Chapter 198
198
Cheng Yeran used part of the funds given to him by the emperor to compensate the innocent people who were wronged by Lord Lin, and the other part was used to build schools.
If those factories were run with the emperor's money, they would become government-run factories. The garment factory was Shen Yuntang's hard work, and he also gave the glass factory to Shen Yuntang to open. He still wanted to keep these two factories for private use and not share them with the emperor.
Du Fengchen caught a few thieves every day. The cells were full in a few months. They were locked up according to the law, but after releasing them, they were caught again within a few days, as if it was intentional.
Du Fengchen secretly had someone infiltrate these thieves and after chatting with them, he learned that they came out to steal because they could not afford to eat, but they could have enough meals in the prison cell, and the cell was cleaner than their homes, and they did not have to work. They were all unwilling to be released and wanted to live there forever.
After Cheng Yeran took office, he renovated the cells. The previous cells were dirty and smelly, the food was like pig food, and the prisoners were also very dirty. He almost vomited when he went in for inspection, so he asked people to clean the cells and asked the prisoners to clean their cells every day. Whoever did not clean it well would not have food that day. They were also required to take care of their personal hygiene and wash up in the morning and evening. The prisoners were very active, but they could not do a good job of cleaning their own rooms. Without Cheng Yeran saying anything, they felt ashamed to eat. He also gave them cleaning tools and washing tools. They cleaned themselves clean with soap every day, and washing their faces was like taking advantage.
The meals were just ordinary boiled vegetables and dry food, without any oil or water, but they still enjoyed eating them.
Cheng Yeran originally thought that although the cells were cleaner and the quality of their food had improved, the food was still very bitter without any oil or water. The beds were made of wooden boards, and the prisoners could not eat or sleep well, and had no freedom. They were locked in such a dark and small room and could not go out. After they went out, they would definitely be afraid of being caught again, and would not dare to steal in the future.
But what he didn't expect was that these people were scrambling to get into the cells, and the crime rate increased. Someone advertised that they could eat dry food and wear clothes in the cells, although the prisoners were uniformly
The clothes I wore were much better than being naked at home. I was also given soap to wash my face and didn't have to work. Life there was like a god's life.
There were also people who teamed up to perform stealing money in front of the constable. This time, one of them stole his friend's money and was caught, so he could enjoy himself. The next time, his friend stole his money and was caught, so he could enjoy himself.
When Cheng Yeran heard them say that they were being forced to enjoy themselves, he became so angry that his eyes went dark. When he went back to complain about this to Shen Yuntang, Shen Yuntang said that he had lived a good life for too long.
Shen Yuntang asked him: "Do you remember what you ate when you first came to this world?"
It was only ten years ago, but it seemed like it happened in his previous life. He recalled it carefully for a long time. "You took me to the mountains to dig these wild vegetables. They were mixed with some of the bacon that my mother gave us. There was no oil or water in them, but they smell so good when I think about it now. Let's dig some back next time we go out for fun. Can you make me some wild vegetable meatballs?"
Shen Yuntang rubbed his brows and said, "I want to tell you that we couldn't even afford dry food at the beginning. Those who were arrested on their own initiative couldn't afford dry food or good clothes at home, so they wanted to go to jail so much. You'd better change it."
"I know. I didn't change the food, but I decided to let them work. The school and several factories haven't been built yet. Let them do it and pay them one penny a day. After a hard day's work, they can only eat boiled cabbage and grain buns, and one penny in compensation. Ordinary workers get dozens of times their wages, and the food is not good. They will definitely feel unbalanced." Cheng Yeran hugged Shen Yuntang's waist and acted coquettishly, "It's just that I want to eat the wild vegetable meatballs you made by yourself. Can you make them for me some other day?"
"You definitely can't get used to that stuff now." Shen Yuntang thought of the days back then. He didn't eat wild vegetables because they were delicious, but he had no choice. Now that life is better, why should he still eat that hard-to-swallow stuff?
"I'm used to it. I still remember the fragrance." Cheng Yeran looked very happy as he recalled the time when they first met and went up the mountain to dig wild vegetables together.
At that time, he thought he was filming a variety show. He did not forget to pose while digging wild vegetables. Shen Yuntang looked at him with disgust several times. He did not understand it at that time, but now he can't help but scratching the ground with his toes when he thinks about it.
"No need to wait until another day. We can dig up some wild vegetables in our garden. I'll go look for some later and make meatballs for you in the evening." Shen Yuntang said and went to the garden.
Cheng Zhao was playing with a few little schoolboys. The school had not been built yet, so the teacher taught him at home, usually in the morning. In the afternoon, he would play in the garden with a few friends.
Originally, the teacher wanted them to attend classes in the morning and afternoon. However, Cheng Yeran thought that the content taught by the teacher was too complicated and it was not something that primary school students should learn. He wanted to give his child a happy childhood, so he asked the teacher to let him attend classes in the morning and play with the children in the afternoon.
He bought a football and marked out a small area in the garden for the children to play football. It was considered their physical education class. Sometimes when Cheng Yeran had free time, he would play football with them.
There were five children in total, and it was difficult to group them, so Cheng Yeran even called one of the children from the servants' family to come and play ball with them.
Cheng Yeran told Cheng Zhao not to act like a young master, to treat them equally and as friends. They also did not call Cheng Zhao "Young Master", but called each other by their names.
But at first they just called him by his name, but later on they started calling Guan Chengzhao "big brother", and after the big brother came the second and third brothers, all the way down to the sixth brother.
They even became sworn brothers in a formal manner, and the kids had a great time playing together, which reminded Cheng Yeran of his classmates from childhood.
Those little servants were also well taken care of by Shen Yuntang. Their food, clothing, housing and transportation were similar to Cheng Zhao's. They were no longer as skinny as they were at the beginning, but had gained a lot of weight. Their personalities were not as timid as when they first came, and they had become more childlike and innocent.
They all admired Cheng Zhao very much and really treated him as their own elder brother and listened to him.
Only the servant's child was a little restrained and cautious. He was not like this at the beginning. He was just like other children, but he was always warned by his parents when he returned home. They instilled in him the idea that Cheng Zhao was the master and he was a servant. As time went by, he became cautious about everything he did and did not dare to talk to Cheng Zhao.
Cheng Yeran also specifically told the servants not to discipline the child in that way. He just wanted to find a playmate for Cheng Zhao to play football with, and not to impose adult ways on the child.
As a result, just as Cheng Yeran finished speaking, the child was beaten by his parents in the evening, saying that he couldn't even play ball with the young master properly, and was such a waste.
The child cried until his eyes were swollen the next day, and begged Cheng Yeran not to replace him, otherwise his parents would beat him again.
Cheng Yeran was helpless, this was a problem he could not change. Even if the child called Cheng Zhao "big brother" now, he would call Cheng Zhao "master" when he grew up, which would be even more heartbreaking to hear. He could only go with them.
The children were playing football in the garden. When they saw Shen Yuntang digging wild vegetables, they stopped playing and ran over curiously to follow Shen Yuntang.
One of the servants asked Shen Yuntang, "Madam, do you want to catch katydids too?"
"I caught a cicada the other day, and it was delicious when fried."
"Isn't that a bug? Can you eat it? So disgusting."
"It smells good."
Several children followed Shen Yuntang and talked at the same time. Shen Yuntang had thought before that if he got married, he would have to have at least four children. It would be so lively to have a group of children around him.
As a result, after he gave birth to his first child, he was in so much pain that he dared not have another one. Cheng Zhao was a quiet person, which was completely different from the lively scene he had imagined. However, Cheng Yeran was a noisy person.
и
, which could be considered to make up for his desire for liveliness, but at this moment when he was really surrounded by a group of children, he found that this feeling was still different.
He said to the kids behind him, "I'm looking for wild vegetables. Do you want to come over and dig with me?"
"I know about wild vegetables. I dug them with my grandmother when I was a child. I don't know if her illness has been cured." The child who spoke was the one who was sold by his family because his grandmother was sick. He is now Cheng Zhao's third brother and the only one among the four children who misses his home.
The other children did not have any good memories of their time at home. They were either hungry or beaten. Their parents were not kind to them and even sold them for money. After arriving at the Cheng Mansion, they lived a life of luxury and wanted to forget their previous home.
When Shen Yuntang heard him say that he missed his grandma, his heart softened, "I'll ask someone to go to your house later."
The third brother looked at Shen Yuntang excitedly, but he quickly suppressed his excitement, "I have been sold to the Cheng family, and even my last name has been changed to Cheng. I shouldn't think about my former relatives."
"Although you have come to the Cheng family, your family is still your family. If you want to go back to see them, I can take you back to see them." Shen Yuntang thought that if their family wanted to redeem the child, he would release them. He wanted to find playmates for his child. Even if the child was redeemed, he could come to the mansion to play together, or let Cheng Zhao go to the other party's house to play.
When the other children heard the words "send them home", they were so scared that they trembled and begged Shen Yuntang not to send them back, as they didn't want to starve to death.
Shen Yuntang rubbed their heads and said, "I won't send you back. Just stay here peacefully."
Several children breathed a sigh of relief and said that they also recognized wild vegetables. They followed Shen Yuntang and lay in the grass to look for wild vegetables.
Their garden is quite big with all kinds of plants. I actually found wild vegetables in the grass, but the types are relatively limited. However, it is enough to make a few meatballs.
Cheng Zhao looked at the wild vegetables in the basket and asked Shen Yuntang: "Are you going to feed the rabbits?"
The last time Shen Yuntang took Cheng Zhao and the others to the street, they saw someone selling rabbits on the roadside and bought two.
I originally thought that two rabbits would give birth to many baby rabbits, but after waiting for a long time I found out that they had bought two male rabbits.
On weekdays, Li Chengzhao would take a few children to cut grass to feed the rabbits, or take the rabbits to the bushes to let them eat grass on their own.
Cheng Zhao had never eaten wild vegetables before, so when he saw Shen Yuntang digging wild vegetables that looked like grass, he thought he was going to feed them to rabbits.
Shen Yuntang: "It's not for feeding rabbits, it's for feeding your father."
Cheng Zhao: "??? My dad? Does he like to eat grass too?"
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