lady, please calm down

Chapter 42

June [-]th.

Early in the morning, Chen Chu took Yang Zhen and others down the mountain to Luliuxu.

"Cai's house."

Standing in front of the Sanjin mansion in the villa, Chen Chu looked up at the brand-new plaque, and couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

After negotiating with Cai Kun yesterday, Chen Chu borrowed the west courtyard of this old house for temporary rest, accommodation, and storage of farm tools.

Cai Er agreed and he agreed, but he brought someone to hang a plaque on the gate of the courtyard early this morning.

Chen Chu, who was guarded as a 'thief', was dissatisfied and said: "Second Brother Cai, do you need to remind me like this? How can I miss your house? Am I the one who climbs along the pole?"

You are Cai Kun's mouth twitching.

After completing the final handover, Cai Er returned to the city.

The gaps between the floor tiles in the west-span courtyard are full of weeds, and dead branches and leaves are accumulated in the corners of the walls.

Chen Chu and the others started cleaning without saying a word.

Although the west courtyard is a courtyard, it also has three main rooms, three side rooms in the east and west, and several cowsheds and stables behind the courtyard.

Wu Kui pushed the weeds and dead branches out of the yard with a rickshaw, and found a place to dump them. When he came back, he leaned over to Chen Chu's side and said nervously, "There are a few old men standing outside the yard."

"Oh?"

Chen Chu stepped out of the courtyard, but saw several gray-haired old men waiting respectfully outside the courtyard gate, each holding some food in their hands, including eggs and fresh vegetables.

Seeing Chen Chu coming out, the old man hurriedly bowed and shouted unevenly: "I have seen Master Chen!"

This battle made Chen Chu quite uncomfortable.

In modern times, when Chen Chu saw these old men, he had to call uncle if he didn't call grandpa.

"Uncle Liu, it doesn't have to be like this." Chen Chu stepped forward to support Uncle Liu's rickety waist.

At present, Chen Chu is only acquainted with Uncle Liu, and it was this old man who he called for questioning yesterday.

"The old man has already received the confession from Mr. Cai Er, knowing that Mr. Chen rented Zhuangzi, let's bring some gifts to celebrate the master."

Uncle Liu is holding a bowl of eggs.

I think this is a 'congratulatory gift', and I don't know how long it took me to save it.

Chen Chu raised his eyes and saw that several old men were all looking at him eagerly.

After thinking for a while, Chen Chu turned around and said, "Eldest son, bring these things into the courtyard."

The eldest son hesitated for a while, as if he couldn't bear it, but the trust he had accumulated in Chen Chu still made him walk over slowly to receive the congratulatory gifts from the old men.

Seeing that Chen Chu had accepted it, all the old men heaved a sigh of relief, and then Uncle Liu casually asked, "Master Chen, will our rent be the same in the future?"

Zhuangzi changed the owner, and the tenants paid rent to Chen Chu.

The rise and fall of tenant rent is related to the food and clothing of each household, so it is naturally their most concerned.

Chen Chu pondered for a moment, and said, "What was the rule in the past?"

"In previous years, the rent paid to Mr. Cai's family was [-]% of the early rations and [-]% of the evening rations. If you rented the owner's cattle, horses and farm tools, it would be calculated separately. Labor labor is paid by each household, and you will serve with Mr. Cai's family for two months every year."

Grandma, these landlords are really ruthless.

Scraping away half of the food does not count, and they still need to perform free labor.

Since ancient times, there have been three big mountains on the heads of farmers, the government, the squires, and the subordinate officials. The Cai family is now a combination of the squires and the subordinate officials.

Of course he will not be a good person.

Chen Chu didn't care about the rent, but he wouldn't think about exempting the tenants from rent.

There are many ways to build a new countryside and lead everyone out of poverty and prosperity, but the method of "free rent and rent reduction" which is extremely likely to cause other gentry to look at them and become nervous is the least efficient and most dangerous method.

The rent payment of farmland is the current rule, and it is also the basis for the country gentry, scholar-bureaucrats, and even the entire bureaucratic group to live and breathe.

Chen Chu didn't have the ability to challenge the rules at this time.

"Let's continue as usual for now." Chen Chu said.

"The little old man knows." Uncle Liu cupped his hands.

"Uncle Liu, is there a shortage of food rations?"

"Master Chen, pick some wild vegetables in spring and wild fruits in autumn, plus the output from the fields, you can still eat."

"I've already eaten wild vegetables, why don't you go to the lake next to the village to hunt some fish, shrimps and crabs to eat?"

"Returning to the master, this lake is also owned by Master Cai's family, and it is not allowed to fish indiscriminately. Master Cai allows us to catch some fish and shrimp during the autumn and new year festivals."

"Uncle Liu, just call me Xiaolang."

"Hey! Don't dare! Master is."

"Then call me son, and then call master, and the fields in the village will not be shared with you!"

These words worked, Uncle Liu quickly changed his words: "My lord, the little old man has written it down."

In the next few days, Chen Chu took off his brocade shirt and put on a coarse cloth and short brown.

Every day, I would chat with the crops in the village in a casual way, asking about the harvest, weather, rain, etc. of various crops in recent years.

Or just carry the hoe and Yang Zhen and the others to weed and plow the ground.

In late June, the only vegetables suitable for planting at this time are cabbage and pepper.

Need to grab the moisture, miss the season, and have to wait for the next year.

As for the work of dredging the silted ditches, Chen Chu planned to organize the villagers to start work after the autumn harvest.

The "master" who works in the field himself is a rare thing that Liu Bo and other villagers have never seen.

Chen Chu was smiling all day long, and he would take the initiative to say hello to everyone he saw. Coupled with his attire that was no different from everyone else, after a few days, everyone was not as stiff as before.

Because several people are still living on the mountain, there is no cooking guy in the village. Every day, Maoer will go down the mountain with Wu Kui's Zhang, Aunt Yao and others to deliver meals.

Seeing the contiguous land of Luliuwei and the flat terrain, Mrs. Zhang and Aunt Yao wanted to live down the mountain, but no one dared to mention this to Yang Youtian.
June 25.

After picking a batch of tomatoes and purple long eggplant, the trio of Chen, Yang and Yao set off for the county again.

After handing over the management of Caiwei Pavilion, Chen Chu drove the ox cart to the kitchen again.

Seeing Chen Chu's arrival, Xu Daxiang, the master chef of the kitchen, hurried up to welcome him, his perennially smoky face turned into a black chrysanthemum with a smile, "Mr. Chen, last time you taught me to cook the beef brisket with Zhuyan fruit, it's really good. The guests ate the sunset from the distant mountains, which is said to be better than Yingxian Tower!"

"Hey, when I'm free, I'll teach you a stewed fish with Zhuyan fruit!"

"Then I thank you first, young master." Xu Xiang smiled blindly.

"Hehe, Xu Dingzu, what happened to the things I asked you to prepare for me?"

"I've already left it for the young master, it's just the smell."

"It's okay."

"Then I'll have someone move out."

Xu Xiang entered the kitchen and yelled, and after a while, two assistant cooks carried out a wooden barrel with great difficulty.

There is a word "phosphorus" written on the wooden barrel, which contains food waste such as shrimp and crab eggshells and bones.

The weather is hot in summer, and there is a fishy smell around the barrel.

Then, the helper brought out another wooden barrel with 'nitrogen' written on it
After several heavy wooden barrels were loaded onto the bullock cart, Chen Chu and the others left the kitchen and walked towards the back door of Caiwei Pavilion.

A thin figure hid behind the moon gate and poked his head to look this way.

When he got closer, a small figure jumped out and stood in front of a few people.

"Master Chen, my girl invites you to come over."

"you are?"

"The slave's name is Cui Yuan, and she serves Miss Yunong."

"Oh~ I got it." Chen Chu turned around and confessed to Yang Dalang and the eldest son, "Wait for me for a while."

After Chen Chu left, Yang Dalang found a shady place and sat down lazily.

The eldest son stood by the side of the ox cart against the sun.

It is as if gold and silver were loaded on an ox cart.

Cuiyuan looked at Yang Zhen, and then at the eldest son, Xu felt that she and the eldest son were familiar with each other after a few words, so she stepped forward and said, "Big man~"

"Hey, little one." The eldest son touched his head and smiled foolishly.

"What are you pulling?" Cui Yuan stepped forward curiously and hooked her head to look into the wooden barrel, but was suffocated by the smell, she quickly stepped back and pinched her nose, "It's so fishy, ​​so smelly."

"This is used to make phosphate fertilizer." The eldest son Wengsheng explained.

"Even phosphate fertilizer?"

"I don't understand either, anyway, brother Chu said that pickles are good things."

"Oh" Cui Yuan responded, and stood a little far away.

The eldest son who was stuck in place took a few sneaky glances, and then took the initiative to talk to someone, "My little one, it's so hot, why don't you go back? Are you waiting for someone?"

Cui Yuan squinted at the eldest son, seeing that the other party really didn't understand, she couldn't help laughing, "Big man, don't you know why Mr. Chen went to find my girl? They won't be able to do it if I go back, haha "

"What are they doing?" the eldest son asked curiously.

Cui Yuan smiled mysteriously, "Teaching people to be happy."

(End of this chapter)