Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!

Chapter 226: Chapter 226 Promise_1

Zhou Shuren took out two deeds from his bosom, put one away and returned it to his chest, and opened the other to hand to his eldest son, ”Sixty acres of land, the paddy field at eight taels of silver per acre, the dry field at five taels of silver per acre, thirty acres of each, totaling three hundred and ninety taels, the silver for the name change and the red deed will be paid by the Zheng family, the house for one hundred taels, with the name change and deed also paid for by the Zheng family.”

Zhou Laoda quickly did the calculations in his mind, ”Father, isn’t the price given by the Zheng family too low?”

The top-quality dry field is now worth five taels and two silvers, and with thirty mu missing six taels, not to mention the cost of the deeds. Although he has not been inside, the Zheng family’s house occupies no small area, only one hundred taels?

Zhou Laoer felt there was a problem, the focus must be on the deed that father put away, the one he put away was something he did not want to discuss, ”Father, the Zheng family is selling so urgently, they must be moving soon, right?”

Zhou Shuren nodded, ”The carriage team and boat fleet have all been hired, they will set off in seven days, and part of the Zheng family has already left, with the old master Zheng being in the last group.”

He is the last to arrange the house properly; the third branch left when he went to Pingzhou.

Zhou Laoer furrowed his brows, ”Father, we are going to Pingzhou next year, Guang, my brother-in-law, won’t be able to take care of sixty acres of land and the house by himself.”

Zhou Shuren had already considered this and looked at Zhou Laoda, ”The land is in Li Family Village, and your wife’s family has many men. Once the land is transferred, take a trip to your wife’s family. Whoever helps with farming our land can keep twenty-five percent of the crop. If the first year’s yield per acre doesn’t reach the average, I will take back the land.”

Plainly speaking, it was exchanging food for labor costs. The more diligently one farmed, the more harvest they would naturally reap, and the larger share they would obtain, thereby avoiding the troubles of laziness as much as possible.

Zhou Shuren’s method was not like that of landlords who divided land to tenant farmers for the sake of extracting more benefits. Tenant farmers toiled all year, paying the rent and taxes, and sometimes even struggled to provide for food and drink, and still had to endure more exploitation of their labor by landlords. In bad years, they couldn’t even make ends meet.

With Zhou Shuren’s method, as long as the land was well tended, farmers got grain without the risk, and the better the care, the more they received. Li Family Village had many young men, and there was an abundance of surplus labor. Anyone who wasn’t foolish wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

Zhou Laoda was surprised and grateful on behalf of Lady Li, as her family indeed had a surplus of young men who had no work to do at home, causing her mother-in-law daily worry. Now the young men’s labor had a use, and the grain they received each year could be converted into silver, allowing them to save a substantial sum. He realized his father was giving Lady Li’s family a lift, ”I thank you on behalf of Lady Li, Father.”

Zhou Shuren wasn’t merely giving a favor to the Li family for nothing; his family-in-law was in Li Family Village, and the village was mainly populated with the Li surname; a clan of relatives. With his family moving to Pingzhou, taking care of the house would depend heavily on the Li family.

Zhou Shuren said: ”That’s enough, I have said all that had to be said. Your mother and I need to rest for a while, the ox cart was terribly bumpy.”

Zhou Laoda, ”....Father, I will step out first.”

After Zhulan waited for the two sons to leave and close the door, she stretched out her hand, ”Let me see it.”

Zhou Shuren took out the deed, ”This is the real deed. The sixty acres of land were practically given to our family for half price. Both paddy and dry lands were at four taels of silver per mu, amounting to two hundred and forty taels in total. Originally, they wanted to give it to us for free in exchange for a promise from us, but I refused and negotiated other benefits. The Zheng family requested that we not sell the house and hope that it will be passed down through generations. If a Zheng family member comes with a token, we must return the house.”

While saying this, he took out a seal, ”This is the token, half of the seal is here with me, and the other half is with the Zheng family. Since the house might be reclaimed by the Zheng family, they did not ask us for silver, and they also left the furniture in the house, giving it to us for free. However, to avoid trouble, we can only live in the Zheng family’s house and cannot sublet it.”

Zhulan fiddled with the seal, a particularly intricate one, ”We can guarantee that we gentlemen honor our promises, and our sons are no problem either, but as for our grandsons, we can’t guarantee anything. Once we’re dead, we can’t control what comes after. What if our descendants fail to return the favor? Won’t Master Zheng be worried?”

Zhou Shuren caressed the seal, having met Master Zheng today and realized that there are always people who are tougher, especially the ruthless ones, ”Master Zheng is ruthless. He killed his own brother with his own hands. Tell me, could he possibly not have a contingency plan?”

He seriously suspected that if his descendants failed to keep their word, he would probably end up without a single descendent—oh right, it would be the original body which would end up without a single descendent. A pie from the sky is never a good catch; it’s more likely to crush you to death.

Today, Master Zheng had been all smug smiles, chilling Zhou to the bone—it was the first time he felt death was so near. Discovering the Zheng family’s secret meant he wasn’t given a chance to refuse. Even if he wanted to reject the offer, it wasn’t worth considering; both he and Zhulan would certainly be dead.

Zhulan knew Master Zheng was no simple man but hadn’t expected him to be so ruthless, ”Could it be a deception?”

”Do you think that’s likely?”

Zhulan, ”....”

Zhou Shuren said somberly, ”Every family has one or two black sheep. I suspect the Zheng’s exile has something to do with Master Zheng’s brother.”

Master Zheng hadn’t told anyone—in fact, he was truly reluctant to know!

Zhulan glared, ”Aren’t the Zhengs afraid? Threatening you now, but what if you rise to power and turn against them later?”

Zhou Shuren found Zhulan rather endearing at that moment—Zhulan was angry about the intimidation he faced. Embracing Zhulan, he said, ”Because Master Zheng gave me enough benefits. Many have had their eyes on the Zheng’s mansion for a long time. Master Zheng personally handling the deed is also a way to show that the Zheng family is protecting us. This old man hasn’t been idle for over forty years. I always feel that there are many covert operatives in the county. Otherwise, do you think such a grand Zhao estate would be left unoccupied by others?”

Zhulan, ”.... It seems we’ve encountered a hidden boss?”

Zhou Shuren chuckled, ”It’s just a coincidence. Wang Ru brought doom upon herself and left. The Zhengs just happened to move here and got to know our family. They investigated me and thought I was the best fit. But indeed, we’ve encountered a hidden fierce figure.”

Zhulan narrowed her eyes—it turned out that today’s almost fatal pie was caused by a variable brought by Wang Ru. Zhulan had always been curious about the elder of the Zheng family, ”Doesn’t the elder of the Zheng family have a relative who is a military general in the Northwest?”

Zhou Shuren nodded, ”When the Zheng family fled, they split into two directions. To forestall future troubles, they separated without leaving any way to contact each other, only a general direction. The main branch went to the Northwest to live incognito. After the former dynasty fell and chaos ensued, a family of military generals became soldiers at the frontier. When the new dynasty was established, after a few years of struggling, they finally reached the rank of a Fourth-rank captain. The Northwest has always been unstable with frequent minor wars—a good opportunity for someone to earn military honors. The Zheng family went there in pursuit of a future.”

That was the reason the Zhengs left so decisively. The Zhengs lived incognito in Dongbei, but their descendants weren’t literary material; the Northwest was more suitable for the Zheng family to survive.

Zhulan thought about what Zhou Shuren said earlier about refusing the free fields and trading for other benefits, ”What did you trade with Master Zheng for?”