Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 34 The Big Iron Pot Must Be Taken With You

The next day, the mother and her friends started packing their luggage.

Li was busy in the yard, thinking of moving this and that, and directed the children to move everything they wanted to move to the middle of the room and piled them up high.

Shen Yu was overwhelmed after seeing this and thought that if the house could be moved, Li would directly move the entire house to the county town.

She walked around the pile of rubbish twice, picking and choosing, and threw aside a lot of heavy items such as the broken porcelain bowl, the old broom with only a few broken branches left, the clay pot with a broken lid, and so on, leaving only a few quilts and clothes.

When Li saw this, she became anxious and rushed over to put it back.

Shen Yu hurriedly stopped her and said, "Mom, we are not moving from the east end of the village to the west end. We are going to take a bus to the county town. It is more than 70 miles away and it will take a day to walk."

Li was sorting out a pile of junk, and she scolded Shen Yu angrily: "You went out for a trip, and your eyes grew to the top of your head. If you don't take these things with you, what will you use to eat and drink when you get to the county? You still have to buy them. You just made a few silver coins, and you look down on these things?"

Shen Yu pulled Li aside and patiently explained to her, "Mother, I asked about the prices of these kitchen utensils when I was in town. They only cost a few coins each. When we get to the county, it won't cost much to buy all new ones. But if you take them all with you, we'll have to hire an extra cart, which will cost an extra three or four hundred coins. There's no guarantee that they won't break along the way. Wouldn't that be a waste of money?"

After hearing this, Li reluctantly agreed, but she insisted on taking the big iron pot at home with her, and repeatedly promised not to add any other things. Shen Yu had no choice but to give up and promised her that he would take the iron pot off the stove and take it away when she left.

In this way, they tried to be as concise as possible and only took bedding, clothes and some necessary daily necessities, which were packed into six or seven large bags. This did not include the iron pot that they had to take with them when they left and the dry food and water they prepared to eat on the road.

Li and the others were busy packing up for most of the day. During this time, Shen Yu asked Yucheng to go to Doctor Sun's house to see if he was at home. She wanted to say goodbye to Doctor Sun in person and tell him where their family was going.

Doctor Sun has always taken good care of Shen Yu's family. Now they have to move away. The only one who feels reluctant to leave this village is Doctor Sun.

Yucheng went there twice, but the door was locked both times. He asked the neighbors and found out that Doctor Sun had gone to a family behind the mountain to see a patient, and it was estimated that he would not be back for two or three days, so Shen Yu had to give up.

In the late afternoon, the eldest son of the Li family came driving a donkey cart.

This was a sturdy, tall man, wearing a clean coarse cloth short coat, a bamboo hat, and holding a cloth bag in his hand. He had a dark complexion, sharp eyes, and his facial features were about 70% similar to Li's, except that his features were hard, while Li's were much more delicate and soft.

When Mrs. Li saw her eldest brother coming, she hurried over to greet him and asked him to come into the house and sit down.

The eldest of the Li family saw that the house was in a mess. There were several large bundles on the floor at the entrance, and the cabinets and boxes in the corner were all open. He asked in surprise, "What are you doing? Aren't you going to harvest the beans in a few days before leaving?"

Li asked several children to come and meet their eldest brother, and then told them that Shen Yu was worried that the villagers would cause trouble for her.

The eldest of the Li family nodded in agreement and said with relief, "Yuzhi has really grown up since her trip. She is right. I always think about this when I am free. You are always so outspoken. I don't know who you have offended. The villagers are not targeting Yuzhi. She is a girl and doesn't go out much on weekdays. Who can she offend? It's you. When you were a scholar's wife, you always looked down on the women in the village. Now that your brother-in-law is gone, you want to squeeze you out."

Li's face immediately turned red when her elder brother scolded her in front of the children. She wanted to argue, but she knew she was in the wrong, so she muttered quietly, "Brother, I didn't do anything, why are you blaming me alone?"

Shen Yu was watching from the side, and hurried forward to help, saying, "Uncle, please don't blame my mother. My mother is a little impatient, but the people in the village are too vicious and want to kill me. There is only a thief who can steal for a thousand days, but there is no one who can guard against thieves for a thousand days. The customs here are so bad, it is better to leave here quickly to avoid more trouble."

The eldest son of the Li family also felt that it was embarrassing for his younger sister to scold him in front of the children, so he quickly stopped talking and said, "I have asked almost all the questions about renting land. Several families want to rent it. They all have strong laborers, not enough land to plant, and they are farmers for many years. Your few acres of land just lack water, otherwise, you can rent it for a good price. Now there is a family that offers the highest rent, 800 coins per acre per year, but it must be rented for five years. If it is rented annually, it will only be 600 coins per acre."

After hearing this, Li was torn. She wanted to get a good rent, but was afraid that the lease term would be too long. What if she couldn't make a living in the county town and she didn't have the land when she returned? She would be at a loss on both ends and couldn't make a living.

As he was hesitating, Shen Yu said, "Uncle, let's rent it for five years. Do we have to pay the rent in one lump sum or annually?"

The eldest brother of the Li family heard Shen Yu speak so clearly and decisively, and couldn't help but look at her twice before saying, "The rent is paid annually. If you pay it all at once, it will cost 3,200 taels of silver for one year, and 16 taels of silver for five years. How can a farmer pay so much money at once? Besides, you are not selling the land and never coming back to the village. If you pay it all in two installments, you will have nothing to do with it. If you rent it to others to farm, you will still have to come back every year in the future. At that time, you can just collect the rent every year."

Although Shen Yu had no attachment to this village and wanted to leave, the Li family felt differently. Moreover, they had to pay homage to the original owner's father every Qingming Festival, so it was impossible for them to be as indifferent as he was.

After thinking it through, he nodded and said, "Mom, let's rent it for five years. This way, we can collect more rent. Let my uncle negotiate with the lessor. We don't want the beans in the field anymore. If they want to collect them, they can collect them themselves. Both parties should sign a lease and agree to pay the next year's rent before the Mid-Autumn Festival every year. The lease period will start from this year's Mid-Autumn Festival."

Li was not a woman with her own opinions.

In the past, when Mr. Shen was around, he was in charge of all the important family matters, and she just had to listen.

Later, when Mr. Shen passed away, the children were still young and the whole family depended on her, so she held on. Whenever there was an important matter, she would always ask her eldest brother for his opinion before making any decision.

Ever since Shen Yu came back from working outside for two months, she has been very methodical in her words and deeds and has a strong opinion of her own. In the end, Shen Yu's suggestions are always the better choice for arranging things. She would agree to whatever Shen Yu says without even thinking about it.

This time was the same, she nodded directly and said: "Brother, just do as Yuzhi said."

The boss of the Li family didn't hesitate to say, "Okay, I'll give the tenant a reply now."

Shen Yu stood up and said, "Uncle, don't be so anxious. You have been running around for this matter for most of the day. Take a break first and have dinner here first."

The eldest of the Li family said in confusion: "I'm not hungry yet. Go tell someone so that we can get it done quickly."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "It's not a good deal to rush to do something, uncle. If you go there in such a hurry, people will inevitably lower the price. Maybe they will buy the beans and ask us to pay more for them."

The eldest brother of the Li family suddenly realized, patted his forehead in self-mockery, and said with a smile: "Yes, Yuzhi is thoughtful, and I am a little impatient."

So he was in no hurry to leave, and handed the cloth bag beside him to Shen Yu: "There are five catties of mixed flour in it, take it, and make some pancakes to eat on the way."

Shen Yu was not polite. He thanked the eldest brother of the Li family and accepted it, then turned to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

There wasn't much food stored at home, and since they were leaving, they simply ate all the cabbages grown in the vegetable patch in the yard.

The family had a simple meal, and decided that the eldest son of the Li family would come over the next day to negotiate with the tenant, and then go together with Li to sign the lease, and then drove the donkey cart back to Lijiazhuang.