"If you don't say a word, you'll die!" The eldest sister of the Xu family poked Xu Yuanzuo's forehead with her finger hatefully.

Xu Yuanzuo didn't want to worry about girls in general, not to mention that the eldest sister was much stronger than him.

"I just don't feel well." Xu Yuanzuo twisted his head to avoid the fishy fingers: "If the family has something to say, can't it?" And make fake accounts! Last year's fake accounts were thoughtful, but this year's fake accounts are even perfunctory! ”

Sister Xu pulled her younger brother to retreat to the back, and there was already a stormy scolding in the front hall.

Xu Yuanzuo's parents had never quarreled in his previous life, and the first time he heard this movement, he was really shocked.

"Daddy won't fight, right?" Xu Yuanzuo shrank his head.

"Isn't it what you want!" Sister Xu hated and gave her younger brother a roll of the eyes.

Xu Yuanzuo backhanded, sat on the stove, and was about to speak, when he saw his sister raise her hand and hurriedly ran away.

"Why are you so angry?" Xu Yuanzuo said aggrievedly.

The eldest sister of the Xu family ignored him, put her hands together and prayed to the stove, and could vaguely hear prayers such as "Grandpa Stove King forgives sins".

Xu Yuanzuo pursed his lips and disagreed.

After communicating with the Lord of the Stove, the eldest sister of the Xu family continued to fiddle with the crucian carp to be served for dinner, and asked, "How much silver did Dad hide?" ”

"I don't know, but fifty taels is less." Xu Yuanzuo didn't know much about the market price, but he only extrapolated it from the income of the previous year.

Speaking of which, an annual income of fifty taels is not a small amount for a businessman, especially if there is no cheap and reliable purchase channel, and all he earns is hard-earned money with blood and sweat.

This income is already higher than the salary of the county's parents - of course, the county lord has many other colorful benefits such as white, gray, black, blood, etc.

However, for ordinary people, they definitely belong to high-income families.

At least you can add one more meat dish every day, and maybe you can add some glutinous rice to the rice - the japonica rice you eat now is a bit strong in terms of Xu Yuanzuo's taste.

And what is the concept of eight taels of silver?

Today, the price of rice is eight cents per stone. Eight taels of silver can buy ten stones, eight buckets, seven liters, and five hes of rice -- not counting the rise and fall of rice prices.

If you eat ten stones, eight buckets, seven liters of five-way rice for a year, the average is two liters of nine-in-one, seven spoons and nine pinched per day. Xu Yuanzuo lacked a concept of this volume unit, and he had already calculated the weight in his mind, which was about five and a half catties of rice per day.

Usually, there are four people in the family, which is equivalent to more than one pound of daily rations per capita.

If you count the days when my father was at home, the per capita ration fell below the one pound mark.

This is all based on the fact that the father will not withdraw more money from the family rations for social exchanges.

Considering the scarcity of non-staple foods in this era, the three developing children will definitely not be able to eat enough just the staple food, green vegetables and fish.

And you can't have headaches and brain fever, extra clothes, personal contacts and many other miscellaneous expenses, let alone support the readers!

Thanks to my mother and sister, I did needlework and supplemented the family.

Xu Yuanzuo finished the account between breaths, and then saw his sister working neatly with her hands and feet, and a trace of heat rose in her heart.

"Fifty taels?" The eldest sister of the Xu family was obviously frightened, and hurriedly lowered her voice: "Why does my father save so much private money?" Isn't the family's money all his? ”

Xu He is not a strict wife, and he can't hide private money. And the Ming is not so much a patriarchal society as a patriarchal society. The father is in charge of the family, even if the money earned by his wife and children belongs to him, why hide the private money? If you want to hide it, it's your mother and sister who want to hide it!

Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if you hide private money, you can't let the whole family not even guarantee food and clothing.

"Are you gambling again! You must be gambling again! Xu Mu's voice was sharp and harsh, and she thought that the whole Zhu Li could hear it.

Xu Yuanzuo and his sister seemed to have been hit by the acupoint, and they didn't move.

I didn't hear my father justify anything, but after a short silence, Xu's mother's cry exploded throughout Zhuli: "You have no conscience!" Why don't you ask God to take you in! You're trying to kill our family! Originally, the three-in-five mansion made you gamble out, and now it's gambling again, this is not a little way to live for our mother and son! ”

"Our family used to have a big house with three into five rooms, right?" Xu Yuanzuo obviously has a different focus of attention than his sister.

The eldest sister of the Xu family was immersed in the same grief as her mother, tears were rolling, and when she heard her younger brother ask this heartlessly, she just nodded perfunctorily: "You let your father go out not long after you were born." ”

Xu Yuanzuo shook his head helplessly, and took a few steps to the front hall, wanting to hear more clearly.

"I really didn't bet anymore." Xu He said weakly: "I raised an outer room in Suzhou. ”

"Don't bluff me with such words! You must be out there gambling with someone! Why didn't you sell me and my eldest sister! Mother Xu just didn't believe it, and insisted that her husband's gambling addiction had relapsed.

Xu Yuanzuo believed it.

"Sister, if my father raised an outer room in Suzhou...... Xu Yuanzuo turned his head and asked.

The eldest sister of the Xu family looked incredulous, waved her hand, and said, "That's a lie made up by my father." Dad has two sons, why do you still have an outer room? Besides, what kind of outer room is so expensive? ”

Well, the sixteen-year-old girl still lacks the knowledge to know the natural desire of men to reproduce.

Regarding this point, Xu Yuanzuo did not intend to educate his sister, and showed his usual smile: "That's what I said." ”

Having said that, the Suzhou Outer Room has become a hideous beast that has taken root in Xu Yuanzuo's brain. He does not think that his father's assets should be inherited and enjoyed by his son, but it has to be said that in the current family environment, it is extremely irresponsible to invest a large amount of money in unproductive luxury pleasures.

But what if you know?

Not to mention the outer room, even if the mother firmly believes that the father gambles, so what?

The husband and wife did not have an overnight feud, they quarreled all day, and finally had to sit down as a family to eat.

When the head of the family returns, the mother can still serve the table to eat, but the sister always waits for the family to finish eating before eating in the kitchen. Xu Yuanzuo was very curious, I don't know if this is the custom of the Ming Dynasty or the habit of the Xu family, because he has seen many people who do not have this habit, and they all sit and eat together regardless of men, women, and children.

Xu He looked at his son and was angry and helpless, no matter how his son caused trouble, after all, it was his own flesh and blood, could it be because he would read the accounts and beat him?

However, the falsification of the account books was exposed, and the days to come were even more difficult. Don't look at the calm now, as long as the sky changes, the tigress will still pull this thing out with her teeth and claws.

"I haven't been out for the past few months, so I'll stay at home and teach you your lessons." Xu He finished eating and announced at the dinner table.

Xu Yuanzuo couldn't look down on Xu He's words, and he didn't believe how much culture he could have. Xu Liangzuo didn't know what was happening at home, but he was still immersed in the joy of his father's return, and hurriedly agreed.

Mother Xu picked up the meal heavily, beckoned her daughter to eat quickly, and went to someone's house to make needles in the evening.

"The money you lose is enough to buy oil and flood the house!" Mother Xu said hatefully.

Xu He just sullenly didn't speak.

Xu Yuanzuo was on his mother's side in his heart. Not to mention lighting the lamp, I have to rely on eight taels and seven dollars for a year, I'm afraid the pressure to survive will be extremely great! But Master Lu can't urge it, otherwise people will be bored and perfunctory errands, and it will be themselves who will suffer.

Wrong!

The winter solstice will be in another month and a half.

In Jiangnan, the Winter Solstice Festival is more important than New Year's Day, let alone the Halloween Festival. It can be said that the current winter solstice is the Spring Festival of the future generations, and every household must prepare sacrifices to worship their ancestors - this is not only a traditional folk custom, but also a clear provision in the Ming Law. No matter how poor a family is, they will not be thrifty in this, otherwise they will not even have the face to go out to see people.

In this way, a large part of the eight taels and seven dollars will soon be used!

Xu Yuanzuo ate the rice in the bowl cleanly, and began to think about what else he could do to help the family solve some practical problems.