After pouring water, Xu was cooking on the fire in the kitchen.

Xu Ling stepped forward to check in the kitchen cubicle, "Is there still firewood at home?" I'll go chop some wood before I go. ”

I don't know when the weather will get cold, Xu Ling is afraid that there is no man in the family, and no one will do these foul words.

Xu Ping yawned and said, "Brother, no, Brother Daliang still has more firewood brought back last time." ”

Mother Xu said worriedly: "Ah Ling, don't you stay at home for a few more days, are you going to leave again?" ”

Xu Ling also wants to stay at home more, but he still has to go out to make money.

"I'm afraid that the news of my return will soon reach Liu Wang's ears, and if she knows that I have made money, she will definitely come to collect debts."

The money in Xu Ling's hand is not enough to pay off the debt, but if he goes out again this time, it is estimated that he will be able to save enough.

Xu was speechless and had to accept reality.

Xu Ping answered on the side, "Big brother, my mother slept so late yesterday, just to make clothes for you, can't you leave a few days later?" ”

Xu Ling rubbed his hair, "Mother, you don't have to do it for me, I'll buy clothes by myself when I'm cold, don't freeze." ”

He also told Xu Ping, "And you, work well with your big brother, eat well and grow taller, and send you to the private school in the spring next year, do you hear?" ”

Xu Ling accompanied the two of them to talk, and heard that Gu Zhen also got up and came out.

Xu didn't nag her today, and called her to wake up the eldest girl Xu An for dinner.

Xu Ling brushed his teeth and ate breakfast, and then planned to go to the town.

Xu Ping wanted to go with him, but was ordered by Xu Ling to work in the fields.

Xu An was detained at his home by the Xu family.

"This dead girl runs behind her brother all day long, and she doesn't run anymore, from today onwards, you will learn to cook and cook at home for me!"

Xu An's protest was ineffective, so he could only stay at home obediently.

"Big girl, Daddy is out." Xu Ling pinched her daughter's novel and teased her, the little girl had just mixed up with him yesterday, and she was afraid of getting born when she slept and hid in Gu Yu's arms to look at him secretly.

Gu Yu coaxed her and said, "Call Daddy, Daddy will go to the market to buy you candy to eat." ”

The eldest girl called "Dad" timidly.

Xu Ling was helpless, he, a father, could only rely on sugar to buy his daughter's love, so miserable.

Gu Zhen sent him to the entrance of the village and told him that Gu Litian was digging a river outside Erfang Town, and Xu Ling helped her pull the wind-blown hair behind her ears.

Gu Zhen's face was thin red, and he pulled his daughter's voice to hide his shyness, "Big girl, say goodbye to Daddy." ”

The eldest girl hugged her mother's neck tightly and did not speak.

Xu Ling smiled, leaned over and kissed the big girl on the face, "Big girl, daddy is gone." ”

Gu Yu looked at Xu Ling with that kind of dumb eyes, and the second monk Xu Ling was puzzled, smiled and took a half step back, and said goodbye politely: "Daughter-in-law, I'm going." ”

Gu Zhen pursed her lips, her face seemed to be a little colder, she responded softly, and without waiting for Xu Ling to leave, she turned around and went back to the village with the child in her arms.

Xu Ling was stunned for a moment, unable to understand what was going on, so he had to cross the bridge and leave by himself.

Gu Zhen took two steps and stopped, turned around and watched Xu Ling go away, Xu Ling walked and walked, and he didn't mean to turn back for half a minute, Gu Zhen stomped his feet angrily, gritted his teeth and scolded: "What a wood!" ”

The eldest girl looked at her mother's actions curiously, and was amused by her.

Xu Ling walked to the point where he was almost out of sight, and finally looked back, and saw that there seemed to be a person standing on the wooden bridge at the entrance of the village, not sure if it was Gu Yu, but he still waved his hand.

He walked to noon, finally arrived at Erfang Town, took out the chicken and braised meat from the space early, and went to the town to buy half a bag of caramel candy, and inquired about the place where the people served, and only found the right place in the afternoon.

I heard that Erfang Town plans to move the city, the original old city is too far away from the wharf, and the county magistrate who just took office last year wants to build a city near the wharf, and wants to build a moat and a city wall.

It's a big project.

The government can't afford to pay for it, so it can only rely on the common people who have to serve every year.

This year, the government is very strict, and people who usually don't want to come out to work can pay for it, but this year is different, if there are more than three men over the age of 16 in the family, one person must be sent to work.

This is because this year's service is just in time for the autumn harvest, and it will be a little relaxed for fear of delaying farming.

Gu Litian's family just took advantage of a loophole, if Xu Ling could come back sooner, maybe he could spend money to be exempted from service.

Before he reached the place, Xu Ling saw many people wearing coarse cloth and shovels with hoes and shovels in their hands, and digging rivers along the circle line under the supervision of the officials wearing official soap clothes.

"Don't be lazy, hurry!"

The service of the common people is not all piled up in the same time period, and some will be specially diverted from the farming season.

However, sometimes the construction period is relatively long, and farming is inseparable, and the service policy will be relaxed.

The weather in September is not bad, and this group of people who serve in conscription are not considered to endure hardships, and it is called a hard work when the snow is flying and the sky is freezing in the cold winter.

If you can spend money to hire people to do the hard work, who wants to do this hard work, and if you delay yourself to make money, the government will not give you money, let alone food, these people bring their own dry food from home.

Every seven days, the families of the soldiers would come from various villages and bring them enough dry food to eat for seven days, some steamed buns and some flatbread, and if the government had some conscience, they would boil some hot water for them to soak and eat.

If you meet those who are too lazy to take care of things, go find water to drink, and no one cares if you drink a bad stomach.

Because this is unpaid service, it is the obligation of every common man in ancient times.

The soap-clothed officials in charge of the supervision stood not far away, some with whips in their hands, and others sitting at the table drinking hot tea.

Xu Ling didn't see Gu Litian in the crowd, and when he saw one of the petty officials sitting there and someone specially serving, he knew that this person must be able to take care of things, so he hurriedly walked up to him, bent down, and respectfully explained his identity.

"My lord, the grass people's name is Xu Ling, and they are here to send some warm clothes to the elders in the family, I wonder if the adults can be accommodating?"

As he spoke, he took out two taels of silver from his cuffs, so that the official could see the bright silver light.

Sure enough, the man sat up, his originally not very good-looking face was also happy, and he accepted the two taels of silver without a trace, weighed it at his fingertips for a moment, and said with a smile: "Look at you like a sensible person, let's say, who are you looking for?" ”

"The grass people want to find Gu Litian of Lotus Bay."

"Which one is Gu Litian in?"

There were many people in the service, and it was convenient to manage, so the sixty people were divided into one class.

Soon, the little official on the side looked through the roster and found out where Gu Litian was, and sent someone to call him.

The little official in charge is named Sun Baoyao, who is a clerk of the county government of Erfang Town. The so-called officials are equivalent to non-staff personnel, mainly assisting official officials in handling various daily tasks, including taxation, culture, education, water conservancy, and conscription.

These are all tiring errands to run around, and of course sometimes you can receive some oil and water.

But he is really rare to see a person as generous as Xu Ling.