eurekapd Chapter 236 Wen Yunhai Buys a House
Chapter 236 Wen Yunhai Buys a House
Chapter 236 Wen Yunhai Buys a House
Of the ten Wen Yunhai brothers, all but Wen Yunhong owned land in Baijia Village. The land was purchased with Wen Yuxia's help. During the transfer of ownership, Yang divided the twenty mu of land belonging to the eldest son's family equally among her four sons.
Wen Zibo also divided the land equally, with each of his two sons receiving ten mu. In contrast, Wen Zihua's family received eight mu for the eldest son and six mu each for the other two sons.
Only Wen Yunhe and his three colleagues, who served in the Imperial Guard, had houses in Baijia Village. Thinking that Wen Yunhai didn't have a house in Baijia Village, Wen Dashan's face showed worry again. All the residential land in the village had long been bought up by the villagers.
Back then, it was An Chiyu, the commander of the Imperial Guards, who forced the village chief to resolve the issue of the land where the four Wen brothers lived.
Not knowing whether Wen Yunhai, this "innovative official" village chief, would accept it, Wen Dashan sighed and said, "Yunhai, let me accompany you to the village chief later to ask if anyone is transferring their homestead land."
Wen Yunhai said somewhat awkwardly, "I guess we'll have to rely on my third brother and the others for help with the land." As a minor official, he was worried that the village chief might not be able to help, while Wen Yunhe and the others, dressed in imperial guard armor, would be more intimidating.
“Alright, have Yunhe and the others go there tonight,” Wen Dashan thought for a moment and then added, “If that doesn’t work, ask the princess to ask Commander An for help.”
The grandfather and grandson returned to Wen Yunhe's house, chatting and laughing. Wen Yunhai divided the items on the mule cart into five equal parts. "Grandpa, the princess said you and I should share one part, and the other four parts should be given to Yunhe and the others."
Wen Dashan sighed, "Over the years, the princess has never been biased in sending gifts back to anyone. Yunhai, you must remember this kindness."
When he thought back to the time when he escorted the coffin back to Fancheng from Xinchuan County, he took the opportunity to move Wen Zisong's grave, but did not consider moving the graves of Wen Ziyang and his wife in their hometown of Anyang County. Old Master Wen felt ashamed.
Wen Yunhai knew that moving the grave was the thing that Grandpa Wen regretted the most, so he quickly took out paper and pen and put them on the stone table in the yard. He then seriously changed the subject: "Grandpa, can you tell me about the process of rice planting and harvesting?"
"Okay, let me tell you. Today is my grandson's first day at work, we have to support him." Wen Dashan didn't have time to think about anything else and immediately got into the swing of things.
Springtime, from March to April, brings rising temperatures and abundant rainfall, providing excellent natural conditions for rice growth. Plowing, fertilizing, and sowing of rice paddies all take place during this period.
From sowing to maturity, it takes about 120 to 150 days. During this time, regular irrigation, weeding, and fertilization are necessary, and attention should also be paid to pests...
Wen Dashan talked on and on for over an hour. During this time, Wen Yunhe's wife thoughtfully brewed him a pot of tea, while Wen Yunhai quickly scribbled notes on a piece of paper without even looking up.
For several days in a row, whenever he had free time, Wen Yunhai would pester Wen Dashan to explain the planting methods. During this time, he took some time to go back to the Agricultural Office, got a letter of introduction stamped with the official seal, and obtained two experimental plots from Village Chief He.
"Brother, Huang Erwa has agreed to sell you his three mud-brick houses and half an acre of vegetable garden at the end of the village," Wen Yunhe shouted as he entered the courtyard that evening.
"We got it!" Wen Yunhai's face lit up with a happy smile. "Yes," Wen Yunhe nodded vigorously, and the others behind him, including Wen Yunyang, began to recount the process of buying the land.
The village chief tried to persuade the villagers, but unfortunately, they disagreed with selling their homesteads and uninhabited old houses. Since the village chief couldn't help, Wen Yunhe and his team took matters into their own hands, visiting each household in the village every evening after dinner to understand the situation.
The one who best fits the criteria is Huang Erwa. Huang Erwa's parents and older brother are all gone, and both the old house and the new house belong to him alone.
He originally had no intention of selling the old house, but Wen Yunhe and others persuaded him for several days. Finally, on the condition that they introduce him to a job in a leisure town in Fancheng, he agreed to sell the old house to Wen Yunhai.
Wen Dashan asked with some concern, "The leisure town rarely hires people, how are you going to send him to work there?" "Hehe, my mother's snack shop!" Wen Yunhe said with a mischievous grin.
The snack shop run by the Yang sisters-in-law is located in the leisure town. Huang Erwa was allowed to work at the snack shop and watch over it at night. This way, the three Yang sisters-in-law could go directly back to their hometown village after closing the shop in the afternoon.
Wen Yunhai, fearing that things might change if he delayed, asked, "Yunhe, can we sign the contract now?"
“Sure, Yunyang, go and invite the village chief. My brother and I will wait for you at Huang Erwa’s house,” Wen Yunhe put the paper and pen on the table into a small basket, and pulled Wen Yunhai out.
Not long after the two brothers arrived at Huang Erwa's house, Wen Yunyang came with the village chief. The agreed-upon price was three mud-brick houses and half an acre of vegetable garden, totaling thirty taels of silver.
Huang Erwa took Wen Yunhai and the others to inspect the old house in person. Seeing the satisfied look on Wen Yunhai's face, Huang Erwa suddenly didn't want to sell it cheaply anymore.
After his parents and eldest brother died, Huang Erwa hadn't been to the old house for a long time. So long that he had forgotten that the three rooms in the old house were originally built to be larger, with one room that could be divided into two.
They also forgot that the lower half of the wall was made of stones, while the upper half was made of adobe bricks, and the roof was also made of half tiles and half thatch, laid tightly so that not a drop of rain would leak through.
"Brother Yunhe, look, all three rooms are about 50% new. Each room can be used as two, so it should cost at least fifteen taels of silver per room. The price of the half-acre vegetable garden remains the same, ten taels, for a total of fifty-five taels of silver. If you agree, let's sign the contract now."
Wen Yunhe pulled Wen Yunhai aside and whispered, "Brother, Huang Erwa's price is slightly higher than the market price, but these three rooms can indeed be converted into six rooms by partitioning a wall. We can move in immediately without demolishing and rebuilding."
"Yes, I know. Huang Erwa is the only one in the whole village who's willing to sell. There's no choice. Sign it," Wen Yunhai replied in a cheerful whisper.