Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Liu Daniu was quite pleased to hear this, as he could cultivate more land and harvest more grain. Just as he was about to agree, Ma Qiao'er asked, "Brother, how much rent do I have to pay to rent your land?"

Liu Dahu thought for a moment, "You take 30%, and I'll pay you 70%."

Ma Qiao'er laughed upon hearing this, "Brother, you've got a good plan. We can't afford to rent your land. You should find someone else."

No matter how much rent she pays, she doesn't want to rent it out at all. She doesn't want to get entangled with the people in the old house. In the end, even if she is the one who suffers a loss, she might be accused of taking advantage of them.

It's also possible that the crops in the field will ripen, but they won't get a single grain. She knows those two old guys too well; they'll definitely say, "Da Niu is his son, so it's only right for a son to help his father farm!"

Thinking of this, Ma Qiao'er deliberately said, "It's not impossible for us to plant it, but we'll take 70% and you take 30%, and the clan chief and village chief will act as intermediaries, or we'll have to write a contract."

"Mrs. Ma, how dare you say such a thing? Third brother, is that what you think too?"

"I'll listen to Qiao'er."

"Fine, fine, fine! Don't you even look at the state of our old house? Instead of helping out, you're trying to skin us alive! You're trying to starve your parents!"

"Big brother, if you think we're asking for too much, then you can rent it to someone else. We won't force you. If Mom and Dad starve to death, that's your responsibility as the eldest brother. After all, you're the eldest son. You must know how the family property was divided back then, right?"

Our family had 12 mu of paddy fields and 8 mu of dry land. We were only allocated 3 mu of paddy fields, 2 mu of dry land, and the old house that had collapsed. We were also allocated 300 jin of grain, and nothing else.

We still can't move into that old house. Why? Because we don't have the money.

"Where did all the family's money go? My older brother knows better than anyone."

Liu Dahu stormed off, feeling utterly humiliated. In all his years, when had he ever been so disgraced, especially by being scolded by his sister-in-law?

He didn't want to ask for help anymore. When he got home, he went straight to his room, closed the door, and sulked alone. His family had too much land. If they sold 3 mu of paddy fields and 2 mu of dry land, they would still have 6 mu of paddy fields and 4 mu of dry land, enough for their whole family to eat and drink. Even so, they had more land than other families in the village.

It's spring planting season now, and the land can be sold for money. Paddy fields are sold for 10 taels per mu, and dry land for 6 taels per mu. Three mu of paddy fields would be 30 taels, and two mu of dry land for 12 taels, for a total of 42 taels of silver. She held onto this silver in her own hands and refused to believe that Huang would still be so arrogant.

With this money, the family can eat for several years, and the land can be hired to be cultivated without them having to work hard. When that time comes, Qingshan will return, and he will be in charge of everything.

Thinking about all this, Liu Dahu's mood immediately improved. But should he ask the old man for the land deed openly, or steal it?

After careful consideration, he felt that stealing was the safest option. If he asked openly, the old man might not give it to him, and it might alert the old man. Even if the old man agreed to take the land deed, the money would not end up in his hands.

He waited for a good opportunity to take the things out when his father wasn't around, so his mother, who was lying in bed, wouldn't be able to see them.

Liu Dahu made up his mind and prepared to seize the opportunity to make his move.

Grandpa Liu called Liu Dahu over, "You've been out for half a day, have you thought of a solution yet?"

"I went out to find Lao San and planned to rent the land to him, but Lao San's wife is a real jerk. She actually wanted 70% of the harvest. I didn't agree. Lao San is a good-for-nothing. He listens to that woman in everything."

When Grandpa Liu heard that renting out the land was a good idea, he said, "Why don't you ask others? We have 9 mu of paddy fields and 6 mu of dry land. Even if we divide it in half, it will be enough for us."

"no."

"You'd better rent land as soon as possible, or it won't be available after spring planting. I'll go find the village chief and see if anyone in the village wants to rent land. There are plenty of families in the village with little land; I wonder how many people want to rent land?"

Liu Dahu actually hoped that the land wouldn't be rented out, so he could sell it and solve his current predicament.

Grandpa Liu went out with his hands behind his back. Some villagers greeted him on the way, "Grandpa, where are you going? Why are you walking in such a hurry?"

"I need to speak with the village chief about something."

"You'd better hurry up and cultivate your land. If you miss the spring planting season, you'll be in big trouble if you can't pay your taxes."

Your fields are all top-quality paddy fields; if you miss out on even one harvest, the loss will be enormous.

"I know, we've been preparing for it these past couple of days."

When Grandpa Liu arrived at the village chief's house, he greeted Liu Jinsheng with a broad smile, "Village chief, I have something to discuss with you."

"Uncle Liu, what's the matter? Tell me."

"You know my family's situation. We don't have enough able-bodied people to work, and we have a lot of land. I'm afraid we'll miss the spring planting season, so I'm planning to rent out all of our land. Could you help me ask around and see if anyone in the village is planning to rent out their land?"

"How much rent are you planning to ask for?"

"I don't want much, 60% will be fine."

"You will have to pay the land tax yourselves."

"Of course, if they're still worried, we can write a contract."

"Okay, you wait here, I'll go out and look for them."

"Liu Jinsheng knows that there are several families in the village with a large population but very little farmland, so it would be best to let them rent land."

A little while later, Liu Jinsheng brought three people over. "Uncle Liu, these three families are willing to rent your land. They will divide all your paddy fields and dry land equally among the three families."

"Alright, alright, do you want to write a contract? If you're worried, you can ask the village chief to help you write it."

"We think it's possible to lower the rent a little more?"

"It is permissible to rent, but you must rent for at least one year and pay a fixed amount of rent, not according to profit sharing."

No matter what the year is like, your rent must not be reduced by an inch.

As you all know, the paddy fields in my family are all top-quality paddy fields. The average yield of rice here is 250 to 300 jin per mu. Let's take the minimum of 250 jin as an example. Each mu of land yields 125 jin of rice, which is equivalent to splitting it in half.

How about this?

After discussing it, the group felt that the risk was too great. If the harvest was bad, they wouldn't be able to pay the rent even if they sold everything they owned.

"That won't work. What if the harvest is bad? How will we pay the rent? We should still calculate it based on profit sharing."

If it's split 40/60, your family will provide seeds and oxen; otherwise, it will be split 50/50.

After thinking for a moment, Grandpa Liu agreed that a 50/50 split was within his expectations. "Alright, we're all from the same village, so it doesn't matter if it's a little bit. 50/50 it is."

"Village chief, could you please help us write a contract? We'll rent it for one season and plant for one season. If we want to renew the lease, please let us know in advance."

"Okay, once you've reached an agreement, I'll help you write the contract."

The village chief quickly finished writing the contract, and after several people signed and pressed their fingerprints, the contract became effective immediately.

"We're handing over our land to you. Take good care of it, and I guarantee you won't suffer any losses. The nine mu of paddy fields and six mu of dry land are all contiguous. You all know our land, right? Do you need me to help you divide the land, or will you divide it yourselves?"

"It would be better if you took us there, so as to avoid any misunderstandings."

"Okay, let's go check out the land now."

When they returned from inspecting the land, everyone in the village knew that Liu Dahu's family had rented out all the land, splitting the profits 50/50.

The villagers secretly cursed them behind their backs, calling them lazybones. They said they didn't cultivate such good land themselves, but instead gave it to others. They said they would rather die of laziness!

His third son, Liu Daniu, only had so much land that he couldn't even support his family, let alone cultivate it for his son. No wonder Liu Daniu's family didn't want to associate with them.