The road to wealth of a peasant widow

After all, villagers don't like to go out in winter, and only a few can use ox carts. If anyone really needs to use a cart, they can just discuss it with Chang Ping Niang. I believe she will not sit idly by.

When he told his family about this, they all agreed. They thought that renting out the cows would not only save a few months of fodder, but would also increase the family income, which was really killing two birds with one stone.

After hearing this, Liu Youcai was also tempted.

Although he was the village chief and his family raised cattle, he was born in a farming family after all, and was not so rich that he would not care about a tael of silver.

However, verbal discussions have no evidence after all, and a contract can also silence people's gossip, so he said what he just said.

"You guys wait here, I'll go back and write the contract, it will be done later." Liu Youcai turned and walked into the yard.

While Grandpa was going back to the house, Changgen could no longer hold back his curiosity and asked Changping in a low voice, "What exactly do you want to do by renting my ox cart?"

Chang Ping looked at Chen Cui in embarrassment, then looked at Chang Gen and said, "Chang Gen, I can't tell you this right now, but it's not a bad thing anyway."

Seeing this, Changgen sighed and said, "Forget it. I know I can't get the answer from you. So you must take good care of my cow. Remember to prepare more fodder and don't let it starve. Clean the cowshed frequently. It likes cleanliness very much. The water must be clean too..."

Changgen usually takes care of the cow at home, so he has a lot of affection for it. He told Changping many things to pay attention to when raising cows, hoping that this old friend would be treated well when he arrived at Changping's home.

Changping assured his friend with confidence: "Don't worry, you don't know me yet. You know how I take care of the cow in the old house. I will definitely take care of your cow as if it were my own."

The two children were chattering about something related to cows, and Chen Cui saw Liu Youcai walking towards them with two pieces of paper in his hands.

Changgen's father Liu Daqiang was holding a lantern in his hand and following beside his father to light the way.

"Mother Changping, this is the contract I just wrote. Let me read it to you..."

The content of the contract is what Chen Cui said before. Her family rented the cow and ox cart from Liu Youcai's family for three months. The rent was ten cents a day, paid monthly in advance. During the rental period, the cow must be well taken care of. If Liu Youcai's family needs a cart, they must inform in advance and pay the corresponding rent. Chen Cui gave Liu Youcai the title deed of the five mu of land in her family as collateral for the rental of the ox cart. If the cow became ill or died accidentally during the rental period, the title deed would belong to Liu Youcai.

After hearing this, Chen Cui felt that it was no big deal, so she nodded.

"If you're worried, you can wait until tomorrow to find someone to look at the contract and put your fingerprints on it. You don't have to decide today," Liu Youcai added.

He knew that Chen Cui was illiterate, so he said this on purpose.

"No need, Uncle Youcai, I don't trust you, I'll put my fingerprints on it right now."

Chen Cui's current character is a rural woman who can't read a single word, so it is impossible for her to take a closer look at the contract, but she knows Liu Youcai's character and he will not cheat her in this matter.

Chen Cui took the ink from Liu Daqiang's hand and pressed her fingerprints on it.

Seeing that she was so straightforward, Liu Youcai didn't say much and also pressed his own fingerprints, and then both parties kept a copy.

Chen Cui handed the contract to Changping, took out the change and the title deed from her purse, and handed them to Liu Youcai for inspection.

The land deed was made by him, so Liu Youcai just took a look at it and handed it to his son.

He then asked, "Should we take the cow away today or wait until tomorrow for Changgen to deliver it to you?"

Chen Cui thought for a moment and said, "Let's do it tomorrow. The house is not ready yet and the cows have nowhere to stay. I'll ask Changping to come and lead them tomorrow."

Liu Youcai nodded and said, "You don't need to prepare a separate trough for the cows. Just use the one I have at home and put it in the car and take it with you tomorrow."

The cow trough is made of stone and needs to be made by a special stonemason. It would be too late to order it on short notice, so he said this, which also saved Chen Cui's family some trouble.

Chen Cui smiled and said, "Thank you very much. You take a rest. We will go back soon."

After returning home, Chen Cui lit the oil lamp and asked Changping to look carefully at the words on the contract to see how many he could recognize. In fact, she read through the words on the contract herself to see if there were any problems.

There were only about a hundred words on the paper, all of which were very simple and straightforward. Changping only recognized eight of them, and had no idea what the rest meant and could not read them at all.

He looked at Chen Cui with shame, "Mom, I..."

"Mother knew about Master Youcai's character and knew that he would not deceive us, so she did not find someone else to look at the contract. You must never do that in the future. No matter what kind of contract it is, you must be careful when signing it. It is best to find a reliable middleman to guarantee it and make sure it is foolproof before signing and putting your fingerprints on it."

Chen Cui warned her son earnestly, "Mom is not trying to scare you. Some people signed contracts without thinking and gave away their houses and land to others. Some people sold their wives and children because they pressed their fingerprints. Your father told me all this. That's why he is so eager for you to learn to read so that you won't be cheated in the future."

Changping nodded to show that he had learned his lesson.

"I will try to send you to school after the New Year. By then, you will be educated and know more words. When we sign any contracts in the future, you can come forward and read them to me, okay?"

This time Changping nodded even harder, like a chick pecking at rice. Chen Cui smiled and touched his head: "Go to bed quickly, your brothers should be asleep by now."

After Changping returned to his room, Chen Cui put the contract in the wooden house in the space for safekeeping.

With the ox cart, the transportation of charcoal is guaranteed in the next few months. At least there will be no problem of the charcoal being unable to be transported out.

Chen Cui quickly washed up, took off her coat and went to bed.

Tomorrow I have to go up the mountain to cut trees and build a cowshed. There are so many things to do that I feel a bit overwhelmed!

The next day was another day for the whole family to get together.

The weather is so cold now, and the cows cannot be brought here today without a place to shelter from the wind and rain. The first task is naturally to build a cowshed first.

However, Chen Cui's proposal to use bamboo poles to build a cowshed was rejected by Chen Dahe.

"Sister, this won't work. No matter how much you add to a bamboo shed, it's still not thick enough to block the wind. The cows will easily freeze in winter."

Chen Dahe is a typical farmer, so he naturally likes cattle, which are large animals that help with work. Therefore, he sincerely put forward his own point of view: "Besides, the strength of cattle hooves is extraordinary. What if it accidentally kicks the shed and collapses it and hits it?"

Chen Cui was worried. "What do you think we should do? It's too late to build another one now. The cows have to be brought here today."

"Isn't there an east room next to the kitchen? I see there are all kinds of things in there, nothing important. Just put the cow there. It's warmer next to the kitchen, so it won't get cold."

Chen Cui also thought this was a good idea, so she made the decision.