The eldest sister-in-law became rich by farming in the mountains

Xu Yingtao raised her hand and grabbed his head: "Stop, you have to read this book whether you want to or not, I will figure out the rest, anyway, our family must have a scholar."

In fact, she did not tell the truth. The private school teacher was very strict about the age of students and would not consider anyone over ten years old.

Xu Yingtao really couldn't bear to undermine her child's confidence.

Forget it. If it doesn't work, I'll wait until I make some money and hire a teacher to teach at home. That way she can attend the lessons and won't have to pretend to be illiterate anymore.

Xie Bai had no idea what she was thinking. He just thought that his sister-in-law was only thinking about him. His nose suddenly felt sore and his heart was filled with emotion, almost overflowing from his eyes.

When I returned to the stall, Zheng’s jelly had been sold out.

The two sisters-in-law were quick and efficient and had already packed up the utensils from both families and carried them steadily on the shoulders of the Zheng brothers.

Jiang didn't feel comfortable asking someone else to do it for her, but Xiao Zhou didn't allow any explanation and loaded all the things they had bought onto the cart. The family had no choice but to return to the village empty-handed.

Knowing that they were afraid of gossip from the villagers, the Zheng family took a long detour with them, paid the money for the jelly, and then returned home.

There were eighty pieces of jelly in total, plus ten cents for the ingredients, leaving a balance of one hundred and seventy cents, which Xu Yingtao gave to Jiang to keep.

In the afternoon, the whole family ate and drank their fill and took a nap before going into the mountains to pick fruits in a refreshed state.

In the forest, the family was busy picking leaves and wild fruits, chatting casually, and their laughter always echoed in the mountains.

But when the topic turned to farmland yields, Xu Yingtao's smile gradually faded.

Nowadays, agricultural technology is backward and the output rate of fields is extremely low. At most, one acre of land can yield about 200 kilograms of rice. The local area is mountainous and the average person has only two acres of land. After paying taxes and keeping seeds, and selling part of it for expenses and paying head taxes, there is not much food left. Every household needs to switch to coarse grains and mix them with vegetables to survive the lean period.

Xu Yingtao was silently counting the accounts in her heart, and the more she counted, the heavier her mood became.

"How much is the agricultural tax now?" she asked.

Jiang sighed, her tone full of helplessness: "Last year, the tax rate was already 20% and 4%, and as for this year, I'm afraid it will be even less optimistic."

"Twenty percent tax?!" Xu Yingtao exclaimed, her voice almost out of control. She had never expected that Dayu's tax burden would be so heavy.

Her original memory was filled with endless scolding and hard work, but she had no idea about the tax policies that affected her livelihood.

Jiang nodded: "I heard that when the dynasty was first established, people only had to pay 1 in 30 taxes. Now, less than a hundred years later, the common people are almost left with no way to survive."

It means there is no way to survive.

Poor harvests and heavy taxes are like two huge mountains pressing on people's shoulders, making it hard to breathe. If natural disasters or man-made disasters occur again, all efforts will be in vain.

In addition to this, regardless of gender, age or status, each person had to pay an additional 150 cents per year as a head tax, which was simply forcing people to death.

Xu Yingtao pursed her lips tightly, with a look of worry between her brows.

Jiang comforted her gently, "Cherry, the government promised to exempt our family from taxes for three years, so you don't have to worry."

Recalling that when the eldest son was alive, he was the pillar of the family and shouldered all the burdens alone. Even after he passed away, it seemed that he continued to protect his family from wind and rain in this way and gave them three years of worry-free protection.

Thinking of this, Jiang's eyes couldn't help but turn red and flash with tears.

Xu Yingtao gently patted Jiang's back, and after she calmed down, she asked, "Mother, since the government has promised to exempt our family from taxes for three years, is there any official document or certificate to support this?"

"There is a document."

Xu Yingtao really wanted to see it, but she was illiterate, so saying that she wanted to see it would be too much of an exaggeration. She could only ask Jiang to keep it well.

Because of this incident, Xu Yingtao's heart seemed to be shrouded in dark clouds in the next few days. Even when Jiang announced that she had finally saved up a tael of silver, it failed to effectively alleviate her inner worries and uneasiness.

That afternoon, Jiang was in charge of making the fire, the brother and sister cleaned the tools, and Xu Yingtao steamed the glutinous rice that had been soaked in the morning, then washed and chopped the malt with a few green tips until the malt released a rich wheat aroma.

"Sister-in-law, is the maltose ready?"

Xie Li sucked his saliva and asked the same question for the eighth time.

Xu Yingtao mixed the steamed glutinous rice with the malt powder while it was still hot, and covered the pot tightly. She said cruelly, "Wait at least three more hours."

Xie Li let out a wail, turned his grief and anger into strength, and casually broke a stick of firewood as thick as his arm.

The room was filled with silence.

With all this energy, it would be a shame if I didn't do some work.

As dusk falls, the glutinous rice malt crumbs are fully fermented, producing a large amount of syrup. After being simmered over low heat, the golden syrup flows slowly, like a pot of sunset.

As the sugar liquid is boiled, the water gradually evaporates, the concentration of the sugar liquid becomes higher and higher, the color becomes more and more attractive, and the air is filled with sweet fragrance.

When the sugar liquid is cooked to just the right degree, Xu Yingtao stops stirring and pours the sugar liquid onto the chopping board until it is no longer hot.

"Ali, it's up to you from now on!" After Xu Yingtao explained the details, she gave up her seat and stood aside.

Xie Li really lived up to everyone's expectations. With the help of Niu Jin, she easily completed the task of pulling the sugar. The originally brown semi-solidified syrup took on an off-white metallic luster after she folded and pulled it hundreds of times.

At this point, the maltose had lost all its toughness and could no longer be pulled.

While there was still some warmth left, Xu Yingtao took out the cotton thread she had prepared long ago and cut the candy sticks as thick as a rolling pin into small sugar melons, which were round and plump and very cute.

"Okay, eat!"

She grabbed a handful of candied melons and stuffed them into Xie Li's hands as a reward for her hard work.

The little girl narrowed her eyes sweetly, smiled foolishly, and forced one into her brother's mouth.

Jiang couldn't help but praise: "It's indeed sweeter than the ones sold in town."

Xu Yingtao gladly accepted the compliment, shared the snacks among the four people, and put the remaining two pounds of sugar cubes into the ceramic jar.

After all this busy work, I won’t need to buy candy for several days.

As for dinner, it is fried glutinous rice malt cakes.

In the past, she would never have eaten these "wastes", but now, after experiencing the hardships of life, she cherishes every meal and every drink, not to mention that glutinous rice is a precious commodity.

She pressed the glutinous rice balls with a little soy sauce and chopped green onions into small cakes of even size, and then fried them with lard until they were crispy and fragrant. Paired with a bowl of fresh and delicious loofah and egg soup, it was refreshing and delicious.

The eggs were brought by Mrs. Zhou when she delivered some ficus carica in the evening. There were four eggs in total. Xu Yingtao beat them all into egg scrambled eggs in one go and decided to buy some more from the Zheng family tomorrow.

The whole family needs to replenish their bodies, and eggs are a good thing.

After dinner, it was still early, and the family sat together, ready to learn math skills from Xu Yingtao.