Chapter 1932 Rent
Because many things had been discussed before, Zhou Man came here this time, firstly, to represent her return to the tribe; secondly, to meet the people from the Xia family; and thirdly, to sign the contract and make various arrangements.
But even if she did achieve her goal, with Mr. Zhuang and the invited village head as witnesses, Old Zhou and the Xia clan leader signed a contract, guaranteeing that Zhou Man's second child after marriage would take the Xia surname...
After signing this, Manbao said to Chief Xia, "Chief, I want to go and see the two plots of land in Nanba and Dongling."
Those were the two plots of land she could reclaim.
An elder asked nervously, "Didn't the lady say that she would use the land in Nanba to build a clan school for the clan?"
Manbao smiled and nodded, "Yes, has the tribe decided to set up a tribe school?"
Chief Xia's expression was not very good, but the other elders nodded and smiled repeatedly, saying, "Yes, the tribe has discussed it and feels that the children should study more. We have already decided to set up a clan school."
Manbao nodded approvingly, "This is a long-term plan. I just want to go and see what the land my grandfather left me looks like. I have to donate it."
When the elders heard this, they stopped stopping them and let the young people lead the way. Of course, a few elders with good legs and feet also followed to see the excitement.
Nanba was not particularly far away, so Manbao and his companions rode horses for the convenience of travel. They were impatient to walk slowly with others, so they ran away after asking for the direction.
The wheat in the field is ready to be harvested, and a lot has already been harvested. Now the fields are turning yellow, and even the rice has begun to ear. It will be ready for harvest in two months.
Manbao nodded repeatedly after watching this.
When Xia's people accompanied the brothers Old Zhou and Zhou Dalang to the place, Manbao and the others were already standing in the field, pulling wheat and squatting by the side of the field to eat it.
Everyone in the Xia family: ...I don't know why, but it looks a lot like them.
Manbao stood up, clapped his hands and said, "It's been a while since I last ate roasted wheat. Shall we take some home and roast it later?"
Although he was talking to Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, his eyes were looking at the elder of the Xia family.
The elder laughed and said, "Eat as much as you want. There isn't much else in the countryside, but there's plenty of wheat."
Manbao then asked, "Where does this piece of land in Nanba end?"
She took out the deed from her bosom and said with a smile, "I don't recognize the place written on it very well."
The Xia clansmen showed her the way. Wherever she went was hers, including a small piece of dry land that was barely connected to the other side.
Manbao stood on tiptoe to look and found that the wheat in this large field had not been harvested, but there was not much wheat. Instead, there was a lot of rice planted and quite a few beans on the dry land.
No wonder she said that Clan Leader Xia was not very happy about her giving this piece of land to the clan to run a clan school. There are more dry lands and few paddy fields. I'm afraid it is barely enough to cover the teacher's tuition. The rest of the expenses have to be made up from other places.
Manbao pointed to the dry land and asked, "Why is there more than what's written on the deed, and less paddy fields?"
The elder said, "A few years ago, there was a drought here. Even wheat couldn't grow in the fields. At that time, many people converted their fields into dry land to grow beans. There hasn't been much rain in the past two years, especially last year, when the drought got worse, so..."
Manbao understood, and then she remembered that there was a drought last year.
She sighed and said, "I was thinking of collecting all the rent this year to supplement the household expenses, but now it seems that I can't do that."
Elders: ...
They never imagined that she came to see the land to collect rent.
Manbao sighed repeatedly and said to them, "I heard about the drought last year in the capital. Although our rice allowance was not less, the harvest from our official land was much less."
Manbao, who had no income from official land last year, pretended to have some and sighed, "The clan was going to build a clan school anyway, but there was a drought last year. Forget it. Let's use the rent the clan leader paid for the school. Any extra money can also be used to help the orphans and widows in the village. I'm afraid they're having a hard time this year."
When the young people following the elders heard this, they couldn't help but look up at this cousin. The elders were also somewhat moved, and their resentment towards Zhou Man dissipated a lot. However, some people raised doubts and asked sarcastically: "Cousin, are you still short of this little rent?"
Manbao's heart dinged and he thought excitedly, it's finally here!
Then she sighed deeply again, shook her head, and said to them, "How can this be just a small amount of rent? This little rent is enough to feed several people in my family for a whole year."
She sighed, "Don't look at me as an official. I'm actually the most honest editor and imperial physician. I can only get a small salary, but living in the capital is not easy. I have a big family to support. Not to mention food, clothing, housing and transportation, I have to attend a lot of social events every month."
"You can't refuse a dinner invitation from your superiors, and you can't go without bringing a gift. If a colleague invites you, you have to treat him back. Even the cheapest restaurants in the capital are more expensive than those in Shangzhou, not to mention that you're inviting people to dinner. Do you have the nerve to invite them to a shabby place?"
Everyone shook their heads, and when they looked at her again, their eyes were a little different.
Manbao said, "I heard that the land in Dongling that Xu Li rented for a long time hasn't been rented out in the past ten years?"
The elders were a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say.
Manbao sighed again and said, "I know that. He's still the head of the village. Although he's no longer in charge of our area, there are still some relationships between us. It's not good to make things too awkward, otherwise the clan will be affected in the future. Although it won't be a big deal, if he blocks our paperwork today and refuses to survey our land tomorrow, we will be the ones who suffer."
The young men looked a little indignant, but the elders nodded repeatedly. Seeing their expressions, they couldn't help but hold Manbao's hand and sigh, "Good boy, you are sensible. You are worthy of being an official who has seen the world. You are much more promising than your cousins."
Then he turned around and scolded the young people, "Why are you so angry? Learn from your sister. You know, only by being able to bend and stretch can you accomplish great things..."
Bai Shan on the side lowered his head. He was really weak and afraid of tough ones. If it were him, he could just ask the head of the village to pull him down. It was not impossible. After all, the Xia family was the largest family in Hongtian Village. As long as there were enough people, what could not be done?
Bai Erlang looked at the elders in surprise, then looked at the elder holding Manbao's hand in surprise, thinking that the wind direction was changing too quickly.
Manbao expressed his consideration and went to see the land in Dongling. This land was even worse than the one in Nanba, especially because of the drought last year. Now most of the land was planted with beans, and only seven or eight acres were planted with wheat, and there was not even rice.
Manbao looked disappointed and almost blurted out that he would donate it. But when he opened his mouth, Old Zhou stared at him. Manbao muttered, "It was okay in previous years, but this year I should be able to pay this little rent, right?"
See you at 11pm. If it's late, go to bed early and watch it tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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