It was Lai Pingdong who opened the door, and he also looked at Chen Ping with a strange face.

"This is your home?" Chen Ping was stunned for a few breaths, and soon understood.

Lai Pingdong nodded and said, "What's the matter?" ”

"That old blind ......" halfway through his words, Chen Ping felt that it was a bit impolite to call him like this, so he changed his words, "The chief said that there are people in Xia Tu Village who can make leather, so I will bring this hare." After asking all the way, an aunt pointed here. ”

Chen Ping was afraid that he would peel off the hares by himself, so he simply brought them directly with the rabbits, thinking that he would be able to make leather, and this kung fu of peeling rabbit skin was also possible.

"That's my grandfather, you two come in." Lai Pingdong let go of the door and glanced at the hare brought by Chen Ping and Chen Erniu, "Let's talk about it first, there is a fee for inviting my grandfather to make tanning." ”

"This lieutenant told me, twenty wen, right? It's been prepared for a long time. Chen Ping took out sixty wen and gave it directly to Pingdong, "This is twenty wen, put it away." ”

"You have three hares." Coming to Pingdong means something.

Chen Ping looked at it again and nodded: "Yes, it's three, and Chen Erniu also took it." ”

"One twenty wen." Come to Pingdong and say seriously.

One is twenty wen, and three are sixty wen.

"Damn, the chief can't speak clearly." Chen Ping complained in his heart, and took out another forty yuan, "Take it, my brother is not bad for money." ”

This is the only money left on Chen Ping's body.

Entering the house, Chen Ping also saw the furnishings of this single house, the green tiles of the house are right, but there are only two, Chen Ping is now standing in the outer room, and there are still green bricks on the ground, and the green bricks should be some years old, and there are traces of moss in a few places next to the corner.

"It seems that Pingdong's family was also a small landlord before." Chen Ping thought about it, he could afford to pave the green bricks, and he had seen a little in the chief's house, "It's a pity that it's broken, it should be related to his third uncle." ”

In later generations, an illness can lead to poverty, at this time, not only is it a disease, a county magistrate, or even a foreign official like Xue Xiong, does not need to have a deep background, if you want to make a family become a lower household, it is absolutely appropriate.

Take the annual conscription, for example, if the county official uses his hands and feet in it, you can lose a layer of skin, or even die in a foreign country.

Such as the errand of the tax escort.

From the village to the county? Think beautifully! This kind of conscription will only be reserved for related households with a doorway, just like Chen Ping's father repaired the Tianqu, relying on Yuanliang's grandfather. In the third year of the emperor's reign, Emperor Wen Yang Jian set up Liyang warehouse in Weizhou, Heyang warehouse in Luozhou, Changping warehouse in Shaanzhou, and Guangtong warehouse in Huazhou to irrigate and store and transport each other.

What to use for storage? The tax, of course. So who will transport it? There is no doubt that it is Ding Zhuang who is serving in forced labor. This is all free work for the imperial court, and the accommodation and living expenses are not reimbursed, and they are all self-sufficient.

Sleeping in the open, getting sick on the road, delaying the deadline, or having an accident can all kill people.

As for the third uncle who came to Pingdong, he was involved in the murder case, and he was framed, and he wanted to bankrupt him, which was easier than sending grain and digging a canal.

"It's ten cents, for you." Chen Pingzheng was looking at the house in a circle, and came to Pingdong to help an old man out of the back room, holding ten cents in his hand, "There is a young rabbit, only half of the money is charged." ”

The old man was wearing a robe, and he was wearing a fur coat on the outside of the robe, and the leather shoes he was wearing under his feet should be made by himself, which was a little old, but it was warmer than the grass shoes under Chen Ping's feet. The left eye is gray and half-squinted, with heavy bags under the eyes, wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, thinning hair, and uncombed buns.

"Grandfather, it's the two of them. There were three hares, and they were charged fifty cents. Lai Pingdong pulled a chair and helped the old man to sit down, "They also gave me that hare." ”

"You two boys are from Baitu Village? The elder is quiet and strong, and my grandson is still in your care. "People are old and cold, and the grandfather who came to Pingdong thought about it, and he seemed to shrink into a ball when he sat on the chair, "Since you gave it to the hare, then you won't accept the money for making leather, grandson, return the money to others." ”

Chen Erniu took a few steps in front of the old man, stretched out his hand and shook it in front of his face.

"What are you doing?" Lai Pingdong held the money and was about to return it to Chen Ping, but when he saw Chen Erniu like this, he immediately wanted to do it.

"Didn't you say that your grandfather was blind? How can you still see it? The old man's right eye followed, and Chen Erniu said strangely.

"Working for the imperial court, the debris hurt the left eye, but the right eye is good, otherwise how can I make leather for you?" The old man was not angry, sighed, and said, "If you are really blind, it is a good thing to say that you can't say it." ”

Chen Ping didn't take the money handed over by Pingdong, and this family seemed to come to Pingdong and his grandfather, the old one was disabled, and he couldn't get off the ground when he looked like this. The little one can hunt, but his ability is a bit unique, and it is estimated that it depends on luck to support his family.

"The hare was paid for leading the way, and it was agreed. These fifty wen is the cost of processing leather, if you don't charge it, I will shoot the prey next time, how can I still mean to come to you for help? Chen Ping also wanted a pair of leather shoes for the elderly's feet, and he had to come over in the future.

Lai Pingdong looked at his grandfather, the old man nodded, didn't say anything more, and ordered, "Go and bring my tools." Bring the rabbit to me. ”

I went to Pingdong to get a knife, a bit like scissors, only a blade, very thin, and gave it to my grandfather, and then went to bring a basin of water.

"This rabbit has to be skinned from its hind legs, one or two inches apart, and that's it, cut open." When the hare arrived in the old man's hand, he saw the old man holding the hare's neck with one hand, and with a gentle touch, the hare died, and it didn't even make a sound, and Chen Ping's eyes widened when he saw it.

The old man slashed down the hare from the opening to the inside of the hare's thigh, and the blade was so sharp that it did not lag at all.

"In this way, the rabbit skin becomes a tube, and one end is open." The two tangent lines intersected, and Lai Pingdong's grandfather skillfully began to carefully peel off the rabbit skin from the rabbit meat, occasionally cutting it with a blade to cut through the entangled flesh.

Peel it off to the front leg and continue like the back leg, turning around an inch from the front foot to cut the skin open and exit the front leg.

"Alright." The old man washed his hands, set the skin aside, and grabbed the neck of the other hare.

In the same way, the two hares in the back also withdrew from their skins, revealing the red and white flesh inside. No more than a pheasant, this whole skinned rabbit looks quite uncomfortable.

"Alright, the rest of the process is not for you to see, and it will take some time. When this leather is ready, I will ask Xiaodong to bring it to you. "The craftsmen's craftsmanship is autobiographical, and the old man is willing to let Chen Ping and the others look at the rabbit skin, which is already very good.

Chen Ping lifted the skinned hare, walked out with Chen Erniu, walked two steps, felt the coldness under his feet more and more, and turned back.

"Can you trouble you to make this rabbit skin into leather shoes?" Chen Ping asked.

The old man glanced at the grass shoes worn by Chen Ping and nodded: "How many pairs do you want?" ”

"Can five pairs work?" Chen Ping asked, "I have ten cents here, if it's not enough, I'll bring the money over in two days." ”

"No problem, but it's going to have to be postponed for a few days, just wait." The old man took the ten cents, "Just these ten cents, you don't need to take any more." ”