Chapter 50: A Feast
Seeing the courtyard with an earthen wall more than one person high, although Mrs. Ouyang Chen Yanhua still had a gloomy face, she did not stop.
As she walked into the yard, Chen Yanhua immediately felt that this yard was much better than the yard where those two ungrateful wolves lived.
After a careful look, she thought it was a good choice, and then she pulled her son Ouyang Hui and said, "Huier, this is the yard. Let's live in this yard. I saw it, there are five rooms, a kitchen, and utility rooms too. This is good."
Ouyang Hui, who was always "obedient", had his eyes flashing. Then he looked at Li Zi and bowed, saying, "Sir, our family will live here. Thank you for taking care of it."
Li Zi still looked at the crowd with a serious expression: "Now that you have chosen the courtyard, let me tell you the rules here."
"First of all, I see that you are a family and haven't split up yet, but we are not like the capital, where there are large courtyards with two or three entrances."
He looked at the Ouyang family and continued, "Now that you have chosen three courtyards, you should pay the money for the courtyards you live in. The first two courtyards are 50 taels each, and this courtyard is 100 taels. Lord Ouyang, who will pay for this money?"
When Li Zi said "Lord Ouyang", it was unclear whether he was calling Ouyang Hong or Ouyang Hui. But before either of them could speak, Ouyang's old lady Chen Yanhua spoke up: "Why do we have to pay to come here? Shouldn't we be given a place to stay?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zi and the three guards who came with him sneered. Then one of the guards said, "You, old lady, are quite imaginative in arranging accommodations."
"Let me tell you, this very yard of yours took everyone a month to build. If you want to live here for free, you can either pay or build your own yard."
Li Zi's tone was not very gentle. He had come to the land of exile, so why was he still acting so arrogant and pretentious? I have never seen anyone who was so unaware of his own situation.
Seeing Li Zi's bad tone, Ouyang Hui quickly said, "Look, the steward said, how could he not give it to me? My mother has been through a sudden change and is a little confused. I hope the steward will bear with me."
As he spoke, Ouyang Hui pulled out a few banknotes from his sleeve and handed one to Li Zi: "Manager, this is the money for our courtyard. Please keep it."
Li Zi looked at Ouyang Hui suspiciously: "Didn't Lord Ouyang pay for the money for those two courtyards?"
As soon as the words fell, Ouyang Jin said, "Master Ouyang is really calculating. The old lady took all our money, but did not take the money from Master Ouyang."
"I remember that the money Lord Ouyang mentioned was for the purpose of getting here. How can my third brother and I be so worthless that we don't need a yard to live in?"
Ouyang Qin also echoed, "Since Lord Ouyang is unwilling, then please ask the old lady to return our money to us and divide the family property at the same time."
Li Zi originally thought that Ouyang Hui wanted him to give him a lower price, but he didn't expect this to happen. So he didn't take the banknote but stood aside to watch the fun.
Hearing that she was asked to return the money, Old Lady Chen Yanhua was unhappy and immediately shouted loudly: "Rebellious sons! You two rebellious sons! When did I, Old Lady, take your money?"
"Oh! The old lady is really the old lady. Her ability to lie with open eyes is unique. I remember clearly that the old lady not only accepted our money, but also the money of the children."
As soon as Xu Yuzhu said this, Jiang Yun responded, "Of course not. My son Tao gave all his copper coins to the old lady."
Li Zi sighed deeply. No wonder the general asked him to help. These two sons were not as favored as one. Could it be that this was a common problem in wealthy families?
While he was thinking about it, some people gathered around one after another. Although they were all prisoners, Li Zi was not too strict. As long as they had no bad intentions and did their job honestly, Li Zi allowed them to move around in Yushan.
Maybe the noise here was a bit too loud, which attracted them here.
Looking at the people gathered together, Li Zi did not say anything, but looked at the third-rank official, wanting to see what this official would do.
Seeing more and more people gathered around, Ouyang Hong looked at Ouyang Hui with a dark face and said, "Give them all away! We haven't even divided the family property yet, what are you making such a fuss about?"
Seeing his father, who usually didn't care about things, speaking with a dark face, Ouyang Hui had no choice but to take out another silver note of 100 taels and prepare to give both to Li Zi.
But Li Zi, who was enjoying the fun, did not reach out to take it. Instead, he looked at Ouyang Hong and Ouyang Hui, father and son, and asked, "My two Ouyang masters, since you have come to Yushan, you must contribute to the construction of Yushan. However, you don't have any tools. How are you going to contribute?"
Old Madam Chen Yanhua Pudong was about to say something, but was stopped by Ouyang Hong who was standing beside her. He glared at her and then looked at Li Zi: "Steward Li, we are new here and don't know the situation in Yushan. Please give us some advice."
Li Zi looked at Ouyang Hui calmly, then said, "Old Master Ouyang, your words are too serious. I don't have any advice, but I just want to ask about the tools for clearing wasteland and farming. Do you and your family plan to buy or rent them?"
"Available for rent"
"Yes. We have everything, including hoes, shovels, sickles, shoulder poles, baskets, pots and pans, kitchen knives and machetes. However, the prices are different. I wonder what Mr. Ouyang thinks."
Ouyang Hong then remembered what Meng Yi had said to them in the nameless town before, but it was no use regretting it now, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk into Li Zi's blatant trap.
Seeing Ouyang Hong nod, Li Zi took the two banknotes from Ouyang Hui and said, "Everyone, follow me to the warehouse to look at the various tools. Whether to buy or rent is entirely up to you."
Half an hour later, except for the backpack, all other tools and items were bought in duplicate, one for Ouyang Hui and one for Ouyang Jin and Ouyang Qin to share.
After buying some more food, they distributed ten pounds of black flour and five pounds of corn flour to the second and third rooms respectively, and then the group went back.
Although Ouyang Jin and Ouyang Qin got some things, they also signed an unequal treaty, which was that they had to go to the big house to cook every day and to open up wasteland and farm together.
It would be fine if they just took care of the three meals a day, but they even had to take care of the land reclamation and farming, which made Li Zi feel sad.
Looking at those young children, Li Zi felt that even without General Meng's instructions, he would still take better care of them.
On the other side, the Ouyang Jin family returned to their yard. They first closed the gate, and then Mr. Ouyang Jin and his three family members put the tools and other items in the utility room before walking into the kitchen.
I saw Xu Yuzhu and little Philo sitting on the stools beside the table, looking at the white flour buns and dumplings on the table, as well as two plates of meaty dishes.
The four of them, father and son, looked at each other, then looked at the courtyard gate to make sure it was closed. Then they walked into the kitchen and closed the half-closed door.
The youngest, Ouyang Mingli, looked at the buns and meat dishes on the table with shining eyes and asked in a low voice: "Mom, are we going to have a big meal?"
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