The peasant's daughter-in-law of crossing

Chapter 33

In the afternoon of the next day, Yingniang became the little leader as she wished.Seeing that Yingniang had learned such a complicated weaving method so quickly, those women were also convinced that their skills were not as good as others.What's more, Yingniang speaks to Aunt Yao in Beijing accent, which they can't learn.

After returning home, Yingniang saw that Boming's complexion was much better. At this time, he and Zhongping were unloading wheat from the cart.When she told Birming the good news, although Birming couldn't give her a happy smile, after all, he didn't get happy so quickly when his parents died, but he gave her a nod of affirmation And approving eyes, "I know, as long as you work hard, it will definitely work."

Suddenly, Bo Ming felt that what he said was too rigid and serious, and he softened his tone a little, "But you must not be proud, otherwise Aunt Yao will not let you be when she gets angry."

Seeing that Boming was willing to joke with her, Yingniang was relieved. She believed that Boming was very strong inside and would not be so fragile.She came to help unload the wheat together, "Don't worry, I won't be proud, and I'm not a child, so I can't handle it like this. However, when I think about earning an extra three Wen a day, I can save an extra ninety Wen a month." Wen Qian is still a little excited."

Zhong Ping was also happy when he was listening, and asked curiously: "Sister-in-law, you will be in charge of more than 20 people now, and you won't be like the guards of Ge Landlord's house, watching them work with a whip in your hand?"

"The weaving workshops are full of women, so how can they be violent with a whip. Uh...you should be like Aunt Yao who conquers people with virtue, with kindness and majesty, and...hardness and softness, I understand a little bit of these principles."

Zhaodi squatted by the well to wash vegetables, she couldn't understand what Yingniang said, "Sister-in-law, you know a lot, what kind of kindness and what kind of softness, I have never heard of it."

Yingniang smiled slightly at Zhaodi, "I also learned from Aunt Yao, she retired from the Imperial Palace Weaving Bureau, so she naturally knows a lot."

Everyone was talking, and Zhou Li was walking towards them.They thought that Zhou Lizheng was just going to Liang Zi's house to see if Lu Cui had been divorced and returned to her mother's house, but he walked straight towards them,
He opened a herb, looked at it, and said: "It's time to readjust the land every three years. The number of your family has changed, and the land has to be reduced."

Boming was in a better mood at first, but when he heard what Lizheng said, he suddenly became angry, "Lizheng, we just had an accident in our house, and you said you want to reduce the land, what do you mean?"

However, Zhou Lizheng put on a sullen face and said in an official tone, "Official affairs have to be done in a fair manner, and there is no reason to talk about them. Besides, it's not just your family, the land of those other families must also be reduced."

At this time, Yingniang came over and asked: "Where are there fewer people in our family? There are obviously more people, okay? Zhaodi, I, and the child in her belly, isn't there an extra person here? Shouldn't it be?" Kadi is right."

Zhou Li was looking at Zhaodi's stomach, "What a joke, how can it be counted if it's still in the stomach? It must be born before it can be registered."

I saw that Zhou Li was staring at the numbers on the grass and carefully looked at it several times, and then said: "The land allocated to women is not the same as the land allocated to men. Originally, your family should lose three acres of land, and your father-in-law's two acres. The mother-in-law is one acre. If you offset the two newly added female relatives in your family, you should lose one acre. Your family’s reduction is considered small, so don’t talk about it. Some families have no new members. There are those who have reduced six acres."

Women can only get one acre, and men get two acres?Is it because women can't eat men, so they get less?It was the first time Yingniang heard such a statement.Women in ancient times were not taken seriously, which is so obvious from the amount of land allocated.

Yingniang thought it was a pity that the child in Zhaodi's stomach was not counted, "Lizheng, you said that the land transfer is only done every three years, and the child in Zhaodi's stomach will be more than two years old by then, isn't it too late?" For two years? If it's a boy, the difference will be even bigger, wouldn't it be too bad for our family?"

Zhou Lizheng frowned and said: "I can't help it. There has never been a saying about allocating land to unborn babies. Any family who has a child will suffer from this. Besides, don't children have mothers to nurse them? What land do they want? There are many males in your family. , Compared with those families with more girls, the land allocated is already a big advantage, so don't fight for one or two acres of land."

When he said this, it seemed that their family was so stingy and caring.Yingniang knew that she couldn't compete with these rules that had been settled for hundreds of years, so she didn't say anything.

"Also, your family hastened to harvest the wheat. Tomorrow, Landlord Ge's family will have to pay the grain. The next day, you will have to pay the land tax. There is a total of [-] catties of grain. This is the same as before, and there is no change. Today you pay the people first. Ding tax, a total of three hundred Wen, or one hundred catties of grain will do."

Yingniang couldn't listen to it now, "When reducing land, men and women are different. You have reduced an extra acre. No matter how you pay taxes, men and women are the same. You should pay less anyway. Are these regulations too unfair? Is it reasonable? Maybe you made a mistake?"

Zhou Lizheng was unhappy, "How can I make a mistake, do you really think I'm free? What do you women know, don't meddle, this is the rule over the years. I have always done things impartially, and I will not deliberately embarrass you My family. Tell me quickly, is your family paying three hundred Wen for the population tax, or are you planning to pay one hundred catties of grain to cover it?"

The food at home is less than one hundred catties, maybe only fifty or sixty catties.As for the money, Yingniang and Bo Ming were really reluctant to take it out, they just got back more than 300 Wen yesterday.

Ying Niang had no choice but to say softly, "Lizheng, can you extend it for a day or two? The wheat has just been harvested at home and hasn't been harvested yet. I will get the grain back from Landlord Ge's house tomorrow and pay it together with the land tax the next day. .”

Zhou Lizheng finally let go of his mouth, knowing that their family owed debts, and it was really difficult now, so he didn't force them anymore, "Okay, we will pay together the next day, a total of [-] catties of grain." He closed the notebook and went to another house .

Before Zhou Lizheng came, the atmosphere of the family was better, but now it was dull again after being disturbed by him.

Boming thought that as the eldest brother, he couldn't take the lead to make the family unhappy, so he comforted him: "Don't worry, won't you be able to receive food from Landlord Ge's house tomorrow? Before, you could receive 650 catties a year. This time, because of Zhongping didn’t go these days, but the second uncle said that Landlord Ge’s family promised to give 150 catties less. Now they can get [-] catties. After paying the land tax and population tax, isn’t there [-] catties left? Let’s lose an acre of land, anyway, the food at home is barely enough for the whole family.” Then he smiled at Yingniang again, “And your sister-in-law is still earning money.”

Yingniang also grinned when she heard this, she likes to see Birming smile.Naturally, the others are not worried anymore. They have a brother and a sister-in-law at home, so they feel very at ease.

"Zhaodi, let's go cook." Yingniang greeted Zhaodi and was about to go to the kitchen when she heard Bo Ming call "Mother" outside the yard.

Yingniang was taken aback, thinking that Bo Ming had suddenly lost his mind, or that he missed his mother so much that he recognized the wrong person?But then she heard another voice, "Birming, is your wheat harvest almost done?"

Yingniang recognized that it was her mother Li Xinghua who had come.Her premonition told her that her mother's coming must be nothing good.

Sure enough, when Li Xinghua walked into the yard, she praised Zhaodi for her ability, and at the same time asked whether the family had a good harvest, because she saw a lot of wheat piled up in the yard.Immediately afterwards, she brought up the matter of paying three hundred catties of grain and taxes in these two days.

Yingniang frowned slightly, "The family has seven acres of land, and the grain hired by Bo Ming, so you don't even have to pay three hundred catties of grain?"

Li Xinghua sighed and said: "Well, although the tax can be paid, but there is not much food left at home. The main reason is that the harvest is not good. This year is full of bugs. I am afraid that this year will have to go through it again. I It’s not because of this that you came here today. Your father was threshing wheat at home yesterday. Maybe he threw the wheat handle too high. He twisted his neck and screamed in pain all night. It will be better to ask a doctor to apply the medicine this morning. , but the doctor said that it would take thirty Wen to apply it for ten days in succession."

Ying Niang said angrily: "Thirty Wen is only thirty Wen. Could it be that the money given when welcoming the bride has been spent so quickly?"

Li Xinghua hurriedly pulled Yingniang into the house, not wanting the Birming buddies in the yard to hear. "You girl, are you stupid or what's going on? Why are you yelling nonsense in front of them? Thirty cents is not a small amount of money. Shouldn't the wedding ceremony be reserved for your brother's engagement? You work in a weaving workshop, and every day If you can earn money, so what if you give me [-] Wen, this is to apply medicine to your father, could it be that your father and I raised you for nothing?"

Yingniang blushed a little with anger, "Mother, are you right? The family has money and doesn't spend it, so you still have to come here and ask me for [-] Wen? You don't know that your in-laws just..., our family owes you a lot of money." A debt of four thousand Wen!"

Li Xinghua pursed her lips, "The debt you owe is nothing to do with you, why are you in a hurry? The money you earned so hard will not be spent on the parents who gave birth to you and raised you, but on the people who have been with you for only three months." Pay off the debt, is your brain broken?"

It's not that Yingniang is not willing to give up the thirty cents, but she thinks that Li Xinghua is simply too much, her in-law's family is in such a difficult situation now, it's fine if her mother's family doesn't want to help, but she still cares about her money?The money she earns must be spent on her parents and younger brothers who never take her seriously?

Although her days at her in-law's house were short, her in-laws and Bo Ming treated her very well, and she got along very well with the family. She liked living like this, and now she has feelings for everyone.But she had only been with this natal family for so long, and her relationship had not been cultivated, so she was quite angry.

"I don't have any money, you should go back quickly." Yingniang said coldly.

Li Xinghua jumped a little anxiously, "Huh? How can you have no money? Didn't you pay back the work you did for so many days last month?"

Yingniang had no choice but to lie to her and say, "The money has been paid off, and it was returned to his third uncle. There is no money left in the family now."

"Really? You can't lie to your mother." Li Xinghua looked at her face, afraid that she was lying.

"Of course it is true. If you are lending a thousand coins to the uncle's family, and you see that someone in his family has made money, are you not in a hurry to ask for the debt?"

Now Li Xinghua believed it, and slapped her thigh angrily, "Oh, my silly girl, you don't save the money you earn for yourself, and you don't know how to give it to your natal family. Why are you so anxious to pay off the debt? You are the only one in the Xue family now. Earning cash alone is so majestic. Why don’t you know how to honor yourself? If you know that you can go to the weaving workshop to earn money, your parents will not be in a hurry to let you marry into Xue’s family. Maybe there will be a wealthy family. Say kiss." Li Xinghua was so regretful that her intestines were turning green.

Since she didn't want money, Li Xinghua didn't stay here anymore, and stomped away angrily and regretfully.

Although Bo Ming couldn't hear what the two mothers were talking about, he also knew that his mother-in-law should be asking for money.He came in and asked Yingniang, and Yingniang told what happened just now.

Bo Ming thought about it for a while, and said: "How about... why don't you give your mother 300 Wen, don't you have more than [-] Wen at home? She finally came here, so it would be nice to go back empty-handed."

"Boming, it's not that I'm stingy and don't give it. It's just that I'm afraid that my mother will get it if she asks for money. It will become a habit in the future. The family has money, but they still come here and ask us for it?" For feelings, she doesn't want to be wronged, because she's afraid that she won't be able to deal with it in the future.

"But..." Bo Ming is a thin-skinned person, and he doesn't want to be scolded behind his back by his father-in-law.Thinking about Yingniang's hard-earned money, it is nothing to spend it on her natal family.

Everyone is born by their parents, and then they are raised by their parents. The parents-in-law have brought up Yingniang so much, and there is no credit or hard work.At this time, he thought of his parents again, he didn't have time to be filial to them, and in the end...

Although he doesn't like his parents-in-law, he doesn't want to make himself feel guilty. Even out of face, he can't let his mother-in-law go back empty-handed for the first time. Yingniang's reputation outside.After thinking about it for a while, he finally took out thirty Wen, ran out of the yard, and caught up with his mother-in-law.

Yingniang sighed, didn't say anything, and went to the kitchen to cook with Zhaodi.

Li Xinghua was overjoyed when she saw that Boming sent her money, but she began to doubt Yingniang's words again, "Aren't you short of money? Yingniang said that I will pay it back to your third uncle."

Birming paused, and lied, "This is the money I saved before, Yingniang doesn't know."

Li Xinghua thought it was a loss for her daughter to marry the Xue family just now, but now that she thinks about it, she feels that the son-in-law in front of her is not bad, "It's your luck that Yingniang married you. You can't even find the lantern, so you are not allowed to bully her!"

"Mother, don't worry, I will treat Yingniang well." Bo Ming said this for his mother-in-law, but also for himself.He also secretly made up his mind that he must work hard to let Yingniang live a good life and stop suffering from him.

Li Xinghua nodded, took the money and left.Thinking that her son-in-law's family is also so difficult, it seems that there is nothing to hope for, and she couldn't help sighing as she walked on the road.

(End of this chapter)