Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 565 - 291: Rain_1

It was the second watch of the night, pleading for a blush of dawn.

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Wu Yugui and Wu Jiaxing, father and son, brought with them a plowshare pulled by a mule, along with two temporary workers.

"Oh, no, this really isn’t necessary." Lian Shouxin hastily declined, "Third Brother Wu, I do appreciate your kindness. Your family also has land to tend to, and at this time, everyone is rushing to sow seeds. How can I let you leave your own fields to help me farm mine?... It may seem like it’s just my wife and I with a few kids, but we have our own plowshare. These few acres, we can still manage."

"Brother Shouxin, you’re being too formal with me," Wu Yugui said with a smile, "Let me tell you, we’ve already finished planting our land, and that’s why we’ve come to give you a hand. With just your few family members, you still have to be busy with the early morning business at the shop, working all hours of the day. A day or two is okay, but it won’t be sustainable over a longer period. Besides, planting waits for no one. If we hurry up and finish planting the fields in the next couple of days, we can also prevent the land from drying out. Otherwise, we’ll have to carry water to irrigate the land, and that would be really troublesome."

"Yes, Uncle, our family has finished planting, so helping you won’t delay our own chores," Wu Jiaxing also said.

Lian Shouxin was still hesitant.

"... Our families can’t be compared to others. What’s the relationship between our two families? We are indeed relatives," Wu Yugui seemed to guess Lian Shouxin’s worries and said again.

Lady Zhou had a cousin who married into the Wu Family of Thirty Mile Camp, and she gave birth to a son named Wu Yuchang. Wu Yugui and Wu Yuchang were first cousins by blood. Although there was no blood relation to Lian Shouxin, he and Wu Yugui were also cousins by marriage.

Moreover, the two families had become even closer recently.

"Let’s not idle away our time in chatter, better to finish planting the fields quickly, so that your wife and the kids can go home early and rest." Wu Yugui said again.

Having heard all that Wu Yugui had to say, Lian Shouxin didn’t push back any further.

With the help of Wu Yugui, Wu Jiaxing, and the two robust temporary workers, along with a plough, the speed of fieldwork at Lian Manman’s family increased more than twofold.

While working, Lian Shouxin and Wu Yugui chatted.

Wu Yugui, who usually worked as a Broker, had a substantial income, and his family also owned over a hundred acres of land. He had a long-term worker hired year-round to do miscellaneous chores and would also hire temporary workers during the busy farming seasons. Twice a year, during spring plowing and autumn harvesting, Wu Yugui and his son Wu Jiaxing would lead the temporary workers in the fields. As for the regular care of the crops, they mainly entrusted it to the reliable temporary workers.

Lady Wang, Wu Jiaxing’s mother, and his sister Wu Jiayu didn’t have to do heavy fieldwork; their only chores at home were to cook meals.

"Brother Shouxin, the shop you run is a good source of income. In my opinion, for future fieldwork, you might as well hire a few workers to take on the task. Otherwise, you’ll wear yourselves out with the double burden and it’ll affect the business." Because their friendship had deepened, Wu Yugui spoke more straightforwardly to Lian Shouxin, "I’m familiar with the people around these ten or eight villages. If you need to hire someone, I can introduce a few honest and reliable people to you, you won’t have to worry."

Lian Shouxin had started earning money through his business in less than a year. His mindset was still in the previous stage, where land was scarce, and his philosophy was to buy more land to farm it himself. The idea of hiring workers to farm the land was something he had not even considered.

"Now with your over fifty acres of land, you can manage by yourselves, but once you buy more, you won’t be able to keep up," Wu Yugui said with a chuckle.

Lian Manman, who was listening in the background, nodded silently. Their family would definitely be buying more farmland, and when that time came, they wouldn’t be able to manage with their own labor alone. They would have to either rent it out for others to cultivate or hire people to help with the farming.

In the tenant farmer’s household, some were rather poor, owning little to no land. To make a living, these individuals would either rent others’ land to cultivate or take on temporary work, and some were hired as long-term workers. For instance, landlords like Wu Yugui, who did not have an excessive amount of land, hired temporary workers for farming. Whereas large landlords such as Scholar Wang’s family kept a dozen or so long-term workers to tend their fields.

Although Lian Manman’s family did not hire workers for farming, their snack shop employed a hall-runner named Shi Wazi, Lady Zhao who helped in the kitchen, and Old Man Wang who cleaned the lavatories.

"Third Uncle Wu, then we have a deal. When our family needs to hire workers, you help us find a few capable and reliable ones," Lian Manman said.

"Certainly, leave it to me," Wu Yugui replied with a smile, then turned to Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang, saying, "Zhizhi and Manman are really something, both industrious and dexterous, handling both indoor and outdoor work with skill. Whoever marries them will surely be blessed by good fortune."