The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Changgen opened the door and brought all the people and the ox cart into the yard, and called his grandfather and parents to come and entertain the guests.

Chen Meihua came out first when she heard the sound. When she saw Chen Cui and her son, she was very affectionate. She took Chen Cui's arm and led her into the house.

Changping was carrying a pot of fried food and Chen Cui was carrying a box of snacks, and the two of them entered the main room together under the guidance of Chen Meihua.

Liu Youcai's wife died a few years ago and he never remarried. He has only one son, Liu Daqiang, so the mistress of the house is Liu Daqiang's wife Chen Meihua.

Chen Meihua poured tea for everyone present. In fact, it was just the most ordinary coarse tea, but it was rare enough in the village.

After all, farmers only drink boiled water when the weather gets cold. They usually drink well water directly, so there is no need to be so particular.

In other words, Liu Youcai was the village chief. Sometimes he needed to entertain people from the village and the yamen runners from the county, so he bought some tea to entertain the occasion.

They don’t usually make tea themselves, so this half pound of tea was bought last year and they haven’t finished it yet.

"Uncle Youcai, thank you for lending me the car. Chinese New Year is coming soon, so I'm returning the car to you now. Don't delay your family's use of the car when visiting relatives after the Chinese New Year."

Chen Cui said with a smile.

Liu Youcai waved his hand and said, "No way. The oxcart is just sitting there idle, so why not give it to you? What's more, you paid for it, so you don't have to be so polite."

Then, Liu Youcai took a sip of tea, stared at Chen Cui and said, "I heard that you cut down a lot of trees in the mountains this winter?"

Chen Cui's heart sank. Here it comes, right now!

She knew that her family had cut down so many trees on the mountain this year, which would sooner or later attract the attention of the villagers, but since no one came to complain, she ignored it for the time being.

Unexpectedly, Liu Youcai would bring up this matter first. He is the clan leader and village chief, and has the right to inquire about all matters big and small in the village. She must be careful in dealing with it.

Chen Cui nodded: "That's right, but most of the cuts were tree branches, not the main trunks. It won't affect the trees' germination and leafing in the spring. If a tree dies because of this, I will definitely replant it. It won't break the rules of the village, you can rest assured."

Liu Youcai nodded: "I know you are not that kind of person who doesn't take things seriously. You won't do such a foolish thing. So even if someone comes to me and talks nonsense, I will block them back. Are you cutting so many branches to make charcoal?"

Chen Cui's heart skipped a beat. She didn't expect that Uncle Youcai actually knew about it. How did he know?

Liu Youcai looked at her expression and knew what she was thinking: "Besides burning charcoal, I can't think of any other use that would require such a large amount of wood. What's more, you've been busy all winter, and we're not blind. It's just that no one can guess how you burn it."

In fact, this was not discovered by the villagers, but was analyzed by Liu Youcai through the fragments of words said by people who came to him to gossip. However, although he guessed that Chen was burning charcoal, he couldn't figure out how she burned the charcoal since she didn't have a built kiln.

Chen Cui quickly gathered her thoughts and replied, "You have a keen eye, and nothing can be hidden from you. My mother's family learned a method of burning charcoal, and seeing that we were pitiful and had a hard time, they taught us how to do it and asked us to follow their lead. That's why we were so busy this winter."

Liu Youcai suddenly realized that it was no wonder that her brothers from her natal family had been living in her house all the time. So that was the reason.

Seeing his expression, Chen Cui knew that she had fooled him temporarily.

The reason why she said that the method of burning charcoal came from her mother's family was to guard against the Liu family's old house and use her mother's family as a shield. This was also one of the reasons why she asked her mother's family, the Chen family, to join in.

Liu Youcai nodded: "Okay, your mother's family will take care of you. You can lead the children to live a good life in the future. Just do whatever way you can to make money. As long as it does not violate your conscience and the law and does not corrupt morals, it will be fine. If anyone dares to gossip, I will deal with it myself."

Liu Eryong's separation of the family business was made possible thanks to Liu Youcai's strong support. However, just a few months after the separation, Eryong died in corvée labor, which also led to a lot of speculation and gossip.

Although Liu Youcai did not believe that Eryong's death was a retribution for his unfilial behavior, he had heard this many times and couldn't help feeling a little regretful.

Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder, if it weren't for his support, Eryong would not have been able to successfully divide the family property, would he not have had to do labor service, would he not have died outside.

So, when Eryong's wife came to rent a ox cart, he agreed without much thought. If someone else came, he might not agree.

One reason was that he could make money by renting out the ox cart, but the most important reason was that he wanted to take better care of the orphans and widows to make up for the guilt in his heart.

He saw how the villagers ignored and distanced themselves from Eryong. After Eryong's death, the situation of his wife and children became even worse than before. Although he could not make everyone take the initiative to get close to this family, he was able to stop others from doing bad things to them.

Liu Youcai is the number one figure in Liujiaping and has absolute authority. Whatever he says counts.

Upon hearing this, Chen Cui hurriedly thanked him: "Then I would like to thank Uncle Youcai first. Thank you for your care."

Liu Youcai took out a land deed and placed it on the table: "This is the land deed for your five acres of land. It is returned to the original owner. Take it back and keep it. Don't mortgage the land deed easily in the future."

Chen Cui quickly stood up and responded, "Yes, my nephew's wife knows. Thank you for your teachings."

She took the deed, looked at it quickly, and confirmed that it was the same one her family had taken out. Then she handed it to Changping and asked him to keep it.

Liu Youcai looked at Changping and said, "Be filial to your mother. It's not easy for her to raise you guys."

Just now, when Chen came to get the land deed, he saw the hand he stretched out. It was rougher than his hand, which showed that he had worked hard this winter.

Changping quickly stood up and nodded: "Yes, Master Youcai, I will definitely do it."

"Uncle Youcai, I fried some fruits and meatballs for the New Year today and I have to deliver them to the old house, so I won't stay here any longer."

Chen Cui stood up and said goodbye.

"Okay, go ahead." Liu Youcai nodded in approval.

He has been paying close attention this winter. The old man Liu Youliang really doesn't care about them. Even his wife has never been to Eryong's house. But Chen is so polite and even remembers to send the fried food to her parents-in-law. She is really nice!

At this time, Chen Meihua had already poured the fried food that Chen Cui brought into her own basin, returned the empty basin to her, and sent her out.

"You are so honest. Just send a little to try. Why bring so much? Is there enough left at home for the children to eat?"

Chen Meihua then found an opportunity to talk to Chen Cui, and the first thing she said was to blame her for bringing too many things.

"There's enough food at home for them. I brought it here for you to eat. Why are you being so polite? Don't send it out. It's dark outside. We can just walk a few steps to get there."

Chen Meihua stood at the door and watched them walk towards the Liu family's old house.