Visiting the Village Chief
"Is this possible?" Gu Changfeng hesitated.
He was not afraid that he could not do it well, but he was an ugly Shuānger who was bought for Chongxi. The husband let him be in charge of the family's money already enough to value him. Now he had to put the restaurant under his name, this so...
"Why not?" Shen Yanbei said naturally, "We as husbands are one. What mine is yours? Even if someone finds it out, it doesn't matter!"
"This is what I gave to my wife. Others will only say that I love my wife, not that I am striving for a profit with the people."
The daughters or Shuānger of rich people when get married will be given some zhuāngzǐ* or else. So it was not a problem for his wife to buy a restaurant!
*refers to the farm. Including farmers’ houses and surrounding cultivated land.
Gu Changfeng didn't expect this layer. But after thinking about it, it must be the reason. But there seemed to be something wrong?
"That's the matter. Let's find a time to talk to Laifu Gē."
If the restaurant could be opened smoothly, they had to find a trusted chef. So that was why they deliberately found Shen Laifu. In the memory of the original owner, this Shen Laifu was a simple and honest fat man. Shen Yanbei would know if he was really honest when he saw him.
After discussing the opening of the restaurant, Shen Yanbei planned to go to the village chief's house. Because they wanted to ask for help, they bought some snacks in the county seat this morning. Shen Yanbei and Gu Changfeng took two packs to the village chief's house. The village chief's family had two grandsons, in the age of doing naughty things such as went up to the tree to dig out bird eggs and grabbed fish in the water.
Seeing Shen Yanbei visiting their house, the village head Shen Dezhong was shocked. He quickly asked his wife to serve tea. Farmers generally did not drink tea, but as the head of the village, Shen Dezhong still had a set of tea sets and some... tea foam*.
*broken tea dregs. The processed tea is crumbly. After many processes, including handling and squeezing, the original shape of the part of the tea is damaged. The so-called tea foam that sinks to the bottom of the tea.
In this era, tea was a precious thing. Farmers simply couldn't afford it. They could only buy the most inferior tea foam. If you could drink the tea made from the tea foam, you were treated as distinguished guests.
It seemed that the village chief really valued him as the only xiùcái in the village!
Shen Yanbei waved his hand quickly. "Auntie, don't be so polite. I just came to talk to Uncle Zhong about spring plowing."
The villagers surnamed Shen and those who went on a new course were relatives. It was not an exaggeration to call Shen Dezhong "Uncle Zhong". But this title "Uncle Zhong" just made Shen Dezhong and his wife Shen Liu-shi were stunned. It was true that the original owner used to be too high in the past, even facing the elders, he even was very cold towards the elders.
"This is for my two nephews." Shen Yanbei handed two snacks to Shen Liu-shi.
"This... how did this make?" Shen Liu-shi put down the brewed tea and rubbed her hands, not knowing whether to pick it up or not.
"It's just some worthless snacks to relieve children's greed." Shen Yanbei smiled slightly and took a sip of tea from the thick porcelain cup. The tea tasted bitter and astringent, but Shen Yan swallowed it unchanging his face.
Shen Dezhong winked at his wife and Shen Liu-shi thanked him and then retreated.
"Don't spend money if you visit next time ."
Master Xiùcái took the initiative to befriend him, Shen Dezhong was still very happy.
Shen Yanbei smiled and put the teacup down. He said straightforwardly, "My family's land has been taken back this year. I plan to plant some rice but there is no rice seed at home. Also, I don't know how to raise seedlings. I want to buy some from the villagers, but I don't know which one has so many..."
He had no problems with farming, but the original owner didn't know anything about it nor how to farm.
"This is a trivial matter, I'll ask them for you," Shen Dezhong responded.
"Thank you, Uncle Zhong!" Shen Yanbei said gratefully.
The original owner's disdainful temper almost offended everyone in the village. So he rushed to find people in the village because afraid that he wouldn't get good seedlings. The family’s hope for a year lied in these seedlings. So he didn't want to work hard without rewards.
Shen Dezhong smiled kindly. "What's so grateful for. Everyone is from Shenjia Village. You call me Uncle Zhong, it's all I can do for you."
Whether as an elder or as a village head, Shen Dezhong all hoped that Shen Yanbei would live well.
Thinking of the situation in Shen Yanbei's home, Shen Dezhong was a little worried. "The land in your home has been taken back, but there are only two of you. How can you plant this land?"
"This is another thing I want to bother Uncle Zhong." Shen Yanbei smiled embarrassedly. "I can't carry anything on my shoulders so I can't work on the land. Also, I don't want my wife to work too hard. Uncle Zhong, can you hire a few people for me?"
"It's okay to hire people. How do you calculate the wages?"
In the past two years, many of their villages have settled in the north and fled from famine.
In the past two years, many of these villagers were from the north and had settled in this village because fled from famine. These people had no money to buy land and usually rented land to plant. If there was no land to plant, worked for others. When the farm was busy, if the family had insufficient manpower, they would find someone to help plant the land.
Shen Yanbei first asked about the situation, then said, "Uncle Zhong will find me two or three honest and diligent. They will be paid and given a meal!"
In this world, hiring people to farmland had never cared about food. The people in this group would bring dry food to eat. But the original owner's reputation before was not very good. Fortunately, he was not short of these two things. Be more generous. Let the other person read his good. The next time they planted the land and harvested the rice, they might maintain a long-term cooperative relationship!
"That's okay!"
Working for the Master Xiucai was a long-faced business. Besides, he was in charge of food.
"There is one more thing to ask Uncle Zhong. I want my wife to be naturalized and registered in household registration. I don't know what regulations are there for this naturalization?"
The original owner bought his wife as a slave and did not grant him naturalization at all. If he wanted to put the restaurant under his wife's name, first of all, he had to solve the problem of his wife's slave status.
He learned from the memory of the original owner that the household registration management was relatively strict these days. So it was not easy for a person who was a slave to become a good citizen.
Shen Dezhong was a little surprised. "You want to get rid of his slave status?"
"He is my wife. Someone who wants to live with me for the rest of my life. How can he remain a slave?"
Shen Yanbei spoke seriously, but Shen Dezhong disapproved. "He is yours. If he is pregnant in the future, you can wait until the child is born before registering your household registration. There is no need to waste money to change household registration."
Shen Yanbei understood his thoughts. Because his wife's appearance did not conform to the public's aesthetics and the mole, which symbolized the strength of fertility, was dimmer than other Shuānger. If his wife couldn't have children, he would definitely marry another person for the sake of heirs. When the time came for the newcomer entered the door, because his wife was a bought slave, so as the master he could send him wherever he liked. Therefore, the village chief did not approve of releasing from slavery for his wife.
But he originally was bent so he didn't even think about having descendants. So the village chief's worries were not within his consideration.
"Uncle Zhong, just tell me how to do it."
Shen Dezhong had no choice but to say, "The household registration is registered every three years. The head of each village needs to register the new population of the village. Then the chief reports the statistics to the county, the county then reports it to the state, and each state reports to the household department. The Ministry calculates the population and at the same time checks the taxes paid by the states..."
"Those who have escaped from slavery need to make up for the taxes owed before, and they have to find households to be naturalized."
Shen Yanbei knew that his wife didn't have a temporary resident. To register permanent residence, he had to find the receiving unit.
Money was not a problem. It wasn't a problem where to register permanent residence.
"I will make up the tax for him. As for the family for him to get naturalization, just register it to my household."
His wife naturally had to stay with him on the same account book!
Seeing Shen Yanbei was refreshed, Shen Dezhong was a little helpless. "Although you are a talented person, your wife's origin is unknown. Aren't you afraid to spend some money..."
Shen Yanbei didn't frown. He said directly, "This is natural!"
If you had money, you could make the devil pushed the millstone for you. These things that could be solved with money were nothing!
"That's all right. I'll do it for you!"
"Have troubled Uncle Lao Zhong!" Shen Yanbei said gratefully.
"It's okay. I have to do it anyway."
Shen Dezhong took a sip of tea. Looking at the humble and polite young man with a smile at the corner of his mouth, he hesitated and asked, "That Shen Yan... You have been admitted as xiùcái for several years. Have you thought about continuing to study?"
"You mean?"
"The next year will be the year of the imperial examination. Do you want to participate in qiūwéi*?" Shen Dezhong asked tentatively, full of expectation.
*imperial examination held in autumn.
Finally, a Master Xiucai appeared in their village, but there were Master Jurens in other villages! In that Lijia Village, because relied on the fact that they had Master Juren, their nostrils looked up the sky and acted so domineering! If there were a Master Juren in their village, they could slap their face back!
Shen Yanbei was startled, he hadn't thought about it at all. He looked down and said, "My parents had passed away so my heart is not at peace. I..."
The original owner's parents passed away suddenly, and the original owner was wan and sallow by this life's trivial matters. How could he have the mind to read?
But the matter of qiūwéi... Thinking of the division of classes in this dynasty and the treatment of people with fame, Shen Yanbei felt that this matter could be thought of.
Shen Dezhong patted him on the shoulder and comforted him. "They are all gone. Now you have a family and a wife to take care of. So you might as well think about it." After that, he said in a serious tone, "If you have any difficulties, feel free to come to me. Uncle Zhong will give you a solution!"
"Then thank you, Uncle Zhong. I have to trouble you in the future!" Shen Yanbei thanked him sincerely.
The village head was really a good elder. When the original owner was too sick, he asked the villagers to take care of the original owner. He also suggested that the original owner did a chōngxǐ marriage to get a wife.
So, the village chief was the matchmaker between him and his wife?
After coming out of the village chief's house, Shen Yanbei felt everything a lot easier. To solve the problems of seedlings and manpower, other things had to be prepared. This family hadn't been farming for many years, so he had to check the farm tools and repair them. He hadn't seen the land he had taken back, so he had to go and check it out. In addition to planting rice, there were six acres of dry land. He planned to plant other things such as corn, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, which didn't require much care...
Also, the home must be cleaned up again so it could facilitate new furniture. If he wanted to participate in the imperial examination, he must reorganize the study room so that he could read and write...
It meant... there was much more to do!
Shen Yanbei walked towards the house at a relaxed pace. On the way, the villagers who had made friends with Father Shen and Mother Shen were all smiled and nodded. Due to there were no decent elders in his family, he would have to ask the villagers to take care of them in the future.
Before he got home, he saw a boy with a root grass in his mouth squatting outside his fence.
Zhou Yu?
Yummy Yogurt's thought:
Double chapters today!I read some reviews on NU and found that a reader told that my translation job is quite hard to understand. (scratched my head) I deeply apologize to visitors who got difficulties with my work. Um, for the 'daughter-in-law' issue, I've already changed it into "wife" but I still have no time to fix the previous. And for some the Chinese words that i decided to keep it same with the raw, I intentionally let it be because it may be rare we hear in our country (especially mine). If some readers find there is raw which i don't explain the meaning, it means that I've explained it before in previous chapter, so if visitors follow MFMH in our Yummy Yogurt, i considered it as if the visitors already know and understand.It has been the notes for me. In the future i'll pay attention more for the translation and try to make it smoother.If the visitors have another opinions and corrections, i'll be more happy if you directly tell it in the comment^^ Thankyou~
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