An Ning and Zhang Yaren took a mule cart back to Yahang. After returning to Yahang, Zhang Yaren brought the village head and his family to An Ning.
An Ning looked at the honest family of five, nodded, and said, "Look up, all of you, tell me your names, how old you are, and what you can do."
The middle-aged man spoke first: "My name is Li Gui, I am thirty-eight years old this year, I am stupid, I can't do anything except tending the fields."
After he finished speaking, the middle-aged woman next to him said, "The young woman's name is Liu Mei, she is thirty-six years old this year, she can do housework such as cooking and washing clothes, and she can also tend to the fields."
Then a young man in his twenties said, "My name is Li Youcai. I am twenty years old this year. I often help my father to work in the fields. I know a few words and can barely keep accounts."
The remaining two, one is called Li Youfeng, who is sixteen years old, and the other is called Li Chuntao, who is fourteen years old. They usually work with their parents.
An Ning was very satisfied with these people, and immediately said to Zhang Yaren: "I want all of them, please help me draft the contract."
Zhang Ya's mouth was almost grinning from ear to ear, and he said, "Okay, please wait a moment." Then he went to draft the contract quickly.
After the contract was drafted, An Ning took a closer look and found nothing wrong with it. Then the two of them went to the government office. Because An Ning wrote An Yong's name on the contract, the clerk in the government office did not dare to make things difficult for him and it was done smoothly. An Ning was not stingy and gave the clerk two taels of silver as a reward.
After all this was done, An Ning handed the banknote to Zhang Ya Ren, then took the key from Zhang Ya Ren's hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Zhang Ya Ren. I will come to you next time if I need anything."
Zhang Yaren also smiled and said, "Miss An, you are too polite. Next time if you need anything, just let me know. I will definitely serve you."
After parting with Zhang Ya, An Ning took the five servants back to An Mansion. At this time, An Dashan and Gao Shi had not returned yet, so An Ning asked the servant named Sun Sheng who had just driven the carriage to settle the newly bought servants, and then returned to his own yard and went into the space to wash up.
After washing up, An Ning went to Gao's and An Dashan's courtyards. Little An Rui was sleeping at this time. An Ning said to Wang'er's mother, "Go and cook me a bowl of noodles. I'll watch over here. Oh, cook more. I just bought five more servants."
Wang'er's mother said yes and went to the kitchen.
An Ning said to another maid, "You should go down first and see if the newcomers need any help. You can lend a hand as well."
The old woman replied yes and left.
An Ning was afraid of waking up little An Rui, so she didn't dare to make any noise and sat down on a stool not far from the bed. Wang'er's mother was very quick and in about two quarters of an hour, she brought a bowl of fragrant shredded pork noodles and two refreshing side dishes.
An Ning signaled to Wang'er's mother to put the food on the table in the main room, and then asked Wang'er's mother to look after little An Rui. Then she went to the main room and started eating noodles.
An Ning might be hungry, so she ate up the big bowl of noodles and the two small plates of cold dishes. An Ning stood up and moved around.
At this time, Gao and An Dashan also came back. An Ning looked at the smile on Gao's face and said, "Mom, it seems that you are very satisfied with this future sister-in-law!"
Gao smiled and said, "Wan'er is beautiful and smart. We are marrying up."
An Ning smiled and said, "It seems that mother really likes Sister Wan'er. She called Wan'er when they first met and praised her for being smart and beautiful. I am really jealous!"
Gao pinched An Ning's cheek and said, "You little girl, you call me Sister Wan'er, and you still say that to me. I won't fall for it."
An Dashan watched the interaction between the two and laughed out loud.
Little An Rui may have been disturbed by the three people, and he woke up at this time, and started crying with his mouth wide open. Gao quickly picked up the little son and said, "Okay, I want to feed the baby, you guys go out quickly." Then An Dashan and An Ning were driven out of the house.
An Ning and An Dashan were driven out of the house, but they were not angry. They sat in the main room and talked. An Ning told him about buying land and five servants this morning. An Dashan nodded and said, "Do you have enough money?"
An Ning nodded and said, "It's enough. Last time, the emperor bought all our wheat at the price of wheat seeds, and we sold all that wheat for a total of 4,600 taels of silver. This time, we spent 2,550 taels of silver to buy the land and the servants. Add to that the rewards from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the emperor, and our family is still well-off!"
An Dashan nodded and said, "Well, after your elder brother's wedding is over, I will also prepare your dowry."
An Ning didn't want to continue this topic, so she said, "Dad, there is still no suitable person to plant the land I bought. The nearby villagers have fled famine, and the rest are old, weak, sick and disabled. It looks like the planting season is coming soon, so we need to hurry and find people!"
When An Dashan heard what was going on, he forgot about the dowry and said, "Didn't you say you bought a village head? Ask him which village nearby he is from and see if he has any recommendations for candidates."
An Ning nodded and said, "Okay, let's go ask." Then he stood up and took An Dashan to the place where those people stayed.
Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected harvest. The village that Li Zhuangtou and his family bought was more than ten miles south of An Ning. Because it was not too close to the border, the people in the village did not move away. Li Zhuangtou said to An Ning: "I am an old acquaintance of those people. I can ask them if they are willing to come to such a far place to rent land."
An Ning shook his head and said, "Captain Li, I don't plan to rent out the land. I want to grow a new crop, so I want to hire some people to work. The wages are definitely higher than other places. Anyway, we have nothing to do now, so let's go over there and ask if they are willing."
As a servant, Li Zhuangtou naturally had no objection. He nodded and said, "Okay."
An Ning, An Dashan, Li Zhuangtou and Sun Sheng drove a mule cart to the village that Li Zhuangtou mentioned. The village chief was an old man with gray hair and a weathered face. When he saw Li Zhuangtou coming, he said quickly, "It's Li Zhuangtou. I thought you left with your master."
Li Zhuangtou said: "My family has lived in Juyongguan for generations, and I don't want to go somewhere else to make a living when I get old, so I stayed here."
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