Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

Those who had fields close to home and could take care of them had an idea: vegetables were half a year's food. If there was not much food at home, planting radishes and cabbages would be enough to fill the stomach.

Life has been tight for nearly half a year. The family's money has long been used to buy food. To grow vegetables, you need seeds, and to buy seeds, you need money.

During this period, villagers came to Xiaolan's house in groups of three or four to borrow money. Living in the same village, it was not easy to survive the famine. The villagers were all genuine people. When they borrowed money, they looked for legitimate guarantors. Shengxuan lent money for all legitimate purposes.

The money on hand was being withdrawn day by day, and now there was no income at home. Xiaolan's family assets shrunk by more than half in a short period of time.

There are many children in the family. Xiaoyan, Xiaohu, Xiaocheng, Xiaoqiang, Xiaowen, Xiaoting and Xiaolan are growing up. There is no shortage of food at home, but meat is not often eaten. The meat stall in the town has not opened yet, and the family can't buy meat. Recently, she has been thinking about going to Beishan. There are many trees in Beishan, and they are tall. Locusts can't fly that high, so they are not harmed much.

Now all the refugees are concentrated in the county town, and there are very few refugees in the village. After leaving Zhang Shanfeng, Zhang Qingnian and a group of women and children at home to look after the house, Sheng Xuan, Xiao Lan and Zhang Qingfeng picked up bows and arrows and set out into the mountains at noon.

Xiao Lan only dared to take Sheng Xuan and Zhang Qingfeng around the mountain and did not dare to go inside. She did not want to lose anyone because of hunting. There were not many prey in the mountain this year. The three of them only hunted five pheasants and three hares and returned.

The family stewed two chickens and two rabbits to satisfy their cravings. In the past six months, the locusts and the rabbits that had been dried before were all eaten up, and the rabbits raised at home were also slaughtered and eaten as soon as they grew up.

Although the villagers received relief food, they all stayed at home to save energy. The originally lively village became even quieter because of the decrease in the number of households. This time, Xiaolan and her two friends did not meet anyone when they went into the mountains. The relief food received from the county could only ensure that people would not starve to death, but could not guarantee that they would be full. Many households in the village came to Xiaolan's family to borrow food. Xiaolan estimated that when the radishes and cabbages were harvested, things would be better. In the twelfth lunar month, the land in the village was checked by the county, and the fields of the families who had lost their households were collected, and those who wanted to buy could go and buy.

When Xiaolan heard the news, she was very happy for a while. Her biggest dream was to become a landlord. Fortunately, the land was not expensive now, so Xiaolan's family bought another 50 acres of land.

After getting the land deed, Xiao Lan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there were no natural disasters or man-made disasters next year, she would have no problem supporting herself with the produce from her family's land.

Now her grandparents live with them. In the spring of next year, she plans to send her three cousins ​​to the town to study. Even if they fail to pass the imperial examination, they can still help the family by being able to read and write and use an abacus. The younger brothers are about the same age. The youngest is Xiaoqiang, who will be nine after the Chinese New Year. The other three will be ten after the Chinese New Year. Children of this age cannot help much at home, so it is better to send them all to the town to study.

Xiaolan told Zhang Shanfeng's family about her idea. Her aunt and second aunt were the most excited. They never expected to send their children to school. It was a great honor for the family to live in Xiaolan's house. Now Xiaolan plans to send her children to school. As mothers, they feel both relieved and sad. If the family had not moved in, they would have struggled in the disaster like the people in the village.

Although the two families are relatives, it is rare to see someone do so well as they did. Besides, Xiaolan, Xiaoting and Xiaowen do not treat them as outsiders and just get along with them as a family. In the hearts of Fu and Liu, they have already protected this place as their own home.

Recently, a big happy event happened in the old Sheng family. His family used 100 kilograms of grain to introduce Sheng Yuan to a girl in the town. The girl's surname is Pang, and her name is Pang Xiu'e. Her family used to open a small grocery store in the town. Because of the epidemic and the sharp rise in grain prices during the famine, and the family had no land, they were afraid that the grocery store would be robbed, so they closed it, and they lived a very tight life.

This marriage was arranged by Pang Xiu'e's father who asked the matchmaker in the town to come to the old Sheng family. Pang Xiu'e was beautiful, and Sheng Xiaoyuan fell in love with her at first sight. However, her family wanted 200 kilograms of grain as a betrothal gift. Old Master Sheng wanted to refuse it outright, but he thought that Xiaoyuan would be old enough to get married next year, and 200 kilograms of grain would not be enough to get a marriage by then. They were just lucky in the famine.

In a famine year, the price of grain was high. Ordinary families living in the county or town had no land and could not open their shops, so they were short of food. But the other party asked for 200 kilograms of grain, which really distressed the family.

Cui and the people in the first house disagreed. Sheng Kai and Shen looked at each other and did not express any opinions. Seeing that the whole family disagreed, Sheng Yuan became a little anxious.

"Xiaoyuan, don't be anxious." Grandpa Sheng said, "It's not so easy to reconcile with such an important matter in life. Let's send a matchmaker to test the waters tomorrow."

"But grandpa, the last time the Pang family came to talk to me, I promised them 200 kilograms of grain." Sheng Yuan said anxiously to Grandpa Sheng.

"You are young and inexperienced. The Pang family mentioned this to you on purpose because they see that you are easy to talk to. This matter is not a big deal. Otherwise, we would not invite a matchmaker tomorrow. Your father and I will go to the town in person and have a good talk with their family." said Mr. Sheng.

Seeing that Old Master Sheng said this, Sheng Yuan could not say anything else. After all, it was not right for the whole family to tighten their belts just because he married a wife.

Next, the whole family started talking about Sheng Yuan's marriage, while Old Man Sheng was puffing on his cigarette.

Xiaoyuan's marriage was almost settled, and the final betrothal gift was one hundred kilograms of grain. The old man did not go into detail on how it was decided, but he just invited Xiaolan's family over on the night of the decision.

When Xiaolan's family just came in, they saw that the kang and the floor in the upper room were full of people. Sheng Nuo, Wang, Sheng Hong, and Xu from the first room, Sheng Kai, Shen, Sheng Yuan, and Sheng Liang from the second room, and Sheng Hao and Liu from the fourth room were all there.

They were eagerly discussing the arrangements for Sheng Yuan's wedding day. Seeing Sheng Xuan's family coming, the old man hurriedly asked them to sit on the kang.

"I have seen the daughter of the Pang family. She is good-looking." Zhang said, "I heard that she was very picky before. She has high standards."

Shen was very happy to hear what Zhang said, "Then it's for my Xiaoyuan. The Pang family invited a matchmaker to our house to arrange the marriage. What does this prove? It proves that my Xiaoyuan is excellent."