Chapter 55 – Discussion
Li Man froze in surprise. How long had he been standing in the doorway?
Li Yan turned his head. His expression looked normal as he called out, “Oldest brother.”
Li Mo muttered an acknowledgment, then he said, “Come over here for a sec, I have something I want to tell you.”
“Oh.” Li Yan turned his head back. He looked at Li Man with a slight smile. He raised an eyebrow and whispered into her ear, “I spent a lot of time on this hairpin. Even if you don’t like it, you’re not allowed to throw it away.”
After he finished saying these words, he glanced at her with an intense smile before turning around and leaving.
Wasn’t he being too bold? Li Man was overcome with shock. How could Li Yan have dared to flirt with his future sister-in-law right in front of his oldest brother? What was going on?
—
Li Yan followed his oldest brother into the eastern hut. Li Hua and his other two brothers were sitting on the heated bed and waiting. Seeing these two enter the hut, they scooted closer to the inside of the bed to make room for these two.
“Oldest brother, what’s the matter?” Li Shu was the first one to ask. Everyone’s gaze was focused on Li Mo.
Li Mo didn’t sit down on the heated bed. Instead, he sat down on a stool that was near the bed. He answered, “I went over to the village head’s home recently and heard that Third Lia is selling some farmland.”
“His family’s farmland isn’t that good. Besides, what does that have to do with us?” Li Shu curled his lips. He wasn’t interested in this topic at all.
In contrast, Li Yan immediately understood his oldest brother’s intention and asked, “Oldest brother, could it be that you want to buy his family’s farmland?”
“En.” Li Mo nodded and said, “That’s my plan. Even though his family’s farmland isn’t good, he’s selling it for cheap. Also, he’s lacking in money recently, so he’s willing to sell each field for a discounted price of two silver taels.”
“Two silver taels?” This really was very cheap. “But, does our family have the money to buy it?” This was the part that worried Li Yan. Buying their wife’s life contract had used up almost all of their family’s savings.
Li Mo rubbed his hands and seriously said, “I’ve already calculated this. There’s the money that the village head and Wu family had paid us to compensation for trying to kill our wife, the money from selling fish, the money you earned from working the past few days, and the rest of the family’s savings. We have enough money to spend four silver taels to buy two fields. If we plant the seeds now, we’ll still have enough time for one harvest this year.”
“But, isn’t Third Lia's family’s farmland not fertile enough? Will we really be able to harvest anything from there?” Li Shu pessimistically asked.
Li Mo replied, “His family’s farmland is in a good spot. It’s only because he and his brothers aren’t willing to work hard, so the farmland has gotten worse out of neglect over the past years. My plan is, we’ll buy the farmland and properly tend after it. After a year or two, once the farmland has recovered, the harvests will definitely be good.”
Li Hua thought it over and said, “I agree.” Other than Little Five, his brothers were all grown up. It definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing for their family to have two fields.
Li Yan smiled and said, “Oldest brother, if you think this will work out, then let’s do it. I’ll head over to Uncle Shen’s house to collect my money tomorrow morning.”
“En.” Li Mo’s expression became less tense. “If you all think this is a workable idea, then I’ll head over to the village head’s house before noon tomorrow and settle this matter. Oh, and fourth brother, come along with me tomorrow.”
“Alright,” Li Hua agreed.
Just like, the matter of buying farmland was settled. There was a bit of joy in everyone’s hearts. Right now, their family had a wife, pigs, and chickens, and they would soon have farmland of their own. This was how life should be lived.
—
Inside the kitchen, Li Man didn’t dare to stay here much longer. She had already seemingly been admonished twice. After tidying up the bowls and chopsticks and heating up some water, she went to her room and washed up. Then, she closed the door to her hut, extinguished the oil lamp, and went to bed.
Li Man spent the night tossing and turning. When Little Five saw her panda eyes the next morning, he was quite alarmed.