Chapter Seventeen: Paying New Year's Visits

  "Liu He, what's with your long workers, and that Aunt Li, always looking at me with that kind of gaze? I'm telling you, I won't marry you!" As soon as everyone left, Zhang Zhen started shouting loudly.

  "What's your name, looking at you with that flat chest and no butt, I'll take a liking to you. After all, I'm just a small landlord." Actually, Liu He said this with some insincerity, estimating that Zhang Zhen's chest and butt were still not small, but compared to the village's old ladies, they were still somewhat inferior.

  "You..." Zhang Zhen was at a loss for words, how could she say that my chest is not small, how can this be said out loud? "You rascal." "Alright, alright, it's the New Year, I won't argue with you. Are you going out to pay respects with me or staying home?"

  "You go yourself, this is your village, not mine." Zhang Zhen's eyes dimmed, and Liu He could also feel Zhang Zhen's sorrow. Having no home to return to was not a good thing at all.

  Moreover, Liu He couldn't persuade Zhang Zhen to go back. Was he supposed to let her send herself into the tiger's mouth? Her father wanted her to marry an old man as a concubine.

  "All right, you just rest at home, if you're hungry, ask Aunt Li to warm up some food for you." With that, Liu He tidied up and left the door quickly, although he was a wealthy landlord here, but in order to stand firm in this village, he still needed to make friends with some people.

  The first stop was at Liu Xiucai's house, "Grandfather, I've come to pay my New Year's respects, hahaha!" Liu He immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times. In Liu He's mind, there was no such thing as a soft knee or anything like that. Paying respects to elders during the New Year is a serious matter, a thousand-year tradition isn't just talk. Besides, Liu Xiucai was his own legitimate elder after all.

  In the memory of Liu He's later generations, there is a legend about Liu Xiucai. It turns out that this Liu Xiucai was his own close elder. "Alright, hurry up and get up, great-grandson. Come, come, sit down."

  Liu He took the opportunity to sit down under Liu Xiucai's hand, although some of the children and even Liu Xiucai's son were also seniors, but these people were not worthy of Liu He's bowing, only respecting Liu Xiucai was enough.

  "Come, great-grandson, Grandpa is giving you some lucky money. I hope this year will be even better for you and your career will be more prosperous." Liu Xiucai took out a red envelope and naturally Liu He wouldn't decline it, so he casually accepted it. As soon as he touched it with his hand, he knew there were four or five silver dollars inside. This Liu Xiucai was really generous.

  "This was naturally prepared for him, and he had a lot to say about it. 'Grandson, what's the story with that small wheat you planted? And what's going on with those ridges in the wheat field?' Liu Xiuchai's family didn't have much land, only over 20 mu, and they didn't hire long-term or short-term workers, so they had to take care of it themselves. Naturally, he was very particular about planting this small wheat, which is a fine grain. However, in this era, the yield of wheat was low, and after planting for one season, there was no way to plant anything else, so he was concerned about Liu He's situation."

  "Grandfather, there's no need to hide this from anyone. My idea is to plant corn in those ditches at the right time, so that the corn yield won't decrease and we can also harvest a season of wheat, although the yield will be lower."

  "Ah, great idea! Now we can finally eat some fine grains. You young people really have lively brains." Liu said with a slap on his thigh.

  It's really not a big deal for Liu He, because it's common practice in later generations. In fact, Liu He is planning to plant peanuts this year, because he saw some peanuts on the mountain, and also wants to make tofu with soybeans.

  "All right, you young people chat among yourselves, I'm an old man and need to rest, having stayed up all night," Liu Xiu said as he stood up and walked into the inner room.

  It seems that Liu Xiu was waiting for Liu He to come, and those who came to pay their respects earlier had already left.

  As soon as Liu Xiu entered the inner room, Liu He also stood up and bid farewell to come out. The next house was the village chief's home. Now Liu He knew that the village chief was also surnamed Liu, and his generation was not low, but only one generation lower than Liu Xiu.

  "Village head, I've come to pay my respects for the new year." Liu He also kowtowed three times, "Ah, Village Head Liu, how can I possibly accept this?" The village head wasn't actually a high-ranking official like Liu Xiucai, but rather just someone appointed by the government of that era to help collect taxes and sometimes even recruit soldiers.

  The village chief's family had less land, only seven or eight mu of farmland. When Liu He came, he really couldn't bear Liu He's kowtow. To know that Liu Xiucai was a name that occupied the reputation of a scholar, and he, apart from being the village chief, had nothing else. If it were in a rich village, the village chief would still be useful, but in this poor village, the village chief was just a synonym for suffering.

  "Village chief, you just sit there and don't get up." Liu He pressed down on the village chief who was about to stand up, then sat down himself.

  "Village elder grandfather, we've organized a cooperative group. I don't know if you'd like to join us. I know your family also has half of the land that is sandy soil. This spring is still a good time for improvement."

  "This is Liu Dong's house, how can I take advantage of you?" "Village head grandfather, this is not taking advantage of anyone, I just want to make everyone live a better life. If you are willing, you can go and talk to Uncle Li about it, he is in charge of this matter now."

  "Alright, I'll go find Little Li." The village chief was also a hot-tempered person. Liu He was still here, but he was anxious to go find Uncle Li. "You old thing, can't even sit still for a moment, didn't you see that Liu Dongjia is still here?"

  At this time, the village head's wife also understood and was naturally very happy. However, Liu He hadn't left yet, so she scolded the village head.

  "Alright then, village chief, I'm off. There are still a few more households I haven't visited yet." "Liu Dongjia, come visit us at home sometime," the village chief's wife called out from behind him.

  Liu He then went from house to house of the workers, and this New Year's Day was spent like that. After returning home, he rested early.