A farmer's daughter travels through time, farming and dividing the family to fight for the best

After a long while, Li Xiaoxiao came back, and Si Chengxu was with her. Si Chengxu was holding two pheasants in his hands and carrying a wild goat on his shoulder. The goat looked quite big and was still alive, with only one leg bleeding.

Sun hurriedly asked him to put it down. Si Chengxu did not show any sign of fatigue after carrying him all the way.

Li Xiaoxiao felt that someone might have come to her house, so she asked. Sun then told her that Li Dajiang had come and said that he had eaten lunch at home before leaving.

"There is one more thing." Sun said hesitantly. Looking at Li Xiaoxiao's face, she hesitated and didn't dare to say it.

"Mom, what do you think?" Li Xiaoxiao knew intuitively that it was not a good thing. She had never had a good impression of Li Dajiang. A man who spent his family's hard-earned money on wine and women, his character was obviously not good.

"Your father was in a good mood today and drank two glasses of wine. The imperial examination is coming soon. Your uncle came home to get money. There is not enough money in the old house, so your father said he would lend your uncle sixty taels of silver as travel expenses." Sun mustered up the courage to say it. In her heart, she didn't want to lend the money to Li Dajiang, but she had no say in the matter.

"Sixty taels of silver. It takes several days to go to the provincial capital for the imperial examination. Sixty taels of silver is enough. Where's my father?" Li Xiaoxiao tried her best to suppress her emotions that wanted to explode. Her mood at the moment was simply indescribable. She even wanted to hit someone. She had the silver, but she didn't want to lend it to anyone in the Li family, even if she wanted to lend it to others.

"He drank too much and is sleeping now. If he hadn't drunk, your father wouldn't be so reckless." Sun saw that Li Xiaoxiao was angry, but still spoke to Li Dahai, fearing that she would do something impulsive.

"Mom, you don't have to explain for him. Do you have to borrow money from others just because you are drunk? If the money was earned by him, then I have no objection, but the money my father earned from weaving bamboo baskets is not enough for him to buy two doses of medicine. The medicine he took was bought by me. Why should he lend the money I earned to others without my consent?"

Li Xiaoxiao was in a good mood today. Not long after she went to the mountain, she hunted a goat. This was her first time hunting a goat. Because Si Chengxu followed her and gave the prey directly to him after the kill, she didn't have to worry about transporting it down the mountain.

Originally, she wanted to go alone, but Si Chengxu said he could help and that he was good at archery. If they killed any prey, it would be used to pay for their food. Li Xiaoxiao thought about it and felt that it was a good idea. Not only could she have free labor, but she would also have a good helper, so she agreed immediately.

There was another reason. The Song family came to make trouble that day. Although she was not afraid, after all, the two villages avoided a fight because of him. She remembered this favor. Everyone has their own secrets. If he didn't tell, she naturally wouldn't ask. But just going up the mountain to hunt together, how could she refuse?

After what happened at home, Li Xiaoxiao had no time to think about eating mutton. He simply bandaged the goat and locked it up.

It was not until the afternoon that Li Dahai slowly woke up. He rubbed his aching temple and looked up to be startled. Li Xiaoxiao had been standing in front of his bed, looking at him expressionlessly.

"Xiaoxiao, how long have you been back? Have you eaten? What time is it now?" Li Dahai sat up and asked with concern.

Li Xiaoxiao found a stool and sat down, curling his lips: "It's 3 p.m. now. I've been back for quite a while and I've already eaten."

Hearing the noise, Sun came in and gave Li Dahai a reproachful look. Li Dahai was confused for a moment. Sun helped him put on his shoes and get out of bed while complaining: "You don't remember what happened when you were drinking."

"What happened?" He seldom drank, but got drunk easily when he did. From the expressions of Sun and Xiaoxiao, he knew that he must have forgotten something.

"My eldest brother is going to the provincial capital to take the imperial examination soon. He said that there is not enough money in the old house. You said that we have money at home and want to lend him sixty taels." Sun told him the story with an unhappy tone.

Hearing what Sun said, Li Dahai took a breath and then suddenly realized.

Thinking carefully, he had some impression that he seemed to have agreed to borrow money from his eldest brother. There were many people and fields in the old house, but because he was studying, the family had almost no money saved, and the harvest was not good this year, so no family had much spare money.

His elder brother had never asked him for money before, but he was indeed in trouble now, otherwise he would not have asked him to borrow money. His elder brother's imperial examination was related to the future fate of their Li family, so even though he was sober now, he still wanted to lend him money.

He looked at Li Xiaoxiao with an inquiring look before he could speak.

"Needless to say, I will not lend money to the Li family." Li Xiaoxiao refused without even thinking.

"Xiaoxiao, I know what you are worried about. Big brother said that he will return the money in the future and it has nothing to do with the old house." Li Dahai understood Xiaoxiao's concerns. If the money was counted as part of the old house, it would be almost impossible to get it back.

"Oh, what can he use to pay back? He still has to rely on the old house to live. You believe him, but I don't."

"Your uncle is good at studying, he will definitely pass the exam, and when he becomes an official, he will have money to repay you." Li Dahai has admired Li Dajiang since he was a child. Even though he failed the exam again and again, he still firmly believed that his elder brother would pass.

"Well, even if he passes the imperial examination, he can only be a county magistrate or a chief clerk, which costs four taels of silver a month. Their family of four usually needs two taels of silver a month for living expenses at the old house, not to mention the house they rent and writing materials. His son and daughter are of marriageable age, and their son's marriage and their daughter's going out all cost money. Where will uncle get the money from? He doesn't even have enough for himself, so how can he pay us back? If this debt falls on the old house, do you think the old house can be given to me?" Li Xiaoxiao snorted and asked in return.

She didn't know what Li Dajiang said to her father, but she could guess roughly that he was just making promises to his father and saying some words about brotherly love. This was a trick he often used. Otherwise, with the temperament of the Li family, how could they be willing to give him all the money they earned over the years.

"There is another possibility, and that is corruption. Corruption can be returned to us quickly, but it is a serious crime. If it is discovered, the punishment may be exile at the very least, and the entire clan may be implicated at the worst. Then all of us will be in trouble." Li Xiaoxiao was not exaggerating. Based on her understanding of Li Dajiang, he was very likely to have embezzled.

"This..." Li Dahai was speechless for a moment. He didn't think so much about it, but even so, his elder brother had studied hard for so many years, he couldn't not take the imperial examination just because he had no travel expenses.