Chapter 167 Collecting Rent and Buying Mountains

Chapter 167 Collecting Rent and Buying Mountains

The next morning, Atai and Xiaomei returned to the village in the oxcart they had hired, while Xie Wanniang and Hao Yu went about their own business, going to check on their respective residences, shops, estates, and fields, and also collecting the newly harvested grain from this autumn.

The families in the village who rented land from them and Jiang Yuan, including Wang Xiaozhi's family, were the first to pay rent to them.

Without the two of them even having to bring it up, the families who had rented their land arrived one after another with grain, right after they had breakfast.

There was little dispute about the amount of grain. During the autumn harvest, the Chen brothers and the Chen family, the village head, all helped to witness and record how much grain was harvested from each field.

Xie Wanniang and Hao Yu only need to check the quality and dryness of the grain.

With the help of the guards Xie Wanniang brought back, they spent about a morning checking, weighing, and storing all the grain.

After lunch, Xie Wanniang and Hao Yu took some people to the county town. Hao Yu went to see his house, while Xie Wanniang went to find the broker to collect the rent she was owed for her shop.

The broker was deeply impressed by her. After all, in this world, there aren't many women who can take charge of their own affairs, both acquiring property and running businesses.

After hearing Xie Wanniang explain her purpose, the broker arranged a time to take her to see the barren mountain later. Then, he handed over the rent from the restaurant owner to Xie Wanniang and took her to see what the shop was like now. Having received his fee, the broker smiled and saw Xie Wanniang off with several guards.

Watching Xie Wanniang walk away, the broker silently sighed in his heart, "This girl is truly different now."

Xie Wanniang returned to Hao Yu's house in the afterglow of the setting sun and temporarily stayed in the room she used to live in.

Hao Yu stayed in the same room he had stayed in before, while the guards slept in the back room near the gate, like sleeping on a large communal bed.

The next morning, Xie Wanniang and the others got up early.

They practiced martial arts, washed up, went out to find food and hired a carriage along the way, and then rode in the carriage to see the estate.

At this point, Xie Wanniang and Hao Yu split up.

Hao Yu led a group of people to his large estate, while Xie Wanniang was to visit her two smaller estates one after the other.

Since they had brought their own carts and horses, the first thing the two did upon arriving at the estate was to inspect, weigh, and load the grain onto the carts.

But while the village head was watching the tenants and guards load the carts, the two of them, without prior arrangement, wandered off to visit the elderly and children in the tenants' homes.

Although almost every estate has a large house attached to it, that house has always been the private property of the estate owner. Tenants may occasionally help with cleaning and repairs, but they are not allowed to take over the property.

Their daily lives took place in an ordinary village similar to Mingfu Village, except that their village appeared much poorer and more dilapidated than Mingfu Village.

Xie Wanniang and Hao Yu came here for two reasons: first, to see the living conditions and mental state of the tenants; and second, to ask some truthful questions from the innocent children or impulsive teenagers, in order to indirectly verify whether the head of the estate was conscientious, responsible, and fair in his dealings.

Although such a cursory glance may not reveal much or provide a thorough understanding, some clues can still be gleaned.

If everything is normal, that's fine. But if they notice something is wrong, they will naturally try to conduct further investigations.

The two spent two whole days at the estate before transporting all the rent they were owed back to their respective houses in Mingfu Village.

Xie Wanniang even had to borrow a storeroom in Jiang Yuan's house to properly store all the new grain she had collected.

After finishing her business on the estate, Xie Wanniang went with the broker to see the barren mountains near Mingfu Village.

Chen Lizheng, Wang Xiaozhi, and others from Mingfu Village only learned that Xie Wanniang actually planned to buy several barren mountains near the village to grow common medicinal herbs after the broker came and went.

Wang Xiaozhi didn't understand Xie Wanniang's behavior at all. "Aren't you going back to Yi County soon? What are you going to do with the barren mountains here?"

Xie Wanniang had already planned for this: "I intend to hand it over to my master's sons to manage."

Dr. Chen's sons are all tall and strong, and they are good at farming. Unfortunately, none of them have any medical talent. Dr. Chen has been training them since they were young, but sadly, he has not been able to train any of them.

Fortunately, he still has a grandson. His main character was ruined, but his secondary character is quite promising, so the old man can be said to have a successor.

Dr. Chen had given up all hope for his sons, but for Xie Wanniang, those who cultivate medicinal herbs didn't actually need to be experts in pharmacology.

People like Dr. Chen's sons, who are skilled at farming and also have a basic understanding of pharmacology, are practically tailor-made for her medicinal herb garden.

She had already planned this before buying the wasteland, and she contacted Doctor Chen as soon as she brought the grain back.

The old man never expected that the large character he had ruined could be used for purposes other than farming. After a moment of surprise, he realized that this was a good opportunity and immediately agreed on behalf of his sons.

He even enthusiastically promoted his second and third grandsons to Xie Wanniang. While the two children could be said to have no medical talent, their ability to surpass their own father's was certainly limited.

Having learned from his experience raising sons, Dr. Chen realized that no matter how much he forced his grandsons, he couldn't raise them to be like his eldest grandson.

He had considered finding another way for the two children, but not only were they bad at studying, but even when he sent them to learn carpentry and other crafts, they showed no talent, just like they did for medicine...

Like their father, these two kids were quick to learn farming and had a particular fondness for it.

The old man had sighed countless times because of this, and now that he finally saw an opportunity to slightly change their fate, he was determined to seize it.

Xie Wanniang didn't mind hiring two more people, but the problem was, "Your two grandsons seem to be only about ten years old, right?"

Making them work at such a young age, are you sure this isn't abuse?

Dr. Chen was puzzled, "What's wrong with someone around ten years old?"

Xie Wanniang said, "She's too young."

"Let them be your apprentices, they're not permanent employees, so they don't need to pay you."

"Huh?" Xie Wanniang was even more surprised. She didn't even bother to explain that she wasn't talking about money. "This...this isn't quite right, is it?"

The old man scoffed, "Which apprentice doesn't endure beatings and scoldings while working for free, and even have to pay their master extra?"

Xie Wanniang corrected him, "The problem is, I'm not their master. I just hire people to do the work; I'm not responsible for teaching them medical knowledge."

The old man nodded. "I know, but they are indeed young, and it's not appropriate for them to ask you for wages right now, is it?"