66 Misconception
Everyone finished all the food.
Old Mrs. Chen even took the chance to return the bowls to help Zhao Chuchu clean the dishes before heading back home.
When Zhao Chuchu was done with everything, Xie Jun had already fallen asleep.
Xie Heng sat inside his room. He had already taken off the blindfold.
As the black eyemask was there just to show Niu Tongsheng and the neighbors that Zhao Chuchu was trying to cure his eyes, she had already removed them early on when they were alone.
“How did you ensure that your attacks won’t kill him?” Zhao Chuchu curiously asked as she sat in front of Xie Heng. “They were deadly, but they won’t claim his life. But, he won’t be able to move freely from now on.”
“If we can’t kill a bothersome person, then the best option after that is to make sure that he won’t bother us ever again,” Xie Heng calmly replied.
“You know how to fight?”
“A little.”
“A little? You sure that’s a little?” Zhao Chuchu scolded in her head before asking, “Who did you learn it from?”
“Chuchu, you have your secret, and I have mine too.” Xie Heng turned to stare at her.
“I just want to learn from you.” The lady raised her brow.
“You must be joking.”
No other person alive knew about human anatomy more than Zhao Chuchu, but Xie Heng did not expose that.
“The Zhao family will not bother you from now on. Why did you ask the chief to help you buy the mountain?”
“To farm, what else? You expect us to eat dirt?”
Xie Heng chuckled a little. “As long as I’m here, you won’t have to eat dirt.”
“But we’re poor, and you still need a lot of money to cure your brother’s illness.”
“You don’t have to worry about the money. Buying the entire mountain isn’t that expensive, anyway. 20 or 30 silvers should be enough.”
“Just 20 or 30?”
“That’s right.”
“Then, how much would hiring people to plow the land cost?”
“Normally, it’s about 15 coppers a day.”
Zhao Chuchu couldn’t help but gasp at how cheap labor was in the past.
“But…” Xie Heng continued. “Since the spring harvest is arriving, it’ll be hard to hire anyone at that price.”
“Then, if I offer 25 coppers a day, many people would want to work for me, right?”
“Can’t you tell me what you’re planning on planting?”
“It’s a secret.” Since she had not thought of how to explain the origin of the seeds, she decided to keep it a secret.
Xie Heng nodded and did not ask any more questions about the plants. “Then, why not purchase farmland instead?”
Zhao Chuchu rolled her eyes back. “Farmers value their farms more than their own lives. Why would they even want to sell their farm unless they are super rich? I wouldn’t be able to buy one even if I had the money.”
She was at least sure that she wouldn’t be able to find one in Lengshui Village.
“Wait, you were planning on farming too?” Xie Heng asked.
“If I have land, then why not?”
Zhao Chuchu thought of farming because rice was expensive, and Xie Heng was at the age where he would consume a lot of food. Since she still had to stay with him for at least another half a year, she decided she would need to make some money.
Although the items in her carry-on storage could be sold for money, it was hard for her to do that at a place where everyone was acquainted with her.
After a moment of silence, Xie Heng suddenly said, “If that’s what you want to do, I could rent a piece of land for you.”
“Oh?”
“It’s a land under my name.”
“Didn’t you sell all the lands that belonged to your family?”
“I did. I sold it to myself.”
Zhao Chuchu looked at the young man speechlessly. “He sure knows how to act like he’s poor, huh?” she thought.
“How big is the land.”
“It’s about 1.5 hectares worth of high-quality paddy field.”
“Sounds good. Let me have it then. What’s the harvest a year like?”
“Around one koku worth of paddy a year.”
“Just that?” Zhao Chuchu frowned as she thought.
She knew that one koku was equivalent to 30 kilograms. She was surprised that they could only get a little more than 300 kilograms of paddy after a year of hard work, and the paddies weren’t shelled yet. The end product would be less than that. That was way less than what she had predicted.
Life would be problematic if she had to rely on just the paddy field to live an everyday life, especially when she still had to pay the taxes.
“Fine. Rent me the field, then. I’ll pay you with silvers if there’s no harvest and paddies if there is.”
“Just do what you want. You don’t have to pay me.” Xie Heng shook his head.
“Why do I feel like you’re richer than it seems.”
“You are hallucinating.”
Zhao Chuchu had no intention of learning about the man’s secret.
She had her secret too.
The two of them came to a silent agreement to not cross that line and peeked into each other lives.
As Xie Heng was an intelligent person, it only took them a short while to come to a decision.
When Zhao Chuchu returned to her room, Yuan Hui was still awake.
Since Xie Heng’s room was on the other side of the house, Yuan Hui did not overhear the conversation that happened a while ago.
“You’re still awake?” Zhao Chuchu asked as she checked Yuan Hui’s wound.
Although Yuan Hui was seriously injured, she was able to make a quick recovery because of Zhao Chuchu’s healing power.
It only took her a day to be able to sit up.
“I can’t fall asleep.” Yuan Hui turned to look at Zhao Chuchu. “Whenever I close my eyes, it feels as if that person is going to kill me.”
“Do you know what he looked like?”
“It was too dark to see his face. All I know is that I scratched his face.”
“Don’t worry. No one is going to hurt you here. Calm down and get some rest.”
Zhao Chuchu wanted to pat Yuan Hui’s shoulder but quickly remembered that Yuan Hui was still covered in wounds. She quickly pulled her hand back.
The fear in Yuan Hui’s eyes was genuine.
When Zhao Chuchu stayed by her side the night before, she kept making an expression that showed she was having a nightmare.
“Where do you live? How about I take you back home?”
Xie Jun would eventually notice that Yuan Hui was in their house, and she didn’t want to scare the little boy.
“My house…” Yuan Hui’s expression turned sad. “I don’t have one anymore. I ran away from my home…”
Zhao Chuchu’s eyes widened as she cursed Xie Heng in her head.
“Won’t your parents miss you?”
“My mother has already passed away. And father… He only cares about his new wife…”
Zhao Chuchu raised a brow, realizing it was a family where the stepmother had the authority over everything.
“Is that so… Alright, you can stay here then. But don’t come out of the room until your wounds are here. I don’t want you to alert other people. I don’t know who you are, but I don’t want you to bring problems to my family since I’ve saved you.”
“I understand.” Yuan Hui nodded.
Because Yuan Hui could not fall asleep, Zhao Chuchu fed her a sleeping drug.
She then studied Yuan Hui and could tell that the wounded was mentally exhausted.
She could also tell that Yuan Hui did not tell her the entire picture of what happened.
Although most of Yuan Hui’s possessions were robbed, she still had her gold bracelet and a pearl earring on her left ear hidden behind her hair.
Pearl was not something an average family could afford.
Zhao Chuchu also felt that Xie Heng had spent more effort making dinner the day before.
She couldn’t understand what Xie Heng was trying to achieve by saving Yuan Hui.
It felt like the clue was there, but she couldn’t find it.
Ultimately, she gave up on thinking about it as it didn’t harm her.
Zhao Chuchu had also gotten tired and fell asleep shortly after.
Niu Tongsheng was a very efficient person with his work.
He headed to the town the next and returned in another two days with the officials to measure the area of the mountain and register it. Doing that would make it easier for Zhao Chuchu to proceed with the purchase.
After ensuring that Yuan Hui was fine, Zhao Chuchu headed into the mountain with Niu Tongsheng and the official.
The villagers were curious as well and followed them.
When they learned that Zhao Chuchu was going to purchase the mountain, their attitude immediately shifted.
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