Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 344: The Little Landlady

Upon entering Scholar Ding’s house, Qin Yao realized that Scholar Ding was not at home at all.

He was in the Prefecture City and hadn’t returned. The land sale was being handled by his wife, who had asked clan members for help.

Once the land was sold and the money in hand, she would take her elderly mother-in-law and two sons to the city to join him.

Even when a major incident like a murder case occurred, he did not show up.

As a Scholar, he enjoyed certain privileges. The government collected the body, sent someone to inform them, asked a few questions, and then left.

Of course, it couldn’t be the Ding mother-in-law duo who were the murderers, so investigating them was pointless.

However, the land sale was delayed because of this incident, dragging on until now.

The land, which should have been easy to sell, was now stuck in their hands with no one daring to buy it.

A few found it inauspicious, but the bigger reason was that someone was dominating the market, preventing others from buying.

Scholar Ding’s elderly mother said that whenever someone came to inquire, they were blocked at the door, scaring off potential buyers.

"Didn’t you go to the Ding clan elders for help?" Qin Yao probed.

The mother-in-law duo exchanged a glance, only to show a bitter smile and suppressed anger.

Even blood brothers have conflicts, let alone clan members separated by several generations.

Scholar Ding was not well-liked, and there were always a few schemers in the village. With people offering benefits, the clan elders accepted them superficially but did nothing in private.

The clan members who were initially tasked with the sale were now too scared to step forward. Only the mother-in-law duo bravely held on, ready to not sell at all if necessary!

But Scholar Ding’s career couldn’t be ignored, and not selling was the worst option.

In fact, as long as someone dared to buy now, they would sell at a lower price.

Qin Yao was intrigued and asked for the bottom line price.

Mrs. Ding sighed, "600 taels."

After speaking, she fixed her gaze on Qin Yao, afraid she would haggle, her hands twisting a handkerchief, cheek muscles taut.

Qin Yao: "Deal!"

The mother-in-law duo exchanged a look filled with excitement. Mrs. Ding eagerly asked, "Miss Qin, when will you bring the money over?"

"No need to fetch it." Qin Yao called out to the courtyard, "Ah Wang!"

The money box was soon delivered into her hands.

The mother-in-law duo was overjoyed, relieved by Qin Yao’s preparedness.

"Wait, I’ll go get the land deeds." Mrs. Ding quickly stood up and instructed the maid cleaning the courtyard to fetch paper and brush.

Delays could cause complications, and the mother-in-law duo was eager to secure the 600 taels.

Watching the duo haste in fear of unforeseen issues, Qin Yao silently cursed Wang Mawu and his ilk.

She now even suspected that the so-called murder case might have been orchestrated by Wang Mawu or another of Kaiyang County’s notorious bullies.

Mrs. Ding took out a box with the land deeds, and the maid spread paper on the Eight Immortals Table while Mrs. Ding prepared to write the sales contract.

Suddenly, several angry shouts came from outside the main gate.

"What are you sneaking around at the door of a widow and orphans?"

"Who do you think you are, get lost!"

Upon hearing the voices, the Ding mother-in-law duo’s faces changed dramatically. Mrs. Ding’s pen trembled violently, spilling a large blot of black ink on the yellow paper, casting a shadow as if the room dimmed.

"Thud, thud!" Two heavy crashes sounded, and two strangers landed with a groan beneath the Eight Immortals Table.

The Ding family’s maid screamed, and the mother-in-law went pale.

Yet, Mrs. Ding remained relatively composed, quickly scooping the box of land deeds to her chest and pulling her mother-in-law aside.

Qin Yao coughed uncomfortably, watching Ah Wang enter expressionlessly, and reassured the duo:

"It’s okay. Look at these two men, if you don’t know them, I’ll have my driver throw them out."

The duo finally grasped that the people on the ground were the ones who had shouted at the door.

Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Ding reluctantly suppressed her shock, glanced at the two men curling in pain on the floor with a serious expression, "They are clerks from the city pawnshop."

"These days, they’ve been driving away anyone wanting to buy our land."

Mrs. Ding gave Qin Yao a look of admiration but still felt the need to caution her.

"Miss Qin, it’s not easy for a woman like you. Consider this our misfortune; you should leave. Let’s not sign the contract."

"Don’t know them? Then toss them out." Qin Yao said casually and glanced at Ah Wang.

Ah Wang understood, picked up the two incapacitated clerks, dragged them outside, dislocated their jaws to silence them, and tossed them at the edge of a field!

Dusting off his hands, he climbed back onto the ox-cart’s shaft, staring absentmindedly at the clouds, as if nothing happened.

"No issue, let’s continue with the signing."

Qin Yao smiled, picked up the brush, set aside the ink-stained yellow paper, laid out new paper, and prepared ink for Mrs. Ding.

Her own hasty brushwork wouldn’t do justice, so she chose not to embarrass herself.

Mrs. Ding hesitated, but Qin Yao spoke gently again, "Don’t worry, my driver is guarding outside; no unfamiliar man will disturb us."

Seeing Qin Yao composed, the duo exchanged a glance. The mother-in-law nodded, and Mrs. Ding finally sat down to draft the sales contract anew.

Her handwriting was beautiful, delicate and elegant, yet resilient, a sight Qin Yao admired.

But if it came to practicing calligraphy herself, she’d rather continue to admire others.

The contract was quickly written, and the recovered maid handed over the ink pad. Qin Yao scanned the content, found no issues, and swiftly signed and stamped it.

Qin Yao took out the money, a 500 tael silver note, plus a hundred taels of loose silver, totalling 600 taels, not a cent short.

Mrs. Ding handed over the box with the land deeds, containing contracts for thirty acres of land and seventy acres of fields.

After a careful inspection and confirming everything was in order, Qin Yao closed the box and suggested:

"To avoid any unforeseen complications, I see that the hour is still early. Why don’t we now head to the county government to process the transaction?"

The duo was eager to comply, and Mrs. Ding fetched the pre-approval documents from her husband, then promptly joined Qin Yao in heading to the county town by carriage.

For women handling matters alone, many inconveniences arise. If not for the documents sent by Scholar Ding, she would have no right to manage the family land and property and would need a clan head or relative to guarantee her.

For Qin Yao, things were much simpler, with acquaintances in the county government facilitating the process with just a nod and a smile.

At this point, Mrs. Ding was finally relieved, knowing that Qin Yao had ways to deal with the pawnshop, comforting her.

However, even though everything was settled on Ding’s side, Qin Yao still needed to call Liu Ji, the head of the household, the next day to register new residency information with the county government for future tax verification.

This step would only allow Qin Yao herself to process if she became a widow, establishing her own household.

Even then, she would need a village chief or clan relative to stand in for her, as a female alone could not even enter the government office.

After finally completing the procedures and leaving the government office, the two also needed to buy some gifts in Jinshi Town to inform the village chief, ensuring information consistency up and down.

Normally, the process should start with notifying the village chief, who would then submit the documents, sales agreement, and other proofs to the county government, waiting at least two to three months for results.

Afraid of unforeseen complications, Qin Yao opted for directly handling it at the county government, which was faster but risked offending the village chief.

Fortunately, the village chief, respecting the Liu Family Village chief and Scholar Ding, did not make things difficult.

Finally, after handling all the necessary connections, Qin Yao breathed a long sigh of relief with the box of land deeds in her arms.

From now on, she too was a small landowner.