Chapter 223: Chapter 223: What Did the County Magistrate Want with You?

Qi Manman heard her mother calling and turned her head to look over.

A pair of large eyes were somewhat dazed, blinking as if in slow motion. Her mouth was just about to open to speak, but she let out a big yawn instead.

Her small body fell backward, and Mrs. Qi hurriedly supported her head with her hand.

Qi Manman, while letting her grandma help her lie down, mumbled, “It’s for… for the people Daddy brought back to stay…”

Her voice grew softer and eventually turned into gentle snores.

“This kid falls asleep so quickly.”

Mrs. Qi voiced her pretense of annoyance, but her actions of tidying her granddaughter’s hair and covering her with a quilt were very gentle.

At this moment, Yi Meng wasn’t thinking about that; all her thoughts were on her daughter’s words before she fell asleep.

Is Brother Jin bringing someone back?

Could he have “picked up” someone from the old village in the city again?

Although they had already accepted Ji Hu and the others joining, it didn’t mean they were willing to accept more people from the original village.

“Meng Niang, what do you think about this?”

Qi Zheng asked Yi Meng.

Yi Meng pursed her lips in thought before saying, “Dad, we should still wait until Brother Jin comes back to discuss it! We have to see if he really brings people back and, if so, who he brings back.”

Qi Zheng nodded: “Right, right. Then don’t think too much about it now, listen to your mother, and go rest!”

Qi Zheng hadn’t known the fourth daughter-in-law was pregnant again; if he had, he wouldn’t have let her come over.

Yi Meng didn’t feel particularly bothered.

When she was pregnant with the three boys before, she was nauseous beyond belief, but this pregnancy was exceptionally smooth.

Yi Meng suspected it was due to the Space Spring Water, but she had no evidence.

Just as Yi Meng left, Mrs. Qi looked after her granddaughter and quietly said to Qi Zheng, “Old man, do you think we should also get a pulse check for the other family members?”

“Check for what? Aren’t they all doing fine?”

Qi Zheng was puzzled.

The fourth daughter-in-law only got her pulse checked because she was pregnant; otherwise, who would voluntarily seek a doctor’s pulse check without reason?

Although their family had two doctors, it didn’t mean they had to have the peace-of-mind pulse checks like the big families did from time to time.

Mrs. Qi rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, “The fourth daughter-in-law is pregnant, maybe the other daughters-in-law are too and just didn’t realize it.”

After saying that, Mrs. Qi felt talking with the old man was pointless, so she said, “Forget it, I’ll just take them to see the doctors myself.”

“You’re so superstitious, thinking they all got pregnant at the same time? What, has the goddess of childbirth moved into your house?”

Even as Qi Zheng joked, he still bent down to place his wife’s shoes properly and supported her arm, helping her down from the kang.

Mrs. Qi ignored his comments, put on her shoes and coat, and exited the room.

The daughters-in-law being pregnant was a good thing.

As a mother-in-law, Mrs. Qi was naturally overjoyed.

However, Mrs. Qi also worried that the daughters-in-law might be as oblivious as Yi Meng, not knowing anything.

If anything happened by accident, it would be something they’d regret for the rest of their lives.

As she walked, Mrs. Qi contemplated who would do the house chores if all the daughters-in-law were really pregnant.

Previously, all the boys in the family were busy with outside work. Now, thinking about it, they should probably assign some of them to stay home and manage domestic affairs.

As dusk fell, the men who had gone to town finally returned.

On the way back, there was none of the earlier tension, mainly because the gold had been converted into silver notes. They only had about a hundred silver pieces and Copper Coin, distributed among each for discretion.

With silver and Copper Coin in their pockets, they didn’t disembark early but went straight to the main Qi Family hall, handed over all the money to Qi Quanjin. Once the amount was verified, they all dispersed.

“Why did you come back so late just for a money exchange?”

Mrs. Qi was overseeing the daughters-in-law setting up dinner and, seeing the outsiders leave, finally asked Qi Quanjin.

Qi Quanjin sighed. Seeing that Qi Zheng was also there, he said, “After arriving in the city, the county magistrate summoned me to the county government, which delayed us some time, so we came back late.”

“What did the county magistrate want with you?”

Qi Zheng’s brow twitched as he instinctively glanced at Qi Manman, who was playing with Qi Shilang on a chair nearby.

Qi Quanjin took the water bowl handed to him by Qi Silang, drank it all, and then replied, “The county magistrate wants to arrange for some people to move into our village.”

“What?”

This exclamation came simultaneously from Qi Zheng and Mrs. Qi.

Their expressions were complex, hard to distinguish whether it was surprise, shock or something else.

Qi Quanjin wiped his mouth and said, “They’re all like us, outsiders who fled here and have a hard time getting along with the original villagers, facing exclusion and causing daily altercations. The county government’s Government Officials have to visit those villages multiple times a day because of this.”

“So the county magistrate thought about moving them to our less populated Yongping Village.”

Qi Quanjin finished speaking and sighed, “I think having more people could be good, but it’s getting colder, and there’s no place to stay.”

Without noticing his family’s reaction, Qi Quanjin continued explaining the county magistrate’s proposal.

“The county magistrate said these people are used to hardship. Before it gets too cold, let them come over, set up grass huts to live in, then go to the mountain to cut some wood to build timber houses to get through the winter.”

“Also, the county magistrate offered to allocate 500 acres of wasteland to our village, entrusted to me. We can sell it to those outsiders, and ninety percent of the proceeds go to the county government, with the remaining ten percent staying with us.”

After hearing Qi Quanjin’s words, Qi Zheng and Mrs. Qi tasted bitterness in their mouths and didn’t know what to say.

Yi Meng was also present, and after listening, her gaze at her youngest daughter became more complicated.

Didn’t this just fit what her young daughter said about building houses for outsiders?

“I thought this couldn’t be turned down, so I agreed. As for those 500 acres, I decided to place them on either side of our current village, not wanting the sandy land across the road.”

Qi Quanjin sighed, “According to the county magistrate, people might start arriving in the next two or three days. Dad, should we start by building a few grass huts for them to stay in?”

“Grass huts aren’t built in a day, and when they have no place to stay, we can’t just watch them freeze outside.”

“If we prepare in advance, we won’t need to vacate our own empty houses for them.”

Qi Quanjin shared his thoughts.

Qi Zheng, having come around, also sighed after hearing this: “Let’s do that then!”

Building a few grass huts with some effort is better than letting outsiders move into their own yard.

Their vacant rooms were all used for growing things; clearing them for housing would mean pulling up those planted items, something he couldn’t bear to do.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep