178 House Destroyed

Li Yu looked at the dilapidated Clearwater Town and said to Zhou Jia, “I wonder how many people are still in the village. Are the people who stayed behind okay?”

Zhou Jia held Li Yu’s hand and got into the cart. “Let’s go! We’ll know when we go back. Sigh! We have to find time to deal with the property and land here.”

When they arrived at West Mountain Village, everyone saw that the rice fields along the way had already been harvested. Ruyi pointed at the Zhou family’s fields and shouted, “Young Master, our fields have also been planted with grains. I wonder who planted them.”

Zhou Jia nodded. “It might be a tenant who fled back to the village. Let’s go back to the village and ask.”

When they reached the entrance of the village, they saw the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village. It had returned to its former lush state. There was no longer an old man sitting under the banyan tree and chatting.

Xiaoyu looked at the big banyan tree sadly. “Ruyi, look. It can withstand natural disasters and even grew new branches.”

Ruyi patted Xiaoyu and comforted her. “Aren’t we all fine!”

When everyone entered the village, they realized that it was cold and cheerless. Some of the houses had collapsed. When the group arrived at the entrance of the Zhou family’s house in East Mountain Village, they were all stunned when they saw the burned-down house.

“Which damned person is so detestable?” Ruyi clenched his fists with red eyes and thought of the things in the cellar. “Young Master, I’m afraid the things in the cellar can’t be used anymore. I’ll go down and take a look.”

Li Yu held Zhou Jia’s hand and comforted him silently. Zhou Jia nodded with red eyes and watched Ruyi lead Tiezhu and the others into the ruins. Mr. Qian comforted Zhou Jia, “Sir, these are all worldly possessions. It’s fine as long as we’re safe.”

Zhou Jia said sadly, “This house was left to me by my grandfather.”

“Ah! Is this Mr. Zhou and Miss Li?” Li Yu turned around and saw Shopkeeper Liu running over from the side path. Li Yu and Zhou Jia went forward and bowed. “Yes, Shopkeeper Liu, how are you?”

Shopkeeper Liu cupped his hands happily and said with a smile, “Alright, I didn’t expect to see you again. Where did you and the Chen family escape to? Are they alright? Mr. Zhou, look, your house has been burned down by those bandits. Come to my house.”

Zhou Jia pulled Shopkeeper Liu back and said, “Shopkeeper Liu, Village Chief Chen and the others are all doing well. Now that they have settled down in Tongzhou’s Phoenix Town, we still have to rush to Qingchuan. When we passed by Qingshui Town, we came back to take a look. I want to ask you who is farming the fields in my village?”

“Didn’t you sell your family’s land? The rice in the field was planted by the long-term workers hired by that family.” Shopkeeper Liu looked at Li Yu. “And Miss Li, tell your uncle that his mother and third brother were killed by bandits. The two children have wandered somewhere. The second son’s leg is crippled. He only returned to the village with his wife and daughter last year and is living in the old house!”

Zhou Jia said angrily, “My family’s fields were sold? The title deed is still in my hands so how did I sell it?”

“I knew it! You and Miss Li are both capable people, so why would you sell your fields to escape the famine? However, that person took the title deeds of these lands and was unwilling to give them to the tenants who returned. Those families planted the land of Miss Li’s aunt with Miss Li’s family’s land. There wasn’t much harvest last year, so it looks like they should be able to survive this year.”

Zhou Jia looked at Shopkeeper Liu and said, “Then do you know where that person came from?”

Shopkeeper Liu recalled and said, “It’s said that it’s a family with the surname Hu in Green Mountain County. Last spring, a fierce steward brought people here. We don’t know what exactly happened.”

“How dare he occupy the property by force. Shopkeeper Liu, do you know where his butler lives?”

Shopkeeper Liu shook his head. “They probably live in Green Mountain County! They come to visit every few days. Last year, they only brought people to collect the grains when they were cutting them.”

Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia and smiled. “Don’t be angry. Isn’t it a good thing that someone is helping us work for nothing? Besides, there’s still some time before we harvest the grains. Can’t we just come and collect them then?”

Mr. Qian nodded and smiled. “Lord Zhou, Madam is right. After you take office, it’s just right to send someone back to harvest.”

When Shopkeeper Liu heard Mr. Qian address Zhou Jia as Lord, he looked at Mr. Qian happily. “Lord, has Mr. Zhou become an official?”

Mr. Qian smiled and cupped his hands. “That’s right! My lord is a scholar and is about to take up a position in Qingchuan County.”

When Shopkeeper Liu heard this, he clapped his hands in joy. No matter what, Mr. Zhou had come from East Mountain Village. Now that he had been assigned an official position, they would no longer need to be afraid of those bullies who dared to come to the village.

“Mr. Zhou, that Hu guy is just a bully. You’re already an official of the Imperial Court, so why are you afraid of him? Go and take up your post first. When you come back, you can just collect the grains. Don’t worry, even if you and Miss Li can’t rush back, I’ll help you find out his home address.”

Zhou Jia cupped his hands and thanked him. “If we’re delayed by something, we’ll have to trouble Shopkeeper Liu.”

As they spoke, the two tenant farmers who planted Li Mei’s family’s wasteland and the two tenant farmers who planted Li Yu’s fields rushed over after hearing the news. When they saw Li Yu, they bowed and apologized, “Miss Li, we planted on your fields without your permission. We will compensate you with the rent.”

Although Li Yu was a little angry that these people stayed in her house without her permission to farm the fields, she thought about it again. If no one lived in the house for a long time, it would be desolate.

Seeing that Li Yu was silent, the families begged, “Miss Li, don’t worry. When we returned to the village last spring, we found out that Mr. Zhou’s fields had been sold. There was really no way out, so we shamelessly planted on your fields as well as those of your aunt’s. We will compensate you with the rent.”

Li Yu sighed and said, “Your actions are indeed inappropriate, but thinking that everyone has just escaped a calamity, I won’t pursue the matter with you. You should just farm the fields! You can also live in the houses. You can skip the rent for this year. We’ll split it 40-60 next year. You’ll take 60% and I, 40%. I will collect the rent and pay the taxes. You can go and write a contract with Mr. Qian.”

The four families were overjoyed when they heard this and kept bowing. “Thank you for your kindness, Miss Li. You’ve given us a way out!”

Mr. Qian brought the overjoyed few to the cart to write the contract. Ruyi walked out of the ruins with Tiezhu and the others and said to Zhou Jia, “Young Master, the things in the cellar have been emptied. I don’t know if it was done by bandits or refugees.”

Zhou Jia waved his hand. “Forget it. They’re all worldly possessions. It’s fine if they’re gone!”

Li Yu rented the fields to the two families. Since they also lived in the house, she didn’t have the mood to go back and take a look. She said to Zhou Jia, “Let’s rush to Qingchuan first. We can come back to collect the grains.”

Everyone covered the cart and bade farewell to the villagers who had rushed over before rushing towards Qingchuan County.

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