The wonderful life of modern women in ancient times

Mrs. Cao thought that her daughter had been busy all night yesterday and had no rest today, so she wanted her daughter to go to bed early at night. Therefore, she prepared dinner early before the sun set. The family sat around and ate happily, then washed up and went to rest!

The next day, just after dawn, three carriages drove into the village. Three yamen runners jumped off the carriages and looked at the deserted streets. They frowned and muttered something. One of them banged the gong in his hand and shouted at the top of his voice: "Taxes are collected! Taxes are collected! Hurry up and come out and get ready to pay taxes!"

The originally quiet village suddenly became lively!

The villagers who were working in the fields hurried home to prepare the tax money.

Those who had not yet gotten up hurriedly put on their clothes, picked up the tax silver, and rushed to the village entrance kicking off their shoes.

The village chief came over first. He straightened his clothes, came to the yamen runner, bowed and smiled, and said, "Sir, I'm sorry, because the notice said that the tax would be paid tomorrow, everyone didn't get up early today to prepare. You should take a rest. I'll go get you some stools and tea!"

The long-faced yamen runner who was beating the gong said arrogantly, "It is up to the county magistrate to decide when to collect taxes! Stop talking nonsense and get ready!"

"Yes! Yes! I'll go right away!" The village chief quickly bent down and responded, then trotted back home.

After a while, the village chief was seen carrying a square table, Chen Youfu was carrying three square stools, the village chief's wife was holding a teapot and teacups, and Yuanyuan was carrying a small basket of peanuts and melon seeds. The whole family came hurriedly.

The village chief quickly arranged the table and stools, wiped them with his sleeves, and said to the three people in a flattering manner: "Sir, please take a seat!"

The village chief's wife hurried forward to pour tea for the three yamen runners, and said with a smile: "Three officials, this is the only coarse tea we have at home, please make do with it! Here are some sunflower seeds and peanuts that we dried at home, please eat some first, we will be here soon, and we promise not to delay your work!"

As she said this, she winked at Yuanyuan, indicating that Yuanyuan should hand her the melon seeds and peanuts.

Yuanyuan quickly took two steps forward and handed the basket to her mother, then stepped back to lean next to her brother and looked at the three yamen runners curiously.

One of the short and fat yamen runners looked at Yuanyuan. He saw that the little girl had a rosy round face, fair and smooth skin, so tender that you could pinch water out of it, and round eyes that were very lively. When she saw him looking over, she wrinkled her nose, pouted her red mouth, and hid behind the boy. What a cute little girl!

The bailiff rolled his eyes and came up with an idea. He pulled the other square-faced bailiff aside, and the two of them whispered for a long time, occasionally glancing at the round face.

Yuanyuan didn't know why, but when the two officials looked at her, she felt her scalp tingling and her body chilled. She felt very uneasy, as if she was being stared at by a wild beast. She frowned, quietly pulled her brother's sleeve, and said, "Brother, I want to go home first!"

Chen Youfu nodded and said in a low voice: "Hey, Yuanyuan, go back first, this has nothing to do with you!"

Seeing that many villagers had come over, Yuanyuan quietly retreated behind the crowd and then trotted back home. When she got home, she patted her chest, breathed a sigh of relief, and felt a little relieved.

At the entrance of the village, two yamen runners saw the little girl slipping away, looked at each other, a cold look flashed in their eyes, and a sinister smile appeared at the corners of their mouths.

The village chief saw that everyone had come, so he hurried to the yamen runner and bowed, saying, "Sir, everyone is here, you can start collecting taxes!"

The long-faced yamen runner glanced at the crowd and saw that the villagers were empty-handed. He frowned, threw down the peanuts in his hand, and said unhappily: "Village Chief Chen, what does your village mean by this? Where is the grain? You don't want to delay paying the tax? Let me tell you, the county magistrate has issued a strict order. No matter whether you sell your land or your children, you must collect the taxes. No village can delay! Otherwise, you will go to jail!"

Seeing that the yamen runner was angry, the village chief hurriedly explained with a cautious smile: "Sir, you misunderstood! Even if I had the courage, I would not dare to lead the villagers to delay paying taxes. It's like this. A few days ago, we accidentally picked some herbs, and the shopkeeper of Huichun Hall kindly bought them. It just happened to make up the tax money, otherwise we would have to sell our land!"

The three yamen runners looked at each other, and the one with the long face spoke up: "Oh! It looks like your village has become rich!"

After saying that, he glanced greedily at the crowd in front of him.

The village chief's heart skipped a beat and he smiled bitterly, "Alas, we have just collected enough tax money. We will be hungry in two months! Look at everyone's clothes, they are all patched up. The weather is getting colder and we don't even have money to buy cotton clothes! Sir, we ordinary people have a hard life!"

As the village chief spoke, he sighed deeply and wiped his red eyes with his sleeves.

Seeing that there was no money to be made, the yamen runner didn't want to listen to him complaining about being poor, so he said impatiently: "Okay, okay! Now that everyone is here, let's get started!"

The villagers lined up and paid the taxes in an orderly manner, all with miserable looks on their faces. They had just received the silver, but before they could enjoy it enough, they gave away most of it!

Since the villagers of Linshan Village paid taxes in silver, they did not need to move or weigh the grain, so the process was very fast and was completed in just one hour.

The three yamen runners were very satisfied with the successful collection of tax silver. They did not stay for long, stood up, patted their buttocks, and drove the carriage out of the village.

The village chief bowed behind him and said, "Sir, please take care. Thank you for coming down here!"

After the bailiff left, the crowd dispersed. Some went to the fields, some to pick grass for pigs, some to do embroidery... each went back to their work!

After the three yamen runners left the village, before they had gone far, the two runners at the back looked at each other, jumped off their carriages, and ran towards the long-faced runner in front!

The short and fat yamen runner shouted, "Brother, stop for a moment. I want to discuss something with you!"

The square-faced yamen runner stepped forward to help the eldest brother stop the carriage.

Seeing that the eldest brother's carriage had stopped, the short and fat yamen runner stepped forward and whispered, "Brother, what do you think of the daughter of Village Chief Chen that you met this morning? Is she cute?"

"You are so bored! You still have to go to the next village to collect taxes. I don't know if you will run into any unruly people. How can you still have the mind to gossip about this with me?" The long-faced yamen runner thought of the unruly people he met when he was collecting taxes yesterday, and scolded in a bad mood.

Seeing that his elder brother was angry, the short and fat yamen runner hurriedly pulled his arm and said, "Brother, don't be so anxious! Have you forgotten that our county magistrate's son likes this girl the most? If we offer this little girl to him, will he be so happy that he will give us a reward? The son is always generous!"