flstandardbreds Chapter 118 Land Lease Contract
Chapter 118 Land Lease Contract
"So that's how it is. Your aunt treats you really well and has considered every aspect for you."
"That's right. It's because my aunt treats us well that we have to work harder to make money and live a decent life. This is a waste of her kindness to us."
Lin Chu nodded to show that he agreed with the headman's idea, then opened a linen bag, pried open the bag to show the chili seeds inside to the headman.
"Grandpa Lizheng, take a look. These are the chili seeds I brought back. My aunt came from the capital and didn't bring many chili seeds with her. She gave me half of them."
"I don't know how your statistics are going, and whether there are many people willing to plant. I'm worried that there won't be enough, so I shamelessly accepted all the two sacks of seeds my aunt gave me. There are a total of 100 kilograms here. Do you think it's enough? If it is, I'll plant more. If not, I'll give my share to others."
"If there is not enough, we can only give some to each family. After all, there are only so many seeds. Of course, if the harvest is not as expected due to insufficient seeds, I will readjust the contract content and will not let the villagers suffer any loss."
The head of the village took a look and saw that the pepper seeds were golden and looked like flattened golden beans, which was pleasing to the eye.
The head of the village smiled from ear to ear and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay! These are enough. The seeds are so small, and a hundred kilograms is a lot. It is definitely enough."
"I have filled out the contracts you gave me according to the quantities reported by each household, and everyone has also put their fingerprints on them. According to your instructions, I have made two copies. The villagers' copy has been given to them, and I have kept your copy for you. Please wait, I will get it for you soon."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Grandpa Li Zheng."
"It's all for the village. It's not a question of whether it's hard or not."
The head of the village waved his hand, walked into the house, and went to get a stack of contracts locked in a wooden box. Soon the head of the village came out of the house and handed the neatly arranged contracts to Lin Chuyi.
Lin Chuyi flipped through a few of them, nodded with satisfaction, looked up at the head of the village, stretched out his left hand to pat the sack containing the money, and spoke to the head with a smile.
"Grandpa Lizheng, I brought money with me. This is a bag of copper coins that I exchanged specially. They are strung together with a rope, 50 coins per string, to make it easier to pay the villagers the land rent."
"I just met a lot of aunties on my way here. From their looks, they probably want to get the money as soon as possible. Let's borrow your precious land today to get this done. Let's also send out the chili seeds. Tomorrow I will have someone teach everyone how to plant chili and what to pay attention to. Planting one day earlier will increase the chances of the chili surviving. What do you think?"
"I think it's okay. You don't know that during the few days you were away, people in the village came to me from time to time to inquire about you. They just want to know when you will be back so that they can know when they can get the money."
"Now that you're carrying things to my place, those old ladies will see it. The whole village must know that you're back. It's better to send them the news earlier, so that they won't be so distracted that they won't be able to concentrate on their work."
The head of the village agreed readily and with a call, he sent out everyone in the family, young and old, to inform the villagers. At 3:15 a.m., he sent the head of the family with the contract to his house to collect the money and seeds.
At the order from the head of the village, all the people in the family went out together. When Lin Chuyi saw this scene, he would be lying if he said he was not moved.
Even though they were not related in any way, the village head was able to help her so wholeheartedly, which was beyond the responsibility of a village head. Lin Chuyi could not take other people's kindness to her for granted.
Lin Chuyi thought about it, reached into his small cloth bag, took out a five-liang silver ingot and put it into the headman's hand.
After the village head saw clearly what Lin Chuyi gave him, his expression suddenly changed. He looked at Lin Chuyi seriously and wanted to return the money.
"Why are you giving me money for no reason? Take it back now."
"Grandpa Lizheng, don't be so hasty to refuse. Listen to me first. I have to go out in a while to find suitable fruit tree seedlings. The two barren hills I have contracted have not been taken care of yet. I went to the barren hills to check. It's too late to open up all the land and plant peppers now."
"So I would like to ask you to help find some hardworking people to open up a few fields at the foot of the two mountains to grow peppers. After that, you need to help deal with the weeds and trees on the barren mountains so that the fruit tree seedlings can be planted in time when they are transported back. There are a lot of things to worry about here, and I can't let you work for nothing. These few taels of silver are your reward."
"I know the summer harvest is coming soon. Everyone is busy with their own crops, so it will be difficult to hire people. I won't make it difficult for you. I don't know how much the normal wages are for hiring people to do the work, but the wages for working here will be doubled, so someone should be willing to come."
"I only have one request, and that is high efficiency. It would be best if the pepper fields can be finished within ten days, and the barren hills can be finished within a month. If I am not at home when it comes time to settle the wages, you can go to my eldest sister and I will ask her to give you the money."
"That won't work either. I'm not helping you for your money. Even if you don't pay me for your work, I will still help you. After all, it will be good for me to sell the barren mountain and report it to the county. You don't need to pay extra money."
Lin Chuyi shook his head and said seriously: "The court's reward is the court's business, and asking you for help is my business, the two cannot be confused. You must accept this money, otherwise I will feel guilty. The only elder I can trust in the village is you, the village head, and I can only feel at ease if I leave this matter to you."
"Don't feel burdened. If you really feel bad, just help me take care of the growth of the peppers. After all, whether the peppers can grow well on our land is related to my future plans."
The village head said unhappily, "You don't even need to tell me that. My family has also signed a land lease contract. It's a full ten acres of land. If the peppers don't grow well, I'll definitely be more anxious than you."
Lin Chuyi smiled, she knew that what the head of the village said was the truth.
No matter how much loss he suffered, he still had an "aunt" to cover him, so he would never fall into the state of despair.
But it is different for the village head. If the pepper harvest fails to meet the expected results, his family's poor harvest is secondary. The important thing is that the villagers will definitely blame him, and the good reputation he has built for decades will be ruined.
After working diligently all his life, if he ended up with a dishonored life in his later years, he would be so depressed that he would die.