Chrysanthemum straightened her increasingly heavy body, sat in the shade of the tree to pick vegetables, listened to the low voice from the house, and sighed secretly in her heart, in the afternoon, the third uncle of Huaizi came, I don't know if he came to borrow money.

Since the county order of Qinghui County was changed, it has really changed a lot. How so? It must be a sharp divide between the rich and the poor.

In the past, even if there were corrupt officials, everyone was just as poor, and they were all so mixed anyway; Nowadays, Xiatangji is prosperous, there are more rich people, some local people have made a fortune, some have settled in foreigners, and there are squires like the Li family, those poor families first sell their fields, and then sell their children, or become tenants, or become slaves, or devote themselves to the workshop of the upper family, and the number of people who have lost their land has gradually increased.

The four uncles of the Huaizi family used to have a better life than the Huaizi family, but they just got by, where could they withstand such exploitation? In April and May, I couldn't support it anymore, so I came to borrow food.

In the house, Zhang Dazhuan and his son were sitting with the third uncle of Huaizi, and after a few words of greeting, they asked about the third uncle's intention.

The third uncle rubbed his rough palms and said to Zhang Dazhuan with some embarrassment: "Brother-in-law, look at this, I can't stand it anymore before I come to the door with a cheeky face, otherwise I won't be able to open my mouth." I know that it is difficult for you to study, Yang Zi can spend money to study, and now he has gone to Huzhou to take the exam, and they all say that the poor family is rich, but I am afraid that you will also empty your family for his money. But if I don't think about messing up these two months, I'll have to sell my land, wouldn't that be a loser? ”

Zhang Dazhuan waited for him to finish, then sighed and said: "Third child, I don't know you yet-you've always been a face-saving person, it's not very difficult, and you're afraid that you won't come to the door." ”

The third uncle nodded again and again and interjected: "Mother won't let us come, saying that we should have helped you." Everyone work together to cultivate Yang Zi, if he wins the show, won't our relatives have hope? Don't make a contribution at the moment. On the contrary, I have to make noise to you, which is really a last resort. Therefore, although I opened my mouth, if you really can't take it, let's be honest, even if you sell the land, you can't lack the cost of Yangzi. ”

As he spoke, his face turned red, and he was very ashamed: this ready-made word really carried no weight. If you really want to think about Yang Zi, you shouldn't come to the door, you have another idea.

Huaizi hurriedly said: "Look at what the third uncle said, who has no difficulty." It's not that you're lazy. If you are not diligent and thrifty, it is not all corrupt officials. Seeing that the rice and corn are about to be harvested, let's help each other and grit our teeth to get through. If the third uncle has any ideas, he will say that they are all close relatives, not outsiders. ”

Zhang Dazhuan also nodded again and again, these uncles are not bad, they are not such ruthless people, especially this third uncle is a sincere person.

The third uncle saw that their father and son were like this. He said gratefully: "Originally, it would have been enough to borrow some grain, but I calculated in my heart that even if I collected rice, corn, and yams, I would not be able to sell the miscellaneous food. We are no better than your village, and we can still have acorns to feed the pigs, so why don't we just pick some out of the ground? That's not enough to pay taxes. I thought, if you can squeeze some money out of the big bolt. I borrowed a few taels of silver, went to the village to collect some mountain goods, and sold them at the market. Nowadays, there are a lot of shops on the market, and everything can be bought and sold. Alas! Even the seller has a mile! ”

Huaizi was stunned when he heard this, he originally planned that the third uncle was here to borrow grain, so it was easy to say, but to borrow money......

There were only two taels of silver left in the house. Chrysanthemum has money, and every time the shop on the market collects rent, he gives it all to Chrysanthemum. Because those shops were originally married by the Zheng family.

But he couldn't open his mouth either. When Yang Zi left, Chrysanthemum also stuffed some silver to him, which can be said to be a part of his sister-in-law's heart, if relatives come to borrow money and let her out, it doesn't make sense. I didn't let Chrysanthemum live a good life. I used her money first, and I was ashamed to die.

Zhang Dazhuan thought the same as Zhang Huai, if he could borrow a tael of silver and still get it out, it would be a little difficult to borrow a few taels of silver, or he could turn it around after waiting for two months.

Zhang Huai thought of another thing, and he said to the third uncle sincerely: "Uncle, don't say that we don't have money at the moment, even if we do, I have to advise you to bear with it - don't waste this thought." You see, Aoki and I have been in charge of the workshop for two years, but we haven't gone out to do some business, because it's hard to do business at this time. If it is not the one with a thick foundation and a big ability, it will be stripped of a layer of skin by the official. Now let's wait for now, if Yang Zi wins the show, what are you worried about? If we hang up the land to our house, can we still find you to rent it? If you want to do business, you have to wait for two years, wait for this dog official to leave, see what the next county magistrate will look like, and then make plans. Let's give a tael of silver to the third uncle first, and then get some grain to eat, and when this batch of grain is collected, if the family can't grind it anymore, then my pigs can be sold, and the money will be in hand. ”

When the third uncle heard this, he lowered his head and thought about it carefully, and felt that it made sense, so he said, "Then uncle listens to you." I'll just say you're much more capable than your uncle, why don't you open a shop? And you have houses on the set, and all kinds of things are ready. It seems that I am thinking things too cheaply. ”

Huaizi said seriously: "We don't go to the market to open a shop, because we are afraid that the shop will be occupied by others, so we simply rent it to others." Third uncle, it doesn't matter if we are poor, we can mix up the past few years, but we must not let people have trouble. In fact, your business is not proper: if the goods are expensive, you will not make money; If it's cheap, people won't sell it to you - wouldn't it be better for him to run more to the market? Nowadays, who doesn't regard a few copper plates as their fate, why won't they be willing to sell them to you cheaply. ”

Zhang Dazhuan also nodded again and again, and then explained a lot of words.

The third uncle nodded and asked with a smile: "Huaizi, do you think Yang Zi can win the show?" Your grandmother burned incense and kowtowed at home when she saw the sky, saying that if the ancestral grave of the old Zhang family was hot, it would be nice to show off her talents. He let go of the idea of doing business, felt a little more relaxed, and asked about Yang Zi.

Zhang Huai smiled: "It's hard for us to say, we will know in a short time." Anyway, uncle, don't worry, don't squeak. Even if we have to be careful with this food, we will pick a little less every time, otherwise, people will think that our family has a lot of food. ”

The third uncle hurriedly said, "Can I not understand this?" I just thought I'd wait until later to pick it up. Those people are like jackals, let them see it? It's not good for the villagers to see it, not to mention that our relatives are good, and I think your family has a lot of food. If there are more relatives who come to the door, you will not be able to bear it. ”

Zhang Dazhuan said in a deep voice: "When it gets darker, I'll go with you, first, I can pick more, and second, I don't worry about you going home alone." ”

The third uncle nodded and said, "Then I'll thank you." Your eldest uncle's family can still support it, and the second uncle's family is enough to choke, and the fourth uncle's family can't support it, but it's better thanks to Yuqin's help. Hey, why don't there be officials in your village? Can you afford to pay taxes? ”

Huaizi nodded and said, "It's not that the workshop has made some money, otherwise it should be the same as you." And then Li Juren's father and mother live here, so they can give some face. ”

In fact, those people don't come to Qingnan Village, mainly because: first, the taxes in Qingnan Village have been paid, and secondly, those officials don't dare to come here to scrape the ground - the last time they were beaten half to death, and they were beaten by the county lord when they went back, and now none of them dare to come here, anyway, the taxes are collected, so they don't come to find trouble, it's really a soft pinch to eat persimmons.

The third uncle said enviously: "When Yang Zi is also admitted to Xiucai, then there will be two Xiucai in Qingnan Village." Woohoo! This is a great thing, who will dare to bully your village at that time? ”

Zhang Dazhuan and Huaizi looked at each other and smiled.

Two talents? I'm afraid that there must be at least three showmen, and if Liu Sishun also wins, there will be four showmen. No, it's one of the three shows, and it's really going to be a sensation.

While laughing, He Shi came in to greet him for dinner, and said to his younger brother with a smile: "What's the matter?" I'll just say it's inappropriate. Third brother, you should bear with it, don't be anxious, I didn't see the workshop in our village, it was supposed to be good, but I had to sell it, who can beat those people? ”

The third uncle nodded and said, "My nephew also said it, tell me to slow down." It's just that I'm troublesome to my sister again. ”

He said angrily: "Didn't you all help me in the past? Fortunately, our village is still good, if it is like you, we have no hope of a nest of relatives at this time, so it is not to sell the land? Now that there is one person who can support it, after two years, Xu will be fine. ”

The third uncle nodded again and again, and felt extremely happy.

When Huaizi entered the kitchen to help serve the dishes, Chrysanthemum asked, "Brother Huaizi, the third uncle came to borrow money, and the family has no money, right?" I'll give him a few taels of silver. The third uncle is good, if it weren't for the difficulty, I'm afraid I wouldn't have opened this mouth. ”

She likes Huaizi very much, a loyal uncle, who sold calves to the Zheng family back then, and bargained with Zheng Changhe upside down, he is a rare real person.

Huaizi hurriedly told her what her third uncle was borrowing money for, and told her what she thought and what she wanted to do with the food, so that she didn't have to worry about it.

Chrysanthemum nodded, and also felt that this business was inappropriate, so it was better to endure it.

He came in and smiled: "I said let them discuss first." Chrysanthemum, keep your little money - we can't use your money for our son in the future. ”

Chrysanthemum smiled: "Look at what my mother said, isn't this an emergency!" ”

In the evening, Zhang Dazhuan and his third uncle each picked up a load of grain, and He packed up a lot of eggs, fished a few fish to load, and sent them to He's mother's house when it was dark.

Later, it was sent two more times in a row. Thanks to the fact that after the underground storage room was dug up, they never sold grain at all, except for the tax payment, all of them were hidden, so the family had plenty of food.

It's just that the number of relatives who came to the door suddenly increased, some borrowed food, some borrowed money, and people died of sorrow. It's not that you don't borrow, who doesn't have a problem? Help when it's time to help, and people will keep it in mind. It's just that they come to the door one after another, and no one can bear it. They have to compare with each other, thinking that you borrowed him more than 100 wen, and I lost two liters of grain, etc., Rao borrowed things and offended people.

The Zheng family is also in this situation, in fact, the entire Qingnan Village is in this situation.

In the end, they had to be ruthless and borrow only a small amount of rations, mostly corn.