Chapter 384: Choking

At the Zhou family in Lizhou City, Zhou Shuren got the jewelry that he had ordered. He did not waste some of the scraps and polished them into jade pendants and hairpins to match Zhulan's headpiece. He also had the remaining scraps polished and would wait for Zhulan to come back and inlay them according to her preferences.

Zhou Shuren looked at the jade pendant on the side of his head and the shrewd Mr. Zhou smiled foolishly. They were a couple. This realization inspired Zhou Shuren that in the future, everything he wore would be a couple with Zhulan.

Zhou Shuren cut the jade gifted by the emperor to make jewelry. This move made people in the city feel inexplicably choked. It could obviously be a family heirloom, but Lord Zhou carved a piece of jewelry for his own wife!

The men sighed with emotion, saying that Lord Zhou was truly a romantic man. This time they were completely convinced and convinced. If it were them, they would definitely carve it into a family heirloom and pass it down from generation to generation!

The women tore several handkerchiefs to shreds, their eyes red with jealousy.

Mr. Chen's wife, Ms. Hua, has been very irritating to her husband for several days and even spoke in a sarcastic tone.

Mr. Chen, "........"

Lord Zhou has caused them so much trouble!

Zhou Shuren was not idle at home at all, and continued to attract hatred from Zhulan!

The next morning, Zhulan had breakfast and got on the carriage prepared by the pawnshop to see the manor. The manor was some distance away from Jinzhou City and took an hour's journey.

Zhulan didn't feel the ride was that bumpy. She found that the roads in the south were well-maintained, unlike the north where the land is vast and sparsely populated and the roads are full of potholes and unmaintained.

When she arrived at the place, Zhulan saw the tenants in the manor.

The clerk introduced respectfully, "Ms. Yang, all these houses belong to the owner of the manor. These tenants not only rent the land but also the house of the owner."

Zhulan had never thought about buying a manor while hiding her identity. If she didn't reveal her identity, not only would the thugs bully her, but local officials would also bully her. Who can afford to buy a manor? She asked, "How do they calculate the rent?"

Yazi explained: "30% to 70%."

Zhulan thought it was quite unfair. 70% went to the owner of the farm, and the tenants only got 30%. They also had to pay rent for the houses every year. If there were many children in the family, even if they could grow crops for two seasons in the south, it would not be enough to feed them.

Yazi continued, "There are some kind-hearted landlords who split the profits 40% to 60%, but they are very rare."

Zhulan said she understood. She saw many children looking at her timidly and some women had worried expressions on their faces.

Zhulan knew that many officials would not rent out the farms they bought to tenants. Instead, they would buy a family of servants to manage the farms, and hire temporary workers to do farming and harvesting.

These tenants were afraid that Zhulan would buy the farm and stop renting out the land. Not only would they lose their land, they would also lose their place to live.

The clerk led the way to the front gate of the courtyard, opened the gate, and introduced: "This is the courtyard where the master lives. Although the owner of the manor does not often live here, there are always people taking care of the courtyard. There are ponds and rockeries in the courtyard, and the scenery is pretty good. Because the owner of the manor is short of money, the house is equivalent to being half-sold and half-given away."

Zhulan looked at the front yard. Each house in Jiangnan has its own unique scenery. The layout of the house is also very good. There is also a attic in the backyard. Zhulan liked it at first sight.

Yazi saw it all and knew that half of the plan was done, and he dared not fool the official's wife.

Afterwards, Zhulan went to look at the fields. The farm had 150 mu of dry land and 50 mu of paddy fields, in which they raised fish.

Along the way, Zhulan met many tenants working in the fields. They all stopped and looked at Zhulan and others. Some were panicked, some were frightened, and they were all confused about the future.

Zhulan knew that some tenants lived better than self-cultivating households, but after all, they had no family background and had to rely on outsiders. Once they could no longer rent land, the tenants would panic.

Zhulan then looked at two more manors of 200 mu each. Among the three manors, only one had no tenants.

Zhulan was efficient in her work. There was no need to delay. Besides, she was an official's wife. Zhou Shuren's name was really useful. Everyone knew that the new runner-up went to Lizhou City. The changes in Lizhou City were basically known by word of mouth, especially among officials.

No one dared to fool Zhulan when it came to buying a house, so she bought two houses with tenants, one in Zhou Shuren's name and the other in her own name.

Zhou Laoer went to do it, and he did not ask too many questions. In his father's heart, he did not care if it was all in his mother's name. He gave a discount of 4,400 taels for the two estates. Including the money paid to the pawnbroker and the money for exchanging the deeds, the total cost was 4,550 taels. He was originally worried that his mother had already spent a lot of silver and was afraid that the silver would not be enough. But when his mother gave him the silver, he saw that there was still a lot left in the box.

Zhou Laoer warned himself that he must please his mother. He only calculated the money on the account in the mansion. He had no idea how much his mother had in her hands. Whether the family was divided in the future or his parents passed away, his mother would be the one to make the decision. The money registered in his mother's name and reported to the government was a dowry, and his mother could give it to whoever she wanted!

Zhulan didn’t know about Zhou Laoer’s little thoughts. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t care. Just don’t make her angry. If you make her angry, she will definitely act capriciously when she is dying.

Zhulan had less than five thousand taels of silver left in her hand, and she was not planning to buy a farm. She was very optimistic about the location of Jinzhou City, where she could earn a stable income regardless of drought. The rents of shops in Jinzhou City were the most stable.

What the Zhou family lacked was a stable income, so she planned to use the remaining money to buy a shop.

Zhulan asked Zhou Laoer to inquire about the price of the shop. The shops in Jinzhou City are expensive. According to modern calculations, a shop of 60 square meters costs 400 taels, and that's not even in a good location. A shop of 60 square meters in a good location can cost up to 500 taels. The shop rents are also very attractive. A shop of 60 square meters in a good location can cost 60 taels a year, and a shop in a worse location can cost 40 taels a year.

Zhulan did not buy large shops, only small ones. Some were only shops facing the street, and some had small backyards where people could live. She bought eight shops in one go, but only two were in good locations, as the others were in decent locations.

The total cost was four thousand taels, including the benefits and taxes on the deed.

Zhulan still had more than six hundred taels of silver left.

Of the eight shops, two in good locations were under Zhou Shuren's name, and the remaining six were under Zhulan's name.

This time even the shrewd Zhou Laoer was stunned. His mother brought out 12,000 taels of silver, and including his own land and properties, my God, he actually had so much money!

At the same time, Zhou Laoer's eyes sparkled. All the money here was earned by his mother. It was his mother's idea to buy and sell houses several times. When would he be able to learn his mother's skills?

Zhulan bought a shop and re-signed a contract with the merchant who rented the shop to collect money at the end of each year.

After taking care of the shop, Zhulan prepared to meet the tenants. She bought the shop with the intention of continuing to rent it out, but she wanted to meet the tenant's head. If she liked the shop, she could continue to use it, otherwise she would replace it.

(End of this chapter)