Chapter 946: Master Jiang's Idea

Master Jiang thought for a moment and asked Shu Yu, "What do you plan to grow on this land after you purchase it?"

"We'll know once it's grown, won't we?"

Master Jiang knew she wasn't willing to disclose her plans, and he didn't insist. Instead, he said, "Considering that you've surveyed the surroundings, you should know the condition of the soil. I told Brother Lu yesterday that this land is not suitable for growing crops."

"I didn't plan on growing crops." Well, sunflower seeds could be considered a type of grain, right? It just wasn't the type Master Jiang had in mind.

Master Jiang pursed his lips. "Since you have an idea in mind, I'll be frank. The crop yield on this land is not high, so the tenant farmers have been unable to pay their rent for the past few years. Some of them have even terminated their lease, but others have no choice and continue to rent, making their lives extremely difficult. I've been in contact with them for several years, and I feel a sense of responsibility. Since you're buying this land, regardless of what you plan to grow, I thought it would be best to prioritize renting the land to them."

Shu Yu contemplated the situation. This Master Jiang was not just an unscrupulous merchant.

However...

"But I don't intend to rent out the land."

Master Jiang furrowed his brows. "Are you planning to cultivate the entire land by yourself?"

Shu Yu smiled. "With over a hundred mu of land, even if I had eight hands, it wouldn't be enough. I plan to cultivate and manage the land collectively. Therefore, I will only hire workers and not rent out the land."

Master Jiang fell silent. The other party had a purpose for buying the land, and he couldn't force them.

Unexpectedly, Shu Yu continued, "However, just as my uncle said, this place is in the middle of nowhere, far from the village and without any nearby shops. It's just the original tenant farmers who still live in the vicinity."

Master Jiang raised his head abruptly. "Are you planning to hire them as workers?"

That would work too. Renting out the land wasn't necessarily better than hiring workers, especially since this land couldn't yield much in terms of crops.

If the landowner hired them as workers, they could still earn some money, and perhaps their lives would improve.

Shu Yu shook her head. "Don't get too excited just yet. I do intend to hire them as workers, but it's not possible to hire all of them."

"That's alright. Hiring one family should be fine."

"May I inquire how many tenant families there are in total?"

Master Jiang thought for a moment. "There were originally around thirty households in this estate, both in the front and back. But some people saw poor harvests, so some went to find work in the city, and others rented land elsewhere. Now there are still around twenty households left."

So, hiring one family per household was feasible. With such a large area of land, regardless of the crop, it wouldn't be possible to avoid employing at least twenty people.

Shu Yu actually needed to hire more than twenty people. Although sunflowers were low-maintenance during their growth period, harvesting the fruits would be a huge project.

Moreover, with such a large piece of land, before it grew, who knew if someone would hide in it and steal the sunflower seeds? The sunflowers grew so tall that even a dozen people hiding inside might not be noticed.

So, hiring workers alone would require a considerable number of guards.

But she wouldn't hire workers just based on Master Jiang's suggestion, nor would it be fair to choose one family from each household.

After pondering for a moment, Shu Yu said to Master Jiang, "Alright, take me to visit those tenant families. If everything is fine, I'll agree to your condition, and we'll proceed with the transaction at one thousand four hundred taels."

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 Chapter 79: Abandonment

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 Chapter 450: Ink Paste

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 Chapter 449: Teaching and Learning

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  Chapter 172: Punishing the Absurdity of the New House (6)

Now, Wang Dali and the others had only been beaten, and after a period of rest, they would bounce back as if nothing had happened. Whenever the villagers saw them, they would remember the disgusting things they had done and remind themselves not to trouble the Mo family.

This was exactly the effect Mo Yan wanted to achieve with her scheme!

In the blink of an eye, it was the sixth day of the sixth month, the day when the main beam of the Mo family's new house was raised. This was the first major celebration for the Mo family since they fled to the capital, and they attached great importance to it.

Before the official raising of the beam, almost half of Liuyang Village's residents had gathered. Not only was there excitement to witness, but after the ceremony, according to tradition, the Mo family would distribute candies, steamed buns, and other treats, which were irresistible temptations for the villagers.

The topping-out ceremony in Da Chu was very grand. Even ordinary families would go through the five procedures of "offering to the beam," "raising the beam," "receiving the beam," "throwing the beam," and "waiting for the craftsmen" to pray for the firmness of the house and a blissful life.

In front of the main hall, the altar had been set up. It was filled with offerings such as incense, pork, fish, chicken, goose, eggs, tofu, and candles.

Before raising the beam, offering to the beam was an indispensable procedure. Mo Qingze personally stepped forward and, together with Master Lu and the others, lifted the main beam, which was covered with red paper, to the front of the altar. Then, Master Lu presided over the offering ceremony. He looked solemn, chanting obscure sacrificial words while offering wine.

After the offering ceremony, the craftsmen tied ropes to the main beam and had several people on the roof pull it up. At this moment, firecrackers sounded, and Master Lu sang the topping-out song on the roof, shouting, "Topping out, good luck!"

After the main beam was firmly in place, Mo Qingze, the head of the family, placed the "Five Grains Colored Bag" sent by well-wishing families in the village, containing red dates, peanuts, rice, wheat, and evergreen leaves, in the center of the beam. Then, he covered the beam with red cloth, symbolizing a bountiful harvest of the five grains.

After the topping-out ceremony, it was time for the "receiving the package" ritual. Master Lu wrapped auspicious fruits and other items in red cloth and, while speaking words of blessing, threw the cloth-wrapped bundles into the basket held by Mo Qingze, symbolizing the reception of treasures and a lifetime of wealth and nobility.

The most lively part of the entire topping-out ceremony was undoubtedly the "throwing the beam" ritual.

Before "throwing the beam" began, the villagers crowded forward because this ritual involved throwing candies, peanuts, steamed buns, copper coins, and other items prepared by the Mo family from the beam, and whoever caught them would keep them.

Seeing so many people coming to grab the items, Mo Yan happily held her siblings' hands. The more people who joined the scramble, the more it meant that wealth would flow into their home.

Although there was no scientific basis, raising the beam was just for good luck and liveliness!

However, seeing the crowd pushing and shoving, with people occasionally being knocked down, Mo Yan frowned and said to Mo Qingze, who had a flushed face beside her, "Dad, let's postpone the 'throwing the beam' for now. Let's separate these people by gender and age first. It's not good if someone gets injured in the crowd."

There were simply too many people, and there were still many more pushing forward. Adults might be fine, but children were easily knocked down. If any accidents happened on such a joyous day, it would be very unlucky.

Mo Qingze understood Mo Yan's concerns and quickly shouted to the people at the front, "Don't push, everyone, don't push!"

Then, he asked Lin Yong and others standing nearby to help separate the villagers by gender and age.

Knowing the Mo family's concerns, and seeing how crowded it was, the villagers cooperated and went to their designated areas.

The children were surrounded by other children, so when it came time to grab things, it was a fair competition. They were extremely happy, feeling that the Mo family was really kind to take care of them!

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 Chapter 945: A Condition

Lu Sanzhu felt that the look Shu Yu gave him earlier was an affirmation, and he became even more motivated.

"This land can't be considered prime land. Eight taels per mu would be more than enough." Although he hadn't carefully examined it earlier, when bargaining, it was necessary to come up with as many reasons as possible.

"And this estate of yours, it does look new and well-built, but three to four mu of land isn't that much, is it? In our village, every house has a yard with three to four mu of land."

Shu Yu: "..." Third Uncle, that's an exaggeration.

Lu Sanzhu became more enthusiastic as he spoke. "Moreover, the location of your house is in the middle of nowhere, far from the village and without any nearby shops. The best houses in the county only cost a few hundred taels. You can't think we're unaware of the world and just randomly set the price high."

Seeing him confidently speaking and even giving her a signal afterward, Shu Yu felt like laughing.

But she restrained herself and nodded slightly with a serious expression. "Master Jiang, what my uncle said represents my opinion as well. One thousand eight hundred taels is indeed too high."

Master Jiang frowned tightly. In truth, Lu Sanzhu was not wrong. The soil quality of this land was not good, and eight taels of silver per mu was already pushing the limit.

However, he had invested several years of effort into this place, and the crops had been yielding losses. He wanted to make up for those losses.

Otherwise, he would have worked in vain for the past four to five years, and he wouldn't accept that.

Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Then, how much are you willing to offer?" After a pause, he added, "Actually, if you buy this estate, I'll include the furniture and some valuable items as well. You won't be at a loss."

Lu Sanzhu's heart raced, and he immediately wanted to speak.

But Shu Yu had already extended her hand. "One thousand four hundred taels. That's the most I can offer."

Lu Sanzhu silently closed his mouth. That was a reduction of four hundred taels. They definitely wouldn't agree to that.

As expected, Master Jiang shook his head. "That's too low." In that case, did it mean that his estate was worth only six hundred taels?

Shu Yu sighed. "I'm sorry, Master Jiang. I don't have much money on hand, and that's my limit. If you can't accept it, then we'll have to look elsewhere. Although I like this estate, it seems that it's not meant to be."

She clasped her hands in front of Master Jiang. "Thank you for your time. Goodbye."

After saying that, she turned and began to walk away with her companions.

Lu Sanzhu couldn't bear it. Just as they were about to walk out of the gate, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Ah Yu, are we really leaving? If you don't have enough money, these two hundred taels..."

Da Niu quickly interjected, "Third Uncle, listen to Ah Yu."

Lu Sanzhu rolled his eyes at him.

Just as the group was about to reach the gate, they heard Master Jiang's voice from behind. "Miss Lu, please wait."

Shu Yu and Da Niu exchanged a smile, while Lu Sanzhu curled his lip. As expected, this seemingly inexperienced Master Jiang was no match for Ah Yu.

Shu Yu turned back and asked, "Is there something else, Master Jiang?"

Master Jiang gritted his teeth. "The price can still be negotiated."

Shu Yu sighed. "I truly am tight on funds. One thousand four hundred taels is my limit."

Master Jiang fell into silence for a long time before finally taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He said, "One thousand four it is, but I have a condition."

A condition? Negotiating the price was one thing, but how could there be conditions?

"Go ahead and tell me. If it's something I can't do, then there's nothing I can do."

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  Chapter 171: Punishing the Absurdity of the New House (5)

Cai Shi hesitated for a moment. "I would chase them away. Even if there's a lot of meat in the house, there's no reason to let the dogs snatch it every day."

Mo Yan continued to inquire, "Would you scare the stray dogs away with a stick, or would you directly beat them to teach them a lesson, so they never come back to steal meat again?"

At this point, Cai Shi finally understood Mo Yan's meaning. Wang Dali and the others, greedy for the silver in Mo's family, shamelessly came to demand compensation. They were just like those stray dogs eyeing the meat.

Demanding five hundred taels of silver at once, wasn't that insatiable? Such people needed a thorough lesson, or they would keep causing endless trouble in the future.

With a sense of relief on her face, Cai Shi said, "Miss Mo, I misunderstood you. People like Wang Dali deserve a lesson to learn some manners."

Mo Yan smiled back. She admired Cai Shi and might need her help in the future. She didn't want this incident to create any grudges in Cai Shi's heart, affecting their future interactions.

Lin Yong, who had remained silent throughout, looked at Mo Yan with satisfaction. He had always worried that Mo Yan's kindness would make her an easy target for malicious people. Now, it seemed he had underestimated her.

When Mo Qingze returned, Mo Yan explained everything that had happened and the intention behind trapping Wang Dali and the others.

Mo Qingze remained silent for a moment, then picked up the papers and sighed, "It's not appropriate for a young girl like you to go to the yamen. Stay at home and leave this matter to me."

Mo Yan chuckled secretly upon hearing this. She had been worried that her father wouldn't agree with what she had done!

The next day, Mo Yan stayed obediently at home, teaching Zhen'er how to read. When Li Zhong returned in the afternoon, she informed him that several constables from the yamen had arrested Wang Dali and the others and thrown them into prison, awaiting trial.

Within two days, the magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture held a trial for Wang Dali and the others on charges of extorting two thousand taels of silver from the Mo family. Wang Dali and the others pleaded 'innocent,' claiming that the five hundred taels of silver were given to them voluntarily by the Mo family and they didn't extort it.

However, the magistrate paid no attention to their defense. The evidence clearly showed why the Mo family had given them the silver. Only a fool would believe they were given five hundred taels of silver for nothing.

Ultimately, with both evidence and witnesses, Wang Dali and the others were convicted of extortion and were each given thirty strokes of the paddle.

Initially, they would have faced several more years in prison due to the large amount they extorted. However, Mo Qingze, following Mo Yan's wishes, pleaded for leniency, stating that they had families to support and he didn't want their loved ones to suffer. As long as they returned the extorted silver, he wouldn't pursue the matter further.

With the victims not pressing charges, the magistrate was also relieved. After Wang Dali and the others' relatives returned the extorted silver to Mo Qingze, they carried the four men, bruised and bloodied from the beating, back home.

Many villagers had come to watch the excitement at the yamen. Seeing Wang Dali and the others wailing and howling after being beaten, and even losing the strength to cry afterwards, they were all frightened.

Those who had harbored ill intentions towards the Mo family no longer dared to plot anything, fearing they might end up like Wang Dali.

Mo Yan didn't continue to pursue the matter because these four men were pillars of their families. If they were really sent to prison, their families would undoubtedly suffer greatly.

It's human nature to sympathize with the weak. If the villagers sympathized with them, it would inevitably lead to resentment towards the Mo family. Mo Yan naturally couldn't allow such a thing to happen if they wanted to settle down in Liuyang Village.

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