Chapter 83
Xu He led the two servants around the house. When the house was first renovated, they did not take the servants into consideration, so there were no special rooms built for the servants.
The social classes of farmers' families are not as clear as those of wealthy families. Although farmers have a higher status among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, being high does not prevent them from being poor.
Who cares about so many things when they can't even fill their stomachs with this meal?
Xu He simply cleared out two storage rooms. The rooms were very small, probably only about the size of a bedroom.
Clear out a room on the east side and one on the west side, which are big enough for the beds. Even if they are slaves, there is a difference between girls and men, and these ethical rules must not be disrupted.
"By the way, what were your names?"
The man said, "My husband just gave me a cheap name."
Xu He thought about it and decided that, since he was moving into a new place, he couldn’t keep his previous name.
"Then you can be called Wuzi, and I can be called Wenzi."
"Thank you, husband, for the name." The two servants thanked Xu He together and followed him respectfully around the house.
Xu He took out the quilt and some old utensils that he had used in the old house and shared them with the two servants. After getting familiar with the place, Xiao Wu will go to the tea stall to look after the shop, but he will also have to stay there, which will be more convenient.
"Is it settled?"
When Zhang Fangyuan came back, he went to the inner room to play with the two children. He didn't know whether they woke up naturally or were woken up by their old father.
Four eyes stared at Zhang Fangyuan from left to right, Ruili was sucking his fingers and eating happily, Ruijin was staring straight at his father's chin, as if he was seeing how much new stubble had grown.
"I have already asked the two of them to clean up their own rooms. Is it okay for me to use the characters Wenwu?"
"What's wrong with that?"
Xu He took a sip of tea and saw Zhang Fangyuan holding two children in his arms: "Are your hands sore from holding them like this? Let me hold them."
"These two guys are only a little heavier. I can carry two more with one hand without any problem."
Zhang Fangyuan looked at the two cubs from left to right. As they grew older, he could feel them getting heavier day by day. They were also getting whiter and fatter, and very cute. It was worthwhile that they were fed with both goat's milk and breast milk.
"It's getting late. You look after the children while I go to cook. Xiao'e will be back from school soon for dinner." The girl was obedient and sensible. Whenever Xu He was alone at home, she would come back to cook and help look after the koi. Today, since there were more people involved, he didn't have to keep the girl so busy.
Zhang Fangyuan wanted to hug the child again, and was about to ask him to go when Wu Zi said outside the door: "Master, husband, there are guests outside."
"Who is it?"
"He said he was the village chief."
Zhang Fangyuan's eyebrows moved, and Xu He took the child.
"This village chief won't even let me kiss my child."
"Go now."
As Zhang Fangyuan walked out, he asked Wu Zi, "Have you cleaned up your room?"
"It's all right now."
Zhang Fangyuan responded: "Go make a pot of tea."
"Fang Yuan, how come there is a black man in your house? He looks so unfamiliar. When he opened the gate, I thought I was in the wrong place."
The village chief started muttering when he saw Zhang Fangyuan.
Zhang Fangyuan smiled and said, "They are two servants from the business, helping with some small chores in the house."
The village chief couldn't help but sigh. He bought servants in the blink of an eye and supported two more people at once: "You are now a landlord."
"Don't laugh at me, village chief. How can I be a landlord with my two acres of land?"
Zhang Fangyuan led the people into the central hall to talk. As soon as the village chief's butt touched the bench, Wu Zi brought up the tea. While taking the tea, he couldn't help but look Wu Zi up and down again, his eyes full of envy. Even if he was in someone else's house, he also enjoyed the feeling of being a master.
Although being a businessman has a low status, life is really comfortable.
"Village Chief, there has been some progress on the matter we mentioned earlier."
Zhang Fangyuan saw the way the old man looked at Wu Zi. What he knew was that the villagers envied having someone to serve them at home, but what he didn't know was what other hobbies the old man had.
The village chief came to his senses and said, "That's exactly what happened. I went back and thought about it over and over all night. I think what you said about planting more mulberry trees and opening some fish ponds to build fishing platforms is a good idea. It's also good to discuss it with the villagers. After all, they are all crops and can be exchanged for money. But I'm afraid that the villagers on the border will not agree to your idea of arranging the vegetable fields into regular plots to grow vegetables."
"Let's hold a meeting and tell the news first. If everyone agrees, then everything will be fine. If someone disagrees, then we can back off a step further."
The village chief nodded: "That's fine."
"What about Tangjiaba?"
The village chief took a sip of tea, put down his cup after hearing this, and snorted coldly: "I went to Tangjiaba this morning, but before I could say anything, the village had already taken advantage of the east wind of Hongshi Village. Even the illiterate villagers were sourly reciting the words "Carrying wine from the east garden and getting drunk from the west garden, picking all the loquats from the tree is golden", and encouraging tourists to go to their village to pick and buy loquats, which can be eaten and taken back to make loquat wine."
"The people of Tangjiaba carried loquats to the official road in baskets and on poles. This year, the fruit is selling better than in previous years. In previous years, the vendors who came from the city to pick the fruit and sell it in the city were ignored by the villagers of Tangjiaba this year."
Zhang Fangyuan laughed: "It's not that the melon farmers in Tangjiaba ignore the fruit merchants in the city. In previous years, when these fruit merchants in the city came to Tangjiaba to pick the fruit, they kept the price very low. They picked the fruit from one store to another, and they put up bigger shelves than the county magistrate. How could the villagers not resent it? Now that they have other sales channels, they naturally want to vent their anger."
The village chief sighed and said, "It's a pity that our village doesn't have any fruits and vegetables ready-made, otherwise we wouldn't be left behind."
Zhang Fangyuan did not comment upon hearing this. He thought that the reason why these people came to him in such a hurry to discuss things might be because of the incident at Tangjiabao that provoked him.
Although the village chief was old, he was very quick and efficient in getting things done. He talked to Zhang Fangyuan about something at noon, and in the afternoon he called a meeting of all the villagers in the village thatched cottage. Only then did the villagers get away from the complaints about paying taxes, and now the situation was in an uproar again.
"The cost of harvesting crops is not good, so where is the extra land for raising fish, mulberry trees and silkworms?"
The villagers in the thatched cottage said directly: "It's not that we haven't raised silkworms before, but there was no market for them, and they were not easy to sell."
"That's a good idea. We can open up new land, but we don't have the energy to do that. We can't even take care of the few acres of land at home."
The villagers were cursing and swearing, one person saying something, and the superiors couldn't hear clearly or understand anything, so the whole hall was in an uproar.
The village chief was no longer surprised by this kind of situation. Whenever the village notified something, or the county government arranged something, everyone would make a fuss about it, whether it was good or bad. After making a lot of noise for a long time, everyone was so thirsty that their mouths were dry. The village chief then used a thick bamboo stick two fingers wide to hit the pillar hard. The popping sound quieted everyone down.
"What are you arguing about? You just keep arguing about whatever you say. Everyone cries and makes a scene when it comes to paying taxes. They just cry about being poor. They have time to work harder to find a way out and fill their pockets. The court is trying to find a solution for everyone, but they just keep arguing. When they encounter a little difficulty, they just yell and refuse to work. They deserve to be poor and unable to pay taxes for the rest of their lives."
The villagers were so angry that they dared not speak anymore.
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He listened to the conversation in the crowd for a while, then they looked at each other, and Zhang Fangyuan pulled Xu He out.
Xu He tilted his head in confusion: "Why don't you listen?"
"You know these people are difficult to deal with. Only the village chief can calm them down. You see, they stopped talking after a few words. We are just watching the fun here and can't say anything. We will be caught and questioned by the villagers later." It's better not to affect the village chief here: "Let's just go back and wait for the result."
The village chief's voice rang out from the thatched cottage again: "Look for yourselves, how well Zhang Fangyuan's family is doing now. We are all from the same village. You can't see what they were like before. They are just willing to work hard. They sell vegetables, pork, and run a tea stand... If they were lazy and afraid of work, how could they have achieved what they have today?"
When Xu He heard the village chief using their family as a reference, he immediately felt that Zhang Fangyuan was very smart. They had to leave anyway. If they went anywhere, the villagers would surely stare at them.
"Village chief, Zhang Fangyuan has a skill, so he can set up a stall and slaughter pigs."
"That guy was born knowing how to butcher pigs, right? He worked hard and learned the skill from an old butcher." The village chief scolded, "Didn't Chen Si know how to butcher pigs before? He was willing to endure the hardship and work with Zhang Fangyuan. Didn't he come to your house to butcher pigs at the end of last year?"
"You start complaining that God has given you no way out, and now that there is a way out you find it too difficult. Can't you see how prosperous the two villages next door are this year? Only three or two households in Hongshi Village can't pay their taxes this year, and look at our village."
The villagers were scolded so harshly by the old man that they dared not speak again.
"The old man really wants everyone to be well. As long as you are willing to work, even if you are poor, you don't have to borrow money for taxes. There are people in our village who leave their homes to sell goods, and work hard to sell wood in the forestry farm... These jobs are hard and tiring, but you can see for yourself whether the people who do this can still not pay the taxes."
The village chief said, "I've come to the point. Those who are willing to do it can do it. I won't force those who are not willing to do it. Those who came to listen to the meeting today should go home and have a good discussion. Those who want to plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms can plant trees, those who want to open fish ponds and raise fish can cultivate the fields, and those who want to grow more vegetables can open up the land... I won't let you do everything. Those who have discussed it can come to me tomorrow to sign up."
"The deadline is seven days. If you delay for too long, don't come. I still have to sort it out and report to the head of the village, and then go to the county government to get approval for the formalities."
The village chief was full of energy and clapped the bamboo stick in his hand again: "Any more questions?"
The villagers said nothing more.
"Then we'll disperse." Before leaving, the village chief said one more thing to encourage the villagers: "Zhang Fangyuan said that the first household to sign up will be rewarded with one hundred yuan."
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