Chapter 540: Chapter 541: Suffering a Loss

Listening to the discussions behind him, Huang Pingguo wanted to slap himself in the face. This was completely different from the family he had imagined. Why hadn’t he seen through their insatiable greed before? However, it wasn’t too late to see clearly now. There was still a chance to salvage the situation. Once he had these people settled, he would go back and bring his wife home.

After crossing two mountains, they finally arrived at the neighboring village. They had been here before when recruiting workers. Seeing the oxcart enter, the villagers immediately looked over. Recognizing Huang Pingguo and his group, they enthusiastically greeted them. They wondered if he had come to recruit workers again, but seeing so many people sitting on the cart, it didn’t seem likely.

The cart drove all the way to the village chief’s house, where the chief had already come out early to welcome them. Seeing so many people, the chief found it a bit strange. "You two managers, what is the meaning of this?"

"Village Chief Liu, we are here to buy land and clear wasteland. These are our family members, and they want to settle down here."

Village Chief Liu narrowed his eyes at the group. "This Tian Village..."

"Tian Village doesn’t have any wasteland," Zhuang Datou said, stepping forward. He pulled the village chief aside and briefly explained the situation of the two families. "Village Chief Liu, rest assured. Although our two families have somewhat bad tempers, they only pick on the weak and cower before the strong."

Zhuang Datou had his reasons for choosing Liu Family Village. The villagers here were quite fierce, and half of them were hunters. As long as these two families witnessed the martial prowess of the villagers, they wouldn’t be able to stir up any trouble.

Village Chief Liu was also a smart man. Since he had family members working in Tian Village, he had naturally heard interesting stories about these two families. After a moment of thought, he understood the situation. He readily agreed. After all, if these two families didn’t buy the land and clear the wasteland, the county town would eventually arrange for exiled prisoners to be sent here anyway. It was better to do them a favor. The next time there was work to be done, they would give his village more consideration.

Having agreed so straightforwardly, he took them to see a few plots of land. Soon, the location for building their houses and the wasteland were finalized. The land for building houses only needed to be purchased from the village, and the village chief would go directly to the government office to draw up an official deed. However, after the wasteland was measured, the two families would have to report to the government office themselves. They would be exempt from taxes for the first three years, but after that, taxes would be levied based on the condition of the fields.

Both families had large populations and strong laborers, so they wouldn’t shy away from farming. They each asked for ten acres. However, since they still had some savings on hand, they asked the village chief if the village had any fertile farmland for sale.

Without even needing to ask around, Village Chief Liu shook his head directly. "Farmland is everyone’s lifeblood. No one will sell it.

"These wastelands are pretty good too. Just put in some hard labor, and in less than two or three years, they’ll be fertile enough to farm."

Zhuang Datou looked at his family. "This is good enough. With ten taels of silver, you can get the house built. Use the rest of the silver to buy grain for the next few years. The most urgent task is to clear the land as quickly as possible. You can still plant a crop of grain and grow some vegetables."

Having just paid the money for the land, Zhuang Datou felt a sense of closure. He only wanted to get everything arranged here quickly so he could go back and bring his wife home.

"But even a shabby home has its value..." Zhuang Tian looked at the empty plot of land, his heart turning numb. This was an even worse situation than when they had fled from the famine and returned home. After all, when they returned back then, their house and fields were already there. They just had to tidy things up. But here, they truly had absolutely nothing.

"Father," Zhuang Datou said impatiently, "don’t talk about a shabby home having value. Those few thatched huts we had before wouldn’t even cover the cost of a large banquet if we tore them down and sold the materials.

"And look at you now—at least you have silver in your hands. Back when we first came to Lingnan, we faced the wind and snow with absolutely nothing.

"The weather is hot now, so sleeping on the ground like this will even be a bit cooler.

"Anyway, the foundation has been bought. The village chief also promised to take your household registers into the city early tomorrow morning to settle your residency. Just live here peacefully from now on.

"Rest assured, during the holidays and festivals, we won’t skimp on the proper courtesies and gifts.

"You are already a grandfather now; you should be more open-minded about certain things. I just can’t understand why my grandfather, who is already a great-grandfather, still hasn’t divided the family?

"Is it really that interesting to live with so many people all tangled up together?"

"You little bastard, what are you saying?" Zhuang Tian quickly turned to look around. Seeing that his parents were over there with his brothers chatting about something unknown, he lowered his voice. "As the saying goes, while the parents are alive, the family does not divide. We can’t be the ones to bring this up, otherwise..."

Zhuang Datou looked at him with a half-smile. "So you all just decided to ruin me instead.

"While the parents are alive, the family does not divide. Have you forgotten what I said before? It doesn’t matter if you won’t get a clerk to draft a separation agreement for me. In reality, we’ve already divided the family in disguise. It’s fine if you want to sacrifice yourself for your brothers, but I am not as magnanimous as you.

"I earned the life I have today by working incredibly hard and braving the world on my own.

"Father, listen to my advice. Children need to be sent out to learn the hard way before they can become successful. Tying the whole family together like this, with everyone harboring their own petty schemes, will only guarantee that you all remain mediocre for life.

"Of course, you can plot and scheme all you want, but no one is stupid. No one is willing to be taken advantage of forever.

"At the very least, I’m not willing to be taken advantage of anymore. So what exactly are you getting out of this?"

They might have gotten a few dozen taels of silver, but they had also lost him as a son.

Zhuang Tian replied, "Everyone understands the logic, but everyone is terrified of being poor.

"And you, child, what exactly have you learned after being away for so many years? How can you be so unfeeling?"

Zhuang Datou glanced at the Zhuang Family members who were silently watching them. "It’s not that I’m unfeeling; it’s that you want too much, and I can’t afford to give it.

"I can’t destroy my own future because of you, nor can I let you tear my wife and children away from me.

"Since you look down on my wife and me for our slave origins, it’s better if we keep our distance from now on."

With that, he turned to leave. Mrs. Zhuang, who had been silent the whole time, stopped him. "The silver you promised us..."

Zhuang Datou looked back at his own mother. She had no presence in the Zhuang Family, but she also had little affection for her children. At least in his memory, "mother" was just a title. He didn’t even know what maternal love felt like.

"Take these ten taels of silver. Don’t come disturb our lives if there’s nothing important." Zhuang Datou pulled an ingot of silver from his chest pocket and tossed it directly to Zhuang Tian.

"This silver isn’t the right amount..."

"How is it not right?" Zhuang Datou mocked, pointing at the pile of belongings sitting in the middle of the road. "My house has already been emptied out. Are you saying all this isn’t worth the rest of the silver?"

"You can’t expect me to go back to face bare walls," Zhuang Datou said before turning away. All things considered, he was the one taking the loss.

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