When Zhou Shanglang came to Weijiazhuang again, it was already a matter of more than 20 days, during this period the weather was fine, the water level of the Huai River gradually fell, and the hearts of the people on both sides of the river gradually fell back to their original places. After Wei Yunhai stayed at home for a few days, he went up to the embankment again.

The water level of Huaishui receded, and the movement of ten miles and eight towns began, and many families who went to other places to avoid disasters began to return home one after another. Zhou Shanglang came to Weijiazhuang with the burden of goods, and shouted several times at the door of Aunt He, and finally saw the door open.

Zhou Shanglang saw that he was a regular customer, and he was about to ask with a smile on his face. Aunt He raised the iron pot in her hand, splashed a pot of washing pot water at Zhou Shanglang's feet, and without saying a word, she entered the house and closed the door. Zhou Lang looked at the water under his feet and was stunned for a long time, and Wei Yun'er pulled Zhang Xing in the room and laughed crookedly.

Aunt He was indignant and said, "We really think we're stupid, hum." ”

"Mother, I really thought you were going to scold him when you opened the door, but fortunately I only rewarded him with a pot of washing pot water. Wei Yun'er said with a smile.

Aunt He glared at her daughter, "Your mother is not a mallet, can she do such a stupid thing that offends everyone and doesn't get any benefits for herself?"

Zhang Xing and Wei Yun'er couldn't stop laughing. Zhou Lang stood stunned for a while, and finally left with the burden of the merchant.

When the water situation of the Huai River was completely lifted, the people guarding the embankment returned. Zhang Xing followed Aunt He to the town, sold a few patterns she painted for some money, and also learned that several embroidery shops in the town have special embroidery girls, and most of them took jobs in the shop to embroider, and the embroidered shop received the finished product. Pay according to the embroiderer, and most of the patterns are drawn by hand.

Like Aunt He, she took the embroidery to the shop to sell by herself. Generally, it is not accepted, but because Wei Yun'er's sister Wei Xiang'er happens to be the embroidery girl of the Splendid Pavilion. And Aunt He's several embroideries are good, and the shopkeeper of the Splendid Pavilion has taken a fancy to the patterns of Zhang Xing's paintings, so he accepted them.

Zhang Xing felt that the process of the embroidery shop was similar to that of Zhou Shanglang who went from house to house to sell clean handkerchiefs and receive finished products. It's just that the things in the embroidery shop are fine, and the work is varied, what screens, embroidered clothes, embroidered words. The whole nine yards. And Zhou Shanglang only had some simple jobs such as handkerchiefs and sachets.

Zhang Xing secretly rejoiced in her heart, fortunately, Aunt He only splashed a pot of washing water, otherwise her small wealth road would be blocked, she knew that she had neither the convenience of Aunt He, nor the excellent embroidery, so she could sell her work to the embroidery shop in the town. So Zhou Shanglang's small fortune road, she still has to go on.

As the day entered June, it became hot day by day, and the seedlings in the field grew just right. The vegetables in the vegetable garden are also eaten Wei Yunhai in his spare time, he still often goes to the wharf in Zhanghe Town to work part-time, so there is no shortage of food at home.

Wei Minwen Wei Minwu continued to listen to the private school, and Zhang Jinbao was already able to memorize the entire three-character scripture. Zhang Xing was idle. began to teach him to practice calligraphy, but these things such as pen, ink, paper, and inkstone are really not something that can be consumed by poor families, Wei Minwen and Wei Minwu have a good uncle who supports him free of charge. Zhang Jinbao had to be shaken by his sister and took the branch. Draw on the ground.

Zhang Jinbao felt that following his sister was both delicious and fun. can also listen to countless interesting stories, he is now no longer sticky to Ye Hexiang, and has become Zhang Xing's little tail. Zhang Xing washed clothes, he drew circles on the side, Zhang Xing lit the fire to cook, he stayed in front of the stove and waited for food, Zhang Xing went to the vegetable garden, he played in the mud.

Ye Hexiang was disappointed in her heart, and coaxing was to no avail, so she had to use the strong, only this strong, Zhang Jinbao is from today, forget tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow will still follow Zhang Xing around. Ye Hexiang was disheartened and had to give up.

After Zhang Xingzhi heard in the oil shed that day that many places in Yu'antang Town had also been flooded, she thought about going to Lizhuang Village to have a look, but there was always something wrong, and she delayed it again and again, but she didn't succeed, but dragged Li Dahe from Lizhuang Village.

On the day Li Dahe came, it was July, she took Zhang Jinbao to make an umbrella with lotus leaves, caught a few fish in a small ditch, and when she came back, she saw a ragged man in the prime of life standing under the big tree at the door of her house, and when she approached, she saw that it was Li Dahe.

Zhang Xing hurriedly invited Li Dahe into the house, poured water and served it to him, and said: "Uncle Li, you sit down first, I will kill these fish, make a fried fish, you can stay at my house for a meal, and it will be fine in a while." ”

Li Dahe was very restrained when he entered the door, and when he heard Zhang Xing say this, he swallowed his saliva, and hurriedly said: "Xing'er, don't be busy, I have something to do, I told you, and I will leave." ”

Zhang Xing looked back at him, and saw that he had lost a lot of weight compared to the last time they met, only a dry skeleton was left, and he couldn't stop swallowing saliva when he saw the cucumbers in the basket in the corner of the house, obviously hungry for a long time, and his clothes were ragged, his face was full of vicissitudes, and he definitely didn't look like a person who went to relatives. Her heart moved, and she asked, "Uncle Li, my sister-in-law and sister Jin Lian?"

Li Dahe hesitated for a while and whispered, "They, they are at the head of your village......"

Zhang Xing's heart was sour, and at this time she had already guessed that the three members of the Li family had come all the way to beg for food, so she quickly wiped her hands and said, "Let's go, Uncle Li, let's pick them up, since you came to me, where are you not going to get in?"

Li Dahe stood still, "Xing'er, your aunt won't come over......"

Zhang Xing had already led Zhang Jinbao out of the door, turned around and said: "Uncle Li, you are polite to me, you are not a golden lotus?" She is so young, you can bear it, I can't bear it, let's go, after bringing people back, let's talk about things." ”

Li Dahe nodded silently, took Zhang Xing to the head of Weijiazhuang Village, and sure enough, he saw a thin woman holding a three or four-year-old girl by the small river at the head of the village. Zhang Xing let go of Zhang Jinbao's hand and asked him to call Li Jinlian. Zhang Jinbao listened to his sister's words very much, and immediately threw himself on his calf, shouting loudly: "Sister Jinlian, I'm here to pick you up." ”

Children's childlike words are the most touching to people's hearts. Zhang Jinbao took Li Jinlian's little hand and said, "Jinlian, go, you come with me to my house." Li Jinlian gnawed her fingers and looked up at Li Youshi. Li Youshi hurriedly said, "Oh, we're not going, we're not going." ”

Li Jinlian burst into tears, startling Zhang Jinbao, and hurriedly coaxed: "Sister Jinlian, don't cry, my family caught a fish today, let's go and see the fish." Why don't I give you the fish and you won't cry?"

Li Jinlian cried more and more sadly, Li Youshi couldn't coax it, and scolded her daughter in front of Zhang Jinbao and Zhang Xing, so she had to coax her with a good voice.

Zhang Xing smiled and grabbed Li You's arm and said, "Auntie, let's go, my house is only a few steps away from here." ”

Li Dahe also looked at Li You's with a blank eye. Li Youshi had to say: "Xing'er, it's really rude, the first time I came to your house, I ...... empty-handed."

Zhang Xing dragged Li Youshi to the house, "What kind of politeness did my aunt tell me? As long as you can go, I will be very happy." ”

She dragged Li Youshi to Wei's house and hurriedly lit a fire to cook. Li Youshi couldn't sit still, so he came over to the stove to help add firewood, and asked, "Xing'er, why didn't you see your mother here?"

Zhang Xing washed rice and put it in the pot, and said: "My mother went back to Buhe Village and won't come back today." ”

Li Youshi breathed a sigh of relief, she had been neighbors with Ye Hexiang for many years, and she knew that she was an intolerable person, if Ye Hexiang saw them enter the door like this, she would definitely not have a good face.

"Then, you, what about your stepfather?" Li Youshi asked again.

Zhang Xing smiled and said, "My uncle went to the town, and he won't come back until dark." ”

Li Youshi sighed, and the restraint on his face was even less.

Zhang Xing fried the fish, and burned a plate of cucumber shredded meat and a plate of egg and vegetable soup. The rice in the other pot was also cooked. Zhang Jinbao had already smelled the aroma and smelled it in front of the stove and looked at it. Li Jinlian didn't blink her eyes and looked at the stove serving.

After the meal was cooked, Zhang Xing invited Li Dahe and his wife to the table. The two of them were still a little restrained at first, but after being persuaded by Zhang Xing for a few words, they let go. Ate and drank hot soup. Li Dahe said the matter.

It turned out that in the peach blossom flood in May this year, although the river dam did not burst, the flood overflowed the river embankment and flooded many places, half of the villages in Quantang Town, Yu'an County, were soaked in water, and their Lizhuang Village was not spared, and more than half of the fields and houses were flooded. The old village chief of Lizhuang Village did not survive and left in May.

As soon as the new village chief came, he gave the villagers a dismissal, urging them to start paying taxes, and said that if they could not pay within the time limit, the fields would be confiscated as ownerless land. The flood has only receded, and almost every household in Lizhuang Village has suffered more or less from seedlings, and they have only barely eaten and drunk, so where can they have the money left over to pay taxes? However, if there is no land, what will they eat and drink this year? Some families will scrape together and ask relatives and friends to borrow money, and they can finally keep their land. But there are also some who really can't borrow money, so they have to go the old way and beg for food everywhere.

Li Dahe's family is the latter, but he remembered Zhang Xing's entrustment, so he took his family and asked for it while begging.

When Li Dahe said this, he sighed and said: "Xing'er, this is the situation in our village right now, if you still want Jinbao to return to the village, you have to think of paying your family's three acres of tax, otherwise you won't be able to keep your family's land." Li Yougui's bastard is not easy to talk to, there are old people in our village who knelt down for him and begged him to give him a way to live, but he drove him out. ”

Zhang Xing listened quietly and asked, "Uncle Li, do you know how much tax my family's three acres of land need to be taught?"

Li Dahe thought about it in his heart and said, "Your family's three acres of land are all inferior, and each mu needs three liters of chestnuts. Jinbao is less than ten years old, and this poll tax should not be paid, but you ...... poll tax."

Zhang Xing said: "My household registration has been transferred to Weijiazhuang, and the head over there is not counted on my head." ”

Li Dahe nodded and said, "Then your family's land tax is about nine liters of chestnut, plus conscription and other unserved miscellaneous labor, it will cost almost twenty or thirty yuan." ”

Zhang Xing secretly calculated in her heart, nine liters of chestnut plus other miscellaneous taxes, at most, it would be a hundred dollars, and she could still get this now. (To be continued......)