Chapter 390: Renting Land Again and Meeting Acquaintances
The village chief looked at the back of Yang Lao’s hand, then at Zhou Chunsheng, low growled with anger, "Zhou Chunsheng, how are you going to explain this?"
Bai Ruozhu handed the lotus root in her hand to Yang Lao, saying, "Use this."
Without being polite with her, Yang Lao took the lotus root and started to rub it on his hand. Apparently, it was quite itchy.
Zhou Chunsheng was startled by the village chief’s roar, and the quilt on his body dropped to the ground. Zhou’s wife also began to sob quietly.
"Speak up! You better confess honestly. Otherwise, if they take you to the Government Office, I won’t be able to stop them!" The village chief yelled out through gritted teeth, looking very frustrated.
Frightened, Zhou Chunsheng sat up awkwardly in the cart, crying out, "Chief, isn’t my confession enough? I had no choice." With that, he buried his face in his hands and started to cry.
If Bai Ruozhu did not know about the Zhou family’s actions, she would have been somewhat sympathetic to them. However, seeing their deceitful behavior now just made her feel sick.
Zhou Chunsheng dared not conceal anything further and confessed all the incidents clearly.
His family had spent a lot of money on his mother’s medical treatment, selling all their land, and then renting the Bai family’s field to cultivate. Bai Er Lang was accommodating, and their rent was very reasonable. However, not long after, the Liu family in the village also rented a field. Eager to earn money, Zhou Chunsheng leased the Liu family’s field as well.
It turned out to be a case of biting off more than he could chew. When he rented the fields, he was full of ambition, but the reality soon proved that the Zhou family did not have enough manpower for them. Later, he was offered occasional labor work, which paid very well, leaving him no time to manage the fields.
At that time, Yang Lao heard about the Bai family’s field and made chaos there. He indeed scared the Zhou family, and it made Zhou Chunsheng think about quitting farming on Bai family’s land. It would prevent him from being too stretched, and in the end, if the harvest was not good, he would lose money.
However, after causing a commotion, Yang Lao quieted down. Zhou Chunsheng deliberately loitered around Yang’s house to draw Yang Lao’s attention, but Yang Lao, having just married a young woman, lost interest in picking a quarrel with the Bai family.
The Zhou family began worrying and finally decided to go to the town to complain to the Bai family, exaggerating the seriousness of the situation as much as possible. If the Bai family were softhearted, they would definitely cancel the contract. Even if they failed to do so, they could use this as a reason to get the Bai family to reduce the rent.
And so the following incident happened. Initially, Bai Yihong was kind and gave the Zhou family hope. Later, the Zhou family intentionally destroyed some crops to continue playing the victim. Eventually, they terminated the contract with the Bai family and received a considerable compensation.
Of course, this was not enough. The Zhou family was greedy and thought the crops on the Bai family’s land, which they had planted, would go to waste if they left. They secretly moved some to the field rented from the Liu family in the middle of the night. They didn’t expect Bai Ruozhu to have already tampered with the field...
After hearing everything, the village chief of Linjiang Village slapped Zhou Chunsheng’s face in anger. "You have ruined the reputation of our Linjiang Village! The village is full of decent families, you used to be an honest person too. How could you do such a thing?"
Yang Lao gave a cold snort on the side, "You dare to frame me? You sure have some nerve, Zhou family. This isn’t over."
Bai Ruozhu glanced at her father, Bai Yihong, who understood and said to the village chief respectfully, ": Chief, the Zhou family breached their promise first, deceived us of our compensation, and damaged the crops in the field. We need to get our compensation back, and they have to compensate us for our loss. Besides, we still want to lease our land or hire someone to help in cultivation. We hope the chief can recommend a trustworthy family."
The village chief gave Zhou Chunsheng a kick. He was really furious.
"Return the compensation you received from the Bai family, and pay them another two taels of silver."
Before the village chief finished speaking, Zhou’s wife burst into tears. She sobbed and said, "We’re so poor that we don’t even have food to eat. Where can we get two taels of silver?"
The village chief glared back, "I put my reputation at stake to plead for you. Otherwise, two taels of silver wouldn’t be enough. If you’re not willing to compensate, then give half of the yield from Liu family’s field to the Bai family."
"Half?" Zhou Chunsheng almost jumped up. That would be a severe loss for his family.
"Aren’t you earning money as a temporary worker? Pay what you should pay and learn your lesson. Don’t do such disgraceful things again." The village chief added.
Zhou Chunsheng’s shoulders drooped. Indeed, he tried to steal but ended up losing more. But who could blame him for his greed?
In the end, Zhou Chunsheng honestly handed over two taels of silver and returned the compensation he received from the Bai family. He didn’t dare to offend the village chief. His family was poor. If the village chief also turned against him, it would be impossible for him to survive.
Zhou Chunsheng saw Bai Yihong collect the silver, and then he looked imploringly at him, asking, "What about my allergy? Can you give me some lotus root?"
Bai Ruozhu laughed dismissively and said, "There was only one lotus root, and it’s been given to Yang Lao. But don’t worry, this allergic reaction will last six or seven days, and then it’ll get better."
Zhou Chunsheng wanted to cry, but he didn’t dare to ask Yang Lao for the lotus root. He had no choice but to endure the itchiness and quietly lie back in his room.
Having dealt with Zhou Chunsheng, the chief then introduced the Bai family to a trustworthy large family, the Li family, who were very willing to take over the cultivation. "We’ll rent this land and promise to cultivate it well. We can’t let the reputation of our Linjiang Village be ruined like this."
Bai Yihong appreciated the straightforwardness of Li’s head of the family. So, they walked around the field and discussed the rental agreement. Seeing that the two families could get along, the village chief excused himself. After all the hassle he’d had, he was quite tired.
Bai Ruozhu thanked the village chief properly, then said goodbye to her father and started wandering around in the field.
After a while, Bai Yihong and Li’s patriarch had agreed on the rent. They decided to find a middleman to sign a lease agreement. The head of Li’s family recommended a middleman named Deng Shujie.
Bai Ruozhu and Bai Yihong joined Li’s patriarch to find Deng Shujie. When they arrived at Deng’s house, Deng Shujie came out courteously to welcome them. Li’s patriarch directly explained his intentions.
Seeing the business opportunity, Deng Shujie was delighted, "Thank you, Uncle Li for your kindness. Let’s not stand here and talk. Let’s go inside. My mother-in-law is here today. It’s quite lively."
The villagers didn’t mind having guests over when relatives were visiting. They even enjoyed the excitement. Especially, now that they were signing a lease agreement in front of Deng Shujie’s mother-in-law, it added prestige to Deng Shujie.
So, everyone walked into the house cheerfully. Deng Shujie asked his wife to entertain the guests and ran into the house to bring out the pen, ink, and paper.
Followed by Li’s patriarch, Bai Ruozhu stepped into the room and was caught by surprise as she saw the people in Deng Shujie’s house...