“Okay, the end of the village it is, as long as we can all stay here, that’s fine!” Liang Shuyan agreed immediately.
Wang Daikui led the group to the end of the village. This village did look rather strange. There was an arched bridge in the middle, but every time you went from one end of the village to the other, you never crossed the bridge.
Along the way, we didn't see a single person in Daling Village. The fields were overgrown with weeds, and occasionally we heard the calls of wild animals.
"Uncle, are there wild animals here?" Li Zheng asked.
This Wang Daikui was quite strange; he didn't seem to care much about Lizheng. After a long while, he finally said, "Yes, Daling is right in front of us, how could there be no wild animals?"
After walking for about half an hour, we saw houses. From a distance, the houses looked like they were covered in moss and grass. However, it seemed that this was indeed a village, with at least twenty households.
Wang Daikui pointed to a house on the right and said, "You can stay here. Since you are the judge, you decide how things are divided!"
Li Zheng immediately nodded and bowed: "Yes, thank you for your trouble. I'll distribute them to everyone right away."
"Now, apart from the Da Shan family, the rest of us are all here. How about this, the houses are all about the same. Do you want to choose for yourselves, or do you want me, the right person, to point them out to you?"
Everyone remained silent, but Aunt Pang was the first to stand up: "Since that's how it is, then we'll listen to Li Zheng. Didn't you hear? We live at the end of the village now, and Li Zheng is still our Li Zheng."
Li Zheng nodded: "Since none of you are going to speak, I will start from what Aunt Pang said and divide you into groups in order. This is Wang Da's family, and next is Aunt Ge's family. Follow the order I just specified, and you will be assigned to whichever family you are assigned to!"
Liang Shuyan's family was the last in line. Wang Daikui's lips twitched twice: "Well, that's your house. Okay, go in and get ready. I'll go back and plan how to allocate land to everyone tomorrow."
The matter of dividing the land was no small matter. Upon hearing about the land division, Liang Shuyan frowned slightly. She looked Wang Daikui up and down and smiled slightly: "Uncle, it must be quite a journey from one end of the village to the other. I don't think your legs are very nimble. How about I have my son drive you on a donkey cart?"
Wang Daikui's eyes widened in surprise: "What? You even have donkey carts?"
Niu Niu covered her mouth and giggled: "Haha, this person doesn't really need to use their eyes on their forehead. Aren't we sitting in a donkey cart?"
Zhang quickly covered Niu Niu's mouth.
"Yes, that's right. We were fleeing famine along the way. Because I had children and my mother with me, I bought a donkey cart from someone to make it easier for my mother and children!"
Wang Daikui, curious, rubbed his hands together and said, “Don’t laugh at me, but no one in our Daling Village has one of these. We used to have an oxcart, but the owner moved away. My daughter and I rarely leave the village, so we don’t have one of these anymore. In that case, I’ll ride in your donkey cart and see what it’s like, hehe.”
"Erniu, go see your Uncle Wang off!"
Although she was exhausted, she was a little annoyed: "Why is he doing this? He can walk here by himself, so why can't he walk back?"
Madam Liu kicked him: "Go quickly, didn't you hear your mother tell you to see this Uncle Wang off?"
Liang Shuyan just wanted a bigger share of land, and some better land, so she had to treat Wang Daikui well. Although he wasn't the only one in the village, she still had to be mindful of social niceties.
The family got off the donkey cart, unloaded their belongings, and Erniu made room for them, wiped his sleeves a couple of times, and said with a smile, "Uncle Wang, please sit down, we'll be going now!"
Wang Daikui immediately smiled, his eyes crinkling into slits: "Oh, then I'll be going. I really didn't realize this child was so sensible. She's much better than my wretched girl, who makes me angry every day!"
Liang Shuyan said politely, "Not at all, your daughter is very pretty, she's likable at first glance!"
"Alright, Auntie, tomorrow when we divide the land, we'll give you the best land in the village. Anyway, you're just sitting around doing nothing. There's a large orchard behind your house in Daling Village. If you take good care of it, it can grow some really good stuff!" Before leaving, Wang Daikui whispered in Liang Shuyan's ear in a moment of excitement.
Liang Shuyan happily called out, "Dashan, Sanwang, hurry up and move all these things inside! Eldest son, take the children; second son, hurry up and open the door! We have a home now!"
Li Lanfang glanced around and saw that being close to the mountains didn't offer any advantages. With some worry, she grabbed Liang Shuyan's arm and said, "This place doesn't seem as good as our Guoshantun. Look, it's so close to the mountains. There must be wolves on the mountain. We can't even keep any poultry at home!"
Liang Shuyan waved her hand and said, "Mom, no, look at this place. It's lush with vegetation and right next to the mountain. What does that mean? It means the soil here is moist, and it must be a good place for crops to grow. Besides, we have a donkey cart, so it's very convenient to go to town."
"That's right, let's go in and take a look!"
Liu pushed open a large door. Although the door looked a bit old, it was very sturdy. It creaked open. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, which almost buried the house inside.
“Mother, there are so many weeds! These weeds are growing so well. If we plant some vegetables in front of and behind the house, will they grow as tall as the house?” Liu said with a smile.
Da Shan was a strong man. He grabbed some weeds and pulled them up. The soil was really moist, and he was able to pull the weeds out of the yard by the roots in no time.
Dashan was clearing weeds from the yard, and Sanwang came over to help. The two brothers worked happily and energetically in the yard, throwing the weeds they pulled out into the yard.
Upon entering the main house, I found a large kang (heated brick bed) near the window, covered with a straw mat. Nothing else could be seen. The roof appeared to be leaking. There was a wooden table on the floor with some tea sets on it.
Zhang looked around and said, "Mother, this house is quite big. In the future, when our whole family gathers together, it won't be crowded."
Liang Shuyan nodded: "Alright, second son's wife, you tidy up the house, let your grandma and the children sit outside and bask in the sun, your sister-in-law and I will go check the kitchen!"
"Mother, I understand!"
Erniu drove the donkey cart in and parked it in the yard. He jumped off the cart and cursed, "I think that Xuehua is a lunatic. I offered to take her father to the hospital, and she didn't even appreciate it. She just kicked me out. What a stinking woman!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com