Chapter 65: Land Rent
After a series of price cuts, I worked so hard for three and a half days but only earned fifty coins, and there were no more orders.
Qin Yao is giving up.
It is very foolish to try to change people's inherent ideas.
So, she chose to let herself go.
Qin Yao asked Liu Ji to find a box at home that could hold copper coins and throw it into the water mill.
A small figure with a manual for using a water mill was hung on the door, and a charge of one cent per hour was set. The water mill was open 24 hours a day.
As for the service of grinding and delivering to your home, I have to say it three times: No! No! No!
After that, everything is up to fate.
You can use it if you want, if you don't want, you can use it yourself!
Sure enough, after choosing to give up, my whole mentality calmed down.
It's a bit depressing that the business collapsed halfway before it was even halfway started.
Because this means that the land still has to be rented.
Qin Yao held her forehead with her hand. Farming was really exhausting. She didn't feel so tired even when she went out of the city to kill mutated zombies.
Liu Ji knew very well that his fate was linked to hers, and if she had to go to the fields, he would certainly not be able to escape. He could only comfort himself that life was still long and he had to be strong!
"I'm going to Liu Dafu's house." Qin Yao said.
Liu Ji immediately became nervous and asked weakly, "Renting land?"
Qin Yao nodded. If they didn't rent the land, it would be too late for spring ploughing.
When Qin Yao went out, she saw Grandma Wang and her grandson using the water mill in the river. The grandparents laughed in surprise when they saw that the millstone could be turned without human power and the wheat was ground into fine grains.
Granny Wang sighed softly, "Thanks to Madam Qin's water mill, otherwise we would have to ask someone to help us grind the mill."
The little grandson also said happily, "Uncle San is not a good person, but Aunt San is a good person. When the hen hatches chicks, we will give two to Aunt San, shall we, Grandma?"
Granny Wang smiled and nodded, but when she turned around and saw the cash box in the corner of the pavilion, she looked embarrassed again.
The cash box was for coins, but she only put an egg on it.
Although an egg can be sold for a penny, it is not that valuable in the village.
The little grandson also looked at the cash box and murmured, "Give Auntie San two more chicks. She is kind-hearted and will definitely not make it a fuss with us."
Qin Yao walked across the bridge, but the grandparents and grandchildren, who were so focused on the water mill, didn't notice her relieved smile at all.
When they arrived at Liu Dafu's house, he was not there. He had gone to transport grain to the grain store in town to sell it.
Only his wife and daughter were at home, taking care of their three bedridden sons.
After breakfast, the eldest and second sons' wives went to the fields to pick the first batch of mulberry leaves after the morning dew for raising silkworms.
His yard is full of racks for raising silkworms, and his two daughters-in-law are well-known in the area for their skillful craftsmanship and are able to weave brocade.
However, the loom bed frame alone is larger than an ordinary person's room. It is no longer a tool that ordinary people can afford.
The legs of Liu Dafu's three sons were broken by the horse bandits. Fortunately, Doctor Liu knew how to set bones. They are now fixed with boards and they need three months of recuperation before they can get out of bed.
When they saw Qin Yao coming, the mother and daughter were very excited for a while. They invited her to come in and sit down, brought her tea and placed a stack of pastries whose names they didn't know, and told Qin Yao not to be polite and to take whatever she wanted.
Qin Yao picked up four pieces, wrapped them in a handkerchief and put them aside. She left the rest untouched and took them home to give to Si Niang and the others as snacks.
Seeing that the mother and daughter had difficulty turning their three sons over, and without considering the differences between men and women, they lent a hand and carried the eldest and second brothers to sit on chairs in the main room.
In the past, when Liu Dafu was away, household affairs were taken care of by his eldest son Liu Gong. Now that Qin Yao wanted to rent land, she told him the same thing.
"It just so happens that there are still one hundred acres of fertile land in the east that have not been leased out this year. Third sister-in-law, how many acres do you want to rent?" Liu Gong said in a serious tone, with a trace of embarrassment on his face.
However, seeing that Qin Yao, a woman, was open and didn't take it to heart at all, the embarrassment that he had just felt when she almost half-huggled him was mostly dissipated.
Qin Yao thought about it and felt that twenty acres was indeed the safest option, but she had a clear understanding of her and Liu Ji's farming abilities and knew they would definitely not be able to grow any crops.
The water mill is not completely unprofitable. We should be able to make two hundred coins a month in the future, which can be used as money to buy groceries.
In this case, you can rent less land and find work outside in your free time, and making a living will not be a problem.
"Ten acres." After Qin Yao said this, she was a little worried that the other party would refuse because her rent was too little.
But she underestimated the degree of gratitude that Liu Gong's family showed her. If she had not arrived in time that day, the mother and daughter would have been humiliated, and their brothers would have died.
Liu Gong thought Qin Yao was too embarrassed to speak up, so he confirmed again: "Sister-in-law, do you only want to rent ten acres?"
Qin Yao nodded affirmatively.
"By the way, after you finish plowing your own land, can you lend us the cow for two days?" Qin Yao asked tentatively.
Mrs. Liu said hurriedly, "This is a small matter. My family has a farm tool room, and tenants can borrow the farm tools in it. As long as they don't damage them and return them in time after use, it's fine."
"We have two cows and a mule. The mule was taken away by his father to carry grain. We keep one of the two cows for farming. If the tenant wants to borrow the other one, he only needs to pay some rent."
"But since you want to use it, Madam Qin, you don't have to pay the rent. Just be kind enough to feed it a couple of handfuls of grass and don't let the cow starve."
He also said that if Qin Yao needed it, he would lend it to her family first.
This is actually a mutually beneficial thing. As grain production increases, Liu Dafu's family can also get more grain.
Even though one acre of land can only produce an extra 20 to 30 kilograms of output, the added output of one hundred or two hundred acres is still a considerable sum of money.
Speaking of which, there is a funny thing. Liu Ji sold all the land in his family, and the person who bought it was Liu Dafu. The ten acres of fertile land near the river that was given to Qin Yao this time originally belonged to Liu Ji's family.
Liu Gong said, "I'm familiar with the land anyway. I can't walk well, so I won't go with you to choose a piece of land. Just come back and let me know when you like it. I'll make a note of it so I don't rent it to someone else by mistake."
Today is the important spring ploughing season. He and his two younger brothers are injured and cannot work in the fields, so almost half of the land has to be rented out. Everyone in the village is waiting to rent it, and the good land has to be snatched away.
Qin Yao agreed and said she would tell him after she made her choice.
The matter was resolved smoothly and Qin Yao stood up and said goodbye.
But before leaving, seeing how hard it was for Brother Liu Gong to move, he reminded him:
"Carpenter Liu has good skills and his prices are fair. You can ask him to make a wheelchair for you. He also has a pair of crutches, which will make it easier for you to move around."
As a result, the mothers all asked her in a daze, what is a wheelchair? What is a crutch?
They only knew how to use the sticks that old people use, but they couldn't hold up the target.
Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, "You don't know?"
The five people, mother and children, all shook their heads.
"Do you have paper and pen? I'll draw it and you can take it to Carpenter Liu. He can understand my drawing." Qin Yao said.
(End of this chapter)