Chapter 33
Household Registration
“This is the land that Zhao Kuazi returned. Zhao Zhan and I came to check it out today. Lizheng, look at this land. Zhao Zhan and I will now have to delay our progress on our farm… The weather is cold and the ground is hard. Do you think she did it on purpose?”
Yue Jiaojiao opened her mouth just in time to stop Zhao Zhan’s words.
Even if she had a feeling that this land was not as bad as one might think, she at least had to let the villagers know what bad things Zhao Kuazi had done.
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely go to her and have a good talk! She’s just n aunt, how could she be so cruel to her own nephew? By the way, your household registration has been completed.”
“Thank you.”
Yue Jiaojiao took her household register. It was a thin piece of paper with her name on it. She couldn’t say her background and couldn’t take out her travel pass. If it wasn’t for the official turning a blind eye, it would be really troublesome for her to get registered.
With the household registration, she could use it to apply for a travel pass wherever she wanted to go.
“I was just walking over and heard that you guys are building a house?”
Lizheng treated Zhao Zhan as if he was his own son and couldn’t help but worry for him.
“I went to see the condition of the place two days ago. Your thatched house has collapsed. Since it has collapsed, it’s not a big deal to build a new one. If you want to buy another piece of land in the village, it’s not impossible.
“What kind of house can you build in that palm-sized thatched house of yours? And it’s so close to the mountain. What if Zhao Zhan isn’t home in the future, and a predator breaks into the house and hurts her?”
“Well… let’s forget about the land in the village. We’re used to living there and it’s quiet.”
By just thinking about living together with those gossipers in the village, Zhao Zhan knew that his sweetheart, who loved living in the mountains so much, would not be used to it.
“Actually, there’s a small piece of land next to my thatched house. If it doesn’t have an owner, why don’t you give me that piece of land? I’ll pay you how much silver it costs. With the two pieces of land combined, I can build a larger yard.”
With Zhao Zhan’s words, Li Zheng really remembered that the thatched house next to him used to be owned by an old lady from another village. She had begged her way all the way to this village and lived there. Later, the old lady disappeared and no one built on that land for years. There were no traces of the original house left.
“If you want that piece of land, I’ll give it to you. You don’t have to pay me anything. That place doesn’t have an owner. When the time comes, I’ll just write the two pieces of land as one on the title deed. I didn’t take good care of the land that your aunt gave you. This small piece of land is my compensation to you.”
“Don’t worry, that’s a separate matter. You’re giving me the land already, so I’ll take what I can get and be grateful for it.” Zhao Zhan took out two silvers from his pocket. “I know the price of the land in the village. My land in the village is dilapidated, so I’ll give you two silver for compensation.”
He half-forcefully stuffed the silver into Lizheng’s arms.
“Why are you so serious? How will you save up to make your house if you do these things?”
Zhao Zhan shook his head, “It’s fine. I just want to build a brick house.”
The mud brick house was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It was very stuffy to live in it, especially when there was icky mud all around. Even if his lover agreed, he couldn’t bear to see her live in such a house.
“I really don’t know anyone who can build a brick house. Think carefully. If you want to build two houses with bricks on your two pieces of land, you won’t be able to achieve it without forty or fifty silvers. Do you have enough silver on you to build such a large house?”