On the wedding day, I was broken off, so I remarried his uncle

When Village Chief Yang heard this, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

He sighed and said slowly, "Alas, you don't know. Although we are upstream of your county, we should have more water than you."

"But the problem is that the whole county is short of water. How can this water flow to our fields when there is such a shortage?"

He sighed and continued, "The wealthy families in the city colluded with the county officials. They used various means to divert the water from the river and used it to irrigate their own fields and even supply their own ponds and gardens."

"For a village like ours that is located in a remote area and has no power or influence, we naturally cannot compete with those big households."

"For something like this, is there no one asking the county magistrate for an explanation?" Chen Yunyou asked somewhat indignantly.

Village Chief Yang said here, his eyes full of bitterness and helplessness:

"Who said there weren't any? I don't know how many people in our village have gone to the county government to report this situation, but every time, there was no response. What's worse is that once, a citizen who went to file a complaint was even beaten with a stick by the officials and sent back."

"Those wealthy families have close ties with the county magistrate, so what can we ordinary people do? We can only watch the fields dry up and the crops wither."

Village Chief Yang looked toward the distant horizon with his cloudy eyes and sighed with regret, "I don't know when these days will end!"

Song Xile saw her husband return to the house with a heavy face, "What happened? Why do you look so bad?"

Chen Yun stepped forward, held his wife's hand, and repeated the conversation he had just had with the old village chief.

"Xi Le, isn't the purpose of taking the imperial examination to serve the people of a region to benefit them? How can someone watch the people under his jurisdiction suffer so much and remain indifferent?"

She gently patted the back of Chen Yunyou's hand and comforted him, "Yunyou, things in this world are always complicated. Not everyone can be like you, with a heart that pleads for the people."

"Some of them may have been blinded by power and forgotten their original intentions; others may have been tempted too much and finally got stuck in it and couldn't get out."

Song Xile looked at her husband and said solemnly: "Whether they are willing or forced, Yun You, I hope that after you pass the imperial examination and enter the government, you can be a good official who is dedicated to serving the people."

After living together for so many days, Song Xile could feel that her husband was actually an introverted person. Apart from caring about her and her family, he was indifferent to other things.

Chen Yun turned right and held his wife's hand, his eyes clear as he said, "I will."

In fact, he dragged his frail body to study, not with such great and noble goals. He was just tired of that home full of indifference and fighting. He wanted to escape from there, and it seemed that the only way was to take the imperial examination.

And now, his wife's words were like a beacon, illuminating the confusion deep in his heart.

He began to realize that the imperial examination was not just a way to escape, but also a way to realize himself and benefit the people.

He will regard it as his life's work, and when he and Xile are old and gray, looking back, they will not be ashamed of their mediocrity nor regretful for wasting their time.

Song An stepped into the room again and again, intending to ask his sister what she wanted to eat for dinner.

They ate all the braised meat at noon today, and even ate most of the food he brought out to last for two days.

There were five of them, and the remaining steamed buns were definitely not enough.

He was thinking about something and walked in without knocking. As soon as he entered, he saw his sister and brother-in-law holding hands and gazing at each other affectionately.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I... I didn't know you guys..." Song An apologized quickly and tried to leave the room in a panic.

However, because he was too anxious, he did not notice the door in front of him and bumped into it.

With a bang, the door was slammed and shook, and the dust on the yellow mud wall fell down, as if mocking his recklessness.

When Song Xile heard a thud, he turned around and saw his second brother's embarrassed look, and couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Why are you so panicked? Let me see." Song Xile walked to Song An with a smile, wanting to check his injuries.

Song An covered his forehead and tried to escape, but was caught by Song Xile.

"Second brother, why are you so anxious? Let me see your injury." Seeing Song An covering his forehead and not letting go, Song Xile couldn't help but increase the strength in his hands.

After she pulled away the big hand that was covering his forehead, she saw that there was a bump on her second brother's forehead, obviously he was hit hard.

"It's swollen now. You, second brother, are so reckless even though you're an adult." Song Xile scolded him with a distressed look on his face while he stood up and took some anti-swelling medicine from his bag.

Chen Yunyou also came over, asked about Song An's condition with concern, and pulled him to sit down at the table.

Song An said with embarrassment: "Hey, it's not a serious injury, why would you need to apply medicine? Stop wasting it."

Song Xile brought the medicine and held the man down without saying anything. While applying the medicine, he reminded him, "Fortunately, it's just a small bump. Apply the medicine and it will heal in two days. When you go back, don't get this area wet, so as not to wash off the ointment. This way it will heal faster."

Although Song An said it was troublesome, he actually felt very relieved.

After applying the medicine, Song Xile asked, "Second brother, what's the matter?"

Song Ping slapped his thigh and said, "Look, you forgot about this. I came here to ask you if you want to make some more porridge tonight?"

Thinking of the appetite of the two escorts, Song Xile nodded and said, "Second brother, take a rest first. I will go to the master's house to borrow the stove to cook porridge, and then make some flatbreads as tomorrow's rations."

She was counting on these two men to protect their safety, so there was no way she would let them travel on an empty stomach.

"I'll go with you." After saying that, he stood up and caught up with his wife.

Song An looked at his brother-in-law who was chasing after his sister, and couldn't help but feel very satisfied. This brother-in-law was different from all the scholars he had heard of before.

He is not bound by the pedantry and aloofness of literati, but rather has a down-to-earth and pragmatic attitude.

When the couple walked to the kitchen, they saw the woman taking something out. When she saw Song Xile, she smiled and said, "Wait a moment, ma'am. I'll let the stove out."

Song Xile smiled and nodded, saying, "Thank you for the trouble." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman put some black and green things into the bowl, and his heart sank.

—This is probably their meal.

Song Xile took Yun You out of the kitchen temporarily. At this moment, her mood was really not good.

This is what we see among the best-off families in the village. Those poor families don’t know how they are going to survive!

Song Xile took a deep breath and tried to calm the slight choking in his heart.

She understood that the scene before her was just a microcosm of the countless poor families of that era, and there was nothing she could do at this moment.