Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 30: The Feng Family’s silver must not be squandered by them

"Yeah, village chief, I’ve watched Feng Xuxu grow up, and I know exactly what she’s capable of. She’s hardly ever worked the fields—could count the times on one hand. It’s Feng Xi who often toils the soil. But we’ve been farming for most of our lives and haven’t managed to breed any high-yield seeds. So how could that youngster have more experience than us?" Feng Santian said disdainfully, curling his lip.

"Village chief, this is no child’s play. Our family won’t be trying it. A whole family’s grain supply isn’t a small matter," Feng Eryu had no faith in this new rice variety. He knew all too well what Feng Xi was like—a lad who couldn’t knock a fart out of himself with a stick.

Some villagers, seeing that Feng Xi’s second uncle and third uncle didn’t believe their nephew and niece could come up with anything, were even more skeptical themselves. They unanimously refused to plant the new rice variety.

The village chief looked at his short-sighted fellow villagers with a sense of helplessness and sighed inwardly before continuing to announce the next item, "Feng Xuxu has bought a thousand mu of wasteland to the east of our village, along with Nameless Mountain and the Great Water Pond that adjoins Spiritual Mountain. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin to reclaim the wasteland, and we need fifty laborers, anyone between the age of seventeen and forty is eligible. They must be agile and willing to endure hardship. Each person will be paid twenty-five wen per day and provided with lunch. Those interested should queue up at the ancestral hall afterwards to sign up," he said, dropping another bombshell on the crowd following the new rice variety announcement.

The young men in the village all rubbed their hands in excitement, eager to try. They were all smiles at the prospect of this job, looking forward to earning such wages and being provided with a meal—it really was a rare opportunity that they all cherished.

The men over forty were not despondent either, as there was no lack of labor in their homes. If they couldn’t go themselves, their sons could take their place. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

But there’s always a discordant note that grates on the ears, "Who doesn’t know that Feng Xuxu and Feng Xi were kicked out of the Feng Family by my father-in-law, starting out with nothing? Who knows what methods they used to acquire that thousand mu of wasteland, and where did the silver for paying us all come from?" Third Aunt, Mrs. Feng Liu, listened to the news of the purchase of the thousand mu of wasteland and mountain, and was filled with envy and jealousy. She almost wished she could march over and take it by force.

"I can assure everyone that Feng Xuxu’s silver was obtained honestly. Moreover, Feng Xuxu has already advanced the wages and left them with me. Everyone can go to reclaim the land without worries," the village chief glared at the meddlesome, ignorant villager woman and explained to the crowd. After all, as the head of the village, his words carried weight.

"Alright, village chief, count me in," Feng Guang was the first to shout that he wanted to join the land reclamation.

With the first one came the second and the third, "Village chief, count me in."

"Me too, me too, count me in!"

"Village chief, here, I’m here, count me in, count me!"

The young men, afraid of being left out, were scrambling over each other, clamoring to be included.

"Quiet down! Those who want to reclaim land, stay here, line up and register one by one. Anyone found to be cheating or shirking will be disqualified from employment immediately and will not be considered for any good policy in the future, so think it over carefully," the village chief sternly warned everyone.

"Don’t worry, village chief, if there really are people trying to cheat or shirk, none of us will let them get away with it," Feng Zhong, seeing the hard-earned opportunity to work and earn wages, knew no one would let a few bad apples spoil the bunch.

"We all understand, village chief. Rest assured, we’ll keep an eye on each other," Feng Shun, Feng Zhong’s brother, puffed out his chest and assured him.

With a ’clang,’ a teacup had met its end on the floor, shattering to pieces, indicative of the fury of its owner.

"Third brother, is what you said true? That wretched girl actually bought that wasteland to the east of the village and even the small mountain?" Feng Santian watched his mother’s chest heave with indignant breaths, and with deliberately feigned anger said, "Yes, indeed, that’s a good thousand mu or more, huh. No sooner had she left the family than she had the silver to purchase land—it’s clear she’s trying to separate from us. Moreover, Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu are so young, where would they get so much silver? It must be the silver our eldest brother had saved. I never expected that little wench Feng Xuxu to have something up her sleeve. Mother, this won’t do. The silver and everything else left by our eldest brother belong to the old Feng Family and we can’t let them ruin everything."

Mrs. Feng Jia listened to her third son’s analysis and felt he made sense; her anger was stoked, and she threw another cup onto the ground with a crash.

"What in the world are you doing? Cups aren’t made of silver—you think breaking them doesn’t cost silver? You’re wasting our fortune! What’s gotten you so upset?" Mrs. Feng Jia’s wrath flared upon seeing her husband.

"Silver, silver, that’s all you care about, just staring at that little bit of silver! Why don’t you go outside and see for yourself? Those two brats, Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu, have already bought up thousands of mu of wasteland, along with Nameless Mountain—everyone in the village knows it," Mrs. Feng Jia grew angrier as she spoke, planting herself with hands on hips and facing her husband with a sneer, albeit speechless.

Feng Youcai was silently smoking his pipe, his face alternating between shades of gloom, looking quite unpleasant. Everyone in the room stood off to the side, not even daring to breathe too loudly for fear of incurring the old man’s wrath.

"Dad, Mom, third brother, you’re all here," Eryu greeted each family member as he entered the hall.

"Second brother’s here, good timing. Come, we’re going to speak with Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu. We can’t let those two squander the old Feng Family’s silver," Feng Youcai put down his smoking pipe and got up to leave. Eryu and Santian exchanged glances and followed their father, Feng Youcai, to Zhang Hui’s place to find Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu.