stingy landlady

Chapter 41 Measuring the Wasteland

When Lin Xiaoyun was finally able to catch the bus straight down the road, he unfortunately arrived home before he had had enough fun.

The old man got out of the carriage, and Lin Xiaoyun rushed to the east end to unload the carriage and release the horses. Lin Xiaoyun then comforted his beloved horse for a while.

Only Old Man Zhou was at home; Mrs. Zhou had gone to water the fields.

Old Zhou wanted to harvest shepherd's purse, but he was worried that the village chief would bring people to measure the land. Zhou Mingzhi, on the other hand, was worried that if Old Zhou watered the land in the morning and then went again during the day, his health wouldn't be able to handle it.

The village chief acted quickly. When he and the constables went to find the old man, the old man was at home chatting with his wife.

He was imitating Lin Xiaoyun driving the carriage, and he almost threw the old woman off. This amused the old lady greatly.

As soon as the village chief entered the courtyard, he called out, "Brother Wang! Dazhu!"

"Old man! Someone's shouting!" The old woman, with her sharp ears, heard the shouting!

"I think I called for Dazhu, but he's not home. He went to water the fields. Go check on him!"

When the old man came out and saw the village chief and the constables, he greeted them warmly: "It's the village chief! And you two constables!"

"Have you eaten yet? Come inside and have some water. If you haven't eaten, I'll have someone cook for you now."

A younger constable spoke up: "Get to work! We still have duties to perform!"

The old man quickly agreed. "I'll go inside and tell the old woman!"

"Old woman! Hurry up, go watch the children for Dazhu's wife and tell her to go find Dazhu. We need to measure the wasteland! Did Dazhu say where he went to irrigate the fields?"

The old lady hurriedly put on her shoes and got out of bed. "I told you, go to our land. I'm going to call Li Shi now."

After giving his instructions, the old man quickly walked towards the east end of the village with the village chief and the other two.

When they arrived at the east end of the village, Old Zhou and Lin Xiaoyun were turning over the shepherd's purse and wild garlic that were drying.

The old man called out from the gate, "Old Zhou! Go check on the land!"

"Hey! Coming!" Old Zhou said as he walked. "Xiao Yun, you're fast. Go and call the master back. It's the place where you watered the fields this morning!"

Lin Xiaoyun replied, "Grandpa Zhou, shall I ride a horse?"

Old Zhou quickly stopped him, "Go out and close the gate. Don't let anyone in! Don't flaunt your wealth, especially not the officials!"

Old Zhou went out first, followed by the old man, who slowly headed east to look at the land.

Upon reaching the east end of the village, they stood still as the yamen runners prepared their measuring tools to take measurements. Old Zhou approached one of the slightly older yamen runners, feigning curiosity as he examined the measuring tools.

He took out a purse and handed it over, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, officer!"

The constable weighed it in his hand; it was quite heavy. Two taels of silver—this was a good job.

How much wasteland do you want to buy?

"I'm planning to buy two plots of land. Young man, we don't have enough room. The children are all grown up and still crammed into one room. We want to build a house now. The village is full, but this place is spacious and on the edge of the village."

Old Zhou said respectfully.

"Okay! I understand! I'll handle it! Move aside! Don't delay us from doing our work!" the constable said.

Near the edge of the village, boundary markers were driven in. An older constable walked eastward, saying, "Old man, come and keep an eye on things, lest you say they didn't give you enough!"

Old Zhou quickly chimed in, "No, no! The young policemen are all very responsible!"

When they found an extra three acres of land, the yamen runner showed the figures to Old Man Zhou.

"Is this place suitable?" the constable asked.

"It works! It works! Thanks a lot, courier!"

Old Zhou bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

The bailiff grunted and began driving in boundary markers.

The village chief and the old man chose to ignore the interaction between the two.

The young constable was also quite knowledgeable and knew that he would get his share, so he chose to remain silent.

It's just wasteland; no one will come to investigate, and there won't be any disputes. They rely entirely on a rope in their hands—a rope that can be long or short.

After marking the boundary markers and preparing to head back, Dazhu arrived.

He had just returned from the fields, drenched in sweat. His feet were covered in mud, and his clothes were soaked, whether from water or sweat, it was hard to tell.

"Father! Village Chief! Two officials!"

The yamen runner nodded slightly.

"Dazhu! The measurements here are complete! Take the two officials to the West Bridge!" the old man said.

The village chief asked doubtfully, "Are we still going to buy that low-lying plot of land?"

"Yes, Uncle Village Chief! There are too many people in this family, and not enough to eat! But you are strong enough, so work harder and earn some food!"

The group headed towards the West Bridge. Old Zhou walked silently at the very back.

When passing by the courtyard at the east end of the village, Old Man Zhou turned straight in.

They came out carrying two baskets of shepherd's purse and wild garlic.

I quickened my pace and chased after them towards the West Bridge. Even after catching up, I continued to follow silently behind.

While preparing the measuring tools, the young yamen runner asked Old Man Zhou, "Old man! Are there wild vegetables in the basket?"

"Hey officers, this is shepherd's purse and wild garlic! You two have worked hard, please take some of our local wild vegetables back with you!"

Stir-fried shepherd's purse with eggs makes for delicious and juicy dumplings. Pickled garlic chives are also good, and they taste great with dipping sauce! It's just past winter, so I'm bringing these back for you two to enjoy something fresh!

The older constable said, "This is a good thing! We're so tired of eating radishes and potatoes every day! Do you have any more? Go find another basket and bring it back for our magistrate to try!"

"Yes, yes, yes! This old man will go back and get it right away!"

"No rush! We'll retrieve it when we take the carriage back later! Is this low-lying area also yours?"

"Yes! Officer, we need to take measurements on both sides of the main road. Thank you for your hard work!"

"Yeah! Got it!"

"One and a half sips here, two sips to the west of the road! Three and a half sips in total! Thirty-five mu of land!"

Every time a yamen runner drove in a boundary marker, he would have it inspected by Old Man Zhou, and he would do so many times over.

The two constables registered the information and had Dazhu put his fingerprint on it to confirm that everything was correct. The village chief also put his fingerprint on it as a guarantor.

Then, as was customary, he offered some encouragement and said that taxes would be paid in three years. He also instructed the student to go to the government office as soon as possible to pay the money and complete the formalities.

The village chief stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen! We have prepared a simple meal at home; please have some wine and wine before you go back!"

This is standard practice. After finishing our business, it was lunchtime, so how could we let the two of them go back hungry?

"Brother Wang, Brother Zhou, want to join us for a drink?"

The village chief called out to Dazhu again, "Dazhu! Let's go! Let's all go!"

Dazhu looked down at his filthy appearance and said:

"Uncle Village Chief! You two officers! You go back first! I'll go home to change my clothes and then go get two bottles of wine!"

The village chief nodded: "Then hurry back!"

Dazhu strode hurried home. As he changed his clothes, he called out to Li Shi to bring the silver.

"Mother of the child! A total of fifty-five mu of land, fifty-five taels of silver!"

I'll take a few more strings of coins; I'll buy some wine on the way. Do you have any meat at home? I'll take it to the village chief's!

"Oh! Get some more bean sprouts! Never mind! I'll go to the east end and get a basket of wild vegetables!"