Joe's Farming

On the day of the Great Cold, the village chief came to the Gu family in the snow and wind.

Qiao Xing was making a snowman in the yard with his younger brother and sister, so he saw the village chief on the mountain road at a glance.

Qiao Xing shouted to Gu Feng and Qiao Yu in the house: "Daddy, little daddy, the village chief is here."

Qiao Yu was leaning on Gu Feng. They were lying on the kang, feeling warm.

When the weather got cold, the family would eat on a low table set up on the kang.

Bai Lan and the others naturally didn't dare to enter the host's room, so they ate in the kitchen.

When the two heard that it was the village chief, they quickly asked Da Zhuang to pick him up in such a heavy snow.

The two men invited the village chief into the warm main room.

"Why are you here?" Gu Feng asked straight to the point.

The village chief untied the scarf wrapped around both sides of his head and revealed a sad look.

"The old man Zhang in the north of the village froze to death yesterday. There is no one else in his family. Oh, it's all my fault for not taking a closer look a few days ago. Although the situation in the village is not very rich, if everyone contributed a little, they wouldn't be frozen to death.

When they were found this morning, they were already frozen solid.”

It happened that the old man was warming himself by the fire in the main hall with everyone today. When he heard this, he asked, "But it's the old man Zhang who has a mole here."

Uncle Wang gestured on his left cheek.

The village chief nodded.

Uncle Wang sighed and said, "Alas, we were still talking at the entrance of the village a while ago, how come we are gone just like that?"

The village chief also sighed.

"Uncle Village Chief, are you here to ask our family for help?" Qiao Yu asked.

The village chief said somewhat embarrassedly: "Old man Zhang only has one acre of top-quality farmland and a homestead under his name. He has no descendants, so the land can only be reclaimed by the village in the future.

The village should also pay for his funeral, but the village has no money in its account now.

So I wanted to ask your family if you want to buy the land and the homestead. I'll give it to you at a lower price, just fifteen taels in total, and the homestead will be included as a gift."

Qiao Yu and Gu Feng thought it was indeed cheap, but their family had no plans to build a house in the village, so it was useless to have the homestead.

As for the fields, although they were top-quality fields, they had just bought the mountain, and the wasteland at the foot of the mountain was enough for them to farm.

"Or we can buy it." Gu Feng said. Fifteen taels was nothing to him now. The land could be rented out and the house could be left empty for now. It was not a loss anyway.

Qiao Yu was about to nod.

Da Zhuang, who had been squatting in the corner, suddenly asked, "Can you sell it to me?"

Qiao Yu knew how much money he had.

Some were curious and asked, "Where did you get the money?"

Da Zhuang scratched his head and said, "Boss, will I still get red envelopes and wages next year and the year after?"

Qiao Yu understood. This kid actually wanted to ask him for a loan to buy a house?

It was a very serious occasion, but Qiao Yu couldn't help but be amused by Da Zhuang.

"Are you sure? Your family is planning to build a house for you next year, and you will still have your own room then."

Da Zhuang blushed and said, "I didn't buy it for myself. I was thinking that the village chief had said that Xiao Bai couldn't live in his house when spring comes.

What will he do then? Then I will buy this house and land for him.

This way, he won't be left without a place to go. Don't worry, boss, I will work harder and won't let you suffer any loss.

You don't have to pay me wages until I can pay back the fifteen taels."

Qiao Yu teased him deliberately: "This money is loaned out with interest every year, so you will have to pay back more than fifteen taels."

Da Zhuang nodded vigorously: "I know, Boss, you can charge me whatever interest you want, but I will pay it off anyway."

Everyone was shocked by Da Zhuang's desperate look. If Qiao Yu was a little more ruthless, he might not get a penny for ten years.

Qiao Yu shook his head slightly.

"I'll lend it to you, but you don't have to pay interest. Your wages and benefits will be halved until you pay it back."

Da Zhuang wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Qiao Yu, but Qiao Yu stopped him and said sternly:

"However, even though you bought this house and Xiaobai is willing to move in, it doesn't mean that Xiaobai has to be with you. Of course, if he is willing to ignore what I said, you have the right to stop him from living there. Of course, I hope you can be together in the future, but the premise is that you both want to, understand?"

Qiao Yu has a face smaller than Da Zhuang's, but she trains Da Zhuang to be well-behaved and obedient.

Da Zhuang nodded vigorously: "I know, the other day an old man taught me what it means to repay a favor, I will never do that to Xiao Bai.

Even if he doesn't want to live here, I still have the land and the house."

Although his indenture is still in the hands of his employer, his employer is willing to let them redeem themselves in the future. That way, he will be a free man one day, and the house and land will be his real private property.

Of course he would not leave his employer. He would work for his employer for the rest of his life, unless his employer no longer wanted him.

The village chief left the house deeds and land deeds with satisfaction, took the fifteen taels of silver, and went back to find someone to take care of Old Man Zhang's funeral.

Uncle Wang specifically asked about the time of the funeral as he also wanted to be there to see it off.

Qiao Yu solemnly handed the house deed and land deeds to Da Zhuang.

"You'll be a house slave from now on." Qiao Yu murmured softly.

I never thought that one day he would actually lend money to people, but Qiao Yu felt very satisfied that he could meet the wishes of his employees.

After sitting back on the kang, Qiao Yu leaned against Gu Feng and peeled peanuts.

While eating, she said, "Husband, should we do something?"

Gu Feng asked doubtfully: "What?"

Qiao Yutan sighed: "Before, I just thought about staying at home comfortably on snowy days, but I never thought that there were elderly people in the village who would be frozen to death."

Qiao Yu comes from a place where there are electric blankets, air conditioners and heaters in winter. Even though the conditions in the orphanage where he grew up were poor, no one had ever frozen to death.

When he heard that an old man had frozen to death today, his first feeling, besides sadness, was that he should do something.

"I heard from Ayuan that his family would give out porridge in the town on the 15th of every month. As the saying goes, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

Our family does not have to do this, but we can seek cooperation from the village chief. For example, if someone’s family is short of food and clothing and they have good character, the village chief can guarantee and lend them some money.

Let them get through this difficult time. When spring comes, our family will need a lot of people, and they can work to repay us."

Qiao Yu is not a saint after all. The only way to help that he can think of is not blindly donating, but assistance that requires repayment.

Gu Feng kissed Qiao Yu: "I think this is great, you can use our money however you want, Qiao'er."

Qiao Yu turned her head away and said coquettishly, "I knew you would say that. Say something else."

Gu Feng was stunned: "Whatever you say is what it is?"

Ugh--

Qiao Yu sighed and took the initiative to move forward...