Ch50.1 - What is with this damned world? (Part One)

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Proofreader: Lia 

On Cui QiChao’s seventh year since he arrived in Northumberland, when one looked around, one would find that the fief was full of neatly arranged wooden or stone houses. There weren’t any thatched houses.

The rich farmers enclosed a small yard outside of their houses and turned it into a vegetable garden and flower garden, following the Lord’s outer yard. The barns where the animals resided were as clean as the peasant’s faces. The water conservancy projects in the fief also no longer made it difficult to collect water such that they only gathered enough to water farmland. The people also didn’t need to be troubled over constantly carrying water from the river for domestic use anymore.

The average yield per mu of all grain crops in Northumberland now reached more than 600 kg, almost 700 kg. Due to the continuous increase in cattle, horses, and farm tools and the people in the fief’s meticulous farming, a family of three can grow about six mu of land.

In addition, the output of sugar beets, cotton, grapes, and other cash crops was quite stable, which brought a lot of benefits to Northumberland farmers every year. The cotton produced for the fief’s own use was sufficient for everyone to exchange for a cotton jacket and to cover a quilt in winter. They didn’t have to risk freezing to death this way. 

Every half a month, a meeting was held in the fief’s square. Even the neighboring territories also participated in the meeting. This location also acted as a small trading market, distinct from that of the church. Serfs with surplus grain could afford bread and wheat porridge, and they could also exchange it for other food. This was unlike the past where it was rare for women to eat an extra mouthful of food after giving birth to a child.

A few years ago, the captives who left Northumberland quickly spread the farming methods they learnt here, so it wasn’t only Northumberland that managed to improve their yield. But at least there were no more feces on the streets all over the south now.

Outside the fief, rumor had it that Northumberland was the richest place in the south. Although it was small, the quality of life per capita was high. Some people even said they would rather be serfs in Northumberland than be poor little Lords in their own territories, not to mention the rich farmers. Some rich farmers in Northumberland would pay people to farm part of their land.

The Cat Abuser Baron said that he would not consider accepting more followers within these couple of years. He had to first try to improve the current standards of living (although he didn’t know how exactly he should go about doing it). Some even deliberately launched an attack in order to live or to steal the farming methods here in Northumberland. These people were then taken in as prisoners.

The archbishop had inseparable ties with Northumberland. He rose up in the church because he controlled a large number of brown sugar businesses and trading locations. In return, he took great care of Northumberland and repeatedly wanted to introduce a partner to Cui QiChao, but Cui QiChao refused.

As Northumberland became more and more famous, this matter began to spread outside Northumberland. Everyone suspected that the Baron of Northumberland had some hidden diseases. No wonder he liked abusing cats so much.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

But other than that, there was nothing wrong with the Baron of Northumberland. When he got rich, he would get rich with the people in his fief and give them tax relief. People living there had to pay the least tax.

. 

“Olis, lrc’a atja Olis?”

“Why did she leave the siheyuan? Is she going home?”

“Olis’r cbk jwjhlcu…”

Ktfs rjlv rtf kjr jwjhlcu, cba yfmjerf fnfgsbcf fcnlfv atja Olis kjr kbgxlcu lc atf Obgv’r xlamtfc, yea yfmjerf rtf kjr vffqis ojnbgfv ys atf Obgv. Snfgsbcf gfwfwyfgfv atja Olis kjr jiwbra afwqafv ys atf vfnli ja olgra. Dea cbk, Olis tjv yfmbwf j agerafv wjlv bo atf Obgv jcv kjr jiibkfv ab jyerf mjar klat tlw. 

Only those two were so ferocious that even the black cat was afraid of them, and the devil dared not possess them. So, whenever a black cat was caught in the territory, it was always reported to the Lord and handed over to Lily to deal with. Even the priest agreed with this arrangement. Speaking of the head priest of Northumberland’s church William, he has been promoted and transferred to another place. However, the relationship between the current priest and the Baron was still close-knitted. Northumberland was rich, and the people were well-educated. This made the work of the priest very easy.

It was winter. Lily was wrapped in a cotton-padded coat with beautiful red and yellow flowers. The neem tree that the trade team brought back a few years ago had already grown. Aside from using it to produce insecticides, the fruit could be used as a natural dye. The flowers on the coat were personally dyed by Lily.

She had become a beautiful girl and attracted people’s attention as she walked down the road.

Lily had really intended to return home when she headed towards the village. Her sister had given birth to a baby today, so it was one of the rare occasions for her to return home. 

Time had diluted her resentment. Although Lily still complained about her parents’ indifference toward her, she would go back several times a year. When she arrived at the door, she stopped and listened quietly to what they were saying.

This was Lily’s sister’s house, but her parents were also there. Based on the sounds inside, it seemed that there were other people in the house.

“Lily’s all grown up now. She must have gotten a lot of benefits when she worked in the Lord’s kitchen. However, my nephew is also very good. He has a job at the cloth workshop. He’s a skilled man. If you marry Lily to my nephew, his family will give you a calf, and it will grow into a cow in the future! Your youngest son also wants to start a family, so it’s better for your family to have livestock. You can solve the marriages of two of your children at once…”

Lily’s face grew a little ugly when she heard them talk about the calf. She remembered how in the past, her mother sighed and took great care of the cattle every winter but not her. There was a time when she and the cattle grew ill, and her mother ignored her. When she wasn’t able to do any heavy chores, the only thing they had her do was to feed the cattle water. 

Immersed in the memories, Lily couldn’t help clenching her hands.

At this time, Lily’s father’s voice rang out, saying, “Hmph, you think I don’t know? Your nephew’s the lazy sort. He entered the cloth workshop after pulling a few strings, and the steward scolds him every day. Maybe he’ll be fired one day. I won’t have him marry my daughter. So what if you have cattle? If my daughter gets married in the future, I’ll give her all my sheep.”

“Uhh… Hehe, you can’t say that. My nephew is studying hard at the cloth workshop. And Lily doesn’t come back very much. The reason you say this can’t be because you can’t make decisions for Lily, right? She stays by the Lord’s side and has met numerous people.”

Lily slowly recovered from her stupor and suddenly thought that she wasn’t living in the past anymore. The days were no longer so hard, and her father had gained more confidence to speak out. She was currently in a very complicated mood. She gradually understood what the Lord had previously said. She might not have forgiven her family yet, but what her father said came as a relief. 

“Sister, I’m back.” Lily pretended not to hear what they were talking about and entered the house. “Sister, I brought you eggs.”

Lily’s sister was lying in bed, while her parents and in-laws were standing close to her. It seemed that the people advising Lily’s parents were the parents of Lily’s sister’s husband.

When they saw Lily’s expressionless face, they thought Lily hadn’t heard what they had said and exchanged greetings with her.

When Lily’s parents saw her, they felt somewhat awkward. After all, Lily had been alienated from them in recent years. They didn’t feel much at first, but as their family’s life got better, they felt great guilt and stepped forward to show concern for her. 

Lily’s sister held the basket of eggs. She didn’t act like how she did in Lily’s memories, where the sight of the eggs would have caused her eyes to turn green. At that time, all the food had to be eaten by the strong workers at home first, and little girls like them could only eat the leftovers.

“Why are you bringing eggs over? Eat more yourself. I’ve been eating all the eggs that my family’s hen has laid recently.” Lily and her sister had a good relationship. She said impolitely, “Don’t you think it’s better if you bring me some cotton cloth? Like the one used to make that coat with dyed flowers you’re wearing. I can use it to make clothes for my son.”

“No, I have to keep the cloth for the future. The Lord said that he will find me a good husband.” Lily didn’t mean to purposely say that, but Cui QiChao really mentioned it. “It’s already great that I gave you eggs. I wanted to exchange the eggs for brown sugar for me to eat.”

Items like food and clothing were all distributed. The Baron never treated his servants badly. There were even many occasions when the people by his side were able to try the new and good things first. These things were later promoted in Northumberland. 

After visiting her sister’s house for a while, Lily went back with a basket.

Along the way, she could see everyone’s gardens. They grew vegetables such as cabbages, parsnips, pumpkins, cucumbers, blueberries, oranges, sweet cherries, chestnuts, and so on.

Northumberland’s trade team would occasionally wander around other places. When they reached the farthest they could northward, they would bring back all kinds of fruit and vegetable seeds. These would then be screened by the Lord before being spread to all parts of the fief.

On the day of the autumn harvest festival, the Lord hosted a big banquet. Everyone transported their own fruits and vegetables to the grassland where the banquet would be held to compete on who managed to grow the biggest vegetables. They also competed on who could move pumpkins and peel chestnuts the fastest. There were more festival activities this year than the previous year. It wasn’t just a banquet, but an all-day celebration. Everyone had a blast up until night time. 

Even though Lily was no longer a child, she still looked forward to the arrival of the harvest festival. The children in the territory regarded this day as the season they most looked forward to.

Newcomers to Northumberland always marveled at the happy atmosphere of this occasion. A few years later, this harvest festival became a symbol of Northumberland. Although harvest days and banquets were held everywhere, Northumberland’s harvest day was truly a festival.

On the way back, Lily also saw several children who were four to five years old squatting on the roadside to catch voles for them to play with. They were much stronger than Lily’s peers back when she was a child. This was because they are lucky. Since they were born, they hadn’t experienced days and nights when they could only have a handful of beans and water. If their parents worked hard enough, they could even have sugar to eat. And if they didn’t work hard, they still wouldn’t starve to death under the village head’s governance.

Lily still remembered that back when she was their age, she had to feed pigs, cook beans, and pick up wheat in the field… 

After daydreaming for a while, she regained her senses and briskly walked along the stone path.

When she returned to the siheyuan, she walked into the colorful yard. Many people greeted her. One by one, she responded to them. When she arrived near the rear to where the Lord’s courtyard was, she saw Lance lying on the ground.

“Lance, if you don’t get up, your clothes will become dirty.” Lily quickly pulled Lance up. The 14-year-old child had the appearance of an adult. His thick light-blond hair had darkened a lot compared to how it was when he was a child, but his eyes were still blue. His snow-white skin had turned into a healthy tan after playing outside all year round. He ate well, he was tall, and his legs were as long as his father’s, but his mannerisms and tone were a bit like the Lord’s.

“Sister Lily, I’m observing the growth of this carrot. I used a different fertilizer for this row of carrots.” Lance shared similar hobbies with the Lord. Or perhaps, it should be said that the Lord had taught him well. Usually, he would study farming methods. However, unlike the Lord, the young man held a great interest in horse riding and swordsmanship as well. He always achieved good results when hunting. 

“But you can’t be so slipshod. Look at your body.” Lily patted him a few times. “Why is it that whenever the Lord views the crops, his body always remains so clean?”

Lance smiled. “I haven’t mastered this yet.”