Empress of Fortune: A Farm Girl's Rise

Being unsatisfied in good times will do you no good. When you really get hungry, your pleas will fall on deaf ears.

Zhuang Qingning knew that Zhuang Jingye had officially agreed, but he was not entirely supportive of her establishing a household as a woman. However, now that the household had been established, the opinions of others were no longer her concern, and she didn't want to guess about them.

Zhuang Qingning accepted the document and said, "Thank you, Uncle Village Chief. I have another request, I hope Uncle Village Chief can help."

"Let's hear it first."

If it's about sympathizing with you, giving you some food, lending you a house or something, don't even think about it.

"Now that my sister and I have established our household, we have nowhere to live. I know that Butcher Hua's house in the village has been vacant. We would like to move in temporarily, and we will move out once my sister and I build a new house."

Butcher Hua, an outsider, came here with his one-eyed wife five years ago. He donated five hundred coins to the ancestral hall and settled in our village, doing the business of killing pigs and sheep.

However, a year ago, Butcher Hua's wife accidentally fell into the river while washing clothes. When Butcher Hua arrived upon hearing the news, his wife had already been swept away by the rushing river. Butcher Hua jumped into the river to search for her but, worn out, drowned as well.

Butcher Hua had no children and no relatives. His house and courtyard had been empty and unused ever since.

"Although Butcher Hua's house is vacant, he is still considered as a member of our village. Before the house is claimed by anyone, it is managed by the village. You can use it if you want to now, but you have to pay an annual rent to the village. When the relatives of Butcher Hua's family come to claim the house in the future, we will give them this money as compensation."

Expecting to use it for free is out of the question. Otherwise, it would be unfair to Butcher Hua's family. The house is private property after all. By the same reasoning, it would be unfair to the villagers. Why should you be able to use it for free when others can't?

"That is acceptable," Zhuang Qingning felt that the request was reasonable: "How much is the annual rent?"

"Butcher Hua's house has two tile-roofed rooms, a kitchen, and a rather large yard. The house is not dilapidated. Although our village's houses are not as expensive as those in the town, we are not far from the town either. Considering your and your sister's miserable conditions, I'll set the annual rent at one hundred and fifty coins," asserted Zhuang Jingye.

"Okay," Zhuang Qingning agreed: "However, my sister and I just established our household and we have no money and no source of livelihood at the moment, so we can't pay now. Once I earn some money in some time, I will pay the rent to you, Uncle village chief."

"I will give you three months. If you can pay the annual rent in that time, you can continue living in this house. If not, don't blame me for being ruthless and kicking you out."

Zhuang Jingye felt that his decision was fair and generous and would not give others a reason to talk.

"Uncle Village Chief, rest assured, if I can't come up with the money by then, I will let you do as you please," Zhuang Qingning responded decisively.

"Alright."

Zhuang Jingye rummaged around and found the key to Butcher Hua's house and handed it to Zhuang Qingning, "You can move in for now."

"However, let's make it clear beforehand, I am only renting this house to you because I pity you and your sister for being parentless. I have already done my utmost. If anything happens in the future, I, as the village chief, may not be able to help you."

Especially if you want to borrow money because you're lacking food and clothing, that is absolutely out of the question. You've chosen to establish a household as women, you must bear the consequences yourself. You can't expect sympathy by playing the pity card.

"I understand Uncle Village Chief's words. Since we've chosen this path ourselves, we have to stick to it no matter what. You don't have to worry about it," Zhuang Qingning replied in a clear voice.

"Since our household has been established and we sisters have a place to stay temporarily, we will leave you alone, Uncle Village Chief."

Zhuang Qingning led Zhuang Qingsui out of Zhuang Jingye's house, heading towards Butcher Hua's house.

Zhuang Jingye watched the two of them walk away with cold eyes, giving a cold hum.

"I never knew Ning had such a strong character. I really underestimated her," said Mrs. Ye, Zhuang Jingye's wife, who had been watching stealthily from the kitchen.

"Underestimated? I think she's presumptuous. Establishing a household as women, she's just asking for death. You'll see, when they starve, they'll come to me for help. Others might criticize me, the supposedly able village chief, for allowing people to starve in the village I manage. I don't know how that's going to sting!"

With a cold hum, Zhuang Jingye went back inside.

He's just a minor village chief and thinks too highly of himself. People may think he's the grand county magistrate!

Where does he get his arrogance from!

Mrs. Ye smirked, then continued cooking in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui arrived at Butcher Hua's house.

As he was a newcomer to the village and made a living by killing pigs and sheep, Butcher Hua's house was built on the edge of the village. The walls of his courtyard were higher, even more, higher than Zhuang Qingning's.

But this was better in a way, as they could live their lives in peace without being gawked at by passersby.

Upon entering, they saw the long-abandoned courtyard overgrown with weeds. The straw-roofed kitchen and house were filled with thick dust. Due to the rain and the door having been shut for many years, the wall on the north side had even started to mold.

Luckily, most of the household items were still there, and they could live a basic life.

Zhuang Qingning took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh.

The next thing to do was to clean up, settle down with her sister, and then find a way to earn a living.

As a modern person, relying on her knowledge, as long as she wasn't lazy, it wouldn't be difficult to make a living in this era.

At worst, she could do some manual labor to fill her stomach first and then gradually think about getting rich.

Zhuang Qingning began to plan for the future.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for obtaining the Get Rich System 1.0. I am system No. 0715, your personal assistant.]

The information that suddenly appeared in her mind made Zhuang Qingning momentarily stunned.

Get Rich System, what is that? What use is it?

[The Get Rich System exists to help the host achieve wealth. The system has a mall module, a task module, and an achievement value module.]

[During normal times, the host can get diligent points through labor. The diligent points can be used to exchange anything in the mall, including recipes, secret recipes and others. The host can even customize the goods needed from the system.]

[The system will periodically issue some daily tasks. These tasks are not compulsory, the host can choose not to do them. However, if completed, task rewards can be obtained, the content of the reward will depend on the task.]

[When the host achieves a certain wealth value or diligent value, an achievement reward can be obtained for talent points. Talent points can enhance the host's personal attributes, such as agility, wisdom, beauty, etc.]