Chapter 33: Forcing the Shen Family to Build a House [VIP]
After the children spread the news that the Shen family was harvesting soybeans, the small village of Xiahe was in an uproar.
The Shen family's courtyard was crowded with people, all of whom came to find out whether the news was true or not.
Shen Qingshan, leaning on his crutches, stopped the villagers outside and shouted, "If you want to sell beans, go home this afternoon and bring them back to my house to be weighed. It's one cent and five pounds. If anyone can't do the math, ask these kids for help."
The children stood in a row from shortest to tallest in front of the Shen family's fence, each holding a sandbox in high spirits.
When everyone learned that the Shen family was really buying soybeans, they were very grateful to them. If they were not concerned about Shen Qingshan's leg problems, some men would have come forward to give him a hug.
After everyone left, Chen Yao said goodbye to her parents and went to the home of Village Head Zhao.
Outside the Zhao family courtyard, Chen Yao was hesitating whether to go in.
Why hesitate?
Because Zhao Liangshun's house looked like it had been attacked by bandits. The window paper was torn and there were a few scattered clods of earth lying in the yard.
"Ouch - you're going to kill me if you can't be gentler!" Zhao Liangshun sat on the chair with his head held high, letting his old wife rub the big bump on his forehead with medicinal wine.
Mrs. Xu looked at the large swelling on his forehead and rubbed it while cursing, "These people are truly heartless. You didn't bully them, so why are you taking it out on us?"
Look at what a mess the house has become.
"Dad, I'm going to investigate this matter and find out who did it." Zhao Xiaofu sat aside and couldn't swallow this breath. He already had a suspect in his mind.
Yesterday in the drying yard, he saw two people trying to kill his father.
"So what if they find out? It's easy to kill these tenant farmers, but who will farm the abandoned fields?" Zhao Liangshun raised his hand to signal his wife to stop rubbing. He looked at his only son and earnestly advised, "Xiaofu, it's our responsibility to keep an eye on them farming and harvesting the crops."
Zhao Liangshun raised his hand and touched the wound, grimacing in pain.
It is his job, and he uses his servants' job to put pressure on himself.
Zhao Xiaofu felt stuffy in the room and it was difficult for him to talk calmly with his parents. He picked up the hemp paper and tung oil on the table, stood up and walked out.
"Brother Xiaofu?" Chen Yao raised her hand awkwardly and greeted the person who came out.
Zhao Xiaofu's face was long: "What's the matter with you coming to see my father?"
Chen Yao took a step forward and looked up at him: "Brother Xiaofu, are you guys okay? Do you want to report to the police? I know a yamen runner, he——"
Zhao Xiaofu suddenly leaned over and approached Shen Yao, frightening her so much that she stumbled back before she could finish her words.
"Is this the request you made when you came to my father today?" The Shen family sent the children in the village to inform the villagers about the soybean harvest, and they heard it while sitting at home.
The Shen family had good intentions and did good things, but those tenant farmers were afraid that they would get the advantage and then curse her family behind their backs for being stupid and having too much money.
Zhao Xiaofu felt sorry for Shen Yao, but it had nothing to do with him.
"No, I came here today to ask your father about the rent increase and see if I can use money to pay the rent." Chen Yao puffed out her cheeks and looked at Zhao Xiaofu, "Brother Xiaofu, we have been neighbors for more than ten years. Don't always think the worst of me."
Zhao Xiaofu sneered, not knowing whether to praise Chen Yao for being too naive or too stupid to have never seen the evil in the world. He stood under the broken window of his house, brushing tung oil and changing hemp paper.
Zhao Liangshun had already put on his melon-shaped hat after Shen Yao entered the room, but the big bump on his forehead could not be covered and the hat made it hurt even more.
Just throw it aside.
When Zhao Liangshun learned that Chen Yao wanted to pay the rent with silver, he fell into deep thought. This was not a matter he could decide, so he did not give in.
So Chen Yao began to persuade him with emotion and reason.
"Head of the village, Zheng doesn't understand how much grain we can harvest from one mu of land in Xiahe Village. Don't you understand that we harvested two dan before the New Year, which has already reduced the labor force in the village. If we can't pay the rent with silver, I'm afraid the village will be deserted next year."
"If no one farms, these fertile fields will go to waste. It's not worth it."
Chen Yao sat on the chair, leaning forward slightly, talking until her mouth was dry, but Zhao Liangshun remained unmoved.
Mrs. Xu knew that it was not easy for a girl like Chen Yao to be busy with housework every day, so she poured her a glass of water.
"Thank you, Auntie." Chen Yao drank it all in one gulp and watched Zhao Xiaofu change the window paper and go into the house. "Brother Xiaofu, you read a lot, what do you think?"
Zhao Xiaofu brushed off the paper scraps on his body and said, "Sister Ayao, if you want my father to do something for you, don't try to scare him with words. How can there be no one to farm? Aren't those convicts digging canals human beings?"
Chen Yao frowned: "But how would they know how to farm?"
Zhao Liangshun didn't respond. He felt dizzy and stood up from the table, wanting to go back to his room and lie down. "Let me think about this first. Go back."
Chen Yao was unwilling, but Xu had already asked her son to see her off, so she couldn't be so shameless as to stay.
But before leaving, Zhao Xiaofu suddenly closed the door and asked her, "Didn't you plant winter wheat? If it survives, it shouldn't be a problem to rent your house three shi of wheat next year. Why bother about other people's lives?"
Seeing Chen Yao standing there with her mouth open,.
This guy is really stupid enough.
It might be a great turning point for his family, and what he wants might come true.
Zhao
When Chen Yao reluctantly returned home, the hemp ropes and radishes in the yard had filled several winnowing baskets and were placed under the porch to drain.
Those who came to help went back to their homes and waited until the afternoon to come to her house to sell soybeans.
"Ayao, how is it? Did the village chief agree?" Huang Mei and Miao asked, holding her hands.
Chen Yao shook her head and told everyone that Zhao Liangshun said he would consider it, but she looked at the possibility that he would not agree to pay the rent in silver.
Seeing his daughter's dejected expression, Shen Qingshan advised, "If you don't agree, then don't agree. As long as you have money and can't buy food, there will always be a way. I don't believe that a living person can be suffocated to death by urine."
"That's right, cousin, uncle is right." Tian Baolai will stay today to help maintain order and learn a little bit, because he will go to his house to work as a temporary collection point tomorrow.
When Huang Xing heard her husband swearing in front of the children, she quickly nudged him with her elbow and also advised her daughter not to worry, saying that they would still be selling silk in the spring.
The same applies to using money to buy food and then paying it as rent.
Chen Yao glanced at her family and regrouped. As long as she could harvest wheat twice a year and implement the plan next year, she would be able to solve the current problem.
There is indeed no need to waste time on internal affairs now.
After thinking this through, Chen Yao looked up and pointed at the cabbages on the rope: "Mom, when are we going to pickle the vegetables?"
Huang Xing was happy to see her daughter cheer up again: "Tomorrow, wait until the vegetable stems are softened by drying them. Your cousin will buy some salt tonight, and then we can pickle them."
"Okay!"
In the afternoon, just as the Shen family set up the tables, chairs and benches in the yard and took out the beam scale, villagers began to come to the door one after another.
Luo Dunzi stood beside the adults and shouted at Chen Yao, "Sister Yao, my family wants to sell fifty kilograms of soybeans, and we can sell them for ten copper coins."
"Well, Luo Dunzi, line up and don't make a fuss. When it's your turn, go to the scale and pay." Tian Baolai picked up Luo Dunzi and saw him kicking in the air. He threatened in a low voice, "If you don't obey, I'll tell Teacher Shen."
Luo Dunzi looked at Chen Yao who was busy in the crowd, and had no choice but to follow his father to line up obediently.
"Uncle Zheng, your family has 222 kilograms. You can take these two kilograms home." Chen Yao stood behind her uncle and looked at the scale, then reported the quantity to Old Zheng.
The two boys who came with Old Zheng took the empty sack and the two pounds of beans and said a little embarrassedly, "Ayao, then you can calculate how much we can sell them for."
Just as Chen Yao was about to open her mouth, she heard Old Zheng staring at her intently with his hands behind his back, "Calculate the bill carefully for me. Don't make a mistake in calculating the bill for my family. I won't tolerate it if you make a mistake even by a penny or two."
"Dad——" The two boys felt embarrassed after hearing this.
Old Zheng was too lazy to pay attention to his two sons.
Chen Yao looked at the queue and pulled a few students over: "Come here, Grandpa Zheng doesn't know how to count. Now they have sold 220 catties of beans, and beans cost 1.5 cents. How many copper coins should I give him?"
The kids all took out the sandbox they had prepared long ago, held branches in their hands, and buried their heads in the sandbox to list the formulas, reciting the formulas silently.
After counting everything one by one, they all looked at Chen Yao.
"Tell me, how much?"
The children all said in unison: "Teacher Shen, it's forty-four cents!"
Oh--
Someone in the crowd gasped.
Some of those who were good at counting were still counting on their fingers, while others suspected that the children had made a mistake in their calculations, otherwise how could they have figured it out so quickly.
Chen Yao smiled and said that those adults who thought her students had calculated incorrectly could calculate it themselves if they didn't believe it.
When the results were calculated, exclamations arose one after another.
"That's right, it's forty-four wen."
"Ah, these kids are so young, and they already know how to settle accounts!"
"That's amazing! The calculations are fast and accurate. If I had known earlier, I would have let my child learn from him. Ayao, can you still come?"
The yard was filled with noise and people were talking about all sorts of things.
The little kids who were praised straightened their chests and looked at their parents.
When Boss Luo heard the villagers praising his son's intelligence, he felt very proud. He had already made up his mind to send more dry firewood to the Shen family in the future so that the Shen family would not have to worry about firewood when doing business in winter.
Other parents think so too.
"Uncle Zheng, please keep the money and don't let it fall out." Chen Yao untied the money string and counted out forty-four copper coins and handed them over.
When Old Zheng held the forty-four copper coins, his hands were still shaking, and he refused to accept the teasing from Chen Yao.
"Don't be so mean and proud. I have eaten more salt than you, girl, have eaten brown rice." Old Zheng waved his hand, grinned, and led his two sons home with a happy face.
Several households queuing behind also sold their beans and received the money.
Except for Zhou Dashun's family, which is adjacent to the Shen family, because they had a quarrel with each other before and could not stand the Shen family's behavior, they often made trouble behind the back. His family could not bring themselves to curry favor with the Shen family for a few copper coins.
Because Luo Dunzi and other children brought honor to their parents in the village, they were loved by their parents when they returned home, and their parents became more determined to study hard in the future.
So every night when the Little Sun Kindergarten class starts, many children from the village gather outside.
The children held the sandbox and squatted in the corridor, looking into the house eager to learn. Yang Wenying and Shen Yao felt sorry for them.
Two days later, more than a dozen families in the village sent their heads of households with gifts to ask the Shen family to expand their houses so that their children could go to school.
Even if everyone had to throw mud bricks together and each family had to contribute a handful of wheat straw, the Shen family had to build another house so that the children could sit in it and study.
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