After all, what did women know?
Shao Yunduan said, “My wife says that you can go home now since everything here is sorted. All you need to remember is that you have to listen to my wife’s orders, and to take care of the fields whilst helping my uncle with the work, and you will be treated well.”
These words were exactly what Zhang Chunlai and his family needed to hear. Feeling assured, Zhang Chunlai smiled and said some flattering words, before leaving politely.
Ding Erzhu let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat on his forehead. He laughed bitterly. “Nephew, am I going to be in charge of these tenants? I… I am not very sure about it! What if I ruin your business… I will…”
“Uncle Erzhu, don’t worry about it.” Qiao Xuan smiled. “Actually, the tenants take good care of their respective fields. All you need to do is to stay here and guard them, in case they cause some trouble. You can leave the rest to the others. If you need anything or run into anything that is not good, just tell us about it.”
Shao Yunduan nodded. “Yes, what you need is to stay here so that the tenants would be careful about their work.”
It was their food they were taking care of.
Ding Erzhu felt slightly better and smiled. “Oh that… that will work!”
What Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan had not expected was that Ding Erzhu had come up with a different idea. What he interpreted was that he did not need to take care of the fields, because the tenants would take care of the crop themselves, and that what he needed to do was to watch their moves. In case if there were any rows, or lack of diligence, tricks etc, he should reveal them to Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan about the strangeness.
What they did not expect was that due to Ding Erzhu’s habit of watching the tenants, he got a deep understanding of what those tenants were like, because of which, in future, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan would dodge a huge crisis accidentally.
“Is this the only thing I need to do? Anything else? Just leave it all to me!” Ding Erzhu added.
It seemed that he had taken a huge advantage of the couple and that made him feel unbalanced.
Qiao Xuan thought for a while and smiled. “We are going to see the land where the houses are going to be built. If you have time, you can help me work on the land!”
Ding Erza’s eyes sparkled and he smiled. “Sure, no problem!”
Qiao Xuan avoided Zhang Chunlai because she was worried that the tenants would keep the secret even if they met them.
So they should be kept away.
In this way, when Ding Erzhu was introduced to the tenants, Ding Erzhu’s influence would be set up.
Otherwise those two people would look like Ding Erzhu’s guides.
They met several tenants who talked about their situation. Qiao Xuan felt slightly better knowing that nothing serious happened during this period.
Later, the three of them went to visit the land they had bought.
That land was close to the Zhang Village, located at the foot of a mountain, which had a few small hills.
That was where the house for Ding Erzhu’s family would be built.
Qiao Xuan gestured with her hands and said that the new house would take up 3 mu and the remaining 2 mu will be the hill, which could be developed into a crop yard.
Qiao Xuan gave Ding Erzhu five liang to settle down, which included the money for building the house.