Chapter 168: Inflexible
"People in the village were on the verge of collapse, so it was relatively easy for us to buy land."
Hu Zi added, "There was a small conflict when we went to Dongwang Village."
"The villagers thought we were in cahoots with the water bandits. They collected money in front and we bought the land in the back."
"But then we happened to run into those pirates causing trouble, and we helped them. Then they believed that we were just planning to settle down here."
Uncle He nodded, "The sale was pretty quick."
Zhou Yunshu looked at the land deed and felt more than happy. The wasteland and mountain land that Dongwang Village sold to them added up to more than what they had in Dongchuan City and Xiwang Village combined.
"There aren't many good farmlands. We bought 50 mu of paddy fields and 60 mu of dry land from Dongwang Village and Xiwang Village combined. No one in the village would be willing to sell unless they could no longer make ends meet," said Uncle He.
"There's a small farm next to Dongwang Village. It has 150 mu of paddy fields, 100 mu of dry land, and four ponds. I bought it for 800 taels."
"Please help me draw the location."
Uncle He nodded and took the paper and pen.
"Dongwang Village is slightly larger than Xiwang Village, but it's a little further away from Dongchuan. The two villages are separated by a river called Xiaowang River."
As Uncle He spoke, he simply drew the locations of Dongchuan City, Dongwang Village, and Xiwang Village, as well as the main rivers and mountains.
"Dongwang Village has hundreds of households, most of which are located on the southeast side of Xiaowang River. The wasteland we bought is on the northeast side of Dongwang Village. There are fewer people here, and it's close to Xiaoqing Mountain. Because it was the last wasteland we looked at, I saw that there was a lot of money left, so I just bought the unowned land and Xiaoqing Mountain here for 88 taels."
Wasteland is cheap to begin with. The small green hill is not large in area and has a low altitude. It is a place where people from Dongshan Village often go to chop firewood and dig wild vegetables. The village chief did not expect that it could be sold, so he sold it to Uncle He for dozens of taels of silver without hesitation.
"We can build a house right here when the time comes." Uncle He pointed to a location near Xiaowang River. "We can build a small dock here that can accommodate a small boat."
"A boat?"
Uncle He nodded. "The Xiaowang River is quite narrow from its northeast end to Dongwang Village. It's lucky to be able to accommodate a small boat. There is a small stream coming down from the mountain, but it's not suitable for boats."
Zhou Yunshu nodded. She looked at the stream that divided Dongwang Village into two parts, and the wasteland and Xiaoqingshan they bought were on the north side.
"Are there many residents here?" Zhou Yunshu asked, pointing to the north side.
"There are three families. Two are hunters, and one is a family where the elders died and the younger generation was driven here."
“Why are there so few people here?”
Hu Zi said, "First, it's a bit far from the center of the village. Second, I asked around and it seems like there was a mountain collapse a few years ago that killed several people. They thought it was the angry mountain god, so they all moved to the west of Anhe."
Zhou Yunshu nodded, "Okay, you did a good job."
Uncle He smiled and said, "As long as it's done well, it's good."
He joined later, unlike Hu Zi and the others who were Zhou Yunshu's confidants from the beginning, so he had to be more capable.
"I see a lot more people in the house." Uncle He asked the doubts in his mind.
During the time they were away, the house seemed to have undergone great changes.
Zhou Yunshu smiled and said, "My grandmother and my eldest brother found him and he will live with us from now on."
"Besides that, He Nianzhang's son and Lu Zongping's youngest son will study at home in the future. Just so you know."
Uncle He didn't react when he heard this. After all, it was not uncommon for relatives to come to one's house, especially now that they had settled down. It was normal for Zhou Yunshu to want her relatives to come and live with her.
However, Uncle He couldn't believe that He Nianzhang and Lu Zongping would let their son study here.
You have to know that both of their families have no shortage of famous teachers. It is really hard not to think too much when such people send their sons to Zhou Yunshu.
Especially since He Zizhen is He Nianzhang’s only son, at least he is still the only son now.
"It seems that the gentleman has not been idle during this period."
Zhou Yunshu put away the house deeds and land deeds and said, "We have to do more things before the New Year, but..."
Zhou Yunshu sighed slightly and said, "Lu Zongping is even more stubborn than I thought. He doesn't know how to adapt."
Uncle He listened to Zhou Yunshu's tone and understood the reason after a little thought. "You didn't discuss business with him in person, did you?"
Zhou Yunshu nodded.
Uncle He was silent for a moment, then said, “I thought you would wait until the baby was born and you were back in men’s clothing before discussing it with Lawrence Lu in detail, or let Mr. Wu go.”
Uncle He finished speaking, and seeing Zhou Yunshu didn't respond, he explained, "I mean, the boat here..."
"I know." Zhou Yunshu smiled and said, "But plans can't keep up with changes."
She didn't mind dressing up as a man at all, as long as it could make her life easier. She was actually very sensible and didn't think of adding so much difficulty to herself in the early stages of her business.
But she will not pretend to be a man all her life. When she gets Haizhou in her hands and they have to look up at her, she will definitely return to being a girl.
"The Feng family will probably arrive in Jiangzhong in the next two days. They are very dissatisfied with Lu Zongping's delay in handing over power. I just don't know whether Lu Zongping is ready to compromise or directly break off relations with Feng Kewen."
The reason why he didn't say that he was breaking off relations with the Feng family was because even though Lu Zongping's subordinates now listened to him, they were still considered members of the Feng family, not to mention that his fleet had only been able to get to where it was today because of the Feng family's name.
Now he has three choices.
One is to compromise and allow Feng Kewen to seize power, directly undermining his rights in Jiangzhong.
The second is to cooperate with them and use Feng Xujie's name to confront Feng Kewen. Although their strength is not matched with Feng Kewen now, supporting the young master will only make Lu Zongping's reputation better, and Feng Xujie still has the Feng family's leader token in his hand.
The third option is to just bear it on his own, but this is probably the most difficult path to take. If you are not careful, you will be doomed.
Not to mention how many people would follow him if he went out on his own without the protection of the Feng family, just saying that Feng Kewen spread some news that Lu Zongping had betrayed his master, and after that, there were only a handful of people who dared to cooperate with Lu Zongping.
They are in this line of work and have to risk their lives on the water. Who would dare to put their back to a two-faced and treacherous person?
…
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhou Yunjia, the head teacher of Zhou Family Primary School, gave five sets of test questions to each of the little kids who were eager to have a holiday for the New Year.
He had discussed the test paper with his elder sister and rushed to make it overnight, so that the children could take the test paper he had worked so hard to make home on the last day and spend a fulfilling New Year.
Lu Changfeng stared at the thing called a test paper in his hand in amazement. It was New Year's Day, why did he have to make this weird thing!
"The New Year is coming soon, sir, I have deliberately simplified a lot."
Zhou Yunjia actually felt that it was a bit too little. If Zhou Yunshu hadn't stopped him and said that Zhou Yunzhi still had instructions to the children, he felt that each child should at least do two test papers every day. Five were too few.
"In addition to the test paper, there's also a list of books I made on the last page. It's not long, just three books. I'm going to write three reading notes for each after I finish reading them. I'll check them after the new year."
He Zizhen's eyes turned red when he looked at Zhou Yunjia.
Zhou Yunjia happened to be right next to him. Seeing his red eyes, he patted He Zizhen's shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Zizhen, don't be moved. This is what a teacher should do."
He Zizhen looked up at Zhou Yunjia, and couldn't hold back the tears that fell out.
"Hey, look at you kid, just say thank you."
Zhou Yunjia wiped away He Zizhen's tears. He Zizhen choked up and said, "Thank you, sir."
He didn't want to come to class after the New Year. He suddenly felt that it didn't matter if he wasn't friends with Yuan Li, Yuan Yi and the others.
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