Chapter 854: Eating Grass Roots
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ye Dejiang threw a peanut into his mouth and said slowly, “It must be because the walls of the house are closed, so it can more or less resist the cold. Our house has windows, so it’s colder. They dug so deep underground to prevent the cold wind from entering the house, so it’s naturally warm.”
“Don’t say anything.” Old Madam Ye glared at him in disgust. “I didn’t ask you.”
Ye Dejiang touched the tip of his nose and mumbled, “I’m trying to explain to you out of kindness.”
Old Guo looked at the two of them anxiously and did not dare to speak for a long time.
Old Madam Ye rolled her eyes when she saw that he wanted to look but did not dare to. He obviously misunderstood. She said, “Just answer my question. Don’t pay attention to him.”
Old Guo glanced at Ye Muyu again. Seeing that she was not angry, he explained, “We long-term workers don’t have anything to build a house with. Even the wood on the hillside nearby is raised for the owner. Without wood, we can only build it with earth.”
“As for the cold, it will definitely be cold in winter. However, as this Master said, it will be better if you dig a little deeper into the ground.”
Ye Muyu walked around the mud houses and found that they were all dilapidated. She frowned and asked, “Where’s the food you planted?”
“Madam, please follow me.” Old Guo did not dare to be negligent and walked in front with a hunched body.
The location of the Lu Estate was not bad. There were two wells beside the fields in the manor.
Following the mud wall house, they walked another three fields and saw a small piece of land on the slope. There were some radishes planted on it, but there was not much other than that.
“These three pieces of land are not big. Can it feed a hundred people?” Old Madam Ye looked at the vegetable field in front of her eyes. It was only so big. It was about the same size as the vegetable field behind her house. It was only enough for a family. There were dozens of long-term workers. It was definitely not enough.
“It’s enough. At least we don’t have to dig up the grass roots anymore. Madam, we’re also starving. That’s why we disobeyed orders and reclaimed the wasteland to grow food. Please spare us.” Old Guo bent his body and began to kowtow and beg for mercy.
Ye Muyu stepped forward. “Get up. It was the previous owner’s idea not to let you plant food. I didn’t say that.”
Han Zhuang quickly stepped forward and helped Old Guo up.
Ye Muyu retracted her hand and walked around the entire estate. She found that other than the tea leaves that were raised well, there were basically no other products in the entire estate. The days of the long-term workers were even more difficult.
Old Madam Ye looked around and could not help but click her tongue. “I thought that the days of long-term workers weren’t good because the food they were given was only enough for themselves. Naturally, they didn’t have extra money to live a good life. Now it seems that not only do they not have any extra money, but they don’t even have enough to eat.”
“Mother, I want to go back to the residence now. Where do you want to go with Father? I won’t be accompanying you anymore,” Ye Muyu said.
“Go ahead. Your father and I are familiar with the village. I can help you understand the situation of these long-term workers.”
“Ziluo, do you want to follow grandma or your mother?” Old Madam Ye waved her hand generously, telling Ye Muyu to ignore her.
Ziluo held her hand and said, “Grandma, I’ll go play with you. Mother, is that okay?”
“Go, but don’t run around. Follow Grandma well, understand?” Ye Muyu reminded her gently.
Ziluo quickly nodded to show that she understood.
Old Madam Ye called Ye Dejiang and brought Ziluo into the tea shed.