Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 126: Jealousy

The other villagers, upon hearing Old Guo’s words, those from poor families immediately shouted, "Uncle Guo, wait for us, we’ll go too."

Instantly, three families’ men caught up with Old Guo, wanting to go with him to Gu Family to inquire about this reclamation work.

Some villagers cursed at them: "A bunch of greedy bastards, even if those families make money by selling tofu, they still live in old mud houses, obviously penny pinchers. You guys better not end up working hard without getting paid in the end!"

Old Guo ignored their malicious comments and only said to the three families who followed: "A few days ago, Qin Family, Gu Family, Luo Family, and Tian Family were all buying soybeans, paying cash on the spot. They won’t delay our payment for the reclamation work, don’t listen to them. It’s proper to earn the money first."

Is idly chatting by the big millstone all day a way to earn money?

The three men were initially worried that Qin, Gu, Luo, and Tian families might delay the payment for the labor, but they felt much relieved after Old Guo’s assurances.

Old Guo further advised them: "Although those families fled famine, they are capable people. When at Gu Family’s, don’t say anything offensive or look around too much. The tofu belongs to them, not our concern. Even Lu Family and County Magistrate Zou can’t snatch it, don’t even think about it. Just work honestly and you can earn money for our families."

He Dazhuang said: "Don’t worry, Uncle Guo, our families are honest and won’t covet what’s not ours."

He Shengzi also said: "Don’t worry, Uncle, we aren’t like the Lu Family, we’ll just work and not eye Gu Family’s recipe."

He Shengzi, just sixteen years old, lost his parents at an early age, and lived with his grandparents who were elderly and not in good health, and a sister who was only eight years old. Besides farming, he had to do odd jobs here and there to support the family.

But such odd jobs weren’t easy to find, sometimes available, sometimes not. Most of the time, He Shengzi wandered around the shallow parts of Dafeng Mountain, gathering wild vegetables and fruits or catching wild game to survive, as times at home were tough.

Thus, he was determined to follow Old Guo to Gu Family for the reclamation work.

Upon hearing this, Old Guo nodded, "As long as you are aware."

Before long, Old Guo arrived at Gu Family’s place with He Dazhuang, He Shengzi, and He Tugou.

"Brother Gu at home?" Old Guo stood outside the courtyard of Gu Family and stretched his neck asking.

"I’m here." Third Grandpa went to open the gate for Old Guo and welcomed them inside the courtyard.

Eager to earn money, they immediately asked about the reclamation work.

Third Grandpa was straightforward and said: "This time we’re hiring for reclamation not based on days, but based on acreage. For clearing one acre of land, we pay 300 copper coins."

This method was Xiao Yu’s idea.

Xiao Yu said that if payment was calculated by days, it could lead to lazy and deceitful behaviors, so it better be calculated by acres. In this way, those who reclaim will work hard because they’d earn as soon as they finish, and if they’re lazy, it’s their own loss. freewёbnoνel.com

"300 copper coins!" He Shengzi stood up excitedly and asked Third Grandpa, "Is it true what you’ve said Third Grandpa Gu? For clearing one acre we really get 300 copper coins?"

This was a significant amount, equal to a month’s earnings from manual labor.

And since he had experience in reclamation, if he worked hard, from dawn till dusk, it would only take three days to clear an acre. And in three days, to earn 300 copper coins was indeed a large sum of money.

Old Guo had already recovered his wits and scolded Shengzi: "What kind of person is Third Master Gu from the Gu Family, how can he deceive you? He said it’s 300 cents per mu, so naturally, it’s 300 cents per mu."

He hurriedly said to Third Grandpa: "Brother Gu, please rest assured when entrusting this task to our families, we will definitely do it well."

Third Grandpa looked at their excited expressions and continued: "After clearing this wasteland, we are not going to nurture the land but directly sow seeds, so it needs to be plowed five times, and grass ash must be spread in between to fertilize the soil."

Old Guo and the others did not hesitate, agreeing directly: "That’s necessary, we will surely follow your requests."

Clearing the wasteland only once makes the rest much easier.

Seeing their willingness, Third Grandpa then called Gu Dafu and led him and the others to the wasteland in Back Village, pointing out the area: "These are the wastelands our families are going to clear. The far left three mu belong to my family, next to that is Dashan’s, which is six mu, Luo Family’s is also six mu..."

Brothers Gu Damu, Gu Dalin, and Brother Dafu’s families each own six mu, Qin family has five mu, and Tian family has three mu, totaling thirty-five mu of wasteland that their families have taken on in Back Village.

However, over the past half month, they have intermittently cleared ten mu, and now twenty-five mu of wasteland remains to be cleared.

Hearing about so much wasteland to be cleared, Old Guo and the others’ eyes lit up with excitement—twenty-five mu, three hundred cents per mu, that amounts to more than seven taels of silver.

Old Guo was very eager, and said to Third Grandpa: "Brother Gu, rest assured, we will start working now and will surely finish clearing the wasteland before the seed sowing in March for your families."

Third Grandpa nodded: "Alright, then you guys start working."

He then spoke about the meals: "Our families are busy with tasks and have no one to cook, we can only provide one meal a day, which is bean cakes made at home, three per person, no more."

As the saying goes, food is the primary need of the people, and these farm folks work hard all day just for their meals, hence it’s important to make this clear to avoid grievances over a meal.

"Eh eh, Brother Gu, we understand." Old Guo had not expected the Gu family to provide them with a meal for their work, he was overjoyed, and couldn’t close his mouth with joy at how valuable this job was.

After Third Grandpa made the details clear to them, he and Gu Dafu went home.

Old Guo and his team immediately went home, gathered their farming tools, brought along able-bodied family members, and grandly headed to the wasteland in Back Village to clear land for Qin, Gu, Luo, and Tian families.

The villagers saw that Old Guo and his team were really going to clear the wasteland for those families and looked down on them, yet they were astounded when they heard about the payment of 300 cents for clearing one mu and a meal included.

However, after the surprise, they began to mock with jealous tones, saying that Old Guo and his team were being deceived, asking rhetorically where such good deals exist.

"Clearing one mu of wasteland gets you 300 cents and a meal too? Who are you kidding? Those families must be deceiving Uncle Guo, and they surely won’t pay once the work is done."

There were also meddlers who ran to the edge of the wasteland, ’kindly’ warning Old Guo and his team to stop working, as they wouldn’t get paid after finishing the work.

Old Guo and his team pretended not to hear and simply focused on their work.

At noon, Gu Dafu, accompanied by Gu Dexing, brought over a load of bean dregs cakes and soy milk, calling to Old Guo and his team: "Uncle Guo, come over for the meal."

Seeing the Gu family had brought food, Old Guo hurried over, seeing a load of bean dregs cakes and two jars of soy milk, he smiled broadly.