The young couple from the farm fights back

During the Daqing Dynasty, the taxes paid by the people every year were collected and paid by the local village head. Afterwards, within a specified period, the head of the village would collect the tax grain from the villagers from the village head and transport it to the county government office.

This year, due to several heavy rains in some parts of Yizhou City in the two months before the autumn harvest, the fields that had been dry for several months were blessed by God, and the crops grew better than in previous years.

Many villagers paid taxes according to their share, and the surplus was nearly a stone of grain more than in previous years. It was rare that they did not show a sad face in front of the headman's house.

When Zhou Chunfeng carried a load of grain to the village head's house, he saw a long line of people coming out of the village head's house from afar.

Weighing the taxes was a major undertaking, and the village head's yard was filled with the grain the villagers had paid in. These grains had to wait for the arrival of the village head and others, who would review them, weigh them again, and then return the bamboo baskets to each household.

The head of the village sat at the old table in the yard and registered the land. His sons were responsible for checking the land occupied by the villagers and then measuring and handing over their shares in front of the villagers. Everyone was busy and orderly.

"Brother!" Dashuan waved to Zhou Chunfeng in the team.

He motioned Zhou Chunfeng to line up in front of him. Zhou Chunfeng really didn't want to say that he was stupid. There were at least a dozen villagers lined up behind Dashuan. Under the scorching sun, who wouldn't want to finish their work as soon as possible and go home?

Let him cut in line in public, and he will be blamed for it later.

Zhou Chunchong gestured to go to the back to carry the platoon, which again left Zhou Dashuan dumbfounded.

Why did he feel that Brother Zhou was sometimes quite shrewd, and sometimes so honest that it left people speechless? No one dared to gossip about him if he joined Zhou Dashuan's team.

Dashuan expressed helplessness, sighed and turned around, just in time to meet the disdainful gaze of the person in front of him. How could Dashuan, with his bad temper, tolerate this?

"Hey~, I'm telling you, Zhou Laosan, what are you looking at? You don't want your eyes anymore!"

Zhou Laosan choked with anger: ...

Zhou Laosan was angry, but Zhou Dashuan was taller than him and was a notorious rough man in Shilitun. Anyone who faced this plague god would end up in trouble.

Suddenly, Dashuan found that he really enjoyed seeing Zhou Laosan being humiliated, and he felt very happy!

Zhou family courtyard.

"One plus one equals one, one plus two equals two, one plus three equals three, one plus four equals four..."

Jiang Li was preparing lunch in the kitchen. Since there was food in stock at home, Jiang Li would not starve herself or her children anymore.

At noon, I steamed a pot of brown rice, fried a plate of cabbage, and steamed some nutritious egg cake for the child.

Yiheng and Yijing were squatting on the ground playing with small branches. Yiheng was stammering as he recited the multiplication formulas his mother had taught him. In reality, a four-year-old child should be in the middle class and would learn more about addition, subtraction and basic pinyin.

But Jiang Li didn't have any teaching materials, so she asked the child to memorize the formula as a jingle first, and then asked Zhou Chunfeng to go to the town bookstore to buy some books suitable for the child's enlightenment.

Little Yian on my back smelled the fragrance of the egg cake and his mouth was watering. It smelled so good.

Before Zhou Chunfeng returned home, Jiang Li first let the children eat and go back to the house for a nap. She continued to spread the remaining millet in the yard to dry, and wrapped the dried Atractylodes lancea in old clothes and sent it to the town to exchange for copper coins a few days later.

When Zhou Chunfeng returned home, the couple went to the kitchen to eat together.

Zhou Chunfeng took a sip of cold tea and saw that there were only two spoonfuls of steamed egg cake left on the plate, so he picked up the spoon and poured them all into Jiang Li's bowl.

Jiang Li didn't bother to be polite with him. She asked him to transfer the white rice in the bowl to the plate and stir the remaining soup. It was a simple farm meal.

"I haven't had much to do at home lately. I want you to go to town tomorrow to buy some chicks and ducklings and raise them in our backyard. That way, we can have a good meal during the New Year."

Zhou Chunfeng took a few bites of rice and asked casually, "Anything else you need?"

Jiang Li thought for a moment and said, "Besides buying a few enlightenment books for Heng'er, I'll also buy some cheap straw paper. When I go there, I can take the extra atractylodes lancea to the pharmacy and exchange it for a few copper coins."

"Okay~."

"There's no work in the fields right now, so I'd like to try my luck in the mountains every morning. How about you come up there to chop wood in the afternoon?"

Zhou Chunfeng thought this distribution was excellent.

After the autumn harvest, the villagers would go up the mountain to chop firewood. Some good firewood could be taken to the town and exchanged for a few copper coins. Winter comes early in the north and firewood is used up quickly. At that time, it is basically impossible to find good firewood in the mountains.

The plan to raise poultry in captivity was a temporary decision. There was no time to make cages, so we simply fenced off a small corner next to the vegetable garden in the backyard and let the chickens and ducklings roam free.

Brothers Yiheng and Yijing squatted by the fence. The little ones had their eyes wide open. It was the first time they saw small animals at home.

Yi Jing even imitated the sound of a duckling's voice, which made Jiang Li laugh uncontrollably.

"We still have to build the cages quickly, and there should be a piece of land to shelter them when it snows." Jiang Li stood up from the fence and glanced at Zhou Chunfeng beside him.

Zhou Chunfeng took the little son from Jiang Li's arms and nodded, "Okay, I'll do it at home in my free time."

Poultry cages are not very sophisticated, they are basically made of wooden blocks pieced together with strips of wood.

The cabbage seeds in the field nearby have already sprouted, and the dense and thin tender shoots make people feel comfortable when looking at them.

The sun is setting now, it's a good time to water the vegetables. "You take the child back to the front, I'll water the vegetables."

Zhou Chunfeng wanted to say that he would water it himself, but Jiang Li had already picked up the bucket of water beside him, so he had to give up.

Having a daughter-in-law who is too hardworking makes him feel like he has nothing to do.

Zhou Chunfeng took the children back to the front yard and simply picked out firewood of appropriate size from the pile of firewood before dark, and cut out the wood blocks needed for the cage first.

The afterglow of the setting sun spreads across the courtyard, and the busy figures and children's laughter all reflect a different kind of fireworks atmosphere.

The next day at dawn, Jiang Li opened the gate with a bamboo basket on her back. Zhao had been waiting outside the yard for a long time. The two sisters-in-law talked and laughed as they walked towards the foot of the mountain.

Today, Jiang Li and Zhao went to Dianqiao Mountain again. The Jiu Tou Ao was flattened by the footsteps of the villagers of Shilitun. At least there was still Atractylodes lancea in Dianqiao Mountain. Although the money they sold was small, they could at least exchange it for a basket of eggs for the child.

Zhao followed Jiang Li's footsteps closely. Last time they stopped halfway up the mountain. Today, Jiang Li planned to search the entire Dianqiao Mountain.

As the sun gradually rose, Jiang Li discovered that the geological soil became drier as he got closer to the foot of Dianqiao Mountain.

Looking up, I found that this top of the mountain is exposed to the sun all year round.

"Sister-in-law, further down is the river leading to the village. I'm afraid there won't be any valuable goods down there."

Jiang Li turned around and smiled: "Who knows? There is no work in the fields right now, and we are not in a hurry to go back."

Zhao thought about it and agreed: "Okay, sister-in-law."

Just as Zhao finished speaking, she accidentally slipped and cried, "Ah!"

Jiang Li was quick to pull her clothes from behind.

Although the ground beneath my feet was close to the foot of the mountain, the terrain was quite steep. If I really rolled down, even if I didn't die, I would be seriously injured.

"Are you okay?"

Jiang Li held onto a bunch of tall green stems beside him for support with one hand, half-crouched down and looked at Zhao.

Zhao was still in shock and climbed up with trembling legs. The sickle and small hoe in the bamboo basket on her back fell out.

Fortunately, I was wearing thick coarse cloth clothes, but I fell just now and my butt hurts a little.

"Come, be careful." Jiang Li steadied his feet and helped Zhao up.

Zhao patted the back of her clothes. Her palm was a little scratched, but it was not a big deal. "Sister-in-law, I'm fine."

Jiang Li asked her to move her legs and feet in front of him to make sure Zhao was alright, then helped her pick up the sickle and hoe on the ground: "Be careful, watch your step."

"Uh-huh!"

After Jiang Li finished speaking, he lowered his head to look at the place under his feet.

Suddenly, as Zhao moved his feet, a piece of cut purple rhizome appeared under the soil.