Chapter 42: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 42: Dividing Land and Building Houses
There are many refugees gathered in the north of the city, and there are also many within the city. However, those who can enter the city are mostly either wealthy or well-connected individuals, so it's not difficult for them to settle and establish themselves within the city.
Ordinary rural households can only obediently follow the arrangements of the government, being relocated to villages under the jurisdiction of the capital region. Those with money can purchase some good farmland, while those without have to put more effort into cultivating the allocated barren land provided by the government, which can still sustain their livelihood.
Currently, the Mo family has over a thousand taels of silver, which is quite a considerable sum. With luck, they could find suitable houses and shops within the city to settle down, and their funds would be sufficient for that. However, neither Mo Yan nor Mo Qingze wants to pursue that path.
Mo Yan feels that with her ability to manipulate space, becoming prosperous would be much easier compared to others. However, she needs to conceal the secret of her space, which requires buying land and farming to provide a cover.
On the other hand, Mo Qingze believes that human nature is too complex, and it's easy to fall into traps set by others. He is not adept at business, and it's impossible for his daughter to expose herself. Therefore, he prefers to settle in the countryside and farm.
As for Li Zhong, with three hundred taels of silver in hand, he plans to purchase some land for cultivation. If he can't cultivate it himself, he can rent it out to others or hire people to farm it. Life should not be too difficult as long as he stays within the city limits. He would prefer to live a simple and peaceful life in the countryside, especially since he can search for his daughter there.
After both families made plans for their new lives, Mo Qingze and Li Zhong decided to go to the government office together to register. This way, there would be a higher chance of being allocated to the same place, and they could also provide mutual support for each other in the future.
Upon learning about this, Mo Yan had a thought. With her ability and funds, life wouldn't be difficult no matter where they were allocated. However, it might not be the same for Lin Yong and his group. Since it was winter and the land hadn't yielded any produce yet, their situation would undoubtedly be tough. If they could be allocated to the same place, she could also provide some support. Lin Yong had helped their family tremendously, and it wouldn't be right not to reciprocate the favor.
But before she could act on her thoughts, Lin Yong and the others took the initiative to visit them.
"Big Brother Lin, come in quickly!" Mo Yan warmly greeted them, sensing the purpose of their visit.
Sure enough, after they sat down and had some tea, Lin Yong quickly explained their intention to move closer to Mo Yan's family, just as Mo Yan had suspected.
"That's great! I was just thinking about this. I was planning to come find you!" Mo Yan exclaimed happily, as Lin Yong and his group were the linchpin of their village. They had known about the troubles Mo Yan's family had faced previously and understood their vulnerability. With them being allocated to the same place, Mo Yan wouldn't have to worry about this issue anymore.
Lin Yong had deeper thoughts. Over the past couple of months, Mo Yan had been supplying them with so much food and eggs every day. Initially, he thought she was a city dweller disposing of excess produce from her relatives' fields. He had no idea that they were also refugees like them. Realizing this, he felt indebted to her and worried about her safety. He knew the world was full of unscrupulous people, which was why he had immediately helped them without hesitation and sought out someone he never thought he'd ever need to contact to help resolve Mo Yan's family's troubles. He believed that everything was worthwhile!
Unaware of his thoughts, Mo Yan urged her father and them to go to the government office to register, so they could return for lunch sooner.
With Lin Yong and his group being ten or more people, and all having large appetites as young adults, they felt embarrassed to eat at Mo's house. They initially declined but eventually agreed after Mo Yan became upset. However, they secretly planned to control their appetite and eat less.
Mo Yan paid no attention to their thoughts. When they left, she went to the market and bought a large piece of high-quality pork belly, seven or eight pounds of spare ribs, a pair of pig livers, and seven or eight large crucian carp. She also bought three blocks of tofu. With these ingredients and the vegetables and fruits in her space, she could prepare a good meal.
Thinking that they were all young adults in their twenties or thirties who probably enjoyed drinking, she also went to the liquor store and bought several jin of good wine.
Seeing her return shortly with so many items, the three children didn't find it strange. In fact, the Mo family's living standards were quite good. They had almost never lacked pork, and they had eggs every day. Coupled with Mo Yan's excellent cooking skills, they always had hearty meals, and everyone had gained weight, especially Zhen'er, whose baby fat was quite noticeable. He had round cheeks now, and Mo Yan liked to pinch them whenever she had the chance, as they felt so good!
After washing and cutting the ingredients, with the help of Xin'er and Li Yan, the meal was quickly prepared. Although there were only eight dishes, each one was substantial, served in earthenware pots because there weren't enough plates and bowls for everyone.
An hour later, when Lin Da and the others returned from registering at the government office, they were astounded to see a table full of delicious dishes awaiting them. Red-cooked pork, steamed ribs, stir-fried pork liver with green peppers, crucian carp and tofu soup, potato and chicken stew... My goodness, they hadn't eaten so well even during Chinese New Year!
Seeing them staring at the dishes with widened eyes, as if they hadn't eaten for eight hundred years, Lin Yong felt guilty and regretted staying for the meal. However, as the aroma of the food became stronger, he couldn't help but salivate.
At Mo Qingze's invitation, everyone sat around the table. Although they initially intended to eat less to avoid finishing all the food, after taking the first bite, they couldn't stop themselves. Even Lin Yong couldn't resist and ended up eating three bowls of rice.
The meal lasted almost half an hour, and by the end, almost all the dishes were empty, including the soup.
Seeing Mo Yan calmly take away the empty pots, Lin Yong and the others felt extremely embarrassed. It was truly shameful!
After waiting for seven or eight days, the results of the government's allocation finally came out. As expected, the Mo family, the Li family, and the Lin family were all allocated to a place called Liuyang Village.
Soon, Mo Yan learned that Liuyang Village was located north of the city, backed by the Yuhua Mountain, about forty miles away from the capital. Due to its barren land and wild animals in the mountains, there was only a small village named Liuyang Village there, with around a dozen households.
There were many uncultivated barren lands in Liuyang Village, and many people were allocated there this time, including twenty-three households from the Mo family, the Li family, and the Lin family, as well as eighty-three households from various other places.
Because it was barren land with low grain production, the land allocation was based on the number of people, with each person getting five mu of land. So, the Mo family of four got twenty mu of land, which would be tax-exempt for three years. After three years, they would have to pay taxes based on the quality of the land, which would be one point five percent of the grain produced, a relatively light burden compared to the previous dynasty's thirty percent tax rate.
Comments
Post a Comment