He Yu interrupted him impatiently: "Your mother is confused? Your fourth brother is confused for digging up someone else's mother's grave? Your eldest nephew Shen Yushu died in a brothel, and that has something to do with them? They were kicked out of your family, but they didn't seek revenge on your family, and they made things difficult for Shen Cheng's family at every turn. They even turned around and blamed you. I didn't know Uncle Wan had such abilities."
Seeing that Shen Wan was still trying to argue, He Yu was furious.
This shows Shen Wan's character.
"Uncle Wan, business is not good at the shop, you don't need to come again tomorrow."
The boss flicked his sleeves and said.
Shen Wan was somewhat incredulous: "Just because I drove my enemy away, you don't care about my hard work over the years?"
He Yu sneered, his eyes sharp: "Ha, hard work? How much money have you embezzled and manipulated in the accounts over the years? If I didn't care about our past relationship, I would have turned you over to the authorities long ago."
If it weren't for a shop assistant telling him these past few days, He Yu would still be completely unaware that the person he always trusted had done so many shady things behind his back.
Upon hearing this, Shen Wan slumped into his chair. He knew he was doomed. Why did he have to provoke Shen Danru for no reason? Now, his boss was taking out all his anger on him.
If word got out that he had embezzled his employer's money, no shop would dare to hire him again.
In July, the rice grows tall, and golden ears of rice cover the earth, swaying gently in the breeze.
As soon as Shen Danru reached the east side of the city, he saw seven or eight people pulling up rice stalks.
These people, both men and women, were dressed in rags, their clothes patched up, and their faces filthy. They plucked ears of rice and threw them into their mouths to chew.
Qingtan stepped forward: "Who is it that dares to steal?"
The group was startled by the reprimand, but seeing that it was two young women, they didn't seem to take them seriously and continued pulling up the rice stalks.
Qingtan swung her sword, and the rice stalks in front of one of the men immediately snapped in half. The man was so frightened that he trembled and knelt down.
"Girl, spare me! Girl, spare me!"
Everyone else who witnessed this scene was too frightened to move.
"Girl, we don't want to ruin the crops, we just want to survive."
Shen Danru instructed Qingtan to close the sword.
"Auntie, judging from your accent, you're not a local from Ningzhou, are you?"
“We are from Zoucheng. There was a natural disaster there, and many people starved to death. We all came from Zoucheng to escape the famine.”
The old woman knelt down again, pleading, "Young lady, you are kind-hearted, please save us."
"How did you get here?"
One of the men replied, “We heard that there is a family named Shen in Sifang Town, Ningzhou City, who can cultivate land. We begged our way here. Along the way, other crops had not yet sprouted, but the crops here were already ripe. We were so hungry that we pulled up a few ears of rice. Please don’t be angry, young lady. We’ll leave now, we’ll leave now.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Danru understood what the elder brother was saying.
The rice in the Da Shun Dynasty is currently only grown in one season, but she uses early rice seeds, which can be harvested twice a year. After the rice is harvested, late rice can be planted.
Although the group was extremely hungry, the girl's sword was too sharp, and they were afraid that she might actually kill them if she got angry.
The group stood up and slowly left, glancing back every few steps.
"Miss, they are so pitiful, could we...?"
Qingtan's voice grew softer and softer.
She wanted to help people, but she couldn't implicate her mistress. These refugees were starving and terrifying; she'd heard they even ate people.
"You want to help them?"
Qingtan remained silent this time.
"That's not impossible."
“Miss, we don’t know these people. What if…”
“We can get them to sign a contract, and then we can build a farm. The rice is ripe now, and we need to hire people to harvest it. Why not give these people a way to make a living? We can provide them with food, lodging, and wages. I believe they will cherish this opportunity.”
“That is indeed a good idea, miss. I’ll go and call them back.”
Before the group had gone far, Qingtan, who was skilled in martial arts, caught up with them in no time.
“Our young lady is kind-hearted. She can provide you with food and lodging, and even pay you for your work. However, you will need to sign a contract. Are you willing to do so?”
Upon hearing this, the men immediately objected. They were all law-abiding citizens; if they sold themselves into servitude, they would be considered lowly, which would make them no different from cattle or beasts of burden.
"Girl, we don't sell ourselves, we'll work. Can you give us something to eat?"
Qingtan refused outright: "A contract must be signed, that's out of the question. But our young lady is always kind-hearted and would never hit or scold anyone. Please come back to us after you've thought it through."
After Qingtan finished speaking, she returned to Shen Danru's side without pausing for a moment.
Seeing Qingtan looking dejected, Shen Danru immediately smiled and said, "I know my sister is kind-hearted, so it's fine if they don't appreciate it."
"Forget it, miss. This is voluntary. If they don't want to, they can just wait to starve to death."
Shen Danru immediately pulled her to see the rice. The rice was growing so well, each grain was plump and golden, stretching as far as the eye could see, which made people feel happy just looking at it.
It is estimated that each mu can produce about 1,000 jin, and this 1,000 mu of land can produce a total of 10,000 shi of rice.
Shen Danru instructed people to plant cotton on the other thousand acres.
Rice yields were very low in this era, with a yield of about 300 to 400 jin per mu, or about 3 to 4 shi of rice. In the northern wastelands, the yield was even lower, with a yield of only 100 to 200 jin per mu.
If Dad knew, he would be so happy.
The two of them each plucked a few ears of rice, wanting to take them back to make their families happy.
"Ladies, we agree to sell ourselves."
Shen Danru and Qingtan turned around and were surprised to see that these people had returned.
“We thought that selling ourselves was better than starving to death. If the girl could really take us in, we were willing to sell ourselves.”
Seeing that the others had come to their understanding, Shen Danru nodded as well.
"There may be a misunderstanding, everyone. This contract is not a servitude agreement, but a contract that binds both of us. You will work for me, and I will pay you wages. Come with me. Right now, it's more important to have a good meal."
Upon hearing this, the men were overjoyed. It was even better if it wasn't a contract of servitude; it meant they were still law-abiding citizens.
They really met a living Buddha today; it seems their hard work was worthwhile.
Shen Danrue told them to get into the carriage, but no one moved.
The girl actually let them all get on the carriage, but they were so dirty. Didn't she really mind?
“My home is too far from here. You should come back with me first to fill your stomachs. Later, I will have my father build a manor here so that you can settle down.”
The group exchanged glances.
To build a village?
Is it true?
They all come from farming backgrounds and have spent their entire lives working with crops. If they could build a farm and still have to do farm work instead of serving others, that would be wonderful.
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