Chapter 2 Drawing Lots for a Room

Seeing the old village chief with a sullen face, Liu Lian wanted to say something but was pulled back by her husband. Didn't she see that the people the old village chief brought were glaring at them? What if they got beaten? This woman really doesn't know how to read people's faces.

Without Liu Lian's chattering, the team soon quieted down and the ox cart slowly began to move back.

Almost everyone was in a heavy mood and confused about the future.

They were never allowed to leave Lizhou Island and could never go back home. In order to avoid being beaten and suffering, they used the little money they secretly hid to bribe the officials. Now they have nothing and have become the country folk they once despised. What should they do in the future...

Most people were in a low mood, but the mother and daughter were in a much better mood.

Anyway, they would have died in modern times, so they should cherish the chance to live again. And although the ancient times were not as colorful as the modern times, they also had many advantages that the modern times could not compare with.

For example, the air here is really good and has not been polluted. I think the food here is also tastier and healthier than it is now.

People here work from sunrise to sunset, their pace of life is slower and their work pressure is lower.

Anyway, everyone has their own way. The mother and daughter do not reject the life here. Instead of frowning and missing the modern world, they might as well welcome the new life happily.

Jiang Wan was feeling a little weak, hungry and hadn't had a good rest for a long time. She fell asleep leaning on her cousin as the ox cart rocked back and forth.

When she woke up again, the surrounding mountains had become much higher, the trees were particularly lush, and she could see the vast sea not far away. The salty sea breeze accompanied by the slight fragrance of the trees blew on her face from time to time, reducing the heat of the group.

Although it is only June now, the weather here is already quite hot, unlike in the north. It is okay to sit on the ox cart and enjoy the breeze, but the men who walked by themselves are already sweating profusely.

By the time the old village chief led the group into the village, they were already sitting on the ground, hungry and exhausted, totally disregarding the etiquette of a noble family.

They have learned their lesson during their exile. Etiquette, manners and face are all bullshit. The right thing to do is to eat a full stomach and take a good rest.

The old village chief asked his two sons to watch over the group and wait until the group had recovered before returning and leading them to the end of the village.

The end of the village is not a good place. Many villagers looked at the families with a gloating expression on their faces.

The name of their village is Lianjiagou, which is simply named after the ditch that surrounds the village.

The section of the canal that faces the sea is like a spoon, circling the valley for most of the way before entering the sea. Most of the villagers live in the valley, and the end of the village is on a small hillside very close to the sea.

This location is surrounded by the sea on three sides, so it is very bright and cool. It is very comfortable for most of the year.

But once there is a typhoon or heavy rain, this location will be very bad.

In previous years, when a typhoon came, nine out of ten families living at the end of the village had to renovate their houses, and it cost a lot of money to renovate the houses year after year.

Everyone in the village knew about this, and no one wanted to live here. Most of the people living here were exiled or forced out of the village, and a small number of people had to build houses here because they had no place to live.

The old village chief didn't give much introduction. He was only responsible for arranging accommodation for people and didn't want to worry about the rest.

"Okay, there are a few empty houses at the end of the village. Send someone from each family to draw lots. It all depends on your luck which house you draw. Don't make trouble and occupy it by force, otherwise don't blame me for expelling you from the village."

The last sentence sounded light, but everyone understood the seriousness of it. Even the few people who were usually domineering kept their mouths shut.

They were originally exiled people. If they were driven out of the village for causing trouble, they would become illegal residents, and it would be difficult for them to move around.

The families looked at each other and quickly chose the person to draw the lot.

Yin Huaishan really wanted to settle down as soon as possible, so he first went to the old village chief and grabbed a ball of paper. When he opened it, he saw no words on it, only a black picture that looked like a fish.

"Old Fish's..."

The old village chief raised his eyebrows, turned around and saw a sickly girl taking a ball of paper from his hand. When she opened it, she saw a picture of a hill.

"The Oyama family is lucky."

The old village chief, who rarely looked unhappy, called his eldest son Lian Jiabao to lead five people to see the houses of the two families.

Hearing that they were lucky, the Cai and Zhou families quickly grabbed the paper balls and opened them. The Zhou family's paper ball had a flower painted on it, while the Cai family's paper ball had a black mass that looked a bit like shit.

"What does this mean?"

Of course, neither family could understand.

The old village chief took a look, then called over two young men from the village and said, "Take the family with fewer people to Jinhua's house, and take the family with more people to Fendan's house."

Cai family members: "..."

Is that the shit they were thinking of?

Such a dirty word is actually a person's name? ?

Just hearing the name, one can tell that this house is very dirty. The Cai family members were disgusted by it from the bottom of their hearts but they did not dare to reject it in front of the old village chief. So they could only reluctantly follow the villagers to their "new home".

The group walked back and forth, and soon they saw the Yin family stopped in front of a row of houses. It was really a row, and it was very large.

At a glance, there are five rooms and a courtyard, and there is a wall around the courtyard, although it is half collapsed. Once you move in and repair it properly, it will be a good house to keep out the wind and rain in the village.

This is the Dashan family that Jiang Wan drew. The old village chief said that he had good luck? Did he mean that the house was big?

In fact, the mother and daughter did not want to live in such a big house, so they turned around and went to see the house of Dayu's family, their mother's family.

The house that Yin Huaishan drew was much smaller, consisting of only two small mud houses and a stove room. There was also a toilet behind the house, so it was relatively complete and just the right size for a family of three.

Jiang Wan first asked her uncle if he wanted to move house. Yin Huaishan did not change because he felt that the current house was very suitable for his family.

"This is a nice room. It's quite clean inside."

Yin Huaixi followed his elder brother and sister-in-law and looked around, while Jiang Wan leaned on her cousin and walked to the small path, staring blankly at a small house not far away.

The little house was different from most houses in the village, it was built of stone. It was a delight to see such a beautiful stone house in this place full of gray mud houses.

The stone house is beautiful and solid, even if a typhoon comes, there is no need to worry. Jiang Wan was so tempted that she thought about going to the old village chief to ask if she could change the house.

At this time, the Zhou family had also finished looking at the houses, and everyone in the family looked unhappy.

"Village Chief, this house is too small! There is only one room, but there are nine of us in our family. How are we going to live here?!"

The old village chief narrowed his eyes and said nonchalantly, "It's not cold here. We can just put up a few boards outside to sleep. It doesn't matter. After we have rested, we can find some sticks and grass to build a few straw huts to live in."

Zhou family: "..."

The family was about to make one more plea when they suddenly saw the Cai family walking towards them.

"Village Chief, the house we were given is too small! There are only three rooms in total. How can more than ten people live here?"

The men in the Cai family all huddled back, and it was the wives of the first and second wives who spoke up to look for the old village chief.

"Hmph! Don't be ignorant. There are many people in the village who live in three rooms with more than ten people. Do you still think you are masters and ladies? Wake up! I, an old man, think of lending you a house because it has not been easy for you along the way. If you don't want to live there, you can build one yourself! As long as you have money!"

The old village chief would not get used to these people, and he would make his words very clear. If you want to live here, you can live here. If you don't want to live here, you won't even have a house.

Everyone felt even more upset. They found out that the house was only lent to them before they even got it. Moreover, the words of the old village chief were too heartwarming. They didn't have any money.

The old village chief scolded a few more times, turned around and left without even looking at anyone.

Both the Cai and Zhou families were very upset, especially the Zhou family, whose only house was so small that it made them want to cry. The Cai family did not stay much, after all, they had three houses, while the Zhou family only had one. The Zhou family was the worst off.

The whole family walked back with sour faces, and when they passed the house that Jiang Wan and her daughter had drawn, they all stopped at the same time.

This should be their house!

They want to exchange houses with Jiang Wan and her daughter!

The couple in the eldest house sat together and looked at the rooms. They had even decided in their minds which room the family should live in.

"There are five rooms in total. My parents will live in one, we have one main room, one second room, one third room, and one for Shuyuan to live in."

Shuyuan is the eldest wife's son. He was just 18 years old and very frail. This time when he returned to the village, he failed to get on the ox cart and fainted as soon as he reached the village. Now he is fainting in the house that they have chosen.

"Why does Shuyuan have to live alone in a room?! We have three sons in the second house. They are grown up and should have their own rooms. Let them live together!"

"Just because my son Shuyuan is the most promising child in the family, can your son pass the exam at the age of seventeen?!"

"Bah! You're still raising a traitor. Our whole family is now exiled to the island for life. He can't even study, let alone achieve fame. With his sickly body, we don't even know how long he can live in the village. You still count on him?!"

The second son's wife talked a lot, and the old couple seemed to be thinking about something.

Indeed, their family can't make a name for themselves now by becoming famous. Living in a rural village, they have to rely on the labor of the men in the family, and Shuyuan is definitely not capable of that.

This eldest grandson is useless.

Master Cai turned his attention to the second wife.

The second wife has three sons, the eldest is 18 and the second is 26, the third is younger and in good health. In less than two years, these three grandsons will be able to set up their own family, and they will definitely live more comfortably in the countryside than other families.

It seems that he and his wife have to change a son to favor.

Madam Cai understood what her husband meant with just one look and immediately spoke up in support, "Ru Niang is right. We have a large family and we can't just take care of Shuyuan. I think that room is not too small, so it won't matter if we use something to separate the brothers and let them live together. Or, Lian Niang, you can separate a room in the main house for Shuyuan to live in, so that you can take care of him more conveniently."

Liu Lian was shocked when she heard this. Did her mother-in-law mean that she would not care about Shuyuan anymore?! Wasn't Shuyuan her beloved grandson?!

The second wife, Chen Minru, was so happy that her lips curled up. Isn't the eldest sister-in-law usually very arrogant?

A sickly person is always showing off, but now he is outdone by his own son.

When she thought about having three sons to support her, her back suddenly stiffened.

"Well... it seems like the house you guys are talking about is the one that my family captured."

Jiang Wan was speechless. She had never thought that the Cai family would be so shameless. They actually discussed dividing the house right in front of their house. Were they sure that they would trade with them?

"Oh! Isn't this Wanwan?"

Liu Lian and Chen Minru immediately put aside their unhappiness, walked forward with a smile, grabbed Jiang Wan's hands and talked to her.

"Wanwan, we have come all the way from Kyoto and our relationship is unmatched. We will continue to live here in the future, so how about we treat each other as relatives?"

"Look at how many people there are in our Cai family, plus your Yin family, if anyone wants to bully us in this village, they have to think twice."

Jiang Wan saw a figure flashing behind the main house window, and said seriously, holding back a smile: "I think the old village chief is a good person. No one has made things difficult for us along the way. The village feels pretty good too. How could anyone bully us? Master Cai, it's getting late. You should hurry back and clean up the house. We have to clean up our house too."

When Mr. Cai was named, he couldn't decide whether to leave or not.

Liu Lian pinched Jiang Wan hard and said unhappily, "Girl, you just arrived and don't know how powerful the people in the poor mountain are. We outsiders must unite. Aunt Lian knows that you are kind-hearted. Go talk to your mother and ask her to exchange the house with our Cai family's. It will be very spacious for you and your daughter to live in three rooms, and our family can also live in a spacious room. Isn't this a win-win situation for everyone?"

Everyone was happy indeed. If Liu Lian had not scolded his uncle when we rode the ox cart before, I might have really agreed to change.

But who told her to be so mean and curse her uncle? Jiang Wan had no good feelings towards the Cai family. Moreover, she had set her eyes on the small stone house and wanted to exchange these rooms with the Zhou family.

"No!"

Jiang Wan pulled out her little paw that was pinched and hurt, and spoke very firmly.

"What?!"

The Cai family was stunned. They had never thought that Jiang Wan and her daughter would not agree to change rooms.

"Why not change? You and your daughter can only live in two rooms at most, why do you occupy these five rooms?!"

"That's right, so selfish! No wonder your father wants to divorce your mother!"

Chen Minru had just finished saying this when a lump of mud smeared her mouth. She looked up and saw that it was Yin Huaixi who had returned. Although she felt a little guilty, she was more angry.

"Yin Huaixi, how dare you hit me! You are an abandoned woman who no one wants. I let you change rooms to give you face. If you don't know your place, we will all live in the village in the future. Don't say that our Cai family bullied you then."

"My daughter has already said that she won't change it. If you are not satisfied with anything, go and talk to the village chief. If you have the guts, ask the village chief to chase us away."

Yin Huaixi turned around and walked into the yard with a cold face, protecting her daughter. The Cai family members were not willing to miss such a good house, so they followed them into the yard in a crowd.

Liu Lian was anxious and tried to grab Jiang Wan. Jiang Wan was already weak at that time, and she staggered and almost hit the doorpost when Liu Lian pulled her. Fortunately, her mother protected her.

Yin Huaixi was terrified, as her daughter was her life. She quickly helped her daughter sit on the bench, then turned around and slapped Liu Lianhua twice.

When would the ladies of wealthy families in Kyoto fight each other? Everyone was stunned.

It took them a while to realize that the person being beaten seemed to be someone from their family. The Cai brothers finally showed some toughness towards the woman and forced Yin Huaixi to change her house.

"If you have the guts, then do it. The village chief has told us many times not to cause trouble along the way. If you dare to rob the house, I will go to the village chief to complain immediately!"

Yin Huaixi raised her daughter alone and she is no pushover.

Jiang Wan felt her nose suddenly sore again when she saw her mother protecting her like a hen protecting her cubs. She had finally grown up and was able to protect her mother, but she didn't expect that she would shrink again. She was really annoyed.

"Big brother, second brother, third brother, what are you still standing there for? If they don't let this house go, they will throw the mother and daughter out. Yin family girl, don't be ignorant of what's good for you. How much power can a village chief of a run-down village have? If you are not afraid of others knowing that you and your daughter were thrown out because you were touched by a man, then go ahead and sue."

Mr. Cai had a vicious plan. He asked his three sons to capture the mother and daughter so that nothing could be explained. He knew that Yin Huaixi loved her daughter the most and would never risk her daughter's innocence.

Yin Huaixi was also stunned. Although she and her daughter didn't mind being touched by men in modern times, this era was too harsh on women and rumors could kill people.