Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 66 - 65: Renting Land

Chapter 66: Chapter 65: Renting Land
After a series of price cuts, in the end, only after exhausting herself for three and a half days, did she earn fifty cents, and there were no further orders in sight.
Qin Yao gave up.
Trying to change people’s ingrained thoughts is a very foolish thing.
So, she chose to let go of herself.
Qin Yao asked Liu Ji to find a box at home that could hold copper coins and put it in the water mill.
She also hung a small figure manual for using the water mill at the entrance, setting a fee standard of one cent per hour, with the water mill open 24 hours a day.
As for the service of helping grind and delivering to the home, the important thing is said three times: No! No! No!
After that, everything was left to fate.
You use it if you want, if not, she’ll use it herself!
Sure enough, after choosing to let go, her whole mindset became calm.
It’s just that the entrepreneurship failed halfway, which is a bit depressing.
Because this means, the land still has to be rented.
Qin Yao held her forehead, farming is truly exhausting, even exterminating mutated zombies outside the city wasn’t this tiring.
Liu Ji understood deeply that his fate was tied to hers. If she had to farm, he couldn’t escape from it either, so he could only comfort himself that life still has a long way to go, stay strong!
"I’m going to Liu Dafu’s house," said Qin Yao.
Liu Ji immediately became nervous and weakly asked, "To rent land?"
Qin Yao nodded, if they don’t rent, they’ll be too late for the spring plowing.
As she left, Qin Yao saw Granny Wang at the riverside water mill with her grandson using the mill. Seeing the millstone turn without manpower and grinding the wheat finely, the grandmother and grandson laughed joyfully.
Granny Wang’s low voice of gratitude came over, "Thanks to Miss Qin’s water mill, otherwise we’d have to ask someone to help push the mill again."
The little grandson was also very happy and said, "Uncle Three is not a good person, but Aunt Three is. When the mother hen hatches chicks, let’s give Aunt Three two, right, Granny?"
Granny Wang nodded with a smile, but when she looked back at the money box in the corner of the pavilion, she showed an embarrassed look.
The money box was for receiving copper coins, but she only placed one egg on it.
Although one egg could be sold for one cent, in the village, it’s not worth that much.
The little grandson also looked at the money box and murmured, "Give Aunt Three two more chicks, she has a kind heart, she definitely won’t mind..."
Qin Yao crossed the bridge, completely unnoticed by the absorbed grandmother and grandson, revealing a relieved smile.
Arriving at Liu Dafu’s house, he was not there, personally transporting grain to sell at the town’s grain shop.
Only his wife and daughter were home, caring for three bedridden sons.
The wives of the eldest and second sons went to the fields to harvest the first batch of mulberry leaves after the morning dew to raise silkworms.
Their yard was full of silkworm racks, and the two daughters-in-law were known within ten miles for their skill, able to weave brocade.
But even the loom frame was bigger than an average person’s room, not something an ordinary person could touch.
Liu Dafu’s three sons had their legs broken by bandits, fortunately, Doctor Liu knew how to set bones. Their legs were fixed with boards and would take three months to heal before they could walk.
Seeing Qin Yao, the mother and daughter became very excited, inviting her in to sit, offering tea, and placing a stack of unidentifiable pastries, telling Qin Yao to help herself.
Qin Yao took four pieces, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and set them aside, intending to take them home later for Si Niang and them as snacks.
Seeing the mother and daughter struggling to turn the three sons, she didn’t bother about gender propriety and lent a helping hand, supporting the eldest and second sons to sit on chairs in the main room.
In the past, when Liu Dafu was away, his eldest son Liu Gong managed the household affairs. Now that Qin Yao wanted to rent land, talking to him was just as suitable.
"There just happens to be a hundred acres of good land on the east side that’s not rented out yet this year—how many acres do you want to rent, Third Sister?" Liu Gong spoke seriously, with a trace of embarrassed awkwardness on his face.
But seeing that Qin Yao, a woman, was so straightforward and unfazed, the awkwardness from almost being hugged came again and quickly dissipated.
Qin Yao thought about it, twenty acres would be the safest, but she had a clear understanding of her and Liu Ji’s farming abilities—they couldn’t manage it.
The water mill might not be entirely unprofitable. She thought they could make about two hundred cents a month in the future, enough for grocery money.
Given that, renting less land and looking for work during free time wouldn’t be a problem to sustain a living.
"Ten acres," Qin Yao said, slightly worried that they would refuse because she rented too little.
But she underestimated the family’s gratitude towards her. If she hadn’t arrived in time that day, the mother and daughter would have been humiliated, and the brothers would surely have died.
Liu Gong thought Qin Yao was embarrassed, confirming again, "Only ten acres, Third Sister?"
Qin Yao confidently nodded.
"Oh, after your own fields are plowed, could you lend us your oxen for two days?" Qin Yao tentatively asked.
Mrs. Liu quickly responded, "That’s a small matter. We have a farm tool room at home where renters can borrow agricultural tools as long as they’re not damaged and returned promptly."
"Our family has two oxen and a mule. The mule was taken by their father to haul grain. One ox is reserved for us to plow the fields, and the renter only needs to pay a rental fee for the other one."
"But since it’s you, Miss Qin, there’s no rental fee. Just give it some grass, don’t let the ox go hungry."
She also said that if Qin Yao needed it, they would lend it to her family first.
This is actually a mutually beneficial thing. If the grain yield increases, Liu Dafu’s family would get a larger share of grain.
Don’t underestimate an increase of twenty or thirty pounds per acre; over a hundred acres, it’s quite a bit of silver.
Speaking of which, there’s a funny thing: when Liu Ji sold all the family land, the buyer was Liu Dafu. The ten acres allocated to Qin Yao were originally from Liu Ji’s family by the river.
Liu Gong said, "Anyway, Third Brother is familiar with the land. I’m not in good shape to go with you to choose the land. Let us know when you’ve chosen, so I can note it, to avoid accidentally renting it to someone else."
During this crucial period of spring plowing, he and his two brothers were injured and couldn’t work the land, so almost half of it had to be rented out. The villagers were waiting to rent, and good land had to be competed for.
Qin Yao agreed, saying she’ll inform him after choosing.
With the matter smoothly resolved, Qin Yao got up to take her leave.
But before leaving, seeing the Liu brothers’ difficult movements, she advised:
"Liu the carpenter has good skills and fair prices, you could ask him to make a wheelchair and crutches for more convenient movement."
In the end, the mother and children were all puzzled, asking her, what’s a wheelchair? What are crutches?
They only knew about the staff used by the elderly, but that couldn’t support them.
Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, "You don’t know?"
The five of them shook their heads.
"Do you have paper and pen? I’ll draw them for you, take it to Liu the carpenter, he’ll understand my drawing," Qin Yao said.