It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Chapter 237: Inquire about information

Wang Wanzhi was walking through the woods when she saw a peasant woman carrying water on a ridge in the field.

Soon he stopped at a field and began watering.

Wang Wanzhi walked forward and asked, "Auntie, are you a tenant farmer on this farm? I came here to ask..."

Before Wang Wanzhi finished speaking, the woman saw that Wang Wanzhi was dressed in gorgeous clothes and was followed by a tall man, so she ran away with the bucket.

The woman didn't want to come into contact with these nobles, but she was thin, so how could she run faster than the well-trained guards?

A dark shadow passed by and blocked the woman's way a moment later.

The head guard said with a dull face, "The young lady wants to ask you a question, why are you running away?"

The woman was already panicking, and now she was blocked by someone. She retreated in fear, muttering tremblingly, "I've handed over all the food in my family, I've handed it over. Don't arrest me, don't arrest me..."

When Wang Wanzhi heard this, she couldn't help but frown, but she knew that this was not the time to ask questions.

She stepped forward and said soothingly, "Auntie, I am the master of the farm. I happened to come here today to inspect the farm and happened to meet you, so I wanted to ask about your harvest this year."

"Also, my grandfather recently ordered that all farms collect 50% of rent. I came here to ask if the head of the farm has followed through. If your family still has any difficulties after the rent reduction, please tell me if you can."

When the woman heard that the person in front of her was actually the daughter of the host family, and heard about the subsequent rent reduction, her knees went weak and she immediately knelt down to Wang Wanzhi.

"I am from Tianjiagou. I rent the land from my landlord."

After that, she threw her head to the ground and said, "Miss, please help us poor tenants!"

"Rather than receiving any news of rent reduction, each household received two dan more of grain than in previous years."

"Originally, we paid 70% of the tax, and each household also had to pay grain to the county. The remaining amount mixed with wild vegetable paste could last until the autumn harvest, but now each family has to pay an additional two stone of grain."

"If you can't pay the grain, you'll have to use your family members to pay off the debt. My three daughters are all starving, and one of them was even taken away to pay for the grain a few days ago."

"Now more than ten people have been taken away from the entire village. Miss, please help us!" After saying that, there was another round of kowtow and begging sounds.

When Wang Wanzhi heard this, her heart was shocked and her ears were buzzing. She could not believe what she heard.

She tried hard to suppress her anger and hurried forward to stop the woman from kowtowing. "Auntie, please stand up quickly. If you have any grievances or sufferings, just tell me."

The woman still knelt and refused to get up. She said with tears in her eyes, "Miss, please help me release my daughter."

It was difficult to talk in the open wilderness, so Wang Wanzhi said, "The sun is scorching here. Auntie, come with me to the woods ahead and tell me what's going on. I can help you make a decision, right?"

The dazed woman finally realized her own impoliteness and hurriedly stood up from the ground and walked with Wang Wanzhi to the edge of the woods not far away.

Wang Wanzhi stopped behind a large tree, looked at the woman, and asked, "Why did Village Chief Li ask you to pay two more dan of grain? Ningtong Town is not far from the county seat. Why don't you go to the master's house to file a complaint, or go to the county government?"

The woman wiped her tears with her sleeve and said in a muffled voice, "Village Master Li said that since we used the water from the village for irrigation, we have to pay more grain."

"We dare not go to the master to complain. Village head Li has someone in his power. If the rent increase was ordered by the master, we will definitely not end up well when we return."

"As for suing the authorities, we are thinking about it."

The woman looked up at Wang Wanzhi and saw that there was no anger on his face before she continued, "It's just that since ancient times, people have been afraid of officials. We thought about asking Li Zhuangtou for mercy and see if he can be released. If that doesn't work, we're going to go to the county government to ask for an explanation!"

Ivana Wong constantly prepared herself mentally, telling herself not to get angry, to stay calm, and to remain restrained!

She exhaled a breath of foul air and soothed him, "I already know about your situation! So you go back first and I will definitely give you an explanation later."

The woman received a positive answer and was so happy that she wanted to kneel down to Wang Wanzhi again, but she was held back by Wang Wanzhi. "Auntie, there is no need to do this. Go back first."

"Also, don't make a big deal about what you've seen me do, so you can catch the other party off guard."

The woman nodded repeatedly and walked back, looking back every few steps.

As if to prove that she was not dreaming in broad daylight, she pinched herself and saw a dignified woman standing quietly under the forest.

When she looked back, he even nodded at her.

The woman was now certain that everything that had just happened was not a dream, but real, and she had really seen the young lady of the host family.

Thinking of what the young lady had just said to her, the woman could no longer bear it and ran back to the field, picked up her tools, and ran home.

After the woman walked away, Wang Wanzhi returned along the same route.

On the other side, Mrs. Chen hurried back with water and was stopped by a security guard.

The guard took the water from Mrs. Chen's hand, then pointed to the two large baskets on the ground and said to Mrs. Chen, "Come with me to pick two baskets of fruit. The young ladies should take these back with them on their return journey."

"But Miss..."

Before the old woman could finish her words, the guard said with a sullen face, "How dare you interfere with the young lady's orders!"

Intimidated by the dark-faced guard's imposing manner, Mrs. Chen hurriedly said, "I was worried that the young lady was thirsty..."

"You don't need to worry about this, just follow my instructions!"

Mrs. Chen did not dare to disobey her master's wishes, so she had to take the basket and looked up the mountain. She seemed to be able to see the figures of several people vaguely, so she stopped worrying about it and followed the guard to the other side of the mountain with the basket in her hand.

Song Zhi looked down at the old woman walking away, and then said to the others, "Let's walk back and forth. Who knows, we might run into Sister Wang on her way back."

So, a few people walked slowly, and occasionally when they saw big yellow peaches, they would stop to pick some.

Just at this moment, Song Zhi, who was walking in front picking yellow peaches, suddenly heard a faint voice coming from the ravine not far ahead.

Her heart tightened and she immediately became alert. She quickly turned around and made a quick gesture of silence to the people behind her.

Seeing this, the others nodded in understanding and hid behind the trees while slowing down their movements.

Song Zhi leaned against the peach tree beside her, trying to hear the conversation between the group of people.