Only when someone beside him reminded him did he see Chunxiao and quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Boss, why are you here?"
"Zhuangzi hasn't grown cotton for a long time. I'm worried, so I came to take a look."
"Don't worry, boss. We have kept the key points booklet you taught us before. The young boss taught Zhuangzi and the others how to read before he started planting the cotton fields. Don't worry."
"I feel safe with you around. I came over to take a look. If nothing else, I'll be back later."
"Boss, you've come here to tell me something. Someone came to our farm a few days ago, wanting to buy it. They asked me to find you, but I told them you were away on a business trip and that we weren't going to sell it. They've come a few times, and their attitude wasn't very friendly. You'd better be careful. Several neighboring farms have encountered similar incidents. It's probably a group of people."
"Do you know where they came from? Their attitude is bad, no matter how bad it is, can they force me to buy it if I don't want to sell it?"
"I heard they were from the county, accompanied by an official from the township government. However, I think the official's attitude was a bit strange. On the one hand, he brought those two people with him, but he didn't make things difficult for us. It seems that one of them knew that this farm was yours, and he secretly reminded us not to show up at the farm recently."
"How many days has it been?" Chunxiao had a feeling that this was not a good thing.
"About three or four days."
Chunxiao nodded. Since it was an official from the township government who came, it seemed that the person must be from an important background. She would go to the township government later to inquire about the situation. She had some friendship with the officials from the township government from the last time she looked for someone, so it should not be difficult to ask about the situation.
Zhuangzi's orange trees were growing very well. She had originally planned to dig up a few to take home, but she was afraid that the oranges would die if she moved them away when they were about to bear fruit. In the end, she gave up the idea and decided to wait until spring to move them or buy new trees to plant.
Seeing that everything was running well in the manor, they were afraid that something might happen if they stayed there for too long, so after inspecting the manor, Chunxiao asked Xiaohua to drive to the town.
The two of them parked the carriage at a restaurant not far from the township government. Chunxiao went into the restaurant and asked for a private room. He then gave some small change to Xiaohua and asked her to find the head of the yamen runners.
Just when she was thinking about this alone, Xiaohua came over with some people.
"Miss Yan." The messenger entered the private room and saw Chunxiao sitting at the table. "Long time no see. What do you want from me, Miss?"
"Brother Zhang, please sit down." She gestured for him to sit down. "Xiaohua, go ask the waiter to bring up a pot of the best herbal tea to quench my thirst."
"Miss, you don't have to be polite. If you have something to say, just tell me. I'm on a business trip right now and can't delay for too long."
"Xiaohua, have the waiter come up faster." She smiled at the person opposite her. "You guys are working hard, so it wouldn't hurt to take a break."
The waiter arrived quickly and served them herbal tea.
"Brother Zhang, I'm bothering you this time mainly to ask you a question. I own a farm in Lu Village. I heard that a few days ago someone from the township government brought someone to buy the farm, and there were also officials who warned us to stay out of the public eye. What's going on?"
"So it really is your farm, young lady. When I looked at the land deeds in the household register, I guessed that the people with the same name might be the same person. I didn't expect it to be yours. We were careful and saved you a lot of trouble."
Hearing what he said, it seemed like there was indeed something wrong here. "Brother Zhang, I'm still confused. Can you tell me more about this matter? Who wants to take over our farm?"
The other party sighed, "We are just following orders. I heard that it was the county magistrate's brother-in-law or a relative of his. He said that he really wanted the land in Lu Village and has already acquired two farms. Don't worry, he wants to take all of them. The head of the pavilion felt that this was not appropriate. After all, it was under the guise of the government office. He was asked to acquire two farms and then ignored it. This has happened frequently in the past two years. We are really annoyed."
"Is this an order from the County Magistrate? Logically, wouldn't the Pavilion Chief be targeted if he doesn't follow it?"
"This kind of thing happens a lot. Who knows if it's the county magistrate's order or if they're just taking advantage of the situation? Anyway, with the county government's official seal, everyone turns a blind eye. If they can get away with it, they do it perfunctorily. If they can't, they just ignore it. The county magistrate can't possibly be held responsible for this. Don't worry, they've already taken over two properties, and they probably won't let them take over again. They're stubbornly refusing to agree. It's not right to rob private property if they're innocent."
"I've been traveling a lot these past few years, so I don't know much about what's going on back home. How come this kind of thing happens all the time?"
"That's right!" Zhang Dasheng took a sip of tea, feeling a little suffocated when thinking about this mess. "In the past two years, they forced everyone to sell grain to the government. I don't know how much profit they made from it. It's really like greed."
It is said that a clean magistrate can earn 100,000 silver coins in three years, but there are parasites like this everywhere.
Seeing Chunxiao's worried look, "Don't worry, Miss Yan. Since we know that it is your property, we will help you protect it. If we can't protect it, we will also bring you news."
Chun Xiao showed gratitude, "Thank you for your help, brothers. I will definitely treat you all to a meal when I have the chance in the future."
Zhang Dasheng nodded. "Okay, if this is all we have to do today, I'll go back first. Otherwise, we should go find the other party."
"Thank you for your hard work. Take care, Brother Zhang."
Zhang Dasheng drank another cup of herbal tea, said goodbye to her and left the restaurant.
"Miss, how could this county magistrate's relative be so arrogant? He actually uses the banner of government to conduct private affairs."
"They can do this because they have the support of the county magistrate. Forget it, we ordinary people can't control the behavior of the government. Now we know that they won't threaten us. There are cups next to us. You can sit down and have some tea before leaving."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
