Chapter 213 Has Xu Yu finally gone crazy? !
Sang Zhixia went to personally invite the village's student master to come to the threshing ground.
When they arrived, there were already quite a few people gathered around a simple table made of straw.
There were people from Luobei Village and several nearby villages who had heard the news. The place was crowded with people.
The first person who mustered up the courage to sign his name held the light piece of paper in his hand and looked at it over and over again. He didn't recognize a single word, but he still felt uneasy when he saw the bright red handprint.
Listening to the constant discussions around him, Sang Zhixia quickly said, "Master Xu, look at this..."
"Oh, I'm just a peasant who can read a few words. How can I be worthy of you calling me 'master'?"
Xu Tongsheng was flattered by Sang Zhixia's words and smiled broadly. He stroked his beard and said, "Find me a place to sit down. I'll help you look around. If there's anything you don't know, feel free to ask me!"
Apart from anything else, he still recognized the words on the deed!
Someone heard this and immediately came up to ask, "Xu Tongsheng, are you helping the Xu family look at the deed?"
Xu Tongsheng said complacently: "Yes, why are you afraid that I am mistaken?"
"That's not the case."
The people of Luobei Village said with a smile: "You are the only scholar in our village who has achieved a degree. How could you be wrong if you said you saw it right?"
Xu Tongsheng couldn't hide his pride. Sang Zhixia quickly made room for him next to Xu Yu and turned around to shout, "If you want to sign a contract but are unsure, you can get the contract from Xu Yu, then line up and ask Master Tongsheng for clarification before signing."
If you don’t understand something, feel free to ask. If you have any doubts, I can explain it to you slowly.
In short, the Xu family is fair, just and open, and absolutely honest.
A long line of people lined up in front of Xu Tongsheng, and the number of people was even more than Sang Zhixia had initially thought.
An unprecedented event.
At first, Xu Tongsheng thought that he would be the main force, and he was afraid that he would have to draft the contract himself. However, when he saw the paper handed to him by someone else, and saw the sharp tip of Xu Yu's pen as he wrote, he immediately put aside his arrogance and looked more serious.
The peasants in the village are illiterate and cannot tell good from bad. They just think that anyone who can draw straight lines is a scholar who can write.
But there is a huge gap inside.
Earlier, he had only heard that the Xu family did things unusually, and he mostly thought it was just a rumor.
Today I see that the reputation is well-deserved.
Xu Tongsheng handed the ink pad to the person who came forward with a smile, and had a plan in mind.
Maybe he should have informed the Xu family in advance and left a deed for his family so that he could join the Xu family's farm after he was done with his work.
In his early years, the Xu family exhausted all their resources to support his studies. Now he only has the title of a student master, but his family has little arable land and is not rich.
Life is not easy for Master Tongsheng either...
With Xu Tongsheng, a person whom the villagers trust more, Xu Yu's men worked quickly, but the speed of copying still could not keep up with the speed of collecting.
Seeing the people queuing up eagerly watching Xu Yu write word by word, Sang Zhixia simply moved a haystack to sit on, grabbed a pen and paper and started working.
In the end, even Uncle Xu, who came to deliver food, was drafted into the army. The old man took a deed for reference and went home to stay with his old lady, writing furiously.
Some people made the decision on the spot, clumsily pressed the ink pad to leave their fingerprints on the deed, and hurried home holding the light piece of paper.
If you are hesitant, you can take the deed away first, go home and think it over before coming back, or you can choose not to come at all.
After a busy day, Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia were so tired that their wrists were shaking, and Xu Tongsheng also collapsed on the haystack and took a long breath.
"I thought this was an easy job, but I didn't expect it to be this busy..."
For the entire day, he didn't even have time to drink a sip of water, and this was only the first day!
Sang Zhixia suppressed a smile and said, "I've been very tired today."
"When I invited you here, we agreed on a daily fee of one hundred wen. Now it seems that one hundred wen is not enough. I will give you an extra fifty wen tomorrow, just as..."
"Well, that's not necessary."
Xu Tongsheng rubbed his sore wrist and smiled, saying, "Instead of raising the fee by fifty cents, how about giving me a deed?"
"I'm also very interested in this farm you mentioned."
Sang Zhixia didn't say anything after hearing this. She poked Xu Yu's shoulder and said, "Hurry up and write another one!"
Xu Yu grabbed the paper and pen with a blank and numb look in his eyes. His hands moved mechanically and smoothly without him having to think.
Xu Tongsheng was a quick man. He wrote his name neatly on the contract and pressed his fingerprint on it on the spot.
When those who had not left yet saw this scene, they couldn't help but feel more agitated.
Xu Tongsheng is a well-educated and accomplished scholar, different from most people in the village!
Such capable young scholars have joined the Xu family’s farm, so shouldn’t they think carefully about it when they return?
News of the Xu family's farm spread to all the nearby villages overnight, and everyone was talking about it.
Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia, who were at the center of the conversation, walked into the house with trembling hands, but saw people in the yard who should have been in the county town at this time.
Sang Zhixia was already exhausted and dazed. She rubbed her eyes and said dazedly, "Xu Yu, am I hallucinating?"
Why did she see Xu Wenxiu and Aunt Xu glaring at her?
Before Xu Yu could say anything with a wooden face, Xu Wenxiu burst into laughter out of anger.
"Hallucination? What nonsense are you talking about, kid?"
Sang Zhixia let out a cry but didn't react.
Xu Wenxiu came over first and carried her and Xu Yu around in circles, checking them out, muttering to herself, "We heard in the county town that our threshing ground was robbed, and that wild wolves had come down the mountain and killed several people. Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Xu Yu broke free from Xu Wenxiu's hand and said with a mixture of laughter and tears, "I'm not hurt. Mother, Third Aunt, why are you back?"
"Why don't we go back?"
Aunt Xu pulled Sang Zhixia to sit down, handed her a bowl of water, and then said, "Such a big thing has happened. The news has spread all the way to the county town. If we don't come back, how can we sit here any longer?"
Things at the embroidery shop had just started, and Aunt Xu really couldn't leave, so she could only stay for the time being.
After thinking about it, she and Xu Wenxiu decided to bring a few children back. Apart from anything else, they could still cook some food and help with some small chores.
Uncle Xu was exhausted after a long day, and he slumped in his chair and said, "It's good to be back. I might as well help copy the deeds at home."
"You don't know, holding a pen all day today is more tiring than holding a hammer in the past. My arms are so sore that they're shaking. I copied so many words on the deed that by the afternoon I couldn't recognize them anymore. Just looking at them makes me feel numb!"
Uncle Xu was like this, not to mention Sang Zhixia and Xu Yu.
Seeing that these people, including the old man, all had gloomy faces and were full of disgust for paper and pen, Xu Wenxiu couldn't help laughing out loud.
She said, "Copying some deeds is not a difficult task. We have several talented young scholars at home. Not to mention us, Mingyang and Yanran can also do it. They will help you copy them tomorrow."
Xu Mingyang and Xu Yanran quickly jumped up to say that they could do it, and even Xu Mingxu and Xu Jinxi followed suit and patted their chests, saying that they would definitely help.
Sang Zhixia slumped limply in the chair, her aching wrist held by Xu Yu, who used a hot handkerchief to cover it. Her voice was weak, "Anyone can come, really."
"I'd rather go to the fields to harvest rice tomorrow than pick up a pen..."
Xu Yu also drooped his eyes and coaxed her: "Okay, let Xu Mingyang copy tomorrow, you don't have to copy."
However, the opposite happened.
Early the next morning, a long queue formed in front of the threshing ground.
Before noon, Xu Mingyang cried out with tears in his eyes: "Sister-in-law!"
"The child can't hold on any longer!"
It is really hard to find a good person among those who come to sign the contract.
Seeing Xu Mingyang and Xu Yanran sitting upright with serious faces at the small table set up here, they turned their heads and went to the row in front of them, urging them to write faster, partly because they wanted to see something new, and partly because they wanted to entertain the children.
At first, the two little ones thought that God had given them a great responsibility, and they must perform well.
But after writing for a whole morning, the two children couldn't bear it anymore.
Xu Mingyang was on the verge of tears, but Xu Yanran, with red eyes, forced herself to hold back, and even managed to scoff at him, "Xu Mingyang!"
"Don't be lazy!"
Xu Mingyang wiped away her tears and picked up the pen with trembling hands.
After receiving the news sent by Xu Yu, Xu Minghui rushed back in time and stood not far away, looking at the Xu family surrounded by the crowd with a subtle expression and mixed feelings.
Didn’t they say that the news of the farm’s opening received a warm response and everything was moving in a very good direction?
Why are everyone, big or small, looking so sad?
Could it be true, as Chen Jingan said, that all the rice harvested this autumn was taken away and stolen?
Just when Xu Minghui was in a daze, Xu Yu, who had been sealed in front of the table for the whole morning, looked up and saw him, and the stars of salvation suddenly exploded in his eyes.
Xu Minghui's scalp tingled under his scorching gaze: "What...what on earth is going on?"
Has Xu Yu finally gone crazy?!
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