frightfiction Chapter 277: Meeting after dinner
Chapter 277: Meeting after dinner
When it was almost dark, the people who went to survey the wasteland finished measuring the west side of the river, and found that the total area was 2,300 acres.
The village head Tang Wenzhen was okay, as he didn't take into account the many shrubs growing near the foot of the mountain.
But he said: If they can bloom, they can be planted.
But Shen Zhiqiu planned to leave a few meters of shrub isolation belt at the foot of Fangshan Mountain, which would then serve as a natural fence to help prevent wild beasts from destroying their food.
As for the foot of the mountain where there are no shrubs, just dig out some small shrubs and intersperse them.
Moreover, Shen Zhiqiu has observed that most of the shrubs at the foot of Fangshan Mountain are sea buckthorn, sour jujube, myrtle, and goat milk.
However, the fruits of these shrubs are very common in the mountains and fields of rural areas in the north. Because they taste so sour, even children are not interested in eating them.
But this is definitely not a problem for his daughter. In his previous life, Shen Zhiqiu had seen his daughter buying sea buckthorn puree and sour jujube cakes online.
However, except for the goat milk berries which seem ready to be picked at this time, it is not the right time to pick the others.
The village head Tang Wenzheng saw that the land had been measured and said, "Mr. Shen, the land has also been measured. You can discuss how many acres you want tonight. Once you decide, you can bring the household registration of each household to register tomorrow morning."
Shen Zhiqiu nodded: "Okay, Li Zheng, let's go back and discuss it."
Although he had already planned to buy all the land, he had not yet discussed it with everyone and still had to go back for a meeting in the evening.
Returning to the small courtyard where they were staying temporarily, although this was not their home, it was not like when they were fleeing from famine, with no place to stay and it felt like there was no end.
Seeing the backbones come back, everyone began to ask: "What's going on? That wasteland? How many acres is it?"
The eldest brother-in-law reported his work: "Third brother, we have made more than 20 sickles, but the sickles we have installed are small ones for the time being."
Shen Laoshi also reported: "Third brother, all the tools have been sharpened and are shiny. If possible, we can cut down the trees tomorrow."
Several boys also said cheerfully: "Uncle San, we have built a few sheds under the wall. The boards are inside. Even if it rains, we won't get wet."
Shen Zhiqiu: "Okay, you did a great job. Let's eat first, and then we'll have a meeting."
He also looked at the shed that had been built, and the straw mats that were woven on top, and he knew that the girls and women had also helped, and there were bed boards and even palm mats underneath.
Even now, there are still many girls and women weaving straw mats. Although the shed is close to the wall at the back, there is no windproof in front.
Weave some straw mats to block the wind in front, so that if it rains, the rain will not flow into the shed.
The idea was proposed by my eldest sister-in-law, Mrs. Song. She had several rooms and wove dozens of straw mats in a day.
Shen Zhiqiu was very satisfied. Now there was no need to make any arrangements. Everyone could find work for themselves.
For dinner, we had buckwheat noodles with some wild vegetables. It looked hot and garnished with green leafy vegetables, which was very appetizing.
But eating noodles alone is not enough. There were too many people and it was not enough, so we steamed a few pots of corn bread.
Shen Zhiqiu picked up the bowl and finished the noodles. He also used the noodle soup to soak the steamed bread, which still tasted delicious.
It wasn't just him. The others had been busy all day and were starving. No one was talking while eating, and all they could hear was snoring.
Shen Youyou and her sisters sat directly on the newly woven straw mats in a circle, with their younger brothers and sisters in the middle.
Because palm oil consumption is becoming less and less, women are now reluctant to use oil when cooking, and you won’t see much oil in a pot of noodles.
The coarse salt we bought has not been refined yet, and we are still eating the original old salt. There is not much left, so we have started to save salt. But eating is contagious, and others slurp it up and it tastes delicious.
As she watched others eat, she also felt that her bowl of hot buckwheat noodle soup was delicious.
Shen Zhiqiu ate two bowls of noodles and three steamed breads before he felt full. He had no time to stand still during the whole day, especially since he had not yet reclaimed the land, but only measured it.
Watching everyone eating, he didn't eat too much either. The strong laborers and the boys stopped when they had almost finished eating.
But this won’t work when it comes to land reclamation. You can’t just work without getting enough to eat.
Li Jingshu ate a bowl of hot noodle soup and a steamed bread. She was very busy that day and was exhausted. She boiled water and cooked.
I had to weave straw mats and go with my sisters-in-law and brothers to collect firewood and licorice leaves, carrying them back in bundles and baskets.
Just now, Shen Zhiqiu accidentally saw the cut on his wife's hand and felt so distressed. He kept muttering in his heart that his wife was too honest and didn't know how to be lazy when doing work.
But after muttering to myself, I realized that it’s not that I don’t know how to be lazy, but that everyone is working, and who can really have the nerve to sit around and do nothing?
Even an old man as old as my great-grandfather followed us to cut grass, and he was so tired that he couldn't even straighten his back.
When everyone had almost finished eating, Shen Zhiqiu took out the account book and waved to everyone: "Now that we are all here, I will tell you about the situation.
There are a total of 2,300 acres of wasteland on the west side of the river, and everyone knows that one acre of land costs two taels of silver.
Now we still have 2,300 taels in the government, and I am thinking of buying all the land, but our government does not have enough money, so I plan to buy 1,000 acres, and the remaining 1,300 acres will be paid from Jingshu's dowry."
Before he could finish, many people got anxious and said at once: "No, how can you use Jingshu's dowry money? Our Shen family can't do that."
"Yes, Third Brother, at most we can just buy a thousand acres first, but we can't use the woman's dowry money."
Shen Zhiqiu was speechless. Does he look like a gigolo? He continued to explain: "This is what I think. The villagers of Tangjia Village don't go to the west to open up wasteland because there are wild beasts coming down the mountain.
What if we go and live there, and they see that we live well, will they really go there to open up new land?
I was thinking, since our government can buy 1,000 acres, the remaining 1,300 acres can be bought by Jingshu, but these 1,300 acres must be registered under Jingshu's name, and it will be her dowry in the future."
After saying this, Shen Zhiqiu looked at his parents, and then at his elder brother and younger brother.
Old Man Shen said, "Okay, these 1,300 acres are Jingshu's dowry, no one should be concerned about it."
Old Lady Hua had no objection. Wasn't Jingshu's money his third son's? As for not writing about their family, that was reasonable. That money was left by the father-in-law.
It is the third brother's duty to take care of his brothers. In the past, his elder brother and younger brothers suffered a lot because of his studies. However, there is no need to use Jingshu's dowry as compensation. After all, she has never asked for any daughter-in-law's dowry.
Although the young daughter-in-law had little dowry, her family favored boys over girls, and when she married into the family it was like selling her daughter.
But the eldest daughter-in-law's wife did have some dowry, because when the eldest daughter-in-law and her husband got married, her parents were still alive and were quite nice to their daughter. It seemed that they gave her a pair of silver earrings and a silver bracelet as a gift.
Later, the old couple passed away, and the eldest daughter-in-law's elder brother was instigated by his elder sister-in-law and even refused to recognize his own sister. It's really a pity.