Chapter 385: The Person is Missing

The two farms Zhulan bought were adjacent to each other. It only took half an hour to travel between the two farms, so she could complete all the farm affairs in one day.

Zhulan didn't want the original owner of the manor to tell the tenants that the manor had been sold. When Zhulan arrived, the adults in the manor were working in the fields.

Zhulan brought a lot of candies and cakes. She avoided the woman and found the children playing. Five children aged five or six were playing under the tree.

Zhulan signaled to Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er not to follow, as there were too many men and the children would be scared. Zhulan only took Liu Ya and the candy with her and walked over.

The five children were very reserved. At the age of five or six, they understood everything and had an impression of Zhulan.

Five children were pushing and shoving each other. The tallest little boy timidly stepped forward and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhulan smiled and said, "I like this manor very much, so I want to buy it."

The five children were terrified and wanted to run home to tell their families. Zhulan comforted them, "Don't worry, I will still rent out the house even if I buy it. But you need to answer a few questions for me."

The five children looked at each other. The older boy clenched his fists as if to encourage himself. "You say."

Zhulan found a stone to sit on and asked Liuya to distribute candies and cakes to the children. She waved to the children to sit down. After the children sat down, Zhulan asked, "The farm has a tenant leader. Is the tenant leader of your farm good to you?"

Several children were stunned for a moment, and some younger ones seemed to want to talk but stopped themselves.

Zhulan smiled and said, "You said it's okay."

The older boy pursed his lips in silence for a while before he spoke: "If he was not good, would you change him?"

"It's natural."

The boy made up his mind and said, "The Li family is not good. Every time they help the owner collect rent, they will collect extra grain. The extra grain is kept by my family. Moreover, I have to please them on weekdays. If I don't please them, they will say bad things to the steward. The owner of the manor rarely comes, so the steward is in charge. The steward accepted the benefits of the Li family, and my parents dared not say anything and could only endure it."

Dad said that even if we told the owner of the farm it would be useless because there were many tenants and they didn’t have to farm. The owner of the farm had no shortage of tenants to rent his land.

Zhulan looked at the little boy. In ancient times, children aged five or six were indeed more mature, but this child's conditioning was very clear. From the child's observation of adults, the education of adults was also good. "Who are the people in your family?"

The boy was a little wary, "Why are you asking this?"

Zhulan smiled and didn't need to ask any more questions. Several women came running over from a distance. They must be the mothers of these children.

Zhulan stood up and the five children hid behind the women. Zhulan looked at the mother of the boy who was talking. Although her clothes were old, she was very clean. Among the five children, the boy was the cleanest.

Zhulan said, "I have bought this manor. Go home and call all the heads of the households. By the way, the land will still be rented to you, so you don't have to be nervous or afraid."

The women breathed a sigh of relief and just had to continue renting out the land.

Zhulan returned to the yard of the manor. She looked around hastily last time, but this time she looked carefully. When she walked around and returned to the front yard, all the tenants of the manor had arrived.

There were twenty tenant households on the 200-mu farm. The amount of land rented by each household varied, with the largest being 20 mu and the smallest being 5 mu.

There were twenty men who were in charge of the tenant households. The oldest of them looked to be in their fifties or sixties, while the youngest was in his thirties.

Most people in their thirties have separated from their families and live on rented land.

Zhulan came and people in ancient times knew a lot more about tenants. Some tenants had been there for generations, some rented land and became tenants because their families were so poor that they split up, and some were refugees.

Zhulan saw that the person standing in the front was the leader of the tenants. When she was touring the house just now, she asked Zhou Laoer and housekeeper Ding to ask the nearby farmers. She did not believe everything the child said, but now she has found out the truth.

Zhulan motioned Zhou Laoer to come forward and handed the matter over to him. From then on, it was Zhou Laoer who dealt with the tenants.

Zhou Laoer suppressed his excitement and imitated his father, "This manor has changed its name, but the land will still be rented to you. It's just that the person in charge will change. In the future, the Wang family will be responsible for collecting rent. The Li family, who was in charge before, can still rent the land. As for why the Li family was replaced, I won't explain."

Zhulan looked at Zhou Laoer. She gave him the responsibility but did not tell him how to deal with the Li family. Zhou Laoer was indeed the most damaged one in the family. The whole village was dissatisfied with the Li family. The Li family would not have an easy life even if they rented the land. Without their fear-inducing identity, they would definitely return the anger they had suffered in the past to the Li family.

To put it bluntly, Zhou Laoer forced the Li family to leave on their own, and he even gained a reputation as a righteous man.

When tenant Li arrived, he knew that the new owner had inquired about him, so he knew that his job was over. He also knew that the farm was going to be sold, so he was ready. He stepped forward and said, "I have saved some money. I will buy some land to farm in the future and will not rent it."

Zhou Laoer smiled and said, "Okay."

Zhou Laoer paused and continued, "Then let's talk about the new rent of 40% to 60%."

Tenant Li was stunned, while the other tenants cheered happily.

Zhulan watched Zhou Laoer re-sign the deed, take care of the estate, and visit every household. Zhulan was quite satisfied with Zhou Laoer's ability to get things done.

We went to another farm in the afternoon, but Zhulan didn't care because the tenant of the other farm had not been changed.

The farm and the shop were all arranged. Zhulan asked Zhou Laoer to buy a lot of vegetables, mainly peppers, pumpkins, winter melons and some that could be stored. She also bought some fruits, such as longan and oranges.

There is seafood in Jinzhou, but they are all dried seafood, and Zhulan also bought a lot.

There were four more carriages ready for the journey, and most of them were filled with food.

Zhulan only had four hundred taels of silver left.

The boat back to the city was not sailing with the wind, so it was going slowly. It also stopped from time to time. Zhulan was a little anxious. She wanted to go home early. She missed Zhou Shuren, and she didn't know how Zhou Shuren was doing at home.

Along the way, she could write letters back, but she couldn't receive any letters from Zhou Shuren. Who made her hurry?

At noon, the ship docked again. Zhou Laoer couldn't stay on the ship any longer, so he asked and got off after two hours of docking.

Zhulan did not get off the boat but stood on the deck looking at the bustling port. Because the New Year was approaching, the port was bustling with people coming and going.

Zhulan suddenly narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, scaring Boss Zhou.

Boss Zhou hurriedly stopped her, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

Zhulan just wanted to see the person clearly, but Boss Zhou blocked her way. When she pushed Boss Zhou away, he had disappeared.

(End of this chapter)