Then Their Families Really Were Awful, Huh?

This old lady is one of the five families.

Her fawning manner disgusted Zhou Wanwan.

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said, "I don't want you. I'll take the indentures of these twelve families, but I don't want these five."

The old woman's expression immediately changed. She looked at her and said, "Young lady, what do you mean? Why should we take theirs and not ours?"

How dare you ask that question? None of these five companies are to be trifled with.

The other families also gathered around, pressing them aggressively. "That's right! What's wrong with you, little girl? Why are you treating us like this?"

"We've been working ourselves to the bone here, and you just abandon us with a single sentence? What are we supposed to do?"

The old men collapsed to the ground, saying, "Oh dear! We're so pitiful! They just think we're easy to bully because there are so many of us old folks! How can you be so heartless?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at them with a half-smile and said, "Looking at you, you seem more like masters than I am. Why don't you just buy the estate?"

The old men looked at each other, then one of them burst into curses:

"Hey! You're really something. If we could afford this estate, would we need to wait for you to come?"

Do I have to be mindful of your mood?

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "Wow, they've got quite the tempers."

The broker standing nearby couldn't stand it any longer. "In the end, you're all just servants. How dare you speak to your masters like that?"

The old woman shouted:

"She doesn't want our indenture, what kind of master is she?"

"Let me tell you, you brat, if you buy this estate, I'll come here every day and make sure this estate never has a moment's peace."

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said:

"You want to disrupt the peace of my estate, don't you?"

"Fine! Then I'll just buy you all."

The old woman sneered, "You brat, you've got some sense. You'd better treat us well so we can work properly, right?"

Anyway, these people weren't worth much money, so Zhou Wanwan just bought them.

The elderly people looked relieved after buying the items.

"We can stay here on this estate again; it's quite nice here."

All the chickens and ducks we raise can be sold.

Zhou Wanwan scoffed coldly, "I'm afraid you don't have time to rest."

Zhou Wanwan walked into the village and looked at the few trees there. Those trees had a long-standing grudge against these families.

An old mulberry tree sneered, "That old hag! In the end, she was allowed to stay peacefully. Why?"

Over the years, when has she not indulged me in her plundering? As soon as the tender mulberry leaves sprout in spring, she comes with a basket and picks them, harvesting most of the tree in one go.

Not only me, but even the small mulberry trees next to me weren't spared; they were all completely stripped bare.

The leaves of the Little Scholar Tree beside them rustled, echoing the sound:

"That's right, which tree in this area hasn't suffered at the hands of these families?"

Their son was chopping around with a sickle, breaking off a bunch of thin branches just to get some firewood.

The tree's canopy was badly damaged, with pieces missing, and it hasn't recovered for years.

The old elm tree also sighed and said:

"I'm even worse off. The adults and children in their family all love to climb on me. They've broken several thick tree branches, and the bark has been worn down to pieces."

The elm seeds that ripen in spring are picked clean as soon as they are fully grown, and this waste is rampant year after year.

And that willow tree, when the willow catkins were falling in spring, the women in their family would break off willow branches to weave baskets, and the soft branches would be broken into pieces.

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said:

"Then their family is really awful, huh?"

Do you want revenge? I can give you a chance.

The old elm tree lowered its head and looked at her, saying, "Little girl, what are you muttering to yourself here all by yourself?"

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "I'm not whispering among myself! I'm talking to you all!"

The Old Scholar Tree also walked over from a short distance, and the old elm tree stared in astonishment. "Wow! These branches are so thick!"

The Scholar Tree next to it, upon seeing this Old Scholar Tree, almost burst into tears. "Old Ancestor, have you become an immortal? Did you take us to ascend to heaven?"

The Old Scholar Tree looked at the Little Scholar Tree and curled its lip, saying, "What immortality? What ascension? Can't you be more realistic? Do you think this is about cultivating immortality?"

The Little Scholar Tree looked at him and said, "You can walk now, and you're telling us to be realistic? How can we be realistic?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at them with a smile and said, "I'll replenish your energy, and then you two keep an eye on these people and make them work non-stop, how about that?"

The Little Scholar Tree quickly nodded and said, "That would be great! We'll have legs too, won't we?"

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "Yes, of course there will be legs. Then you can abuse those families however you want."

These families were practically the undisputed tyrants of the farm; the other dozen or so families were all honest folks, how could they compare to these five?

The five families now looked calmly at the twelve families, who trembled with fear. "Oh no, how are we going to survive from now on?"

"Who knows? This little master is only 5 years old, he can't handle anything. We still have a long way to go."

"Why don't we tell the young master what's really going on? What if he can save us?"

"Hey! The people in the village used to be from the county government! But they couldn't handle these few scoundrels at all."

Otherwise, how could this estate have been sold so cheaply?

Let's just keep enduring it! At least we can still eat in this village.

The twelve families looked distressed. Zhou Wanwan looked at the five families and said, "Come with me! I'll tell you how to farm."

The five families laughed heartily, "Young master, rest assured, you can entrust the estate to us! This kind of land is our specialty."

The old woman said arrogantly, "From now on, you just need to come once a year to collect the rent, and you don't need to worry about anything else."

Zhou Wanwan looked at them with a half-smile and said, "You guys are so capable, huh? It's nothing, I just want to give you a few words of advice before I leave. Come with me!"

The men followed Zhou Wanwan to the back of the estate. Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "You must work hard here! If you work well, you'll get food; if you don't, you won't get anything!"

The old woman picked at the vegetable bits stuck between her teeth and said:

"Stop talking nonsense. Since you've bought us..."

Well, to tell you the truth, we used to be bandits in the mountains.

Being allowed to stay on your estate is a favor to your estate.

If anyone tries to seize your estate in the future, we can help you.

However, this estate will be ours from now on, and you can forget about getting anything produced here.

"If you dare disobey our orders, we'll capture you and take you to the deep mountains to be our bandit queen, hahahahahahaha..."

The people around them also burst into laughter.