Chapter 144 These things will be your confidence
Sang Zhixia's spending is bigger than ever before, and it doesn't look like he's going to stop for the time being.
In the evening after a busy day, Xu Wenxiu and Aunt Xu San each took a densely written account book to do the accounting. After working on the abacus for a while, they looked at each other, and Aunt Xu San's face showed a bit of embarrassment.
"According to Xia Xia, our family needs to reclaim about 120 mu of land. The taxes we need to pay to the government for this reclamation, plus the labor and rent for cattle, will cost over 160 taels. That doesn't even include the cost of hiring people to cultivate the land later."
Xu Wenxiu looked at the remaining balance in the account book and smiled bitterly, saying, "The total amount of silver we can gather in our account is one hundred and forty taels. I'm afraid the gap won't be filled anytime soon."
Aunt Xu threaded her needle very quickly. She grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the thread in her hand. Without looking up, she said, "I have a kang screen that will be delivered in two days. I can pay you ten taels of silver when it's delivered."
She was making a double-sided embroidered kang screen. The size was not exaggerated, but the double-sided embroidery required extremely delicate techniques. No one except her could do it. It took a month to make, and the wages were higher than usual.
Xu Wenxiu added another entry to the account book, still smiling bitterly: "That's not enough."
Not to mention the wages that will be settled in a few days, even if you add in what Xu Minghui sends home at the end of the month, it would not be enough to fill such a huge gap.
What's more, this is just the beginning?
The land that has been reclaimed needs fertile soil, and after the spring comes, seedlings need to be planted and seeds sown. There are too many things to do, and if there is a shortage of manpower, we can only spend money to hire people to do it. It is definitely not possible to continue if the income is not enough to cover the expenses.
The old lady, who had lost her housekeeper power, had a dark expression on her face. She looked Sang Zhixia up and down critically and sneered, "I told you her whims were unacceptable. Letting her do whatever she wants is useless, even if we throw our entire fortune into it."
"If we spend all that money hiring people to reclaim the wasteland, will this whole family have nothing to eat or drink? Will they just starve and wait for food to be dug out from the wasteland she mentioned?"
The old lady couldn't stop her mocking remarks. Xu Mingyang leaned over and hummed softly, "Grandma, don't worry about being hungry. I'll eat less and give you all the rest."
Xu Mingxu, who had just finished half a bowl of sweet wine, burped and said, "I don't want any either. Give it all to grandma!"
The old lady was so angry that her eyebrows fell. Before she could say anything, the old man's voice sounded behind her: "Don't worry about the money."
He took out three light silver bills and handed them to Xu Wenxiu, saying calmly, "I have some more here, take them and fill in the bill."
Xu Wenxiu took it with both hands in surprise, not knowing what to say. The old lady raised her eyebrows suspiciously: "So much silver, where did you get it from..."
"Why ask so many questions?"
The old man gave her an ambiguous look and said calmly, "If you have it, take it. It's not something you got from an illegal source. You won't feel bad about spending it at home."
The old lady looked as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare to say it. Xu Wenxiu, who quickly settled the bill, smiled with relief.
"With these supplements, what Xia Xia mentioned won't be a big problem. Whether it's labor or grain, we can definitely hold on until the end."
The old man hummed calmly, looked at Sang Zhixia who had been silent the whole time, and said, "Xia girl, come with me to the village chief's house and talk about the land deed."
Sang Zhixia stood up readily and said, "Okay."
Seeing the old man taking Sang Zhixia away, the dissatisfied old lady gritted her teeth.
Xu Yu had been away for over a month, and no news had come back from then on.
In just a month, Sang Zhixia no longer had Xu Yu's overt and covert support, and she was getting more and more popular with the old man...
Sang Zhixia had no idea how complicated the old lady's thoughts were. After walking a long way with the old man, she still felt a little uncomfortable.
Seeing her hesitant and somewhat guilty, the old man was a little amused: "What's wrong?"
Sang Zhixia's face was full of resentment. He touched his nose and said, "Grandfather, regarding the silver matter, I..."
"You can't tell this to anyone."
The old man raised the corner of his lips in an ambiguous way and smiled, "I heard from your third uncle that you were the last one to come out of your room on the day the house was searched. Yu'er protected you, and the searchers didn't have time to look for you. You took advantage of the opportunity to hide that day, right?"
Since Sang Zhixia decided to start a war, he naturally took into account the problem of insufficient money at home.
She still had some, so it wasn't a big problem to take them out, but how to take them out and use them openly where she wanted was a big hassle.
The only most suitable channel is here with the old man.
No one dared to question the silver that the old man took out.
When she handed the banknotes to the old man secretly, she was worried that he would ask questions, but he didn't say anything. Today, he even smoothed over the situation calmly without blaming her at all.
Sang Zhixia's smile grew more and more awkward as she complimented him, "Grandfather has a keen eye. It was indeed hidden that day."
She thought the old man would ask her how much she had left, but the next sentence he said was, "It's good to be thoughtful. You're quite smart."
"It is not the lack of wealth that worries us, but the inequality of it. Keeping a low profile and understanding your weaknesses is the key to a long-term strategy."
He tilted his head and smiled at Sang Zhixia, his eyes filled with the gentleness typical of an elder. "What you've given me this time is enough. Don't mention it again. You can't tell anyone about this except Yu'er and me. Do you understand?"
The old man is the head of the Xu family and is always thinking about the Xu family.
Far-sighted elders know that they are already old and their future is in the hands of the young people, so they do not restrict the expansion and development of their descendants, and even secretly support and teach them and are happy to see them succeed.
But people’s hearts are not all like this. Even the elders sometimes have different thoughts.
If the rest of the family knew that Sang Zhixia still had money hidden in his hands, there was no telling what might go wrong.
Sang Zhixia was stunned for a moment and then nodded quickly.
"Don't worry, Grandfather. I've got it all down."
"That'll do."
"Your mother-in-law and two aunts are used to a stable life and have no ambition or courage to take risks. From now on, Yu'er will be in charge of external affairs and you will be responsible for the internal affairs. The household accounts will fall into your hands. Learn from them, but don't limit your vision to the household account book."
The old man thought of the plan that Sang Zhixia had given him not long ago, and the clear and obvious logic in it, and a hint of subtle relief flashed in his eyes.
"Just as you said, the 120 acres of land reclaimed today is just the beginning. Slowly, it will increase tenfold or a hundredfold. The grains found in the land will be thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds, or even an unimaginable amount. These things will be your confidence."
Sang Zhixia suddenly took drastic measures to open up wasteland and cultivate land, wanting to expand the territory at any cost. This decision was considered abrupt in the eyes of others.
When the old man thought of Xu Yu, who was nowhere to be found, a sigh flashed across his mind, and gradually he understood something that was unspeakable.
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