Linxia

Chapter 17, Calculation

This is the third room.

When the family came back, Fang Lin's expression had calmed down, as if the outburst that had enraged everyone and made Grandpa Fang, Grandma Fang, the first wife, the second wife, and the fourth wife feel ashamed was just an illusion.

"Dad, Mom, I promise that our family will be better off in the city than in the village, digging for food in the mud!"

Since it has been decided that his family will move to the provincial capital, and he has been forced to this point, he might as well take advantage of this opportunity to enter the city early. Going back to the village and struggling on that piece of yellow land will ultimately be a hard life. At this time, going to the provincial capital, there will be great opportunities... As long as he passes this hurdle first, he can reach the provincial capital safely!

"That would be great. By then, our whole family will be city dwellers, and those people in the village will be so envious." Fang Sun said with a smile.

She loves her son, but this trust was built up through everything that happened over the past few days.

Uncle Fang didn't say anything because he knew his son was better than him, so he just listened to him; Tian Xuan was even more so, she trusted him unconditionally and her life revolved around Fang Lin. Fang Lin was her heaven.

After a while, the first, second, and fourth wives came over one after another. In addition to the money for the land, they also gave them a bag of dried black fungus, a bag of dried beans, and a fifty-year-old ginseng. Old Man Fang also came and gave them a jade bracelet wrapped in red cloth, saying that it was given by Grandma Fang.

These things cheered up Fang Sun, who was originally in a depressed mood, and she temporarily put aside all the worries about going to the provincial capital.

"It's rare to get any advantage from your eldest aunt, and she's the one who takes the initiative to give it to you. It's even worse with your second aunt. Even your grandmother, when has she ever given you anything? I used to say that only your father and uncle were honest, but when you look closely, they didn't get any advantage from the fourth wife. Not to mention his grandmother, who is biased and always leaves all the good things for the fourth wife."

Fang Sun rambled on for so long, and finally concluded: "My son is still capable!"

As she said this, she looked at Father Fang again: "If he is like your father, who can't even say a word, why would people give him gifts? I'm afraid they think that whatever our family does is their due!"

Uncle Fang blushed, but it was barely noticeable on his rough, wrinkled face. He hesitated for a long time before saying in a muffled voice, "We are all family, so we shouldn't scheme against each other."

After hearing this, Fang Lin sighed inwardly.

Sometimes, family affection really needs to be calculated.

How can we say that good children who don’t cry or make a fuss don’t get candy? The reality is that people not only need to do things, but also need to know how to say them.

Of course, having said that, the calculations between his grandparents, eldest uncle, second uncle, and younger uncle, these relatives still made him physically and mentally exhausted.

"This is still good. If one day, even parents and lovers who are supposed to be selfless start to scheme against each other, that would be truly tragic," Fang Lin thought to himself.

Uncle Fang realized it later, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Linzi, have you ever... played tricks before?"

This is about whether what we said when we got together before was a performance.

"No, Dad, it's because our family has really been forced into a corner!" Fang Lin smiled, but this smile seemed a little bitter no matter how you looked at it.

To use the style of a certain book, it would be: Sisters, family members, who understands? Everything was planned out well, and you could complete the class transition step by step, but suddenly you were stabbed in the back by your family, and you could only clean up the mess with tears in your eyes and move on with gritted teeth. Who understands this feeling?
……

lunch.

The coarse rice soup was noticeably thicker, and the villagers who came to serve the rice were all pleasantly surprised.

"Didn't they say the county was short of food?"

"Those who are going to the capital will leave tomorrow. Even if they are short of food, they still need to have two good meals before they set off. Even prisoners who are to be beheaded have a last meal before they are executed!"

"That's right! That's right! Once the candidate to go to the capital city is determined, the government will no longer be stingy. It seems that the grain in the reserve warehouse is indeed not enough, and they are not making things difficult for us... The court is still good, and the emperor is still wise!"

……

The villagers were chattering, no longer as anxious as they were yesterday.

Fang Lin was the most sober, but also felt the most absurd: "The county town is not short of food, it is just to drive some people to the prefecture, but this operation not only did not arouse public anger, but the people are still speaking well of the government."

'Too! '

He suddenly realized: "For thousands of years, the people of this land have been like this. As long as the upper class doesn't make their lives miserable and force them to death, they will be satisfied. If they are given a little bit of kindness for show, they will be grateful. What lovely people!"

……

In the afternoon, the government distributed food on the way to the city, and the Fang family came to help collect it. Every person going to the city was given three liters, regardless of gender, age or status - this was another proof that the county was not short of food. Obviously, after the list of people going to the city was submitted, the government had no longer concealed it.

After queuing up, it was soon the Fang family's turn.

"and many more!"

Along with this voice, the clerk named Wei, who had a scar on his forehead and whom Fang Lin had helped yesterday, came out, and the clerk who was distributing grain tactfully stepped aside.

Obviously, although both are minor officials, this one named Wei has a higher position and more power.

"Little brother, nice to see you again!" The clerk named Wei nodded to Fang Lin: "Are these all from your family? There are ten people in total, right?"

These are the children from the Fang family, such as Fang Chuanzong, Fang Chuanhui, and Fang Yuyu from the first wife, Fang Caoer, Fang He, and Fang Xiaoxiao from the second wife, and Fang Suian from the fourth wife. All of these children are counted as members of the third wife.

"No, there are only four in our family..." Fang Sun spoke subconsciously.

Fang Lin nudged Fang's mother with his arm to shut her up, and stepped forward and said, "Yes, there are ten people."

"Well, there are ten people, three liters per person, a total of thirty liters, which is three dou." The clerk named Wei asked Fang Lin to sign, and after distributing the grain, he issued a written certificate to prove his household registration.

"Thank you." Fang Lin thanked him again, and the whole family turned around and left.

It was the first time in Fang's life that she experienced such an exciting thing of "abuse of power for personal gain" in broad daylight and in public. She was so excited that she could not suppress it and covered her mouth with her right hand to prevent herself from screaming.

Fang Shuyou and Tian Xuan were not much better off, but Fang's father felt something was wrong, while Tian Xuan thought that Lin Di was really awesome!
Grandpa Fang, Grandma Fang, the first, second, and fourth wives all looked at Fang Lin, feeling that he was unfathomable. Yes, they were all from the same village and family, so who didn't know who? How did Fang Lin suddenly get to know a nobleman in the county, and a strong relationship that could help him "bend the law for personal gain".

Especially the second mother, Fang Wang, she felt that the bag of dried beans she spent last night was really worth it. She believed that Fang Lin would definitely have a bright future and she would probably be able to rely on him in the future!
Of course, no matter how you think about it, no one in the Fang family is stupid enough to ask here.

Coincidentally, behind the Fang family is the Song family who went to ask for food. The Song family witnessed this scene and were naturally full of envy and jealousy.

Of course, envy and jealousy are real, but like many of the families we see later, they dare not speak out - people have been afraid of officials since ancient times, so they can only act as if they are ashamed to be associated with them.

However, if it was their family that was involved, they would never have that kind of demeanor. Most likely they would be smiling and looking down on others - just as the saying goes, people don't hate privileges, but hate the fact that they don't have privileges.

After the Fang family passed by, the clerk named Wei went straight in and replaced the previous clerk in charge of distributing grain, which disappointed those who wanted to take advantage of the loophole and see if that person had poor eyesight.

However, there are always some smart people who want to learn from the Fang family and bring their relatives' children as their own in order to fish in troubled waters. But the government has a yellow book of household registration, and the clerk can see through it immediately. He will not tolerate it and will directly take the whole family away. This has discouraged many people from cheating.

Here, the clerk named Wei went back in, and another person inside asked, "Old Wei, that person is your relative, why does he have to go to the city?"

"He is a little brother who helped me. He is a good person." The clerk named Wei sighed, "He is also a poor man, because the wealthy merchants in the city have to go there."

"Yes, there is no shortage of food in our county. If those big merchants were not short of people and bribed the higher-ups, these people wouldn't have to go."

The man joked, "It's extremely difficult to get those people off the land. If it weren't for the food this time, there would be no way to make a big difference with a small effort. It's just a coincidence that the Yangtze River is flooding and has breached several dikes...hiss!"

At this point, he seemed to have thought of something and suddenly took a breath of cold air: "Then the dam burst, could it be that..."

Those wealthy businessmen are so bold that they might cut corners and cause the Yangtze River to burst its banks just for their own benefit.

“This is not something we should know.”

The clerk named Wei shook his head and said, "When people live in this world, the more they know, the more troubles they have. It is rare to be ignorant!"

……

Fang Lin was unaware of the subsequent conversation, which verified the information he had previously analyzed.

However, whether they knew it or not, it did not affect the Fang family, who were like the millions of families going to the provincial capital, like a drop of water merging into the long river of time.

……

(End of this chapter)