all."
Dahe Village had hundreds of acres of abandoned land a long time ago. Later, the county magistrate granted it a thousand acres, and not long ago the emperor granted it three thousand acres, expanding the territory considerably. No one cultivated the land, so it was left to lie idle. The village headman lowered the price for the villagers again, but there were still very few people who could afford to buy the land.
"So you want to buy land." The village head laughed. "The land next to your mother's house by the mountains is all wasteland. Outsiders buy wasteland for one tael of silver per mu. You've lived in our village for so long, so I'll calculate the price for you as a villager: half a tael of silver per mu. Two hundred taels of silver can buy four hundred mu of land..."
Cao Yingying shook her head: "Let's calculate it as one tael of silver."
Last time the Cao family came to arrest her, many people in the village stood guard at the gate of the courtyard. The people of Dahe Village are very kind and helpful; she wouldn't take advantage of the village.
She knew that all the money would be used to subsidize the village patrol team, and buying the land at the original price was one of the few things she could do.
The village head disagreed: "You haven't had an easy life with the Cao family either. Now that you've bought land in our village, you're considered a resident of Dahe Village. How can your fellow villagers take advantage of you? It's only five coins..."
“Uncle Village Head, let’s do as Yingying says,” Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. “Two hundred acres is no small amount. Uncle Village Head, please find a few more people to help with the measurement.”
She knew that the girl wanted to thank the villagers of Dahe Village.
Two hundred taels of silver was nothing to the Cao family, but it could keep the patrol team going for several more years. The village was desperately short of this kind of money.
Since there's a shortage, there's no need to refuse anymore.
The village head nodded, and pulled along Old Man Zhao, Zhao Dashan, Zhao Ergou, and his two sons and two grandsons to the back to measure the land.
Two hundred acres is a really big amount of land. To put it simply, it's equivalent to twenty modern international standard football fields.
Land surveying is a meticulous task. Seven or eight people worked until sunset before finally surveying the two hundred acres of land, marking the locations, writing the land deeds, and then taking them to Cheng Wanwan's house so that the land deed owner, Cao Yingying, could sign it. The next day, they would go to the county to report and file it, and that would be considered a done deal.
“Auntie, you sign here.” Cao Yingying handed the inkpad to Cheng Wanwan. “This land was originally bought for you, Auntie, but I was afraid you wouldn’t accept it, so I did it first and asked you later…”
Yesterday, after Hongyu delivered the silver, she immediately took it to her aunt's room, but her aunt refused to accept it no matter what.
Her aunt didn't want it, but she had to give it to her. She lay in bed thinking for a whole night before finally coming up with this idea.
Giving money is too vulgar; it's better to give land instead.
For farming families, land is the most precious asset.
Cheng Wanwan was a little stunned. She really didn't expect that this girl would buy two hundred acres of land to give to her.
"Yingying, you..."
“If it weren’t for you, Auntie, I don’t know what kind of situation I would be in now.” Cao Yingying held Cheng Wanwan’s hand. “Actually, I also have my own selfish reasons. After giving this land to you, Auntie, I will feel more comfortable living in this house and won’t feel like a burden… Auntie, please accept it…”
Cheng Wanwan patted her hair: "I'll take these two hundred acres of land, but let's make it clear first, you can't refuse any gifts I give you in the future."
Cao Yingying smiled happily: "Okay, thank you, Auntie."
Cheng Wanwan shook her head helplessly. This girl gave something to someone and then thanked them. How silly.
The village headman chuckled and handed over the inkpad, letting Cheng Wanwan sign it. Then he blew on it and said, "Auntie Dashan, your family now has over 260 mu of wasteland. You can't manage all that land. You'll probably have to hire people to cultivate it."
"No rush." Cheng Wanwan shook her head. "I'll think carefully about what to do with these wastelands, and then I'll ask Uncle Village Head for help."
The village head readily agreed and took the land deed back home.
By evening, many villagers had come to deliver firewood; the family had collected at least two thousand catties of firewood in the past two days.
A bundle of firewood weighs at least twenty catties, and it's already chopped. Two catties cost one coin, so a bundle costs about ten coins. An adult man can carry down two bundles on a trip up the mountain, and he can make three or four trips a day, which adds up to sixty or seventy coins a day.
"Old Wang, you didn't go to the fields again today, how many times did you go up the mountain?"
"We made four trips and chopped four loads of firewood. My son was in charge of chopping firewood at home. The two of us worked together and earned more than seventy coins a day."
"I had to go water the fields this afternoon, which took a while, so I only earned a little over forty coins."
"Sister-in-law Zhao said she would only accept the money for half a month, so we must make the most of this time to earn money. With the money, we can buy winter clothes for the children, and they will be happy."
"..."
The person in charge of collecting firewood used to be Zhao Ergou, but today it was Zhao Dawang who took over.
Zhao Dawang wanted to learn how to do business, so he started with receiving goods and keeping accounts.
This kid is articulate, quick at calculations, and can even write. He writes down each calculation as a single entry, and his movements are incredibly swift.
Cheng Wanwan then pulled Cao Yingying into the inner room, where she prepared a gift for the little girl.
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