Baozi Xishi's Struggle

When Shen Yu saw that the noise was getting louder and louder, he hurriedly reminded Yu Cheng not to speak loudly, and the three of them finally quieted down.

After Li's happiness faded, she became worried again and said anxiously, "Moving to the county town is not a small matter. We have to find a reliable family to rent out our land and house. Otherwise, we won't be able to collect rent and we are far away, so it will be a waste for someone else to rent it out."

Shen Yu didn't understand any of this. She had no feelings for the houses and fields here, and she wanted to get away from this poor village that was full of hostility towards her.

She thought for a moment and asked Li: "Can I entrust the house and land to my uncle and let him find someone to rent it out and cultivate it? Then, I can collect the rent on my behalf?"

Li felt that this method was feasible and was better than entrusting the matter to outsiders like neighbors. These days, she had an argument with villagers every three to five days because of her daughter's affairs, and she was really fed up with it.

Li thought about it in her mind and said to Shen Yu, "I will go to your uncle's house this afternoon and discuss it with him."

Shen Yu didn't expect Li to be so impetuous, and hurriedly added: "Mom, let's not rent out our house. First, most people in this village have their own houses. Who would rent a house here? Second, although we have moved to the county, Dad is still here after all. We have to come back to worship him during the Qingming Festival and the New Year. It's far away, and we have to stay overnight before we can go back. Then, it's hard to live in my uncle's house. It's better to keep this house first. Besides, it won't cost much to rent it. What do you think?"

Mrs. Li listened and felt that her daughter's suggestion made sense. She nodded repeatedly. Finally, she said with emotion: "Yuzhi, your trip out is really different."

Shen Yu shuddered when he heard this. He thought he had given away his true identity and had been discovered.

She was nervous and her face was stiff. Just when she was about to laugh it off, Li said, "You've grown up. You can think about things now. You've become calmer. You're not like before when you would just cry when something happened."

Oh my god, you scared me to death.

Shen Yu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said happily: "Mom, are you praising me for my ability?"

Li laughed and scolded, "How shameless! How can you boast about your own ability?"

In the house, there was a burst of low laughter. Outside the yard, the breeze blew through the treetops, and the leaves rustled and sang.

Li was a man of impetuous temperament. After a quick lunch, she put on her hat, filled a gourd of water and went to Lijiazhuang, regardless of the fact that the sun was still shining brightly outside.

Shen Yu couldn't go out, so Yutao and Yucheng surrounded her for the whole afternoon and asked her to talk about her time working in the restaurant, especially her visit to Guangning Temple to watch the sutra drying ceremony. The two children, who had never left the village, listened with great interest and asked her to talk again and again.

By the time Li returned home, it was already time to light the lamps.

As soon as Li came in, she cried out that she was thirsty. She drank a bowl of cooled water that had been prepared for her, then sat on a small stool with a happy look on her face and fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan.

Seeing Li's face full of joy, Shen Yu knew that there would be good news on this trip to Lijiazhuang. She was no longer in a hurry and just sat quietly aside waiting for Li to speak.

Yutao couldn't hold back her anger and asked Li: "Mother, what did my uncle say? Tell me now."

Li's face was full of joy, and she said happily, "My uncle agreed, and the land can be rented out."

Shen Yu couldn't help but laugh. He didn't expect that this uncle of the Li family whom he had never met was so helpful and got results so quickly.

Li asked the children to sit at the table before she began to talk about what happened in Lijiazhuang that afternoon.

"When I arrived, your uncle happened to be at home, so I told him that my family wanted to move to the county town to make a living. Before we go, I wanted to ask him to rent out the land."

"When your uncle heard this, he was worried that if we moved to the county town, life would be difficult and we would be further away from Lijiazhuang. He wouldn't be able to take care of us if anything happened."

"Later, I told your uncle that you learned cooking skills in the restaurant and made money in less than two months. Your uncle agreed. He thought that since you have a skill that can make money, it is better for us to help each other to run a food stall than to quarrel with people every other day in this village and not see any harvest from farming. When it comes to renting out the land, he said he would do it. As long as the rent is appropriate, the rich families in the village will not mind having too much land. We don't have any adult men in our family, and we don't have the money to hire people to farm. It's better to rent it out than to rely on ourselves, and we can still save some money every year."

Shen Yu heard this and interrupted, "Has mother set a date with uncle to move out?"

Li nodded and said, "That's settled. He will go to the wealthy families in the village to ask in the next few days. After the beans are harvested this season, we can rent land and move in."

When Shen Yu heard that they had to wait until the beans were harvested, she felt that if she waited too long, something bad might happen, so she asked, "Mom, when can we harvest the beans in the field? How many beans can we harvest in total?"

When Li heard this, the joy on her face disappeared, and she said uncomfortably, "It will be ready soon. I think we can get a few liters."

Yu Tao was outspoken and directly exposed Li's past: "Mom, most of our beans died of drought because we couldn't get water. The ones that had pods were not very good either, with many empty beans. You said this morning that you might not even be able to harvest two liters of beans this year. How could you have forgotten?"

Li was exposed by her youngest daughter and had to admit that she was not cut out for farming. She kept on mumbling, "I've already planted the crops, so I can't just not harvest them. At least I can get some."

Shen Yu knew that Li had spent several months of hard work, but almost all the bean seedlings died of drought. She was reluctant to give up the few beans that could be harvested. However, these beans were not worth harvesting. The beans did not grow well, and the oil mill owners would not accept them because they were too small. It was a complete waste of effort and time.

She took the fan from Li's hand, fanned her, and advised earnestly: "Mother, if you are at home to collect beans, I can't help you to collect them, I can only hide at home. If the villagers see me coming back, it will only cause trouble."

"If you ask me, it doesn't matter if you don't want these beans. When someone rents the land, just give them the beans and let them plant whatever they want."

"The price of beans this year will not be higher than in previous years. There are less than two liters of beans in total. Even if we sell them all, the most we can get is only three hundred coins."

"If we move to the county town earlier and set up a food stall, we can earn more than 300 coins a day. Isn't it much better than spending three or four days just to harvest these beans?"

Li listened silently, hesitating, but still reluctant to give up: "At least the beans in the field can be harvested in a few days."

Shen Yu saw that Li was not going to change her mind, so she had to use the most effective method. She solemnly promised: "Mother, how about we just consider the beans as already harvested and sold? I will give you the three hundred coins as compensation."

Li curled her lips and said, "You should have used the money you earned to honor me. You little bitch, are you hiding some of your private money and not handing it over?"

Shen Yu was so embarrassed by Li's question that he could only say, "I still have some private money. You have hidden all the money I brought back. How about I give it to you when I make some money from the food stall? Is that okay?"

Li asked seriously, "Are you really going to give it all to me so I can take it?"

Shen Yu nodded and said seriously, "Mom, I want to open a food stall in the county town so that we can all live a good life. Of course, all the money I earn will belong to you."

After she finished speaking, she felt that she had said too much, and hurriedly added: "However, we are a family, so you have to pay for moving, setting up a food stall, buying kitchen utensils and ingredients, but you can't let the money disappear once it's in your hands. Money must be able to make money, that's the way to make money."

Li came to her senses, patted Shen Yu's hand gently, and scolded with a smile: "You silly girl, you are treating your mother as your accountant and money box!"

Several people laughed. After they finished laughing, Li grimaced as if she had a toothache and said with a sad heart, "I'll listen to you. We'll leave after we've settled the land lease. We won't collect the beans. Fortunately, the beans are shrunken and few in number, so we'll just throw them away this time."

Seeing that things were finally settled, Shen Yu began to discuss with Li how to hire a car and how to pack their luggage. Everything was ready, and they were just waiting for a reply from their uncle.