Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

That night, everyone in the old house returned to their rooms with their own thoughts.

Ye Xiaowu, the second son of the Ye family, returned to the room with a gloomy face. Seeing that his wife took a long time to walk into the room, he asked in a bad tone.

"Are you sure you heard it right? The third branch paid three hundred taels and bought the thirty-three acres of land near the Dongshui River from Li Baolin's family?"

Liu nodded heartlessly at her husband, "Wang Erhu personally measured the land, and he even signed the document, how could he be wrong?"

Ye Xiaowu just couldn't understand why. When the three branches divided up the family property, they were given ten taels of silver. Sanlang had only given two speeches in the county town, so how could he come up with three hundred taels of silver to buy land all of a sudden?

Ye Xiaowu guessed that the third branch must have concealed some property when they divided the family property, or that they must have received some treasure from the old man.

What Ye Xiaowu couldn't understand was that Li Baolin was not a good person. Ye Xiaowu also knew about the land by the Dongshui River. How could he sell it to the third room for only 300 taels?

Ye Xiaowu, who had been thinking for most of the night but still couldn't figure it out, had a pair of dark circles under his eyes, but he saw his wife sleeping soundly with drooling from the corners of her mouth, and she snorted every now and then, which made Ye Xiaowu lose all desire to sleep.

He didn't know what had brought him bad luck recently. He had lost all his money and secretly pawned his wife's jewelry, but lost it all. He also lost all the two hundred taels he borrowed two days ago this afternoon. Ye Xiaowu was in a bad mood and didn't close his eyes and fall asleep until the sky turned pale.

When the eldest branch of the Ye family heard that the third branch had bought land, they were also very surprised, and the couple even doubted its authenticity.

But after listening to the vivid description given by the second son's wife, Liu, they had no choice but to believe it.

However, the third branch had only been divided out for less than two months, but it was able to take out three hundred taels of silver and buy more than 30 acres of land in one go. They couldn't figure out where the money came from.

Even though the second brother had said before that Sanlang had received a lot of tips for storytelling in the county, it was impossible for him to come up with three hundred taels after only telling stories for a few shows.

The third child is still a sickly person. He must have finished the medicine he took with him when the family split up. The medicine is not cheap.

"How's the needlework I asked you to do for Sanlang and the others going?"

Ye Xiaowen asked his daughter-in-law Xu.

"I'm almost done. There are still two pairs of socks left to sew."

Xu looked at the basket not far away and saw two pairs of shoes that had just been sewn in the afternoon.

"Go to the eldest girl's room, and you and your mother should hurry up and sew the things tonight. Tomorrow morning, you can take them to the farm to have a look."

Xu was smart and understood what her husband said immediately. She stood up and carried the basket to the eldest girl's room.

Old lady Xu lay down for a long time but couldn't fall asleep. As she got older, her sleep was shallow, but she couldn't fall asleep tonight.

In the middle of the night, the old lady got up from the bed, quietly came to the front hall, lit three incense sticks, knelt in front of Mr. Ye's spirit, and muttered to herself for a long time.

The next morning, Zhang went around the village and soon secured ten acres of rapeseed seedlings for Ye Changyan.

Just as Zhang said, the Ye family, a wealthy family in the village, had planted the rapeseed seedlings in the fields, and the remaining rapeseed seedlings were mostly harvested to feed pigs and chickens.

When they heard Zhang say there was money to be made, they all became very enthusiastic and in no time they gathered enough seedlings to cover ten acres of land.

However, when it came to hiring people to do odd jobs, Zhang was much more cautious.

Ye Changyan was able to entrust such a task to me because he trusted my husband and me. This task must be done beautifully to satisfy Ye Changyan.

First of all, there must be people who truly understand farming, but it is not necessary for everyone to be proficient in it.

Secondly, this person must be quick and dexterous, and be careful and meticulous in his work.

After a simple review, Zhang had a rough list in his mind.

Then he went door to door asking according to the list in his mind.

"Erhu's wife, have you finished your autumn ploughing?"

Zhang was the first to come to Wang Erhu's house. Wang Erhu and his wife were impeccable in their work. They were diligent, conscientious and meticulous in their work. They were the most outstanding among the younger generation in the village.

Generally, whenever there is something happening in the village, people like to ask this couple for help.

"Aunt Zhang is here, please come in and sit down."

Erhu's wife, Ding, was washing clothes in the yard. When she saw Zhang coming, she quickly wiped her hands and stood up.

"I won't sit down anymore. I have something I want to ask you."

"Aunt, you were talking about the autumn ploughing. We finished it a few days ago."

Ding then answered Zhang's question, and saw Zhang's face full of smiles.

"I have a job to do. Do you have time?"

"Aunt, if you need any help, just let me know."

While replying, Ding swiftly brought a small stool from under the eaves and handed it to Zhang.

Zhang was very satisfied when she saw this. She thought that this young daughter-in-law was very considerate and her words and actions made people feel warm and cheerful.

"Didn't the Third Master of the Ye family buy some land? Sanlang wants to hire a few temporary workers to help with the work for a few days."

"Why hire a temporary worker? We can just go and help for two days."

Mrs. Ding's words were really comfortable to listen to. Mrs. Zhang laughed and continued.

"Sanlang said that he would hire temporary workers. The male workers would be paid thirty dollars a day, and the female workers would be paid twenty-five dollars a day. Your Erhu went to measure the land, and you know that the land is not very far away. However, Sanlang's family is small, so you have to take care of your own lunch."

"Aunt, yesterday, Erhu and my younger brother from my mother's family took a big red envelope from Sanlang. We are going to help with the work for two days. Why should we ask for money? When you are ready to go to the fields, just let us know!"

Zhang happily married Wang Erhu and his wife.

Then she went to Deng San’s house at the east end of the village, Diao Dezhu’s house next to the grain drying field, Qiu Ermao’s house next to the big banyan tree, and An Sigou’s house near the old well…

When everyone heard that they would be working for Mr. Ye's family and would get paid, they all agreed happily.

After all, it is not easy for country people to find a money-making worker. Men who go to the county mostly do physical work such as carrying bags and lifting things, and they only earn about thirty yuan a day. Women mainly do laundry work, which is not easy to find. These jobs are all monopolized by fixed people, and the key is that they have to go to the county town.

Everyone is naturally happy about this job that allows them to earn money by working near the village.

However, at one o'clock in the morning, Zhang came to Ye's farm and replied to Ye Changyan.

The rapeseed seedlings have all been found for the Ye family, and the villagers are also responsible for helping to deliver the rapeseed seedlings to the fields.

As for finding temporary workers, Zhang helped find five male helpers and eight female helpers, including herself.

After hearing the list of helpers, the Ye family was very satisfied. Most of them were young men and young wives who were well-known for their abilities and dexterity in the village.

Ye Changyan planned to go to the county town in the afternoon to buy wheat seeds, broad beans, peas and other seeds, so he made an appointment with Zhang to go to the fields early the next morning.

Not long after Zhang left, the door of the Ye family's courtyard was knocked again.

Wulang ran to open the door, and after a moment he heard Wulang's voice.

"Aunt, sister, please sit inside."