Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

Huaihua Village

Bang bang bang!

Early in the morning, Zhao Di was awakened by a knocking sound at the door. It was Chen, the village chief's wife.

"Hey, miss, open the door! That rent issue needs to be settled today!"

Zhao Di opened her eyes and looked out the window. It was just getting light. She didn't want to open the door, but Chen kept knocking, and she couldn't fall asleep.

"Aunt Chen, it's not even dawn yet, can't you let people get any sleep?" Zhao Di grumbled as she opened the door.

Chen stared wide-eyed, hands on her hips, and said, "Girl, I told you last time that this house would cost extra. What's your decision?"

"Let me tell you, you have to pay the rent today. If you don't want to, you have to move out. There's no room for discussion."

When the house was first rented, it was agreed that it would cost 100 coins a month, but not long after moving in, Chen regretted it.

Because everyone lived in the same courtyard and shared a kitchen, sometimes Zhaodi found it troublesome and didn't go to Yan Guihua's place for meals, cooking for herself instead.

Because they were using the kitchen of the Chen family, Chen was naturally worried. When cooking, Chen saw that Yan Guihua hadn't gone over to eat.

Seeing that this young girl was so young, yet she was consuming white flour and rice with such gusto, made the village chief's wife, Chen, envious.

Chen has two daughters-in-law, and these two daughters-in-law are no pushovers either. The two long-haired women make a fuss every day, saying that this room was originally meant for Niuwa and Erniu to live in separately.

Now that the room has been rented out, the rent should be split equally between the two of them.

Money is hard to earn these days. Her husband works as a porter at the docks year-round, but he only earns a dozen or so coins a day. All the money he earns is given to his mother-in-law, and the two of them don't have a single penny.

Because of this, the two daughters-in-law bring it up every day. The husband asked Chen to give the rent money to the daughters-in-law for equal distribution, but Chen was naturally unwilling.

This brings in 100 coins every month, which adds up to one or two taels of silver a year.

After much deliberation, Chen decided to raise the rent by 100 coins per month, and then give those 100 coins to her two daughters-in-law.

She also persuaded her brothers to raise the rent together. The two brothers thought Chen's idea was good.

They rented out the small courtyard for 200 coins, but soon regretted it, feeling they had rented it too cheaply.

Because they saw that Yan Guihua's family had several horse-drawn carriages, and once when they happened to come over during mealtime, they saw that there were not only white steamed buns but also meat on their table.

Thinking about how their family ate nothing but wild vegetables and cornbread every day, which they found unsatisfying, Chen's suggestion to raise the rent by double suited the two brothers perfectly.

A few days ago, Chen had told Zhao Di about raising the rent, but Zhao Di didn't take it seriously. Zhao Lian had negotiated the rent for the house, and it was agreed that it would be 100 wen a month. How could that be changed!

Moreover, not only did Zhao Di's rent increase, but Yan Guihua's rent also increased, turning 200 wen into 400 wen, which they absolutely refused to accept.

They were already struggling to pay 200 coins a month to rent this house, and now the rent is going to increase by half again, of course they can't accept it.

Chen knew that apart from her own family and her parents' family, no one in the village had any extra houses.

If they refuse to rent their own place, they'll have nowhere to stay. That's why she's thinking of raising the rent.

Besides, I had agreed on terms with another girl back then, but that girl hasn't shown up for almost two months now, and I don't know where she is.

She overheard her brother saying that the old woman was worried about the girl's safety. That's why she felt even more emboldened.

Judging from Chen's words, if he didn't pay 400 coins in rent today, they would have to move out.

Zhao Di was now very anxious and quickly put on a smiling face: "Aunt Chen, you and my sister agreed on a rent of 100 coins. How can you go back on your word now?"

"My sister signed a contract with the village chief back then, which clearly stated in black and white that the monthly rent was 100 wen!"

Although Zhao Di couldn't read, she had heard Zhao Lian tell her about it.

"Ha~"

Chen sneered, "You little brat, you're so sharp-tongued. This house is mine. You can rent it if you want, or move out if you don't."

"No, I have to go to the village chief to reason with him!"

As she spoke, Zhao Di tried to barge into the village chief's room, but Chen grabbed her and said in a shrill voice, "You little brat, can't you understand human language? I'm the boss in our family, and what he says doesn't count."

At this moment, Chen's eldest daughter-in-law, Gao Lan, came out, glanced at Zhao Di, and said sarcastically, "Little girl, in this Huaihua Village, only our family still has a room left to rent to you, so don't complain about the price."

"Besides, with you eating rice and flour like crazy every day, you can't afford 200 coins!"

At this moment, the second daughter-in-law, Chen Rong, came out angrily: "Mother, let's not argue with her. She won't admit her mistake until she sees the coffin. She won't rent it out, right? Let's throw her things out!"

The village chief walked out of the inner room with a stern face: "Have you all made enough trouble? We signed a contract with them, how can we go back on our word?"

Chen glared at him: "Husband, this is our home, I'm in charge. Don't try to act like the village chief, I'm telling you, this trick won't work."

"Anyway, she'll either give me 200 coins today, or I'll move out."

"You~"

The village chief trembled with rage: "You really are all talk and no action, utterly unreasonable!"

The village chief was notoriously henpecked. In Huaihua Village, he was the village chief and many people respected him, but at home, his words carried no weight.

"What do you mean, 'me'! You, as that lousy village chief, only earn a pittance a year. If we rent out this room for 200 coins a year, it's worth several years of your village chiefship!"

“Father, Mother is right, you don’t need to worry about this!” The village chief’s eldest son, Li Mu, pulled the village chief outside.

The village chief was furious, his face flushed with anger: "I can't reason with an old woman like you! Our family will be ruined by you sooner or later!"

"Hey, village chief! Village chief, say something!"

Seeing the village chief being pulled out of the house by Li Mu, Zhao Di knew that the village chief's words no longer carried any weight.

"What, young lady, have you made up your mind yet?" Madam Chen looked somewhat impatient.

"Mom, let's not waste our breath on her, let's throw her things out." Gao Lan and Chen Rong immediately got to work, going inside and throwing things out.

"Hey, don't touch this! This is my stuff!"

Seeing them go inside and throw their belongings out, Zhao Di quickly stepped forward to stop them, but it was no use.

Zhao Di stepped out of the gate and shouted, "Everyone, come and judge this! The village chief's wife is openly robbing us!"

At this moment, many people in the village got up and, hearing the commotion, gathered around.

Previously, everyone was envious when they learned that the village chief's room had been rented out for 100 coins.

Now that everyone hears she's going to raise the rent to 200 coins, they're all in an uproar.