The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 52: Bought Land

Chapter 52: Bought Land

When the weather in the tenth month gradually turned cool, Mingzhou, which had gone through several major typhoons in summer and autumn, gradually restored order under the government’s organized disaster relief efforts.

Some remote villages still had bandits causing trouble. After Liu Chuo talked with the military commander, the other side sent out soldiers to capture the bandits, making the thieves who had been rampant for a while all hide away.

After that, Liu Chuo collected some crimes of the state clerks and, after convicting them, drove them out of the state office.

This punishment emptied many positions in the prefectural office. Liu Chuo did not look for people from outside again but, on the grounds of saving manpower, transferred some clerks who acted fairly upright from each county office to fill the vacancies. Tang Haogen’s name was prominently on the list.

Of course, these were all pretexts. Liu Chuo realized that the state office might have informants from the local gentry and powerful families. He was not sure if there would be informants arranged by the local gentry among the newly recruited clerks, so he simply used people he trusted.

Since there were not only Tang Haogen among the transferred people, no one suspected that Liu Chuo had a private connection with Tang Haogen.

After Magistrate Pang learned that Tang Haogen would be transferred to Liu Chuo’s side as a clerk, he became amiable toward him and even specially paid back the money he owed for the bamboo carving, leaving him quite flattered.

Tang Haogen pretended not to accept it. Magistrate Pang then said, “The money for the bamboo carving given last time, this time it’s your monthly salary. You also know that the court sometimes delays issuing salaries, so I held it up for a few days last time…”

Magistrate Pang could not say outright that last time he wanted to take advantage of Tang Haogen, so he found a way out for himself.

Although Tang Haogen had been transferred to the state office, it did not mean he could ride roughshod over Magistrate Pang. At this moment, he naturally had to go along with Magistrate Pang’s words and maintain Magistrate Pang’s face.

Magistrate Pang was very satisfied with his perceptiveness and let him leave with peace of mind.

Although Tang Haogen had left the county office, he did not immediately go to the prefectural office to report because the prefectural office was in Mingzhou City, sixty li away from Cixi County. Even if Tang Haogen drove an ox cart at the fastest speed, it would take an hour for a round trip. He usually went to the office very early and returned very late, so it was somewhat impractical for him to live at home.

The office did arrange dormitories for the clerks, but he only went home on rest days and was very uneasy about his two sisters at home. After thinking it over, he decided to move and said to Tang Zhi, “I want you and Little Ye to follow me to Mingzhou. Leaving you two girls at home makes me uneasy.”

A flicker showed in Tang Zhi’s eyes, and her expression held some hesitation. At first, she had only thought of being happy for her brother but forgot that if her brother went to the office, he would inevitably have to live in Mingzhou City. Although Cixi County was also lively, it could not compare to Mingzhou City after all. If they could go to Mingzhou City, it would naturally be best.

But she could not agree with her brother. “Big Brother, our home is here, and the vegetable garden left by Father and Mother is here too. If we go to Mingzhou, we have to find another house to live in and seek another livelihood. Not to mention how expensive the houses in Mingzhou are, just that land—where would we get a chance to buy it?”

The Tang family could not meet daily needs just relying on Tang Haogen’s one monthly salary, so it was impossible to let Tang Zhi give up the vegetable garden. Tang Haogen said, “How about I don’t go to Mingzhou then.”

Tang Zhi looked at him disapprovingly. “Although it’s still being a clerk at the prefectural office, you can contact more people, handle more things, broaden your horizons, and gain more knowledge… This is a very good opportunity. How can you miss it?”

Tang Ye also said, “The prefectural office has dormitories. Big Brother, just live in the dormitory and don’t have to rush back and forth every day. Little Sister and I are at home, with neighbors on left and right to watch over us, and there’s Song Dalang too, so there won’t be any problems.”

Besides, she and Song Yuyan had not yet mastered bamboo carving. If they followed Tang Haogen to Mingzhou, wouldn’t that mean giving it up halfway?

Tang Haogen could not argue with his two sisters, so he had to go find Song Yuyan and ask her to help take care of his two sisters.

If it had been two years ago, he definitely would not have felt at ease entrusting his sisters to Song Yuyan’s care, but now Song Yuyan was still very reliable in his mind. With her there, he did not need to worry about his sisters being bullied.

Song Yuyan heard his intention, thought for a moment, and then agreed to the matter: the two families lived close, so if something big happened in the other family, she could hear it. Moreover, she was somewhat reluctant in her heart for the Tang family to move to Mingzhou. The harmonious neighbor relationship she had worked hard to build—how could she let the small sapling of harmony and friendship wither just like that?!

Tang Haogen gave her a wistful look and sighed again.

Song Yuyan: “? ? ?”

Big brother, speak directly if you have something to say. Why does the look in your eyes make it seem like you’re looking at some hopeless idiot?

Tang Haogen originally wanted to create an opportunity for Song Yuyan to let her come to the Tang family to propose marriage sooner. Even if they could not afford a matchmaker, it did not matter; at least settle it with him first to avoid changes in the future. Unfortunately, he did not expect that Song Yuyan had no such awareness at all!

He had waited from the beginning of the year to the end, and even that fifty-something old widower in the alley had “renewed his youth” and found a second spring, yet Song Yuyan this blockhead was still a piece of rotten wood.

“This kid, could it be she hasn’t even had a dream about it?” Tang Haogen secretly grumbled.

But he thought that even for himself, after dreaming so many times, he still had not solved his lifelong matter! Mocking Song Yuyan seemed a bit like a man in a glass house throwing stones.

____

When Tang Haogen set off for Mingzhou, both Tang Zhi and Song Yuyan saw him off for a stretch. This time he was transferred to the prefectural office, so he probably could only come back two or three times a month. Therefore, he took winter clothes, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone with him.

The neighbors asked Tang Zhi curiously, “Aren’t you moving to Mingzhou? How come there’s only so little stuff?”

Tang Zhi countered, “Who said we’re moving to Mingzhou?”

The neighbor said, “Tang the Clerk is going to work in Mingzhou. Aren’t you two sisters going over?”

“Big Brother is just going to work in Mingzhou. It’s not like he’s abandoning this home.”

The neighbor aunt pulled her aside and muttered, “How can you not follow him?! If the bandits learn that only you two sisters are at home, they’ll definitely come after you!”

Tang Zhi glanced at Song Yuyan and said, “Thank you for the reminder, Aunt, but please rest assured. I have it in mind.”

In fact, Song Yuyan was also worried that bandits might climb over the wall into the Tang home at night. Although she could hear the noise, if bandits entered the house, it would not be good for the Tang sisters’ reputation. So she used bamboo, nails, and wood to make some caltrops and fixed them under the Tang family’s wall. As long as bandits dared to climb over the wall in the middle of the night, they would have a hard time.

To prevent the bandits from learning about this trap in advance, they did not spread the word.

But this was still not enough. Just then, Song Yuyan heard that the litter of puppies raised by Bai Can’s family had been weaned, so she brought back two, one for the Tang family and one for the Song family to raise themselves.

The two little milk dogs could not yet catch thieves, but native dogs grew fast. She believed that in a few months, they could become gate guardians.

In the one or two months after Tang Haogen went to Mingzhou, nothing happened to the Tang family. Although with one less person to patrol the vegetable garden, some vegetables were inevitably stolen, the loss was not too much.

Tang Zhi had saved for so long and finally saved enough money to buy land. She went to look at fields, but Song Yuyan pulled her to discuss, “Miss Tang, have you thought about finding someone to watch the garden?”

Tang Zhi sized her up. “How about it? Do you want to watch the garden for me again?”

Song Yuyan countered, “If I watch the garden for Miss, how much wages can you pay?”

Tang Zhi gestured. “Eight hundred cash a month, no more.”

Song Yuyan said, “Hmm, the wages are very fair.”

Both knew the other was not serious, but they chatted very naturally. Outsiders would think Song Yuyan really planned to give up her job earning over two thousand cash a month to go guard a vegetable garden.

That’s right, Song Yuyan’s monthly income was now at least two thousand cash, of which one thousand eight hundred came from bamboo weaving, and the rest depended on whether she had green bamboo to sell that month.

Plus, Ye’er had already gotten the hang of bamboo weaving, so he could weave two or three baskets a day to supplement his tuition. Therefore, the gap between the Song family’s income and the Tang family’s total income was also slowly narrowing.

Tang Zhi thought for a moment and said, “Still, forget it. The money I earn selling vegetables each month can’t support you.”

This little girl could even joke so seriously!

Song Yuyan smiled. “Actually, I’m here to discuss something with Miss. Miss is expanding the fields, but have you thought that after having one more plot of land, just you and Little Ye simply can’t manage it.”

Tang Zhi said, “I’ve naturally thought of that, so I decided to be more diligent than usual. If it’s really too busy, at least I still have one plot in hand, right?”

Although Song Yuyan had never planted fields, she had helped Tang Zhi hoe weeds and knew the hardships involved. Farm work often required bending over, and she worried that at Tang Zhi’s young age, her face would not have changed yet, but her waist would have problems first.

So after deep consideration, she came up with a solution. “Actually, I want to invest in Miss Tang’s vegetable garden.”

Tang Zhi: “?”

Song Yuyan explained, “That is, I pay for a plot of land, or directly give money to buy more fields for you, then hire someone to manage the vegetable garden… The profits are divided proportionally. This way, we can share the cost of hiring a watcher, and it won’t burden either of us too much.”

Tang Zhi understood. “Just like how you tricked Young Master Lou the Second into making a wax garden?”

Song Yuyan choked a bit on the word “tricked,” but she did not deny it. She did not simply want to invest; she had also thought about the sales channels for vegetables.

“Vegetables and fruits are food that common people need daily. Besides these neighbors, the fishermen and boatmen who make a living on the river also often eat vegetables and fruits. Before I proposed this to you, I had someone investigate. The lumber yards, shipyards, Yue kilns… Their meals are mostly handled by the same person, meaning their demand is quite large. As long as we can negotiate with them, the vegetables we grow won’t worry about not selling.”

Tang Zhi pondered for a while and was somewhat moved by her proposal.

Song Yuyan was not just talking on paper. Her investigation was not just asking one or two people and calling it done. She first went to Lin Yongming and Aunt Fierce to understand the vegetable needs of the industries they had contact with, then asked them to inquire about news on where the major taverns and workshops got their vegetables and fruits.

After that, she found the cooks at the lumber yards, the small leaders managing workers at the shipyards, and so on, inquired clearly about their needs, and came up with ways to deal with them.

After Tang Zhi heard her plan, she finally understood why Lou Gao, knowing she was getting something for nothing, was still willing to put in money and effort. With such a detailed plan laid out, no one could say her idea was naive.

Tang Zhi did not agree immediately because she was very worried that once Song Yuyan invested in her vegetable garden, their relationship would become impure like the one between Lou Gao and Bai Can.

What she hoped for was that their relationship did not mix in those interests.

But rationally, she thought Song Yuyan’s proposal was very good. First, she alone could not manage such a large vegetable garden, and the wages for hiring one person would almost take half of her current pure profits from the vegetable garden. If partnering to run the vegetable garden, she did not have to bear the losses alone and could lighten the load. As long as they expanded operations, the profits would obviously increase.

After weighing it, Tang Zhi said to Song Yuyan, “I agree with you, but we each buy an adjacent plot of land, with the land deeds held in each of our hands. Then hire one person to manage it. The vegetables sold from your land count as yours, and from my land count as mine.”

Song Yuyan did not mind her dividing it so clearly, because in such matters, it was better to distinguish favors from business clearly to avoid conflicts in the end.

After the two decided, through Lin Yongming’s introduction, they each bought an mu of vegetable land near the Tang family’s vegetable garden. Because the previous owner of this land had not managed it carefully, there were many pests, leading to no profits from growing vegetables, so they simply sold it.

Tang Zhi originally did not want to buy from this family, but their land was cheap, and Song Yuyan said she had a way to handle the pests. She still trusted Song Yuyan in this aspect, so she agreed.

Once the vegetable land was bought, Song Yuyan built a thatched hut next to it as a place for the garden watcher to live. Then she spent one thousand cash to hire a widower in his thirties to help manage the vegetable land.

Watching a vegetable garden usually required only eight hundred cash a month, but the one Song Yuyan found was not just a “guard” but someone who could help plant vegetables, so the wages had to be a bit higher.

The widower brought his twelve-year-old son to plead with Song Yuyan, saying his son could also help with work, so he hoped Song Yuyan would allow him to bring his son to watch the garden.

Song Yuyan left this matter to Tang Zhi to decide. Tang Zhi said, “How about this: I hire you father and son to work together, one thousand two hundred cash a month. How’s that?”

The widower hurriedly pulled his son to thank her. Tang Zhi added, “But I have a few requirements: one, no stealing from the garden you watch; two, no slacking off.”

The widower honestly agreed.

The widower’s surname was Huang, and his life story was even more tragic than Song Yuyan’s. Because Song Yuyan was young after all and had not experienced the pain of losing a wife, but he had gone through losing his father young and his wife in middle age.

Everyone said his fate was very hard and prone to harming close relatives. His brothers drove him out of the house, his relatives did not associate with him, and the landlords were all afraid his hard fate would harm the master’s family, so they did not dare hire him.

He knew Lin Yongming was a broker, so he asked him to keep an eye out for work. Lin Yongming had observed his character and knew he was honest—for a dishonest person would not have been driven out by his brothers. Before being driven out by his brothers, he had always done farm work at home, so having him help Song Yuyan and Tang Zhi was perfect.

Widower Huang was very honest and even told about his hard fate, worrying that after working a few days, people would use that as an excuse to drive him away. Not only would the work be in vain, but he would get not a single coin.

Tang Zhi said to Song Yuyan, “Then he’s not really foolish after all; he still learns from lessons. I’m just worried he’s too honest and won’t dare speak up even when small thieves come.”

“His son looks fairly clever. Let’s observe for a bit first!” Song Yuyan said.

After observing for some days, Tang Zhi found that the Huang father and son did work diligently. Moreover, Huang Tusui, Widower Huang’s son, was very eager to learn. When Song Yuyan figured out a new way to get rid of pests, he would listen seriously on the side and then carry it out thoroughly.

He even asked Song Yuyan for a few bells, then randomly tied thin strings with them in certain spots in the vegetable garden every day. As long as someone or an animal touched it, it would make a ding-a-ling sound, and he and Widower Huang could wake up immediately.

Seeing that the father and son were so devoted, although the newly bought fields had no income yet, Tang Zhi still sent them some cured meat at the winter solstice. Song Yuyan was more “worldly”; she wove a grass mat for the father and son and gave them one hundred cash as festival money to buy some things.

Although Huang Tusui was clever, he was still just a twelve-year-old child. He puzzledly asked his father, “Dad, why does Song Dalang send festival gifts separately from Miss Tang? Aren’t they family?”

Widower Huang laughed at his silly son. “Silly boy, Song Dalang has the surname Song, and Miss Tang has the surname Tang. How could they be family?!”

Huang Tusui: “…”

With his dad’s intelligence, if it weren’t for him, they would definitely starve on the streets.