Chapter 40 Visitation

  The next morning, when Liu Yitiao and Liu Ertiao rushed to the county government office, Wang Zhihong had already left with Huang Shan for half an hour. Seeing Liu Ertiao's disappointed face, Liu Yitiao comforted him a few words before pulling him together to visit the farmers who would work for him in a few days.

  According to the records above, there are 91 households and 381 people. From now on, they will all be his employees and their family members. As it is the Spring Festival, he should go visit them as a courtesy. Chat with them about daily life, build relationships. If possible, Liu Yitia wants to sign labor contracts with them as soon as possible. Without a contract, the labor relationship always makes people feel uneasy.

  In the ninety-one households, eighty of them were concentrated together, forming a small village. These are all Wang Kui's credit, originally for the convenience of farming, Wang Kui used his power to coerce and entice these farmers, driving them all together. Now it's convenient for Liu Yitia, who had a ready-made meal.

  Liu Yitiao brought Liu Ertiao to this village with eighty farming households, and saw the situation of each household, feeling like they had arrived in a slum. Poor, dilapidated.

  The houses here are very simple and were built with mud and thatch, many of them have cracks in the middle, but still many people live inside.

  The peasants here are dressed in tattered clothes, and in the cold winter weather, many people still wear autumn clothes, especially some children, who are frozen to the point of swelling all over their bodies.

  How can these people live so miserably? Liu Yitiao looked at it with a heartache, especially now that it's almost noon, and among the 80 households, only three or four households had smoke rising from their kitchens. Have they all already been unable to open their pots?

  Liu Yitiao pulled over a child playing at the village entrance and inquired about the residence of the village head.

  The host's surname is Li, his name is Dechen, a man in his fifties, also an elder, with great prestige in the village. His home is in a thatched cottage at the east end of the village.

  Having heard clearly, Liu Yitiao pulled Liu Ertiao to rush to Li Dechen's home. When they arrived, Li Dechen was sweeping dust in the yard.

  Looking at him, his slender body, thin hemp clothes, and half-black-and-white hair. The skin on his hands and face was dark and tanned, as if he had been exposed to the scorching sun for many days.

  At this time, Li Dechen also noticed Liu Yitiao and his companion, seeing that they seemed to be heading towards his home, so he stopped the work in his hands.

  As they approached, Li Dequan finally bowed and greeted them, asking: "I don't know where the two gentlemen are from? What guidance do you have for this old man's humble abode?"

  "Li Laozhang has been polite," said Liu Yitia, bowing his hands in return, "I am Liu Yitia, a villager from Gutian Village. This is my second brother, Liu Ertiao."

  Li Dechen listened to Liu Yitiao's introduction and became more polite, bowing his body: "It turns out that it is the new master. The new master has arrived, and the old man has not welcomed him from afar, I hope the master will not blame him."

  Liu Yitiao stepped back a bit, avoiding Li Desheng's bow, and waved his hand: "Li Laozheng doesn't have to be so polite." After Li Desheng straightened up, he said again: "Today, I came here to understand the situation of the villagers and also to discuss the spring plowing. Knowing that Li Laozheng is in charge here, I came to bother you."

  Li Dechen saw that Liu Yitiao was polite and courteous, unlike Wang Kui's ferocity before, and he also felt a little more at ease. He respectfully invited the two brothers into the house and said with some embarrassment: "Two masters please sit down. My humble abode is simple, Li Mou has been slow to welcome you."

  Liu Yitiao took a look and saw that the house was empty except for an old square table and three small stools with three legs, which was indeed very simple.

  Moreover, Liu Yitiao also noticed that Old Li's home didn't even have an ancestral altar. Exchanging a glance with Liu Ertiao, Liu Yitiao sighed inwardly, thinking that if they couldn't even afford the things for ancestor worship, it was imaginable how impoverished their family was.

  Liu Yitiao sat down on one of the benches, gesturing for Li Desheng and Liu Ertiao to sit down as well. "Li Laozhang," he said, "I've observed that none of the households in this village seem to be wealthy. Most families don't even have a single decent winter garment. Some children are still wearing thin clothes; I wonder why it's like this?"

  "Huh?" Li Dechen was taken aback, clearly not expecting Liu Yitiao to be so concerned about the villagers. This was completely unlike his former master, who didn't care about the lives and deaths of the villagers. His good impression of Liu Yitiao increased a few more points. He thought that this new master might be kinder, so he plucked up the courage to say: "Master, every year our village's labor is barely enough for us to make ends meet. Where would we have extra money to buy clothes? In previous years, it was still okay, during Chinese New Year we could receive some example money from the master and buy some new goods. But this year, the master was arrested, the land was confiscated, and we villagers only got a share of hunger."

  "I'm not hiding it from you, sir. Nowadays, most households in the village can barely survive on thin porridge, and some families with young children can't even get a bowl of thin porridge to drink. We have to rely on help from other villagers just to make ends meet." Li De-shen's face was filled with a mixture of sadness and helplessness as he spoke. People like them, without a proper household registration or with low social status, wouldn't be cared for or pitied even if they truly starved to death.

  "Alright." Liu Yitiao pondered for a moment, then said to Li Deshen: "Li Laozhang, would you please trouble yourself to gather all the able-bodied men in the village? I have something to say to everyone."

  Li Dechen replied respectfully: "Yes, Master. Please wait a moment, the men in the village are mostly at home now, and we can gather them quickly."

  "Hmm." Yuliutiao nodded, waiting for Lidechen to walk out of the room. After a moment's thought, he asked Yuerutiao: "Yuerutiao, how much silver money do you have on you now?"

  Liu Er Tiao reached into his bosom and felt around, saying: "There's only five coins."

  "Five yuan? It's a bit less. But one yuan is still one yuan." Liu Yitiao said: "First lend me the money to use, and I'll return it to you when I get home."

  Liu Er Tiao almost guessed Liu Yi Tiao's next move, so he handed the money to Liu Yi Tiao without hesitation and said: "Big brother, if you need it, just take it. Don't mention that kind of unnecessary polite talk."

  Liu Yitiao smiled and said, "This child Liu Ertiao has finally become more sensible."

  Take the money over, five cents may not be much, but it's enough for a family of several mouths to eat for a few days. If you add up the more than 800 words on his body, it's enough for hundreds of mouths in this village to eat for several days.

  As for what happens next, let's talk about it later.

  What Liu Yitiao needs to do now is to give these farmers a hope, a hope that they can live a good life and eat meat every day.

  And for Liu Yitiao, this was also an opportunity to win people's hearts and make these farmers follow him wholeheartedly.