Chapter 8: Placing Property

  Li Lao Cai hated the villagers, which started from his eldest son becoming a company commander. Li Lao Cai was also a poor farmer, and it was because of poverty that his eldest son went out to make a living, unexpectedly he became a soldier and even became a company commander.

  More than a decade ago, Li Lao Cai's eldest son returned with a group of soldiers and brought back a bag of silver dollars. From then on, Li Lao Cai was no longer just a country bumpkin. He wasn't originally called Li Lao Cai; it was around that time he got the nickname. The hatred between him and the villagers also originated from that time.

  Having money, Li Lao Cai naturally wanted to buy property. He desperately bought land, and in the village, people inevitably had headaches and brain fever that needed treatment. However, they didn't have any assets, so they could only sell their land. Li Lao Cai thought of buying it cheaply, and in the dispute between the two parties, his property grew more and more, and the hatred also grew bigger and bigger.

  Hatred, these muddy legs are unforgettable, and they don't even know that hatred has been sown. But Li Lao Cai remembered it, why did Li Lao Cai want to move house?

  His eldest son is now a battalion commander in the south and has sent a message asking them to dispose of all their property and go to the south to enjoy happiness with him. However, Li Lao Cai cannot bear to part with these properties, and besides, he does not want to give them cheaply to those poor devils. If those poor devils had money, it would be a different story, but they don't have any money, so Li Lao Cai's trip to the south has been delayed.

  Until the September 18th Incident occurred, Li Lao Cai's youngest son was making a fuss at school about going to Northeast China to fight against Japan. It wasn't until then that Li Lao Cai made up his mind to go south, and he even tied up his youngest son at home, fearing that his son would lose his life if he went.

  "Alright, you two take a look. If you can't read, I'll read it out loud to you. Li Ren voluntarily sells his 200 mu of mountain land and 300 mu of fields... for eight taels of gold to Liu He. Summer, Republic of China year 22. Witness: Liu Fangsheng. Do you both understand? Come, sign your names."

  Liu He Mali wrote his name on the paper, Liu He in traditional characters. He practiced for a while, and although it was still a bit awkward, he managed to write it down after all. Li Lao Cai, on the other hand, pressed a fingerprint, as he was illiterate.

  "Little brother, look, the contract is all signed, are you going to give me that gold of yours?" Li Lao Cai stared at Liu He with eager eyes. "En, I'll give it to you, this is now yours, but when are you moving out?"

  "This doesn't need your urging, little brother. I'm leaving now. I had actually packed my luggage long ago. If no one bought my land, I was going to go find Old Wang. Now it's fine, and it also saves me a trip. Let's go together, and I'll hand over the house to you."

  With money, Li Lao Cai is naturally easy to talk to. Moreover, Liu He now has so many properties, so Li Lao Cai treats Liu He differently from the villagers.

  Li Lao Cai really isn't a big shot, the house he lives in is just an ordinary village house, it's just that there are more of them. How many? Three houses combined into one, and even built walls inside the alley to connect the front and back together. It's a bit incongruous, which means that after he became rich, this construction only added two walls.

  "Little brother, this horse cart is mine, and this horse, it was brought back by my son that year. This cow is yours, and the other one was taken out to graze by Dog Egg."

  Lin Lin made a thorough confession, and it was clear that Li Lao Cai really had some reluctance. In the end, Liu He even pulled down a bag of grain from Li Lao Cai's carriage, which was considered as Li Lao Cai's additional gift.

  "Go, little brother, wait for you to come to the south to see me later." "Dada dada". Along with the sound of horseshoes and the creaking of the carriage, Li Lao Cai was officially gone from Xiaoli Village.

  "Big brother, you really bought this place." Suddenly, Dog Egg appeared out of nowhere, "Big brother, can I still let the cow graze here? Will you still give my family 20 kilograms of grain per year?"

  "Let go, how can you not let me herd the cattle? Otherwise, I won't give you food," "Then big brother, I..." "What's with you, from now on you'll just follow me to eat?"

  "Ah, thank you big brother, big brother is really good." "However..." With this word, Dog Egg's heart lifted again, "This cow, you can also let it go together with the others."

  "Alright, alright, big brother, I thought you were backing out." "Then, Master Dong, what about us?" At this time, some more people came from outside. "Young master, these used to be Li Lao Cai's long-term workers," This Li Lao Cai, before he left, still managed to play a trick on me, but actually Liu He was wrong, in Li Lao Cai's eyes, these workers didn't exist at all.

  "You tell me, how did you work for Lao Li in the past?" "Young brother, I know this. When they worked for Lao Li, they could only eat two meals a day, and if there was no work to do, they would go hungry." Dog Egg's father seemed to be afraid that these long workers would cheat Liu He, so he spoke up first.

  "From now on, you're in charge of the farm work, and I'll take care of the food as usual. After the harvest, I'll give you some grain, but let's make one thing clear: if you slack off or try to cheat me, I won't stand for it."

  "Thank you, Dongjia, thank you, Dongjia. Don't worry, we will do our best." The crowd vowed and cursed as they spoke. "Are there only a few of you?" Liu He looked at the crowd, there were only ten people, could they really make it work? He had already taken a good look, 200 mu of land, ten people was not enough.

  "It's okay, I can handle it, just a bit more tired when collecting grain, at most sleep a little less at night." "Uncle Li, can you help me with the work in this field? If there are not enough people to do it, can you find a few people from the village to help out, and we'll discuss the wages?"

  It's almost autumn, it's better to prepare things early.

  "Little brother, don't worry, I will definitely get this done for you properly. There are many idle people in the village who won't ask for your labor costs, just provide two meals during work hours and that's it."

  "Master, don't say that, we can handle it." The long workers were anxious and said, "You, Li Lao Cai, what you call work is just careless and sloppy, not enough to make people laugh, it's settled like this."

  The dog egg father's one sentence pushed these long workers back, and indeed in Liu He's heart, he thought that these people were not doing well. Now the dog egg father's sentence also exploded their attitude.

  Indeed, Li Lao Cai suddenly became a nouveau riche and he didn't know how to manage it, not even knowing how many people were needed to work on this land.