Chapter 109: Good Brothers

  Ye Shixie and Ye Shiyan, brothers, both red-faced, with swollen tongues, continuously hiccuping, escorted Jin Zhanggui out of the wine house.

  Thinking of this lucrative business, Ye Shixian felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. He had only helped transport goods once and he had already earned five taels of silver. According to what Jin Zhanggui had said, the more things he transported in the future, the more silver he would earn. Just thinking about it made him feel joyful beyond control.

  "Third brother, this time I really must thank you sincerely." Ye Shixian leaned on Ye Shiyan's shoulder, with a face full of brotherly affection.

  Ye Shiyuan secretly smiled to himself, but his face became even more respectful, "Second brother, what are you talking about? We're biological brothers, if we don't take care of our own family, who will we take care of? Besides, this is also second brother's magnanimity, that's why they thought of finding our family to do business together."

  One sentence struck Ye Shixian's heart, and he pulled Ye Shiyan who was about to find a place to relax, but his clothes were caught by someone.

  "Dad, Third Uncle, where are you going?" Ye Baiji pulled on Ye Shixian's back hem and asked.

  He turned his head to look back and it was her, not with the usual frown and cold demeanor. He stretched out his hand to pat Ye Bai Zhi's head, only to realize that she was now taller than him, no longer the little girl who would wait for him at the door when he came home, happily holding up a poorly embroidered handkerchief and running over to ask for praise.

  For so many years, he had been neglecting them. As soon as Ye Shixiao thought of that sentence, he felt his image was much more impressive and couldn't be as irresponsible to his family members as before. "It's Bai Zhi," he said, seeing Ye Luyuan and Zhen'er following behind him, with an unchanged smile on his face, asking kindly like a close elder: "Oh, you're here too? Have you eaten? Come on, Second Uncle will treat you to dinner."

  Ye Luoyu and Zhen'er looked at each other, then simultaneously raised their heads to glance at the sky. It was too early for dinner, but also a bit late for lunch.

  Ye Shiyuan was more awake than his brother. He patted Ye Shi's shoulder and said, "Brother, at this time, you must have eaten already. Let's go with Third Uncle to your Third Aunt's house and let her make some delicious food for you."

  It's really strange today, did they brothers take the wrong medicine or something? Zhen'er thought to herself, it doesn't make sense. They should be good to Ye Luyuan, but why are they being so nice to these jinx siblings today too?

  It's clear that she's not the only one who has been wronged by the three households. Ye Baiju may be slow to react to other things, but having suffered too much at their hands, she always regards them as her arch-enemies in life. She pays extra attention to everything they say and do. Sometimes, her reaction to the three households is still the fastest.

  "Third Uncle, let's not go anymore. Today we came to buy seeds, the villagers' land has all been planted, only ours is still empty, and there are many idle rumors in the village, my grandfather heard them all and almost fainted. Isn't this urging us to come find my father and Third Uncle to return and plant the land? We've already bought the seeds." He said with a smile. "I thought we wouldn't be able to find Third Uncle. I was going to have to go to Su Guo's grandma's house, but now that we've run into Third Uncle, it's just right. Let's go together and let my third aunt pack up, we can all go back together. Grandfather hasn't seen Su Ye and Su Guo's younger sister for a long time, he's been thinking about them every day."

  Ye Baiji's words stunned everyone who heard them.

  Zhen Er's brother and Ye Luoyan were stunned because they didn't expect that Ye Baiji, who was not usually very clever, would be highly vigilant when dealing with the third house, and her killing power would be so great when she launched a comprehensive attack. This combat effectiveness is not to be underestimated!

  The reason why Ye Shiyan and his brothers were stunned was that they did not expect the old master to be so ruthless this year, just because of one sentence that was not spoken well, he really didn't let them farm the land, willing to endure the rumors in the village, even the old man got angry and ill but still didn't let them farm the land, it's really miscalculated!

  But now, they wouldn't even bother with the income from those few pieces of land.

  "Bai Qi, never mind, it's already too late to plant now. Even if we do plant, there's no guarantee of income." Ye Shi Xie said without any regret: "You go back and tell your grandfather that we won't be planting on that land anymore. Let your uncle rent it out to someone else."

  Is it still not too late for others to plant now and be able to harvest something?

  "Our family's land is no longer being cultivated, you tell your uncle that even if the rent is cheaper, it doesn't matter, we don't care about that little bit of money, just consider it as helping our fellow villagers." Ye Shiyan also changed her usual cautious style and said generously.

  "But..." Ye Baiji's words were cut off before she could finish speaking.

  "There's nothing to worry about, you go back and tell your grandfather what I said. Your father has plenty of money, let him not worry about eating plain food. When I rent a house in the city, I'll bring you three to live there." Ye Shi Xie reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver coin, intending to hand it to Ye Bai Ci, but found it was too big, so he exchanged it for a smaller one and handed it over. He ignored her shouting behind him and walked away with Ye Shi Yan, leaving Ye Bai Ci stomping her feet in anger.

  "I really don't know what they're up to again?" Ye Baiji thought angrily as she sat on the ox cart, "It's really not until you hit the wall that you turn back, and yet they've suffered so many losses in their hands, how can they still be so foolish?"

  Zhen'er and Hu'zi listened quietly, without saying a word.

  After Ye Baiji finished muttering to herself, she calmly said, "I just saw Cao Wei on the dock."

  "Cao Wei? Who's that?" Ye Baiji asked impatiently, without thinking twice.

  Yelu Yuan, who was in a hurry to catch the bus, turned his head back for a glance before turning around and continuing to rush, "Are you sure?"

  Zhen'er nodded, and then thought of Ye Luyuan not being able to see, saying: "It should be him. Once I came to the city with Huozi, we sat in the same ox cart, we were relatively close, I still have some impression of him."

  "That's great," Yelu Yan said with a smile. "Recently, good things have been happening one after another. If this matter is told to Aunt Ye, she will definitely be very happy."

  Cao Ye's original surname was Ye, and according to her generation, Ye Luyuan and others had to call her "Aunt".

  "What does this have to do with Aunt Ye?" Ye Baiju was still a bit bewildered, her reactions to these things had always been slower. Zhen'er used to think that she might be too simple-minded and couldn't understand, but after seeing her several confrontations with the third house without being taken advantage of, she thought it would be unfair not to admit that Ye Baiju's cleverness and quick wit were all used to deal with the third house.

  "Cao Wei is just Ye's aunt's son Shi Tou," explained Zhen Er.

  Ye Baiji immediately reacted, but was too embarrassed to admit that she had gotten her wires crossed, and stubbornly said, "Cao Wei is Cao Wei, stone is stone, why change the name all of a sudden?"

  Zhen'er was too lazy to bother with her, and instead turned to Hu Zi and said, "Little brother, let's play a game. I'll ask you questions and you answer, okay?"

  "Hutou excitedly shouted, 'Good!'"

  "What's your sister's name?"

  "Sister is called Qi Zhen Er!"

  "What's your name?"

  "My full name is Qi Huai Gu, but my nickname is Hu Zi, and my sister likes to call me Hu Zi!"

  "Ah, really clever!" Zhen'er happily kissed Hu Zi on the mouth.

  On this side, Ye Baiji squinted her eyes and looked at the exceptionally happy siblings in front of her. Ahead, Ye Luyuan, who was driving, had already burst out laughing loudly. Zhen'er was teasing Baiji, and even Hu Zi couldn't compare to that.

  Ye Baiji made a rolling-up-her-sleeves gesture, pushing everything around them aside, and rushed over to scratch Zhen'er's itchy spots, causing the cow cart to become extremely lively.

  Back home, Bai Zhi put things away and went to find Ye Shiwei. What her father and third uncle said, she didn't dare tell her grandfather about it, if good things don't come true but bad things do, really making her grandfather angry, who would she cry to? Moreover, this matter couldn't be told to Eldest Aunt either, from the beginning Eldest Aunt wasn't willing to help Third Uncle with farming, if she knew that now they had farmed the land and still looked down on others, it would surely add fuel to the fire.

  Yeshi Wei listened to Yebai Ji finish speaking, and a surge of evil fire rose in his heart. These two useless things must have done something bad outside again! Otherwise, how could they be so wealthy and arrogant that they didn't even plant land?

  "Don't tell your grandfather about this for now, and also keep it from your aunt on your father's side. Let's wait until we've figured out what they're up to before saying anything." Yeshi Wei reminded him.

  Ye Baiji nodded obediently, she had thought so too. With an adult backing her up, she felt a lot more at ease in her heart. "I know, Uncle. When I have time, I'll go to the city to find my dad and ask them what they're doing."

  In the evening, Ye Baiji came to Zhen'er's place and repeated what Ye Shiwei had instructed.

  "Old Uncle said that the land has already been planted, and in the future if my father and Third Uncle ask about it, just say that it was rented out to someone else to plant, with a lower rent than what's usual in the village." Ye Baiju said, "My uncle isn't greedy for their things, this batch of land was arranged by my uncle and aunt to be planted. Originally, my uncle didn't agree to take over this land, so I said that whoever rented it wouldn't plant it, they just pretended to have rented out the land to plant it, and when the time comes, handing over some rent would settle it."

  "Did Grandfather agree?"

  "Of course, he wouldn't agree, or else I wouldn't be so annoyed," Ye Baiji said irritably. "I really don't know how my dad and his three brothers grew up - one is too honest, one is too foolish, and one is too cunning, why can't they just combine all the good qualities?"

  "Dragons have nine sons, each different from one another, let alone these brothers." Zhen'er sighed, her father was also one of three brothers, with different personalities, but her father was too foolish, having an elder brother who was ruthless and cruel, not even leaving a place for him to live in peace.

  "This matter, you don't have to worry about it either. Elder brother has a plan in mind," Zhen'er consoled. "You just need to tidy up the land at your place and that will be enough. Then, this year's food supply for you and your mother won't be a problem."

  Ye Baiji's heart was filled with confidence, "Right, I'll just watch as our own land becomes theirs. Whoever takes their land will be worried to death, they're just a bunch of people who only know how to harm one family!"

  Zhen Er smiled helplessly.

  "Hey, have you told Aunt Ye about Cao Wei's thing?" Ye Baiji asked.

  Mentioning this matter, Zhen'er was also somewhat worried. She really didn't know how to broach the subject, although she had confidence that she hadn't mistaken the person. What she feared was that if she hadn't inquired clearly about the situation and told Cao Yexi, they would go and end up with nothing, and then Cao Yexi wouldn't know how heartbroken she would be.

  "Then let's go tell Aunt Ye tomorrow."