Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 121 - 120 Send a Young Bull

Chapter 121: 120 Send a Young Bull

Upon hearing Chen Ming’s words, Alu was somewhat displeased. He pouted and said, "Dad also said he didn’t mind my sister. Since he doesn’t mind, why does it matter if we live a bit closer?" he muttered, "I don’t want to be too far away from my sister and Dabao. Things are just fine as they are right now."

Dabao also pouted, "Dabao doesn’t want to be too far away from my little uncle, maternal grandparents either."

Mrs. Wang glared at Alu and said, "Just a child, what do you know? Your father is doing this for your sister’s sake." She then turned to Chen Afu and said, "Daughter, your mother also thinks that your father is right. Now that you are independent, we can’t let people think we haven’t divided the family..."

Chen Afu, seeing the hesitation on Chen Ming’s and Mrs. Wang’s faces, began to understand. It might be that Chen Ye and Mrs. Chen had some ideas, mostly likely letting Chen Ming gain the most benefits. Chen Ming didn’t want to take advantage of her, but it was difficult for him to go against Chen Ye and Mrs. Chen.

Through today’s events, Chen Afu felt that despite Chen Ye’s petty nature, he was very righteous in some areas. At least when their own family faced bullying, he would bravely protect them without fear of death. Mrs. Chen was also good; despite her old age, she could stand with her son in dangerous moments... Given all this, Chen Ming couldn’t possibly sever ties with them, nor should they make it overly difficult for him.

It’s just as well then. In the future, not only will we divide our property, but we will also separate our courtyards. Becoming two truly separate families, we won’t be constrained by each other, which may actually be of greater help to Chen Ming.

Chen Afu nodded and said, "Alright. Our two households shouldn’t live too closely together, but we should still be close enough to support each other." She then gently touched Alu’s head and said, "In the future, even if our two courtyards aren’t very close, whenever you want to visit your sister’s house to eat or rest, you are always welcome."

Chen Ming nodded and said, "Um, your parents will miss you too if you live too far away. It is enough for the two courtyards to be one or two yards apart, just so it’s clear we are two separate households. However, the money for building the houses will be provided by your father. Currently, under your father’s bed, there’s still more than ninety taels of silver, which is enough to build two brick houses and surround two courtyards with bricks. We could also dig a well in Afu’s courtyard for the two families to use..." his eyes glinted as he spoke.

Alu teasingly said, "Dad’s so generous, aren’t you worried that my aunt will come asking for money?"

Chen Ming blushed a little, laughed and said, "We can just say your sister provided the money."

The remark drew laughter from everyone, and the previously suppressive atmosphere gradually eased.

Chen Afu laughed and said, "Dad, don’t try to outdo me. I’ve already made up my mind to pay for the construction of the new houses. Consider it as a token of respect from your daughter. The money in your hands can be used slowly, my brother still needs to go to school. Don’t let my mother go to the county town to take on more embroidery work at the Embroidery Workshop anymore. If I have work, she can help me do some. If I don’t, she just needs to do the housework."

As they discussed, there weren’t any large plots of land left in the village, so they planned to find a piece of land on the outskirts of the village to build the house. This task was entrusted to Chen Ming, allowing him to look for suitable lands when he was free.

After dinner, Chen Ming took out two taels of silver and three small silver ingots and handed them to Chen Afu. The gesture meant this was a face-saving matter, and it was hers to handle. Chen Afu accepted with a smile. They then brought two bags of pastries, a pot of wine, and two pieces of fine cloth that were prepared for Mrs. Chen and Chen Agu. The fine cloth was already ordered in the capital city for Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang. Now it was given them first, so they wouldn’t lose their clothes for nothing.

When father and daughter went there, the main room had just finished dinner, and their bowls had not yet been collected.

Chen Ming first thanked Mrs. Chen, Chen Ye, and his son as well as Mrs. Gao for their help this time, then mentioned the plan to host the guests on the precious ground of the main room.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye was indeed very delighted. He specifically asked if Mr. Luo and his son were going to be invited. When he heard that they would be, he was even more pleased and said that he would make the banquet grand, so that everyone could enjoy the meal. Chen Afu then took out the two taels of silver, saying it was the money for the banquet, and that they didn’t need to prepare wine or luwei, as they would bring them over themselves.

Two taels of silver is more than enough to host a banquet in the countryside, and considering that they were covering the largest expense of wine and luwei themselves, there will definitely be money left over. The remaining money can be considered as compensation for the trouble caused to the main room.

Chen Afu then showed the six silver ingots to Mrs. Chen, Chen Ye, and Chen Agu, stating it was a novelty that was given by the wealthy, just for fun.

It was rare for people in the main room to even see silver, and they usually only used copper coins. This time, not only did they receive two taels of silver, but also these silver ingots that were only used by the wealthy. They were all playing with them curiously.

The people in the main room could see that Chen Afu was different after going to the capital city once, especially when they heard that they had bought so many fields. There were those who were envious, those who were jealous and hateful, and those who were bleeding in their hearts.

Mrs. Hu once again began to strike her chest, describing how Chen Ye gave up his studies to take care of Chen Ming and Chen Shi, how he was up early and working hard from a young age under the guidance of Mrs. Chen, how he couldn’t bear seeing the second room suffer, and how he was injured in a fight this time to help Chen Afu, with a large patch of skin scraped off his arm, and so on.

Chen Ye waved his hand and said, "What are you babbling about? As the eldest brother, I naturally ought to look after my siblings. They went all the way to the capital city and brought back such a nice tobacco pipe for me, which shows they still care about their big brother." Saying this, he took a few puffs from the pipe in his hand, looking very satisfied.

Chen Ming quickly said with a laugh, "I’m incapable, it’s all thanks to Afu that we have these properties. After the field yields a good harvest next year, I will send a sturdy young bull to my elder brother. The old donkey at my elder brother’s house is already too old and can hardly plow the field. Big brother is also getting old and needs to take more rest."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye broke out into hearty laughter.

Chen Ming actually wanted to give Chen Ye a bull now, as he pitied Chen Ye for working so hard. But he didn’t dare, fearing that Mrs. Hu would find out he had so much silver and would demand even more.

Mrs. Hu was not satisfied, thinking that Chen Ming was really stingy. A small bull is worth less than two acres of land, and you already own a hundred acres of paddy field; you’re already a small landlord. You only send a small bull, at least you should send twenty or thirty acres of land.

But seeing how happy Chen Ye was, she swallowed her words down even though they were at the tip of her tongue. She thought to herself that she would coax Chen Ye later.

Chen Afu saw Mrs. Hu rolling her eyes and the disgruntled expression on her face, and she guessed her thoughts.

Insatiable as a snake swallowing an elephant, luckily, Chen Ye and Mrs. Chen, the heads of the family, weren’t as greedy as her.

During the conversation, Chen Afu saw Chen Aju sitting motionless, staring hotly at Chen Agu’s little silver ingot. Mrs. Chen explicitly instructed her to help Mrs. Gao and Chen Alan clear the table, and she dared not move an inch, her mouth curled up high, the clattering of bowls and plates reverberating loudly.

Chen Ye shot her an Eye Knife, and coughed once. Her movements became gentler only then.