Stepmother in charge: Making a fortune through farming and raising her children to fight back

The lawyer continued, "The county magistrate heard that the wheat disease was discovered by Qin Yun through experiments..."

Yun Zhenzhen was standing in the crowd. She suddenly heard her name, looked up quietly, and suddenly met Lu Yunfeng's gaze, then lowered her head quietly again.

"Qin Yun is intelligent, reserved, virtuous, gentle, and courteous in her manners and conversation. She also knows how to handle matters and treat others with decency. Therefore, the county magistrate bestows upon her a reward of fifty taels of silver."

"Is Qin Yun here?"

"I'm here." Yun Zhenzhen had no choice but to squeeze through the crowd and walk forward.

The lawyer waved back, and the yamen runner beside him came over with a black lacquer tray. The silk cloth on it was removed, revealing five ingots of white silver underneath, a total of fifty taels.

When the villagers heard this, they all looked up curiously. When they saw the silver ingots on it, they all gasped.

Oh my goodness, with so much silver, Qin Yun must have become rich.

Yun Zhenzhen didn't expect that the county magistrate would be so generous and directly reward her with fifty taels of silver. Wouldn't that be enough money for the family to build a new house?

She quietly raised her head and happened to meet Lu Yunfeng's gaze. He winked at her. Yun Zhenzhen really understood. She must have said something to the county magistrate, which was why she got the silver...

After the lawyer finished speaking, the county magistrate spoke again: "I have seen all the recent actions of your Qinjia Village. I will reward those who have made contributions. Moreover, if you have any suggestions in the future, you can come to the county government. As long as it is beneficial to the people, I will definitely reward and punish them."

As soon as these words were spoken, the villagers below began to murmur.

Yun Zhenzhen had never expected that this county magistrate, who usually did nothing, would also listen to wise advice and did not seem as mediocre as people said.

"Everyone, get up." County Magistrate Wang waved his hand.

After hearing this, everyone dared to stand up. Everyone secretly looked at what the county magistrate looked like, but no one dared to look him in the eye.

The last time it was the county magistrate who came, this is the first time for everyone to get so close to the county magistrate. In the future, we can show off when we go out, and we are also people who have spoken in front of the county magistrate.

Those who are lucky enough might even be remembered by the county magistrate, which would be an incomparable honor.

Yun Jing looked at the county magistrate above, his heart filled with mixed emotions. If one day he could also become successful, he would definitely work for the people, but now...

He smiled bitterly and couldn't stop shaking his head. Now he didn't even have the capital to survive, so how could he talk about making a name for himself?

After the story was told, the village chief hurried forward with a smile.

"Why don't you stay here, have a meal with us, and take in the local customs and habits."

Although the harvest is not good this year, the county magistrate has reduced taxes, and the family will have a lot of surplus food. How can we not invite this official to stay for a meal?

County Magistrate Wang shook his head. "That's unnecessary. This year we've had both drought and disease, and the people don't have much surplus food. I know all of this. I'll come back to ask for a meal when there's more food."

After saying that, he turned around and prepared to return.

When the county magistrate's carriage disappeared from sight, the entire Qinjia Village was in an uproar.

"The county magistrate is truly a caring official. He originally said that there wouldn't be enough food this year and that our family would starve to death, but as soon as he arrived, he reduced our taxes. Now, we have more food at home, and we can even use it to earn some extra money to supplement our household expenses."

"Yes, and the wasteland now belongs to our village."

"That's great! If we sell this land, our village will become prosperous again."

"That's easy for you to say. We can't even afford to eat at home. Do you have any extra money to buy land?"

"..."

"Ahem." The village chief coughed, stood on the platform, and signaled everyone to be quiet.

The crowd, which was originally noisy, also looked at the village chief and listened to what he said.

"As you all just heard, the county magistrate awarded our village a total of 100 mu of land. This is awarded to us in Qinjia Village. I declare that anyone in Qinjia Village can purchase it for only half a tael of silver per mu."

The unused wasteland in the village has always been sold at two taels of silver per mu, and the price has never changed over the years.

As soon as this was said, many villagers became interested. Half a tael of silver was not something that ordinary people could easily come up with, but at least it was much cheaper. If they saved it up and sold some grain, they could buy a few acres of land.

Yun Zhenzhen remembered that piece of land. Most of it was sandy soil, and some of it was a desert. It was all sand, with no plants and nothing could be grown there.

Thinking of this, she had an idea in her mind and spoke immediately.

"Village chief, I was worried about having no money and no land at home before. Today, I just happened to have some money. I want to buy the sandy land at the foot of the mountain near my backyard and the sloping desert halfway up the mountain. Please measure it for me and tell me how many acres it is. I will buy them all."

The village chief nodded and said that it was a good idea to buy land. Farmers would feel at ease only when they had land.

Qin Yun got the silver today, and she could buy the land with peace of mind without having to worry about thieves targeting her.

The village chief was about to agree, but was stopped by a sudden scream.

"No, I don't agree."

Old Lady Yun pushed aside the group of people around her and walked out carefree.

She had originally come to find Jing Ge'er to have dinner at home today, but she didn't expect to witness such a big scene. She heard it with her own ears that her ungrateful son got a full fifty taels of silver.

There is no doubt that this money is for her eldest grandson to use in the future. He will need money for going to Beijing to take the imperial examination or to get married. How can she use it to buy land? She firmly disagrees.

Old Lady Yun came out, and with her sharp eyes, she walked over and snatched the plate of silver. She put the silver into her arms while scolding.

"You are the child's aunt, and you are the one who married into our Yun family. Shouldn't you contribute to the child's education? All you think about all day is buying land. What are you going to do with it? Is it more important for Jing'er to study?"

Yun Zhenzhen didn't react at all. She never expected that someone would dare to snatch money in public.

Just as he was about to kick him, another voice erupted from the crowd.

"You crazy woman, you are so shameless." Old Lady Qin stepped forward and attacked her directly, not forgetting to take the silver back. In the process, she tore a big hole in her sleeve.

"This is our Qin family's territory. How dare you come here and rob us so brazenly? You're so bold."

Old Lady Yun was not to be outdone and tore it back. The two of them exchanged curses while fighting: "This was given to my daughter by the county magistrate. What does it have to do with you? This is our Yun family."

The two old women quarreled in front of a group of people.

Yun Zhenzhen hurried forward to stop the fight and directly stopped Old Lady Yun's attack, but she ignored her mother-in-law, resulting in Old Lady Yun being slapped several times by her mother-in-law.

Seeing that the three were about to fight, Yun Jing shouted.

“Grandma!!!”

He wanted to go over just now, but the women were fighting together, so it would be unreasonable for him to go over. His grandmother was busy fighting and couldn't hear a word she said, so he could only shout at the top of his lungs.

When Old Lady Yun heard this, she was about to stop, but she was not paying attention and was slapped in the face by Old Lady Qin. Before she was about to fight back, Yun Jing was already standing in front of her.