The village chief beamed with joy, truly delighted. The houses and homesteads that had been sitting idle for so long finally had a place to go, and the village's public accounts would receive an extra sum of money. It seemed that this group of people moving in wasn't entirely without its benefits.
He Jiuniang then asked, "May I ask the village chief, is there any fertile land in the village that is for sale? Or is there anyone in the village who wants to sell land?"
The village chief stroked his mustache and shook his head: "According to the current regulations, the village land cannot be sold at will. It must be reserved for the able-bodied men in the village. If you live in the village for three years and settle down, the able-bodied men will also be able to get land. However, there are just too many people here, so you won't get much. Besides, the place is relatively remote and it's not fertile land. You should be prepared!"
With so many people, he would have to go to the county government to apply for land for the village, but the surrounding villages would definitely not be willing to give up their land, so he could only apply for land in more remote areas, which was barely acceptable.
"As for the village, I don't know which family wants to sell their land yet. I'll ask around for you later, but I don't know how much you're willing to pay?"
No sooner had the village chief finished speaking than Sun replied arrogantly, "I'll take as many as you have!"
The village chief looked at her with some surprise. Could this woman really make the decisions?
It's one thing that no one stopped He Jiuniang from speaking, but now such a big decision as buying land can be made so casually?
Old Lu noticed the village chief's probing gaze and, thinking that he was about to lose face as the head of the household, hurriedly coughed and said, "Yes, yes, hehehe, what this old woman means is what I mean. With so many people in the family, we can only feel at ease if we buy more land."
Sun looked at the village chief with dissatisfaction. She found his patriarchal behavior extremely annoying. She, an old woman, had always been the head of the Lu family, hadn't she? What could that old man possibly know? Humph!
Old Lu touched his nose somewhat guiltily, and looked at Sun Shi with a slightly ingratiating smile, as if to say, "Give me some face in public."
Sun rolled her eyes, remaining silent with an air of arrogance.
This amused the three daughters-in-law, and the village chief was once again taken aback. How dare the daughters-in-law laugh at their parents-in-law like that?
This family is absolutely insane!
"Alright, I'll keep an eye out and ask around for you, but most people in our village don't have much land, so naturally there aren't many willing to sell."
The village chief broke the awkward silence, then, thinking of the problems they were facing, said, "Building the houses will take some time. If you have nowhere to live, you can ask the villagers to rent a house. Most families still have one or two empty rooms, but the rent is hard to say."
Those are rooms in someone else's house, much better than an empty house with no descendants. The rent for one room might be more expensive than the rent for an entire yard with no descendants.
But if that's the case, the Lu family will definitely have to live separately, as most families can't accommodate so many people.
He Jiuniang frowned, not wanting to be separated from her family.
Moreover, the feeling of living under someone else's roof is not pleasant.
Boss Lu asked, "Village chief, do you know if there are any vacant old houses in the village? If so, I'm willing to pay a higher price."
The village chief shook his head regretfully. These days, it's good enough for every household to have enough to eat, let alone have extra money to buy so many houses.
"In that case, my family will not rent it. We already have a plot of land, and it's the middle of summer anyway, so we can just build a few thatched huts to make do for a month or two."
He Jiuniang had made up her mind. Building a thatched hut was not difficult. If there were many people, it could be done in an afternoon. It just required some thatch and tarpaulin. The thatch would cover the top, and the tarpaulin would cover the sides. It would be a decent tent.
Anyway, after more than two months of living in the open, there couldn't be a more difficult environment. Sleeping in a straw hut was nothing.
The others, who were still hesitant about renting the villagers' houses, immediately chimed in after hearing He Jiu Niang's words: "That's right, we can just build a thatched shed and make do. There's no need to trouble the villagers."
The village chief, however, thought they were being ridiculous. What kind of nonsense was it for such a large group of people to live in a thatched hut? Wouldn't they be blown away by the wind?
"This...isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
The village chief offered some subtle reminders, but everyone blindly trusted He Jiuniang and thought the thatched hut was the best option.
Old Lu felt he had no right to speak and was afraid someone would interrupt him, so he hurriedly said to the village chief, "Could you please ask around for my family if they have any dried thatch? We want to buy some."
The village chief was speechless. "Seriously? It's one thing for an ignorant young woman to act recklessly, but are these men going to be just as unreliable?"
However, the village chief couldn't oversee a wider area, so he had no choice but to agree.
He Jiuniang very sensibly took out her purse, without even looking at how much money was inside, and stuffed it directly into the village chief's hand, smiling and saying, "Thank you for your trouble, village chief, to buy some candy for the children at home!"
The village chief weighed it in his hand; it should be full of copper coins, but it was heavy, probably several dozen coins.
Sun felt very sorry for He Jiu Niang, but she also knew that He Jiu Niang's approach was correct. They were newcomers and needed to get along well with the village chief, otherwise they would have a hard time in the village.
Moreover, the village chief wouldn't be willing to work hard if he didn't receive some benefits.
The village chief was genuinely curious about who was in charge of the family, but he secretly glanced over and found that no one had any objections, which meant that the woman's status in the family was indeed extraordinary. So he pretended to decline, saying, "No need for thanks, this is what I should do."
He Jiuniang smiled and pushed it back to him: "Village Chief, please accept it. We'll need your help a lot in the future!"
After a few exchanges, the village chief accepted the money bag and said with a smile, "Since that's the case, then I'll take it. Come on, I'll take you to see the house and the land first. If you want to build a thatched hut, you'd better hurry, or you won't have anywhere to sleep tonight!"
The group followed him out, but when they opened the door, they found many people standing outside. These were people the village chief had told them to leave but had come back.
"What are you doing? Go do what you're supposed to be doing!"
The village chief shooed them away, but everyone was thick-skinned, and someone stepped forward and asked, "Village chief, we're not doing much during the off-season, so let's join in the fun! Did they buy a plot of land for building houses?"
"None of your business!"
The village chief glared at him, ignored them, and then led the Lu family to see the house first.
It's definitely been in disrepair for years. It's filthy everywhere, covered in cobwebs, and even the thatch on the roof is broken. If you're not diligent, no one can stay here tonight.
But given the current conditions, everyone is already quite satisfied.
“Since you are paying rent, the money is in the village’s public account. I will send villagers to help you repair and tidy up, so don’t worry.”
The village chief, worried that they would look down on the dilapidated house and try to lower the price, smiled and spoke up.
Everyone nodded in agreement; it would be better if someone could help with the tidying up, as it would save them some effort.
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