New ink fragrance in old times

Lin Mo listened quietly at the side, but his heart was in turmoil.

He secretly complained: This is not right. Your family has thirty acres of paddy fields and fifty acres of dry land; one family has fifteen acres of paddy fields and forty acres of dry land. I don’t know about paddy fields because I have never seen them, but your family plowed the dry land in two or three days, and it took less than one-third of the time of Grandpa Lin’s family. The same people work, but the difference is ten acres of land. I won’t believe it even if you kill me. There must be something fishy.

Lin Mo wanted to ask out loud, but seeing that no one seemed to notice anything was wrong and they were nodding to each other instead, Lin Mo thought about it and stopped thinking.

Old Mrs. Lin and Qian Xiufang were concentrating on turning the abacus, and the crisp sound of the abacus echoed in the yard.

After a while, Mrs. Lin stopped what she was doing and reported the results: "Rice yield is 17 dan 6 dou 6 liters 6 he 6 scoops, and the field tax is 7 dou 6 he 6 scoops, so the rice tax to be paid is 1 dan 7 dou 6 he 6 scoops. Corn yield is 42 dan, and the field tax is 1 dan 6 dou 8 liters, so the total tax to be paid is 4 dan 1 liter 3 he 3 scoops. Bean yield is 14 dan, and the field tax is 5 dou 6 liters, so the total tax to be paid is 8 dou 1 liter."

Qian Xiufang then confirmed: "My results are exactly the same as my sister-in-law's."

Lin Wenru's brows furrowed, his voice filled with confusion and bewilderment. "Sister-in-law, there seems to be a discrepancy in the accounts. I calculated the corn harvest at 30 dan, but you and Qian Xiufang calculated it at 42 dan. The discrepancy is too great. And the beans, I recorded 10 dan, but you recorded 14 dan. What's going on?"

Lin Wenru's words were like a stone that caused a thousand ripples, making the already tense atmosphere even more solemn.

Qian Xiufang and Old Lady Lin looked at each other in shock. They quickly lowered their heads again, their fingers jumping quickly on the abacus, checking again and again, but the result remained unchanged: 42 stone of corn and 14 stone of beans.

As Mrs. Lin's final voice of confirmation fell, the entire yard seemed to be covered by an invisible layer of frost. The air was so quiet that only the heavy breathing of each other could be heard.

Everyone looked at each other, lost in thought for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Seeing this, Lin Wenhong patted the table lightly and said in his steady and powerful voice, "Don't worry, everyone. This matter cannot be sloppy. We will check it one by one and we will find the problem."

Upon hearing this, although Lin Wenru still had doubts in his heart, he could only suppress his emotions and handed the record paper in his hand to Lin Sixuan and Lin Siyuan.

The two took the paper and started checking it immediately. They carefully compared each piece of data and calculated quickly on the abacus.

As time went by, the two of them whispered to each other and discussed in low voices from time to time.

Finally, after a careful check, Lin Sixuan discovered the crux of the problem: "Second Grandfather, it seems that you underestimated the harvest of ten acres of dry land."

Lin Wenru was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly took the record paper to check again. Sure enough, he found that he had missed ten acres of land when calculating the harvest of dry land.

He suddenly understood and said with a look of self-blame: "Oh, I'm really getting old and confused. Fortunately, you two were careful, otherwise this would have caused big trouble."

Qian Xiufang smiled and said to Lin Wenru, "We have a lot of accounts at home, so it's inevitable that there will be some omissions occasionally."

Lin Wenhong patted Lin Wenru's shoulder gently and said earnestly, "Yes, second brother, the important thing is that we discovered the problem in time and solved it together."

Lin Xuejin said to Lin Wenru, "Yes, Second Uncle, don't blame yourself too much. Anyone can make mistakes in such delicate work."

Others also gathered around and comforted Lin Wenru in their own ways.

Lin Mo saw that everyone was comforting Lin Wenru. He took a deep breath and was about to express his concern to Lin Wenru, but unexpectedly Lin Wenhong's voice suddenly sounded, interrupting his thoughts.

"Okay, it's early in the morning, everyone should do what they need to do." Lin Wenhong's words were filled with unquestionable majesty.

Mrs. Lin took over the conversation and carefully assigned the housework: "Second son, third son, the sun is scorching, hurry up and go to the backyard to peel corn."

Hearing this, Lin Xuejin smiled innocently and replied, "That's right, mother. Let's go right away." Then he turned around with Lin Xuebo and walked towards the backyard.

"Second son's wife, go and take a look at the grains drying in the sun. Those little birds are very cunning and they can peck away a lot of them without you noticing. We've worked hard for a year, we can't let these guys get away with it." Old Mrs. Lin turned around and instructed Han.

"Hua'er, you are young but careful. Just go and look after He'er. You have to be careful not to let her fall off the bed." Old Mrs. Lin's eyes softened a lot as she looked at Hua'er who was lowering her head.

Huaer looked up and nodded gently, "I understand, grandma. I will take good care of Heer."

Lin Wenhong then added, "I'll discuss this with your second uncle and the others to see if there are any omissions. You all should go about yourselves. There's no need to gather here."

Upon hearing this, everyone dispersed and began to busy themselves with their own affairs.

Lin Sizhe, Lin Sinan, Lin Siheng and other children were even more excited. They jumped and ran to the backyard to help.

Lin Mo stood aside, his eyes never leaving the papers in Lin Wenhong and Lin Wenru's hands.

He noticed that the papers were densely covered with various numbers and entries, but what they had just read out was only a part of it. Obviously, there was more content that had not been made public.

Lin Mo secretly wondered in his heart, was it just for show?

After everyone had left, Lin Wenhong, Lin Wenru, Old Lady Lin, Qian Xiufang, Lin Sixuan and Lin Siyuan walked into the house with abacus, paper and pen, looking solemn.

Lin Mo became even more curious, and he followed them stealthily, trying to find out something.

"Sanlang, what are you doing?" Lin Siyuan suddenly turned around and noticed Lin Mo's little action. He couldn't help but smile. There was a bit of ridicule in his smile, but more of it was the care for his younger brother Lin Mo.

Lin Mo was exposed and scratched his head in embarrassment. Just as he was about to explain, Lin Sixuan spoke first, "Grandfather, although Sanlang is still young, he is also a member of our Lin family. He will understand all this sooner or later. Why not let him come with us today and listen so that he can learn earlier."

Hearing this, Lin Wenhong's gaze lingered on Lin Mo for a moment, as if weighing something. Finally, he slowly nodded and said, "Okay, it wouldn't hurt to let him come and listen."

Lin Mo was delighted when he heard this. He looked at Lin Sixuan gratefully, then quickly followed their steps and stepped into the house.

Inside the room, the atmosphere was particularly solemn. Old Mrs. Lin gently closed the door, as if to isolate herself from the noise of the outside world.

Lin Mo muttered to himself, "What's going on? So mysterious." But then he collected his thoughts and listened attentively to their conversation.

Chapter 73 This is even more usurious than loan sharking