Xu Ling chatted with Chen Sheng.
Perhaps it had been too long since he had talked about these things with anyone, but as soon as Chen Sheng opened his mouth, he couldn't stop talking.
His family used to live in the north. They were hit by drought and then famine. Ninety percent of the people in the village starved to death. His grandparents also died of starvation, so his father and his uncle separated and each took their family members to flee the famine.
In order to survive, his father starved to death on the road, his two sisters were sold, and so was his youngest brother.
The wind started blowing outside. Xu Ling glanced at the river and felt that the world was gloomy. Chen Sheng's voice was not loud when he spoke, as if he had deliberately suppressed his voice so that his mother would not hear him.
When he mentioned that his brother was sold, he paused for a long time. No one knew what he was thinking.
After a while, Chen Shengcai continued: "I have two sisters, one is fourteen and the other is eight. My father was reluctant to sell them. My mother pushed them outside like crazy. If they don't leave, they will be hungry." Die in this home."
Half a bag of noodles, just some noodles, bought Chen Sheng's two sisters. From that day on, he never saw the two sisters again.
I don’t know whether they are dead or alive now.
His little brother is less than five years old. He was in a bad situation within two years of his birth. He has a big head and a small body. His body is skinny and has no flesh at all. However, he is as well-behaved as a cat. He sat on a cart when he was escaping from the famine. , smiled at Chen Sheng who was pushing the cart, and wiped his sweat.
Later, Chen Sheng's father died and their cart was robbed. He hugged his younger brother, who was hanging on him, as if he had no weight, but he was still so well-behaved.
His brother was starving to death, and a man and a woman came to his mother and offered to buy him away.
Chen Sheng only remembered that his mother tried her best to drive the two people out, which was not as straightforward as when she sold her sister.
His mother cried so hard that she held him and his two younger brothers in her arms without even shedding a tear. She howled so hard that his back went cold and he was terrified.
But later, his mother went to find those two people with her brother in her arms, and exchanged his brother for two pieces of cake and a small handful of fried soybeans.
"It's just such a big handful, it shouldn't be that much." Chen Sheng clasped his hands and bent his thumbs to hold them, "My brother was bought."
However, they ran to the south alive with the two pieces of cake and a handful of soybeans, begging for food all the way. After two years of this, his mother took him and Chen Ze to drink water and wash their faces by the river outside the village, and found a place to beat them. The fishing man asked for directions.
That man was Chen Sheng's stepfather, a widower whose wife had died.
Seeing that Chen Sheng, mother and son, were pitiful, he took them in. They were not married, so they just lived together.
Later, the widower died, and his two sons kicked out Chen Sheng, mother and son. They had nowhere to go and no longer wanted to live those wandering days, so they lived on this awning boat for several years.
After hearing this, Xu Ling was filled with emotion and finally understood why the two brothers didn't leave here.
They have no land and have always been considered as rootless duckweeds. But in this vast world, where can their home be?
Only a mother has a family.
Xu Ling took a sip of tea. The tea was already a little cold.
"I came to you this time because I have something to ask you for help."
Chen Sheng licked his tongue, feeling a little nervous.
Xu Ling has bought land. There has been a lot of buzz in the village these days. Even the two brothers have heard that Xu Ling bought too much land and cannot cultivate it, so he wants to find tenants.
Chen Sheng was not stupid. Xu Ling had no personal relationship with him, so he suddenly came to his door. He must have other things to talk about.
"I have some fields at home..."
"I do!"
Chen Sheng didn't even wait for Xu Ling to finish speaking, and immediately got ahead of him, "Xu Ling, I heard someone said that if you want to find someone to farm the land, I don't ask for much, as long as we three mothers can have a house to live in, and a Just eat it if it’s hot in your mouth!”
What they seek is not the land, but the opportunity to integrate into Lianhua Bay.
The two brothers Chen Sheng and Chen Ze are hardworking and capable, but if there is an empty house that someone does not want in the village, it will not be their turn. In the past, Xu Ling was a shameless bastard who sold land and houses, but he was born and raised in Lianhuawanzi, so the people in the village showed no mercy.
Just because they are foreigners and unable to take root here.
Even if the widower's two sons did something wrong, the people in the village still turned to them, not Chen Sheng and the others.
If Chen Sheng and the others could work as tenants for Xu Ling, their life would definitely be better than living on a awning boat. If they gradually save some money to buy a piece of land of their own, they would really have a family.
As Chen Sheng said this, he almost knelt down in front of Xu Ling.
Fortunately there wasn't much space on the ship, so there was no room for implementation.
Xu Ling stopped him quickly and said, "Okay, okay, I'm here just to talk to you about this matter. Everything is easy to talk about."
Although they were targeting the Chen Sheng brothers, if they really wanted to leave them to farm for Xu Ling, they would have different identities.
Chen Sheng is now a free man. If he becomes his tenant, according to the laws of the Yong Dynasty, Xu Ling has certain control rights over his personal freedom.
Although it is different from being a slave, you are still a respected master and customer.
Xu Ling explained this clearly to Chen Sheng in advance, but Chen Sheng was not embarrassed at all. He said with tears of gratitude: "I know all this, and I am willing to believe in your character!"
The rent of tenants varies from place to place and the harvest. Some kind-hearted landlords will charge less rent to reduce the pressure on tenants.
Xu Ling still doesn't know what the output of his space seeds will be, and it's hard to set the share too high or too low.
He discussed with Chen Sheng that the relationship between the two was a landlord and a tenant farmer, but Xu Ling did not have control over the lives of the Chen Sheng brothers, including the marriage of their children and other chores.
Xu Ling provided them with accommodation and seeds for the next year. Similarly, the rent for the next year was 28 cents.
The Chen Sheng brothers kept two points, and Xu Ling took back 80%.
This ratio is basically enough for Chen Sheng and his family to eat and drink, but the rent collection ratio will be determined in the following year depending on the yield of the fields and whether the harvest is good.
Xu Ling did not stick to his words. Unlike other landowners who said they would harvest 80%, no matter how much the harvest was, the tenants would have to collect 80% if they sold their children and daughters.
After Chen Sheng heard this, he immediately said: "Okay!"
Xu Ling's head turned black, "If you have other ideas, you can tell me now, and I will consider satisfying you as appropriate."
"No!" Chen Sheng insisted, and then asked hesitantly: "When can we move?"
It's probably going to snow again in the next few days, the awning boat can't block the wind, and his mother's health is getting worse.
Xu Ling was dumbfounded. He always thought of the working people of today with the same mentality of social animals in his previous life that hated capitalists.
But for those at the bottom like Chen Sheng who have been enduring hardships, having a huggable thigh to keep them fed and clothed is already a great good thing.
After thinking about it, Xu Ling said: "How about you move into my old house today, and tomorrow I will take you to see the land and find someone to build two houses on the land for you to live in. What do you think?"
