Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Liu Siyue also planned to go to Huichuntang, but seeing that it was getting late, she gave up and could only go home first. If she were alone, she could stay in the county town for one night.

Only after leaving the city gate did Liu Siyue ask the village chief, "Uncle Village Chief, is this the attitude of all government officials when we go to get things done? Do they refuse to do anything unless we pay them?"

"Actually, it's not usually like this. We should be given some money, but not as much as today. In the past, when I helped the village with land deeds or house deeds, the gatekeepers would be happy with 5 coins. For these kinds of documents, 200 coins for the clerk would be enough. Today we've processed two kinds of documents, so we'll only get 500 coins at most."

But you see, today's situation is clearly unusual. In order to get the paperwork done as soon as possible, I gave him a little more so that he wouldn't make things difficult for us.

If he were to casually say he can't do it today and we have to come back another day, not only would we have made a wasted trip, but it would also cause a lot of trouble!

Liu Siyue strongly agreed with the village chief's approach. She had never dealt with government officials before and was unaware of their style of doing things.

"Uncle Village Chief, what is this Registrar's name? Is our County Magistrate a young man or an old man? I've heard the people in town say that our County Magistrate has a good reputation, so why are his subordinates like this?"

"The registrar's surname is Yang, and his given name is Tiancheng."

The magistrate was a young man around 30 years old. His surname was Su, but I don't know his given name.

The county magistrate's surname is Guo, given name Changfeng. He is a little older than the county magistrate and is a local.

The magistrate has been in office in Lingshui County for a year and has indeed handled several major cases, which has improved the atmosphere of the entire county considerably. However, Lingshui County has always been controlled by the county clerk, and the registrar listens to the county clerk. It is not an easy job for the magistrate in Lingshui County.

I heard that the county magistrate has always wanted to become the magistrate of Lingshui County. Every magistrate who comes in gets squeezed out by him and eventually leaves after three years of being manipulated by the county magistrate. I heard that the county magistrate has connections in the government office.

I only heard these things from others; you can just listen and keep it to yourself, but please don't tell anyone else.

"I know, Uncle Village Chief, don't worry."

"Uncle Village Chief, thank you so much. We owe you a lot today. If you hadn't known the intricacies of the government office, the household registration process wouldn't have gone so smoothly."

"No need to thank me. As the village chief, it's my duty to serve the villagers. Besides, I've also received benefits from you."

At this moment, Magistrate Su was filled with worry, constantly monitoring the damage caused by the autumn rain. He was currently listening to reports from his yamen runners about the disaster situation in various places.

It was getting dark, and there was still water on the road, making it even more difficult to travel. Fortunately, it was a clear day, and the moon was slowly rising.

"Girl, hold on tight. We need to hurry. We must get to town before dark."

The village chief lashed the ox's rump with his whip, and the ox, in pain, immediately sped up. On the way back to the village, the shadows of the trees swayed and the leaves rustled. Liu Siyue looked around. If a group of people came to rob her on the road, there would be no one to help her. She would be helpless and unable to call for help. Her martial arts skills were simply not enough in this era of cold weapons.

In martial arts, speed is the ultimate weapon. She has studied Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) and women's self-defense techniques, but she doesn't have the means to hire a master to teach her martial arts. Even if she did, she wouldn't know where to find a good martial arts master.

This era is very harsh on women. A woman who practices martial arts would probably be condemned to death. As it stands, it should be enough for me to practice what I know to perfection in my spare time. If I have the chance, I must learn the kind of light-footed skill that allows me to fly over rooftops and walk on walls. I really admire those female knights-errant in ancient times who roamed the world with swords. Wearing a bamboo hat and a veil, with a deer tendon whip wrapped around their waist and a sword on their back, they were just too cool.

A sword is hard to come by, but a whip shouldn't be too difficult, right? Having a handy weapon will instantly boost my combat power several levels. I'm so clever! Hahaha~

The oxcart suddenly jolted, snapping Liu Si out of her reverie. She glanced at the village chief, who was diligently driving the cart, and knew she had to find something to talk about, otherwise the journey would be too long.

"Uncle Village Chief, most of the houses in this village have collapsed. How are they planning to rebuild them?"

"People who don't care about appearances build mud walls, but mud walls are not easy to dry and are not very attractive. However, they are quick to build. You just need to put rafters on the wall and thatch it to live in. Mud bricks are more troublesome. You have to make mud bricks and wait for them to dry, which takes a long time. People with money build with tiles, while those without money still lay thatch."

"Oh! How much does it cost to build a brick house? It depends on the size of the house and the materials used. Generally, it costs about 5 taels per room. If you use better materials, it costs 7 to 10 taels or even more. This does not include labor costs."

The two talked and time seemed to fly by. Before they knew it, they had entered the village. By the time they got home, it was already late in the evening, and the moonlight was cold and clear.

The village chief drove the oxcart directly to Liu Dawang's house. As soon as the oxcart came to a stop, a group of people rushed out of the yard. The village chief and his family were also there. The village chief's wife, Wang, sounded worried, "You've finally returned safely. The journey must have been difficult?"

"Auntie, I'm sorry to have worried you. The road was a bit muddy, but thankfully there was moonlight tonight. Uncle Village Chief is a good driver of the oxcart, so our journey back was relatively smooth."

Upon hearing this, the village chief beamed with pride, straightening his back.

"Second Uncle, quickly help us move everything from the car home." Many hands make light work, and the car was emptied in no time.

Liu Dawang was about to invite the village chief inside when Liu Siyue said, "Uncle Village Chief, we're short on space, so I won't invite you in. You must be tired today, so go home and rest. The ox must be exhausted too. We can talk about it tomorrow."

"Okay, we're going back now. Uncle will come to see you again tomorrow." The village chief led his family back home. On the way, Wang asked the village chief about her trip to the county town that day, but the village chief told her not to ask yet and to talk about it when they got home.

When Liu Siyue returned to the house, Liu Ruyun immediately went to bring out the food. "Siyue must be starving. The food has been kept warm in the pot for you. Eat it while it's hot. We can talk after you finish eating."

"Thanks, cousin! I'm actually hungry, hehe!"

Liu Siyue quickly finished her bowl of rice, wiped her mouth, and said, "The household registration and land deed are all done. I also bought a lot of coarse grains today."

She put the land deed and household registration on the table, and everyone quickly picked them up to look at them. They had learned quite a few characters during this time, although there were a few they didn't recognize, but they could understand the meaning of most of them.

"It's so good to be literate! We recognize most of the characters on this household registration. If it were before, we would have been completely blind," the sisters said excitedly.

"Now you know the benefits of being literate, right? It will be even more useful if you want to do business in the future."

When we went to the city this time, we found that there were many people queuing to enter. The price of grain has gone up. Judging from the situation, the price of grain will probably continue to rise. The coarse grains and coarse flour I bought today have increased by 2 coins per pound.

Second Uncle, Second Aunt, now that the weather has cleared up, what are your plans regarding the house?

"Let's make do with this for now. I'll start making adobe bricks right away and build a house just like yours. It'll be finished in less than a month."

Once these mud-brick or tiled houses are built, they can easily last for twenty or thirty years.

"Second Uncle, a house is for a lifetime. Building a house is not easy. You have to buy materials and hire workers, which costs money. Why not build it once and for all? Just build a big brick and tile house. That way, several generations may not have to repair the house again."

"We have a large family, and all the sisters have grown up. They need their own space, and each of them should have their own room." Her words resonated deeply with the sisters.