Ah Lu was a little unhappy after hearing what Chen Ming said. He pouted and said, "Dad said he doesn't dislike my sister. If he doesn't dislike her, why not live closer to her?" He then said sullenly, "I don't want to be too far away from my sister and Dabao. It's good like this now."
Dabao also pouted and said, "Dabao doesn't want to be too far away from my uncle, grandma, and grandpa."
Wang glared at A-Lu and said, "You little kid, what do you know? Your father is doing this for your sister's good." Then she said to Chen A-Fu, "My daughter, I think your father is right. You have already established your own family, and we can't let people think that we haven't separated..."
Chen Ahfu saw that Chen Ming and Wang were hesitant to speak, and she understood something. Perhaps Chen Ye and Old Lady Chen had some ideas, and the most likely thing was to let Chen Ming get the biggest benefit possible. But Chen Ming didn't want to take advantage of her, but he couldn't disobey Chen Ye and Old Lady Chen too much.
After what happened today, Chen Ahfu felt that although Chen Ye was a little petty, he was still quite righteous in some ways. At least when his family was facing bullying, he dared to stand up and protect them fearlessly. Old Mrs. Chen was not bad either. She was so old, but she could still stand with her son in times of danger... With them like this, Chen Ming couldn't be estranged from them, nor could he make him feel too embarrassed.
This is good. In the future, not only will the property be separated, but even the yard will be separated. They will become two real families, and their actions will not be restricted. Maybe they will help Chen Ming more.
Chen Ahfu nodded and said, "Okay. Our two houses don't have to live next to each other, but we should be close to each other so that we can take care of each other." He touched Ah Lu's stalk and said, "In the future, our two courtyards will not be far apart. Whenever you want to come to your sister's house to eat and rest, you can do so."
Chen Ming nodded and said, "Well, Dad and Mom don't want you to be too far apart, so the two courtyards can be separated by a few meters, so that people can tell they are two families at first glance. However, the money for repairing the houses has to be paid by Dad. Now, there are more than ninety taels of silver under Dad's box. We can build two large blue brick and tile houses, enclose the two courtyards with blue bricks, and dig a well in Ah Fu's courtyard for our two families to use..." When he said the last part, his eyes lit up.
Ah Lu teased, "Dad is so generous, aren't you afraid that my aunt will come and ask for money?"
Chen Ming blushed a little and said with a smile, "Just say it was your sister who paid for it."
Everyone laughed, and the depressing atmosphere finally eased.
Chen Ahfu smiled and said, "Dad, don't fight with me. I've already thought about it. I'll pay for the new house as a daughter's filial piety. Dad, keep the money and use it slowly. My brother still needs to go to school. Don't let my mother go to the county town embroidery workshop to take embroidery work. If I have work on hand, mother can help with some. If I don't, mother can just do housework."
After discussing, they found that there was no such large land in the village, so they looked for a piece of land near the village to build a house. This task was given to Chen Ming, who was asked to go out and look at the land when he had nothing to do.
After dinner, Chen Ming took out two taels of silver and three small silver ingots and handed them to Chen Afu, meaning that this was a face-saving thing and she should do it. Chen Afu took it with a smile, and they went to the main room together with two bags of snacks, a jar of wine, and two pieces of fine cloth for the old lady and Chen Agui. The fine cloth was previously ripped for Chen Ming and Wang in the city, and now it was given to them first, so that they would not lose their clothes in vain.
When the father and daughter arrived, the eldest son had just finished his meal and the dishes on the table had not been cleared yet.
Chen Ming first thanked Old Lady Chen, Chen Ye and his son, and Gao for their help, and then mentioned that he was planning to use the big house's precious land to entertain guests.
Chen Ye was very happy to hear this, and specifically asked whether they wanted to invite Luo Laoye and his son. He was even happier when he heard that they were going to be invited. He said that he would definitely make the banquet a grand one and let everyone enjoy the meal. Chen Ahfu took out two taels of silver, saying that it was the money for the banquet, and that they didn't need to prepare wine and marinated food, as they would bring it themselves.
Two taels of silver were not enough to entertain guests in the countryside, and since the family had to pay for the wine and braised food, it was even more difficult to spend. The remaining money was considered as hard work fee for the eldest wife.
Then, Chen Afu gave the six silver ingots to Old Lady Chen, Chen Ye and Chen Agui, saying that they were gifts from a wealthy family and he wanted to try them out for fun.
Old Lady Chen and her friends usually couldn't even get their hands on silver, and they mostly used copper coins. This time, they not only took two taels of silver, but also these silver ingots that only wealthy families used, and they all played with them for a while out of curiosity.
The people in the first house were different when they saw Chen Afu went to the provincial capital, especially when they heard that they had bought so much land. Some were envious, some were jealous and hateful, and some even felt their hearts bleed.
Mrs. Hu began to beat her chest again and talked about how Chen Ye did not continue his studies in order to support Chen Ming and Chen Shi, how he worked hard from dawn to dusk following the old lady at a young age, how he could not bear to see the second house suffer, and how he had a large piece of skin knocked off his arm while fighting for Chen Afu, and so on.
Chen Ye waved his hand and said, "What are you complaining about, woman? As the eldest brother, I should take care of my brothers. He went to the capital and brought me such a good pipe. He still cares about me, his eldest brother." As he said that, he brought the pipe in his hand to his lips and took a few puffs, looking very satisfied.
Chen Ming quickly laughed and said, "My younger brother is incompetent, but he has all these properties thanks to Ah Fu. When the harvest is good next year, I will give you a strong bull. The donkey at your home is too old and can't even plow the land. You are old too, you need to rest more."
After hearing this, Chen Ye burst into laughter again.
Chen Ming actually wanted to give Chen Ye a cow right now, because he felt sorry for Chen Ye's hard work. But he didn't dare to give it to him, because he was afraid that Hu would ask for too much money if she knew he had so much money.
Mrs. Hu was not satisfied. She thought Chen Ming was really stingy. A young bull is less than the price of two mu of land. You have one hundred mu of paddy fields, so you are a small landlord. You only gave a young bull. You should have given twenty or thirty mu of land.
But seeing how happy Chen Ye was, the words turned around in his throat for a few times, but he finally forced them down, thinking that he would say it after coaxing Chen Ye into submission later.
Seeing that Hu's eyes were rolling around and there was an indignant look on her face, Chen Afu guessed what she was thinking.
Greed is always greedy. Fortunately, Chen Ye and Old Lady Chen, the heads of the family, are not as thick-skinned as she is.
While talking, Chen Afu saw Chen Aju sitting there motionless, looking at the small silver box in Chen Agui's hand with envy. The old lady specifically asked her to help Gao and Chen Alan collect the bowls, and she dared not not move, her mouth was raised high, and the bowls and plates were banging loudly.
Chen Ye glared at her and coughed, and then she slowed down her movements.
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