Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 69 - 069 Home

Chapter 69: Chapter 069 Home

Village Chief He said, "One mu of land costs five taels of silver."

"Five taels!" Elder Mo was so angry that his beard curled up, "Why so expensive? Back in my old village, when we went to the government office to register land deeds, the government’s land cost would at most be two taels per mu, and wasteland only cost one tael of silver per mu. Why is the land in Da Feng Village so costly?"

Five taels of silver per mu of land is equivalent to half a year’s income for a peasant family. This is extortion.

Old Master Lu, who had been silent, said in a tone that was neither light nor heavy, "If you think it’s too expensive, you can move back to your old village."

His words were quite unpleasant, leaving Elder Mo with a green face from choking on his reply.

Mo Kui hurriedly pulled on Elder Mo, signaling him not to offend anyone.

Third Grandpa and the others knew that Da Feng Village wanted to intimidate them, so they kept a stern face and did not speak.

Seeing that the faces of the several families were not too good, Village Chief He then said, "This is the result of a discussion within the village. If you think it’s too expensive, or if silver coin is not convenient, you can also rent old houses in the village. We will give you a cheaper rate."

Old Master Lu frowned upon hearing this and spoke again, "If you want to buy land at the regular price, each household can give the village three taels of silver, and we will recognize you as one of the villagers."

Third Grandpa frowned, they were clearly trying to take a bite out of them.

Elder Qin said, "This isn’t a trivial matter; we need to go back and discuss it."

Village Chief He also felt that this was not very proper and nodded in agreement, "Alright."

Old Master Lu said, "Don’t take too long to discuss. Today is already the 25th of the lunar year. In a few days, it will be New Year. We don’t have the time to always be dealing with your families’ issues."

"Don’t worry, we will give the village a response at most in two hours," Elder Qin, a man of firm spirit, said coldly, and then led the men of several families away.

The two from the Mo Family also left with them.

After the men from several families returned and reported the situation, Aunt Tian cried out loud, "Why is our fate so miserable? It was not easy to settle down, and now there’s this cost and that. Where does our family have the silver coin?"

The Tian Family was the poorest among the several families. When the village decided to flee the famine, the Tian Family had to sell half their land to gather twenty-three taels of silver. After spending quite a bit along the way, now there were only two taels and three hundred coins left, utterly unable to produce three taels of silver.

Mrs. Chen was unwilling to spend this silver, cursing, "The people in Da Feng Village are really heartless, asking us for three taels of silver, are they bandits or what? I will not give the money; whoever wants to can give it."

Gu Dagui angrily said, "Keep your voice down. If others hear, do we still want to stay in this village?"

Third Grandpa’s hair turned whiter with worry and asked Elder Qin, "Brother Qin, what do you think?"

"It’s a loss, but it’s a loss we must take," Elder Qin said. "We are outsiders after all, always needing to step back first. Giving them the silver will let the people of Da Feng Village know that we want to stay and live a good life. After giving the silver, if the villagers dare to bully us again, then we need not endure anymore, we can fight back, or go to the government office to accuse them."

They could not just confront the villagers head-on upon arrival. This wouldn’t do; they had to swallow a loss first, to give the villagers some satisfaction. If there are any problems later, with today’s issue as a base, they could even argue in the government office.

Elder Qin looked at Uncle Tian and said, "Our family still has some spare money, we can lend some to your family without the need to rush to pay it back."

Uncle Tian’s eyes reddened, "Thank you, sir." Being able to borrow money meant his family could overcome this difficulty.

Third Grandpa’s family didn’t have much silver left, just enough for their own settlement. Seeing Elder Qin willing to lend money to the Tian Family, he heaved a sigh of relief and said to everyone, "Brother Qin is right, we need to step back first. If you have no objections, then let’s give the three taels of silver."

Several men nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Chen called out, "Why don’t we buy land? To build houses, we also need to buy land."

Gu Dagui said, "You foolish woman, buying land requires five taels of silver per mu. Since we’re going to live here permanently, we won’t be buying just this one mu of land. It’s only natural for each household to put in three taels of silver, and then buy the land at the normal price later on, which is more cost-effective."

Mrs. Chen thought about it and realized it was true. She stopped talking. However, she wouldn’t contribute any money; their family hadn’t split their property yet, so it would be up to Gu Dafu to pay.

After the people from several households had discussed and agreed, each household took out three taels of silver and gave them to Elder Qin, who then went with Third Grandpa to Village Chief He’s house to pay the money.

No one knew what Elder Qin said, but when he and Third Grandpa returned, they brought with them a piece of paper stating that these families were now on equal footing with the other villagers, complete with the village chief’s and several elders’ fingerprints.

With this piece of paper in hand, the people from the households could truly put their minds at ease.

After paying the silver coin, they were formally recognized by the village, and He Dacang came to invite the households to look at houses for rent. If they found any suitable ones, they could rent them until construction of their own houses could begin in the spring.

Third Grandpa and Elder Qin, along with the men from the households, followed He Dacang around half of the village. Eventually, they rented five mud courtyards grown over with wild grasses near the end of the village, close to Dafeng Mountain, at the rate of one hundred coins per month.

"There are still some good houses in the village, and they’re not expensive. You don’t have to rent these," He Dacang said, with his hands tucked into his cotton coat sleeves and stamping his feet to drive away the cold, not at all expecting that these families would be interested in these old houses at the edge of the village.

However, the men from the families thought this place was very good and politely declined He Dacang’s kindness.

Even though there were good houses in the village, they were scattered throughout, and since they had just arrived, the families must stick together and not be dispersed. Only these old houses were connected, so they had to rent here.

The men gave He Dacang three months’ worth of rent and, after getting the keys to the five mud courtyards, hurried back to move their belongings.

The women had already started packing while the men were out looking at the houses. Upon their return, they began moving their belongings towards the end of the village.

The Mo Family rushed out to see them off.

Elder Mo and Mo Kui panted as they caught up with them. "Did you families give three taels of silver to Da Feng Village? How could you be so foolish?"

If their families had given, and the Mo Family did not, wouldn’t they be driven out of the village?

Elder Qin said to Elder Mo, "Our contribution is our business. Whether the Mo Family contributes is up to you to discuss. We’re leaving now; we’re in a hurry to move." After saying this, he stopped paying attention to Elder Mo and quickly walked away.

The families quickly arrived at the five mud courtyards at the end of the village.

These five mud courtyards were quite large, each with roughly three main rooms and two side rooms. Thus, households with fewer people would share one courtyard between two families.

Gu Jinli’s house and Third Grandpa’s Family chose to live together in the second-to-last courtyard.

To the left of her house, which was the very last mud courtyard, lived the Qin family, who lived there by themselves and didn’t join with another family.

To the right were the Luo Family and Tian Family. Beyond them lived Gu Damu with his family and further on lived the brothers Gu Dafu and Gu Dagui with their families.

After moving into the courtyards, the families immediately started cleaning up the houses, thoroughly sweeping the moldy and damp rooms, and also cleared a lot of the wild grass in the courtyards to create a small path.

Gu Jinli brought out some mugwort and distributed it to the families, instructing them to use it to fumigate the houses.

After the houses had been fumigated once, most of the musty smell was gone. After laying down straw mats and old cotton quilts, the places finally began to feel a bit like home.

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