Chapter 82 Rent Collection
Outside Jiangzhou City, there are vast stretches of golden wheat fields. There are a few houses scattered around the wheat fields, with smoke rising from their chimneys.
Most of these farmlands belong to the wealthy families in Jiangzhou City, who rent them out to tenants outside for cultivation.
The tenant farmer, Old Man Wu, had just returned from the fields. His wife had cooked some hot dishes for the two of them. Just as they sat down at the table, they heard a knock on the door.
It was Pei Yue who came with her maid Taoyuan to collect this year's rent.
Pei Yue explained the purpose of her visit. Old Man Wu looked embarrassed, looked at his wife, and hesitated.
Seeing the other party like this, Pei Yue asked: "But the harvest is not good this year?"
But when she came, she clearly saw that the crops outside were growing well, and that the weather in Jiangzhou was good this year without any disasters.
"no……"
Old Man Wu avoided Pei Yue's gaze and said after a long time that his son was seriously ill outside and was in urgent need of money, so the family was really in financial difficulty.
Pei Yue felt a little sorry when she saw the old man and his wife Wu with their heads down, so she kindly asked them what was wrong with their son.
"It's just... I'm not feeling well..." Old Man Wu said with his head down, and his wife nodded in agreement beside him.
Pei Yue didn't think much about it. She also knew that the son of Old Man Chen and his wife lived far away in another county and might have really encountered some difficulties.
Pei Yue asked Taoyuan to leave another two cents of silver for them, then turned around and prepared to go to the next house.
After Pei Yue left, Old Man Wu held the silver with a guilty look on his face and kept sighing.
He said to his wife, "How about we tell the truth to the lady and pay the rent?"
"Mrs. Pei is kind-hearted and treats us well. Do you think I feel good about it?" Old man Chen's wife also sighed.
"If Madam Du hadn't sent someone to tell us last night to pay later, she could find a way to make us pay less rent next year, I wouldn't want to do this!"
Old man Chen was helpless. Everyone was under pressure to make a living, so he finally put the silver away with a sigh.
Pei Yue went to look for other tenants, and after visiting several of them, she finally realized that something was wrong.
Either someone in the family was seriously ill, or their family was robbed, or there were rats in the barn that ate all the food.
Anyway, they all can't pay the rent at once.
But they all patted their chests and assured her that the money would be paid before the end of the year.
Pei Yue is not stupid. Since all the other parties say the same thing, there must be something behind it.
However, according to the rules of the Zhu family, as long as the rent was paid before the end of the year, it would not be considered arrears. Although she was the wife of the eldest son, she could not force these tenants to pay the rent in advance.
…
Since the next day was a day off, Zhu Lan returned to the Zhu residence that night.
When little Zhu Chao heard Zhu Lan came back, he ran out excitedly, calling her sister happily.
Zhu Lan touched Zhu Chao's head and felt emotional.
This child is indeed smart and likable, and inexplicably close to me.
It’s a pity that he has a mother like Du Lanfang. I don’t know if he will grow up in a wrong way in the future.
"Chao'er, have you finished your homework?" Du Lanfang's unhappy voice came. Little Zhu Chao pursed his lips, reluctantly let go of Zhu Lan, and walked towards his mother.
Du Lanfang pulled Zhu Chao over, glared at him in condemnation, then looked at Zhu Lan with a fake smile on his face.
"Sister Lan is back, your grandfather is waiting for you to have dinner."
After saying that, he turned around and the smile on his face disappeared instantly.
"Grandfather, Mother, Lan'er is back." Zhu Lan walked into the hall and said.
Now she is the treasure of the entire Zhu family. When Mr. Zhu saw her, he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.
Zhu Lan returned home today, and Grandpa Zhu specially had someone prepare several more dishes, which were much more sumptuous than usual.
Seeing Zhu Hongming, Du Lanfang and Zhu Chao also come in, Zhu Lan said, "Second uncle, aunt."
The whole family sat down, and Zhu Yuanou asked Zhu Lan about his situation in the academy in recent days with concern, and asked in great detail.
"The entrance exam will be in a few months. How are you preparing? Are you confident?"
Zhu Lan nodded calmly, "I'll do my best."
"Okay, okay!" Zhu Yuanou nodded happily. He had studied scientific research for so many years and naturally knew how important the mentality before the exam was.
Zhu Lan's calm personality made him feel more at ease.
"By then, our Zhu family will have two scholars!" Zhu Yuanou smiled even more happily.
Du Lanfang rolled his eyes secretly and kicked Zhu Hongming under the table.
Although Zhu Hongming is slightly better than his unreliable elder brother, he will only be a scholar in his entire life.
But look at Sister Lan, she is so young. If she also passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, how can I, the second wife, put my face aside?
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest, and Zhu Lan followed Pei Yue back to the bedroom.
"Lan'er, your grandfather is urging you to arrange your coming-of-age ceremony. This is a major event in your life. If you have any requests, feel free to ask."
Coming of age ceremony?
Zhu Lan raised her eyebrows. She had forgotten about this matter.
"Mom, I don't have any other requests. Don't spend too much money. Just keep it simple."
She didn't want to save money, but she just didn't want the hassle.
"Mom knows you don't care. It's mainly because your grandfather... you know, he cares about his reputation and wants to take this opportunity to let you show off."
Zhu Lan had no choice but to hug Pei Yue like a spoiled child and said coquettishly:
"Mom, Lan'er knows you best. The coming-of-age ceremony is really troublesome, and Lan'er doesn't understand anything..."
After saying that, he blinked and looked at Pei Yue.
Pei Yue scratched her nose lovingly, "I know you don't understand. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything for you. When the time comes, you just need to show up and go through the motions."
"Yeah, mommy is the best."
"It's about the expenses for the coming-of-age ceremony..." Pei Yue thought for a moment and told Zhu Lan about what happened when she went to collect rent during the day.
Zhu Lan thought for a moment, "It sounds like these tenants have discussed this in advance. Is there someone playing tricks?"
She immediately thought of Du Lanfang.
"That's not important." Pei Yue said, "You also know how prosperous the shop run by Yu Wei is now, and I've received a lot of dividends. It's more than enough to hold a grand coming-of-age ceremony for you."
Zhu Lan knew that Pei Yue wanted to use the private money she had saved from the shop to hold this coming-of-age ceremony.
Zhu Lan shook his head and disagreed.
Now Pei Yue is alone in the Zhu family, weak and powerless. If she uses her private property, the second house might find out something.
If Du Lanfang knew that Pei Yue had saved so much money secretly and was also a shareholder of Xianglaier, he would definitely be extremely jealous.
Not to mention whether she would do something to hurt Pei Yue out of jealousy, if we trace the source of the capital for Pei Yue to open the shop, we might find that she sold the treasures that Zhu Hongsheng had hidden before his death.
If the matter gets out of hand, it will definitely be bad for Pei Yue.
"Mom, why haven't you left the Zhu family after all these years?" Zhu Lan asked the question that had puzzled him for a long time.
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