Chapter 88: Buying Land

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Buying Land

The carpenters had really touched a raw nerve. Old Mrs. Bai was already fuming, and their comments sent her into a rage, so she flew into a rage and cursed them out.

Seeing they had provoked Old Mrs. Bai, the carpenters quickly took their leave.

Surveying the wreckage inside the house, Old Mrs. Bai felt a wave of despair. Everything was gone, smashed to pieces.

Bai Dabao went inside, took a look around, and came back out. "Grandma," he said to Old Mrs. Bai, "the pots and bowls are all broken. What are we going to eat today?"

"Eat, eat, eat! Is that all you can think about? Get in there and start cleaning up!" Noticing her mother-in-law’s foul expression, Liu quickly pulled her son away, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

————

After leaving the Bai Family’s residence, Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan went straight to Hu Changlin’s home.

Bai Zhi had already arranged with Hu Changlin to borrow his family’s wooden cabin for a while once she and her mother had formally separated from the Bai Family.

When Hu Changlin saw them arriving with their cloth bundles, his face lit up. "So, it’s done?"

Bai Zhi nodded. "It’s done. We’ve officially separated from the Bai Family. From now on, we have nothing more to do with them."

Uncle Hu sighed. "It’s good that you’ve separated. Very good. Now they won’t be able to scheme against you anymore."

Just then, the village chief happened to be passing by the Hu Family’s home. Seeing Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan standing in the courtyard, he stepped inside. He turned to Zhao Lan and asked, "Zhao Lan, what are your plans for the days ahead?"

What plans could Zhao Lan possibly have? At this point, she was leaving everything up to her daughter. Whatever Zhi’er said, went.

Zhao Lan shook her head. "Don’t ask me. You should ask Zhi’er. She’s already figured everything out."

The village chief raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting to Bai Zhi. "Zhi, go on and tell me. What are the plans for you and your mother?"

Bai Zhi had been just about to look for the village chief to discuss this very matter. His arrival saved her the trouble.

"Uncle Village Chief, we don’t even have a place to live right now. We’re borrowing the cabin at Uncle Hu’s house for the time being, but we can’t rely on his generosity forever. We want to build a house of our own. I was wondering if you could approve a homestead plot for us?"

The village chief immediately looked troubled. The number of homestead plots in the village was fixed; they couldn’t just be handed out to anyone.

’Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi are technically residents of Huangtuo Village,’ the chief mused. ’Now that they’ve split from the Bai Family without getting a house, their request for a homestead plot is reasonable. But you can’t just get a plot for free. It costs money, and that money has to be submitted to the court.’

Seeing the village chief’s troubled expression, Bai Zhi quickly said, "I won’t hide it from you, Uncle Village Chief. A while ago I dug up some medicinal herbs in the mountains. A few days back, I asked Doctor Lu to take them to town to sell for me. I managed to sell them for some Silver Coin. It’s not a lot, but it should be enough to buy a homestead plot."

At these words, the village chief’s eyes instantly lit up, and he couldn’t help but laugh. "You clever girl. It seems you had a backup plan all along. I was worried that life would be difficult for you and your mother from now on, but it looks like my concern was misplaced."

Bai Zhi smiled as well. "It wasn’t a misplaced concern. Without the help of good people like you, Uncle Village Chief, and Uncle Hu, our lives would surely be very difficult."

"Actually, we don’t just want to buy a homestead plot—we’d also like to buy some farmland. We can’t make a living in the future with just a house and no fields to work, right?"

The village chief nodded repeatedly. "That’s no problem. We have both homestead plots and farmland available. I’ll speak with the authorities and try to get them to charge you a bit less. You two have had it rough."

The village chief glanced at Zhao Lan’s hand. "But didn’t Doctor Lu say Zhao Lan can’t do heavy labor? If you get farmland, you’ll have to do all the work yourself. Are you sure you can handle that?"