It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

When Song Zhi and his group arrived at the county town, they saw a bustling crowd of people queuing up to pay grain outside the city not far away.

Everyone felt nervous. It seemed that there were quite a few people coming to pay grain today.

A villager asked in confusion: "Hey, why are they queuing there?"

As soon as these words were spoken, an official patrolling along the official road outside the city saw people carrying grain and shouted, "Those paying the grain do not need to enter the city. Line up outside the city to pay the grain."

When the villagers heard this, they did not dare to delay and chose a place with fewer people and walked towards it.

There were grain collection stalls set up at the foot of the east and west city walls. Because there was a lot of open space outside the city, although there seemed to be a lot of people, it was not as crowded as in the county government office.

Song Zhi felt that this arrangement was more appropriate.

The grain-collecting team from Songjia Village headed towards the thatched hut on the east side. Song Youshan, who was at the end of the team, saw that his niece was still following him, so he said to her:

"Azhi, you should go into the city first and deliver the cakes. With so many people here, we might not be able to get in the morning. We don't want to waste your time."

Song Zhi paused, "Okay, then I'll go deliver the cakes first, and then buy you some lunch later."

Song Youshan waved his hand and said, "Your aunt brought us some dry food, so don't bother!"

After saying that, he raised his foot and followed the grain transport team.

Song Zhi stood there and looked at the group to confirm which stall the villagers stopped at before hurriedly entering the county town.

Song Zhi first delivered the pastries to Wei Yue Fang, and then went to the Wang family residence.

To be on the safe side, Song Zhi still did not knock on the Wang family's door in person, but spent ten cents to ask a child to help knock on the door.

She walked to a nearby mutton soup shop and ordered two bowls of mutton soup.

Within a quarter of an hour, Ivana Wang came looking for him.

Song Zhi stood up and greeted her with a smile, "Sister, would you like some mutton soup? If you don't like it, we can go somewhere else."

Wang Wanzhi took Song Zhi's arm and walked into the shop. "I think this place is good."

Qishui County is adjacent to the grassland, and there are also pastures suitable for raising sheep in the county. Compared with eating pork, in fact, more people in the county eat mutton!

On a street, there are two or three mutton soup restaurants from the beginning to the end, and one or two restaurants selling grilled mutton skewers.

In short, the locals mainly eat mutton.

Therefore, it was not wrong for Song Zhi to choose to meet at this mutton soup shop.

The two sat facing each other, and Song Zhi asked straight to the point, "Sister, please tell me something, what's the matter?"

Wang Wanzhi nodded. "Tomorrow I'm going to the farm in Ningtong Town. The head of the farm reported that the harvest is much worse. Grandpa asked me to take some people to check out the situation."

"I'd like to ask Sister Song to go with me and have some fun. The fruits in the orchard over there are ripe, so we can pick some and taste them."

Song Zhi didn't expect that he was inviting her to visit the village. She paused and asked, "How long will we be gone? Can we come back in the evening?"

Wang Wanzhi nodded heavily. "We'll set out in the morning and arrive in Ningtong Town around 9:00 PM. I'll give the farm a tour and we'll be back in the evening."

Seeing her say this, Song Zhi nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll go back and tell my grandma that I'll go to Ningtong Town with you tomorrow!"

This matter is actually a troublesome one, and there may be something fishy going on in this village.

If it were in the past when she had little contact with her, she would definitely weigh the pros and cons and not want to get involved in such a family struggle.

But at this time, she already regarded Ivana Wong as a friend. When her friend was in trouble, all she could do was to give her support when she needed it.

Just as she had struggled to make a living alone before, she also wished she had a friend who could accompany her when she was in trouble.

Sure enough, after hearing Song Zhi's agreement, Wang Wanzhi's eyes lit up. She happily shook Song Zhi's hand and said, "Thank you, Sister Song. Thank you so much."

Song Zhi smiled back, "I thought we were friends. If we're friends, why are you being so polite?"

Ivana Wong nodded repeatedly, her whole body filled with a happy atmosphere.

The two of them each drank a bowl of mutton soup. Before parting, they agreed to meet at the city gate at dawn tomorrow and then take a carriage together to Ningtong Town.

On the way out of the city, when passing by a meat pie stall, Song Zhi bought a few more meat pies to fill the stomachs of the few people.

The sun was scorching and it was really hard to stand in line under the scorching sun to weigh the food.

Fortunately, everyone had anticipated this and most people wore hats to protect themselves from the sun.

When Song Zhi found her uncle and his companions, she saw them sitting under the shade of a cart, offering some protection from the high sun.

When Song Youshan saw his niece coming over, he said to her, "We'll be here for a while, you should go back first!"

Song Zhi handed over the meat pie in her hand and looked up at the line in front of her. It seemed that it would only take half an hour for them to get in line.

So she shook her head and found a shady spot to sit cross-legged. "It will be our turn soon. I will go with you."

Seeing his niece like this, Song Youshan knew that he couldn't persuade her.

I subconsciously moved my seat so that my niece could sit in the shade to avoid being exposed to the sun.

"Thanks to the county magistrate, paying taxes this year is much easier than before. I just saw him inspecting here."

"I just heard from the people ahead that the county magistrate has ordered that starting tomorrow, all the village heads must come to the county town to pay their taxes. I think tomorrow will be easier than today."

"We've finally met a kind official who can sympathize with us. If we follow the instructions from the county government, we won't have to endure the scorching sun in this hot summer!"

"..."

Everyone was chatting idly, and Song Zhi looked towards the straw shed where the food stalls were set up and the grain was collected.

It seemed that Zhou Yu’s figure was really seen in front of a thatched hut.

He is a diligent and good official.

It doesn't matter how well he did it at the beginning or how thorough his considerations were, but he was able to make improvements bit by bit to make things more convenient for the people.

It is indeed worthy of the praise from the people.

Zhou Yu looked into the crowd as if sensing something, but there were too many people queuing up, and he didn't catch the inquiring gaze.

So he withdrew his gaze and continued to explain the next arrangements to the officials around him.

Under Zhou Yu's personal supervision, the officers were very efficient in calculating the grain bills.

Within half an hour, it was Song Zhi's family's turn.

All I heard was the officer singing, "Song Youshan, two men of age, must pay four dan of grain, fifty feet of linen cloth, and six catties of hemp. The actual amount paid was two dan of grain, twenty-five feet of linen cloth, and three catties of hemp. The rest will be paid after the autumn harvest."

At the same time, the clerk on the other side kept taking notes.

Song Youshan took the cloth and Song Ping carried the grain and went forward to weigh them with the officials.

During this period, no officials blocked us from paying taxes, and the grain payment process was completed very smoothly.

The extra half bag of grain that he brought with him out of fear of being harassed by the officers was not used and was put back on the cart.

Therefore, throughout Songjia Village, the faces of all the villagers were filled with bright smiles.