Disclaimer:
1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
Today, there weren’t many people around. Liu Changgeng and He shi had both gone to the workshop while Liu Lin and Liu Tao were at the stores. It was only the three of them alone at home, talking.
When he heard Shi Cheng suggest the Shao family leave the village, Liu Shu shook his head, “How is that possible?”
Just as he said that, Wang shi came in and announced a visitor. So Liu Shu headed out to take a look. It turned out that the guest was Shao Huai.
Liu Shu was startled, “Why are you here? Did the Village Head look for you?!”
Liu Xu’er told Wang shi to steep some tea and bring some fruits out. She placed the items on a nearby stone table.
As they were plowing the plot, all of them spoke of what had happened today. Liu Shu mentioned Shi Cheng’s suggestion. As expected, the instant Shao Huai heard, he shook his head. “Young boss, what you said isn’t too….” He didn’t finish.
Shi Cheng said, “What, it isn’t too possible? Isn’t too practical?”
Shao Huai nodded, “That’s right, it’s not too possible… All of my ancestors have been in Niangou Village. How can we leave it? At least in the village, we have a place to stay. If we leave, where will we live? I have two sisters….”
Shi Cheng smiled and waved his hands, “You misunderstood me….. When I said to leave Niangou Village, I didn’t mean for you to pack everything up and escape in the dead of the night with your sisters to beg on the streets. You need to plan it step by step…. Your two sisters are already not that young – you should be looking for partners for them right? After you’ve found someone for them, they will naturally leave the village. So your sisters aren’t the issue, the issue is you. If you stay in the village after you’ve married, you would definitely get bullied by the Village Head. He is an official, you are just an ordinary citizen – you don’t have any chance of thriving unless he is stripped of his title by an enemy. But that doesn’t seem too likely, right?”
Shao Huai silently shook his head.
“So, you should start to think and plan. It’s not that you should immediately move away, but you need to have that as a goal…. And your land, you definitely cannot rely on your current plot of land. The Village Head definitely wouldn’t be willing to give it to you. Let me give you a suggestion that would minimise your losses.”
Shao Huai quickly asked, “What suggestion?”
Shi Cheng smiled and replied, “Move your land! Do you have enough money to buy some land?”
Shao Huai shook his head, “It’s not enough…. I’ve been planting flowers for six, seven years. It was only three years ago that I started to make money. After earning money, I had to first return all the money I borrowed. It was only last year that I paid off all our debts….”
Shi Cheng nodded and said, “Do you know anyone in the village looking to buy land? You can go and look for someone, and sell your current flower plot to them for cheap…. Outside, a mu of land is sold for six, seven taels. If it is a low grade field, it’s still four or five taels a mu. So you just ask for a tael of silver per mu…. It was uncultivated land that you worked on. Haven’t you already been using the area for six, seven years? It should now be considered cultivated land…..”
Shao Huai shook his head frantically, “It hasn’t been six or seven years. At first, I only planted flowers in my own home. I’ve only used this plot for about four years.”
“Four years is enough for it to be considered cultivated land. A tael of silver is very inexpensive.”
“But that is unclaimed land. It’s not mine. If I were to sell it, wouldn’t I be committing a crime? The Village Head would definitely use it against me.” Shao Huai asked.
Shi Cheng smiled and said, “Of course you can’t let your Village Head know! Honestly, the buyer is the one that reaps most of the benefits. They don’t have to work uncultivated land and all they have to do is to go to the Village Head to register their claim. The amount of money to buy uncultivated land isn’t high – they would probably only have to spend a couple of hundred wen… Of course, since your Village Head is unscrupulous, he would probably expect a bribe or something, but that land is still very cheap. So long as the buyer really wants to get this bargain, he would definitely not spread it around. If he were to say anything, he would also be guilty of a crime! Right? That’s right, how many mu do you have?”
Shao Huai shook his head, “How can I have that much land, it’s only slightly over a mu….”
“So just ask for a tael of silver. With such a bargain, someone would surely be willing to do it. Before you sell, you need to make sure to talk to them properly and get them to give you enough time to move everything away first.” Shi Cheng smiled and said, “With the tael of silver in your hands, you can borrow some money first to buy a low grade field to plant your flowers…. Don’t buy it too close to your village – you need to plan for your eventual move. When your two sisters get married, you can also work hard to save up some money and move away.”
Shao Huai was still hesitant when he heard.
Liu Shu also didn’t say anything. He was slightly disapproving of Shi Cheng’s suggestion, but there didn’t seem to be any other way. Still, it was a crime!
Only Liu Xu’er approved. It was only a crime if one got caught, if you didn’t…. Wouldn’t that be alright? To be honest, the Village Head’s action of renting out the village pond was also a crime! But who would dare to say anything?
So she nodded and said, “I think that what Shi Cheng said is right! Shao Huai, you need to find the right buyer. You must be able to guarantee that this person won’t let your secret slip. He must also be willing to take on this bargain.”
Shao Huai hesitated for a while longer before nodding. “I will try… I will think about it some more.”
Shi Cheng nodded, “You do need to consider it carefully. There’s no hurry. Now that the Village Head has created this mess, he won’t do anything to you until the pond issue is settled. You still have some time. As for moving away, you don’t need to overthink it. You can move, but keep your household register in the village. Like Xu’er and her family – they moved to town, but they are still Taohua villagers. When you’ve money in the future, even if the Village Head is still the same, he wouldn’t dare to make too much trouble for you.”
Shao Huai finally understood. “Oh, oh, oh”, and nodded his head.
As they discussed they finished plowing up the plot of earth. Shao Huai had dug a pit at the side to bury some fertilizer, and watered the newly tilled earth. Now they just needed to wait till the water had seeped through the earth, and they would be able to transplant the roses into the bed tomorrow.
It was only then that he took his leave.
The rest of them headed back to the main house and spoke for a while longer. Shi Cheng knew that Liu Shu didn’t quite agree with his plan, so he advised him, “If a person is too honest, he will only suffer losses. In these few years of doing business, you should have noticed. It’s those who are flexible and cunning that do well in business… Actually, we should apply that in everyday life as well. We won’t hurt anyone else, but we cannot allow ourselves to be bullied because we were foolishly honest.”
Liu Shu sighed and said, “Actually, I can’t think of any other solution myself. At least you have a viable suggestion.”
They left the matter at that. The next day, Shao Huai came with his two sisters. It wasn’t easy to transplant so many flowers. After they came, they hurried to plant it in the spot they had prepared the day before.
After working the entire day, they finally finished. Shao Rong spent a long time explaining what was needed to care for the roses. Liu Xu’er got Wang shi to listen in on the instructions as well. After settling the payment, the three siblings left. When they were leaving, Shao Huai pulled Liu Shu to the side and said, “This morning, the Village Head’s youngest son looked for me. He wanted me to go over to their home to discuss yesterday’s matters. I said that I was making a delivery today, and said that I would be by tomorrow instead…”
Liu Shu nodded his head and said, “Good! I will go with you tomorrow morning!”
Shao Huai was extremely grateful. He said, “I’m really sorry for the trouble… Thank you so much.”
Liu Shu shook his head, “You’re being too formal with me again.”
After sending the three of them away, Liu Xu’er found out that Liu Shu would be heading over the next day. Worried that what happened yesterday would repeat itself, she instructed Liu Sen to ask if they could borrow two of Shi Cheng’s workers for tomorrow. They would accompany Liu Shu on his trip to Niangou Village.
Shi Cheng naturally agreed to the request. If he weren’t so busy, he would’ve gone along as well! At least the matter didn’t require his presence. All he needed to do was to give some pressure to Manager Wei, so that Manager Wei didn’t dare to use the Village Head to bully Shao Huai.
The next day, Shi Cheng’s servants came by. Liu Shu saw that it was Uncle Chen from before! Along with him was another shop assistant. Liu Shu then understood – Uncle Chen was both shrewd and persuasive. He had been doing business for over 10 years and had seen all kinds of people. With him around to help, Liu Shu wasn’t even the slightest bit worried.
He smiled, offered his thanks for their help and all three of them left for Niangou Village.
When Liu Xu’er found out that Uncle Chen would be going along, she too relaxed and continued to work on her roses.
Going back to Liu Shu – they drove the cart to Shao Huai’s home. Shao Huai was waiting for him at the door. When he arrived, he hitched his donkey cart to the door post and instructed his two sisters to watch the house carefully. They were not to open the door carelessly. Then he brought Liu Shu to the Village Head’s home.
Liu Shu had just seen the Village Head the day before. When they were about to reach his home, they saw a person standing at the door. When the person saw them approaching, he just turned around and went back in, not bothering to greet them.
Shao Huai said, “That’s the Village Head’s youngest son.”
Immediately, Liu Shu felt intense loathing for the Village Head’s entire family. The youngest son was short and looked rather wretched! This kind of person still wanted…. Even a good natured person like Liu Shu started to get angry.
When they entered, they saw the Village Head sitting under a tree in the courtyard, fanning himself. It was only after he saw that Liu Shu had come that he stood up, smiled, and said, “The young boss has also come? You seem rather concerned over our village’s matters.”
Liu Shu smiled and replied, “My family is planning quite a few joyful occasions in quick succession, and I am in charge of organizing them. I wanted Shao Huai to help provide the flowers for the occasions. If something were to happen to him, wouldn’t it affect the celebrations? That isn’t something I take lightly…..”
Liu Shu had realised from the previous incident that this Village Head feared the strong, but bullied the weak, so today, he had deliberately spoken in a more imperious manner.
Uncle Chen was very quick witted. When he saw the chair, he quickly went forward and used his sleeves to wipe it down before giving a respectful bow to Liu Shu, “Eldest Young Master, please sit.”
Disclaimer:
1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
Today, there weren’t many people around. Liu Changgeng and He shi had both gone to the workshop while Liu Lin and Liu Tao were at the stores. It was only the three of them alone at home, talking.
When he heard Shi Cheng suggest the Shao family leave the village, Liu Shu shook his head, “How is that possible?”
Just as he said that, Wang shi came in and announced a visitor. So Liu Shu headed out to take a look. It turned out that the guest was Shao Huai.
Liu Shu was startled, “Why are you here? Did the Village Head look for you?!”
Liu Xu’er told Wang shi to steep some tea and bring some fruits out. She placed the items on a nearby stone table.
As they were plowing the plot, all of them spoke of what had happened today. Liu Shu mentioned Shi Cheng’s suggestion. As expected, the instant Shao Huai heard, he shook his head. “Young boss, what you said isn’t too….” He didn’t finish.
Shi Cheng said, “What, it isn’t too possible? Isn’t too practical?”
Shao Huai nodded, “That’s right, it’s not too possible… All of my ancestors have been in Niangou Village. How can we leave it? At least in the village, we have a place to stay. If we leave, where will we live? I have two sisters….”
Shi Cheng smiled and waved his hands, “You misunderstood me….. When I said to leave Niangou Village, I didn’t mean for you to pack everything up and escape in the dead of the night with your sisters to beg on the streets. You need to plan it step by step…. Your two sisters are already not that young – you should be looking for partners for them right? After you’ve found someone for them, they will naturally leave the village. So your sisters aren’t the issue, the issue is you. If you stay in the village after you’ve married, you would definitely get bullied by the Village Head. He is an official, you are just an ordinary citizen – you don’t have any chance of thriving unless he is stripped of his title by an enemy. But that doesn’t seem too likely, right?”
Shao Huai silently shook his head.
“So, you should start to think and plan. It’s not that you should immediately move away, but you need to have that as a goal…. And your land, you definitely cannot rely on your current plot of land. The Village Head definitely wouldn’t be willing to give it to you. Let me give you a suggestion that would minimise your losses.”
Shao Huai quickly asked, “What suggestion?”
Shi Cheng smiled and replied, “Move your land! Do you have enough money to buy some land?”
Shao Huai shook his head, “It’s not enough…. I’ve been planting flowers for six, seven years. It was only three years ago that I started to make money. After earning money, I had to first return all the money I borrowed. It was only last year that I paid off all our debts….”
Shi Cheng nodded and said, “Do you know anyone in the village looking to buy land? You can go and look for someone, and sell your current flower plot to them for cheap…. Outside, a mu of land is sold for six, seven taels. If it is a low grade field, it’s still four or five taels a mu. So you just ask for a tael of silver per mu…. It was uncultivated land that you worked on. Haven’t you already been using the area for six, seven years? It should now be considered cultivated land…..”
Shao Huai shook his head frantically, “It hasn’t been six or seven years. At first, I only planted flowers in my own home. I’ve only used this plot for about four years.”
“Four years is enough for it to be considered cultivated land. A tael of silver is very inexpensive.”
“But that is unclaimed land. It’s not mine. If I were to sell it, wouldn’t I be committing a crime? The Village Head would definitely use it against me.” Shao Huai asked.
Shi Cheng smiled and said, “Of course you can’t let your Village Head know! Honestly, the buyer is the one that reaps most of the benefits. They don’t have to work uncultivated land and all they have to do is to go to the Village Head to register their claim. The amount of money to buy uncultivated land isn’t high – they would probably only have to spend a couple of hundred wen… Of course, since your Village Head is unscrupulous, he would probably expect a bribe or something, but that land is still very cheap. So long as the buyer really wants to get this bargain, he would definitely not spread it around. If he were to say anything, he would also be guilty of a crime! Right? That’s right, how many mu do you have?”
Shao Huai shook his head, “How can I have that much land, it’s only slightly over a mu….”
“So just ask for a tael of silver. With such a bargain, someone would surely be willing to do it. Before you sell, you need to make sure to talk to them properly and get them to give you enough time to move everything away first.” Shi Cheng smiled and said, “With the tael of silver in your hands, you can borrow some money first to buy a low grade field to plant your flowers…. Don’t buy it too close to your village – you need to plan for your eventual move. When your two sisters get married, you can also work hard to save up some money and move away.”
Shao Huai was still hesitant when he heard.
Liu Shu also didn’t say anything. He was slightly disapproving of Shi Cheng’s suggestion, but there didn’t seem to be any other way. Still, it was a crime!
Only Liu Xu’er approved. It was only a crime if one got caught, if you didn’t…. Wouldn’t that be alright? To be honest, the Village Head’s action of renting out the village pond was also a crime! But who would dare to say anything?
So she nodded and said, “I think that what Shi Cheng said is right! Shao Huai, you need to find the right buyer. You must be able to guarantee that this person won’t let your secret slip. He must also be willing to take on this bargain.”
Shao Huai hesitated for a while longer before nodding. “I will try… I will think about it some more.”
Shi Cheng nodded, “You do need to consider it carefully. There’s no hurry. Now that the Village Head has created this mess, he won’t do anything to you until the pond issue is settled. You still have some time. As for moving away, you don’t need to overthink it. You can move, but keep your household register in the village. Like Xu’er and her family – they moved to town, but they are still Taohua villagers. When you’ve money in the future, even if the Village Head is still the same, he wouldn’t dare to make too much trouble for you.”
Shao Huai finally understood. “Oh, oh, oh”, and nodded his head.
As they discussed they finished plowing up the plot of earth. Shao Huai had dug a pit at the side to bury some fertilizer, and watered the newly tilled earth. Now they just needed to wait till the water had seeped through the earth, and they would be able to transplant the roses into the bed tomorrow.
It was only then that he took his leave.
The rest of them headed back to the main house and spoke for a while longer. Shi Cheng knew that Liu Shu didn’t quite agree with his plan, so he advised him, “If a person is too honest, he will only suffer losses. In these few years of doing business, you should have noticed. It’s those who are flexible and cunning that do well in business… Actually, we should apply that in everyday life as well. We won’t hurt anyone else, but we cannot allow ourselves to be bullied because we were foolishly honest.”
Liu Shu sighed and said, “Actually, I can’t think of any other solution myself. At least you have a viable suggestion.”
They left the matter at that. The next day, Shao Huai came with his two sisters. It wasn’t easy to transplant so many flowers. After they came, they hurried to plant it in the spot they had prepared the day before.
After working the entire day, they finally finished. Shao Rong spent a long time explaining what was needed to care for the roses. Liu Xu’er got Wang shi to listen in on the instructions as well. After settling the payment, the three siblings left. When they were leaving, Shao Huai pulled Liu Shu to the side and said, “This morning, the Village Head’s youngest son looked for me. He wanted me to go over to their home to discuss yesterday’s matters. I said that I was making a delivery today, and said that I would be by tomorrow instead…”
Liu Shu nodded his head and said, “Good! I will go with you tomorrow morning!”
Shao Huai was extremely grateful. He said, “I’m really sorry for the trouble… Thank you so much.”
Liu Shu shook his head, “You’re being too formal with me again.”
After sending the three of them away, Liu Xu’er found out that Liu Shu would be heading over the next day. Worried that what happened yesterday would repeat itself, she instructed Liu Sen to ask if they could borrow two of Shi Cheng’s workers for tomorrow. They would accompany Liu Shu on his trip to Niangou Village.
Shi Cheng naturally agreed to the request. If he weren’t so busy, he would’ve gone along as well! At least the matter didn’t require his presence. All he needed to do was to give some pressure to Manager Wei, so that Manager Wei didn’t dare to use the Village Head to bully Shao Huai.
The next day, Shi Cheng’s servants came by. Liu Shu saw that it was Uncle Chen from before! Along with him was another shop assistant. Liu Shu then understood – Uncle Chen was both shrewd and persuasive. He had been doing business for over 10 years and had seen all kinds of people. With him around to help, Liu Shu wasn’t even the slightest bit worried.
He smiled, offered his thanks for their help and all three of them left for Niangou Village.
When Liu Xu’er found out that Uncle Chen would be going along, she too relaxed and continued to work on her roses.
Going back to Liu Shu – they drove the cart to Shao Huai’s home. Shao Huai was waiting for him at the door. When he arrived, he hitched his donkey cart to the door post and instructed his two sisters to watch the house carefully. They were not to open the door carelessly. Then he brought Liu Shu to the Village Head’s home.
Liu Shu had just seen the Village Head the day before. When they were about to reach his home, they saw a person standing at the door. When the person saw them approaching, he just turned around and went back in, not bothering to greet them.
Shao Huai said, “That’s the Village Head’s youngest son.”
Immediately, Liu Shu felt intense loathing for the Village Head’s entire family. The youngest son was short and looked rather wretched! This kind of person still wanted…. Even a good natured person like Liu Shu started to get angry.
When they entered, they saw the Village Head sitting under a tree in the courtyard, fanning himself. It was only after he saw that Liu Shu had come that he stood up, smiled, and said, “The young boss has also come? You seem rather concerned over our village’s matters.”
Liu Shu smiled and replied, “My family is planning quite a few joyful occasions in quick succession, and I am in charge of organizing them. I wanted Shao Huai to help provide the flowers for the occasions. If something were to happen to him, wouldn’t it affect the celebrations? That isn’t something I take lightly…..”
Liu Shu had realised from the previous incident that this Village Head feared the strong, but bullied the weak, so today, he had deliberately spoken in a more imperious manner.
Uncle Chen was very quick witted. When he saw the chair, he quickly went forward and used his sleeves to wipe it down before giving a respectful bow to Liu Shu, “Eldest Young Master, please sit.”
