Shipin Dalizheng

Li Jin blamed himself for getting up late, "Prince, I'm sorry."

Looking at the child, Rong Tang's eyes softened. "You are still young, so you are naturally sleepy. Go to bed early tonight."

Doctor Zhang yelled, "I'm very tired and exhausted. Hey, what's with that expression..."

There were bangs on the door. Li Jin went to get the long bolt and opened the door. "Ah, Fourth Grandma."

The person knocking on the door was Li Sipo. She took over the job of making underwear from Zhou and finished it in two days and sent it over.

Li Jin asked her to come in and talk, but Li Sipo refused to come in and spoke awkwardly, "No, let Miss Chuncao take a look. If everything is ok..." She rubbed her hands and said embarrassedly that there was no food at home, so she used the wages to buy food.

Chuncao came over to check it out. The size of the clothes made by Li Sipo was that of Doctor Zhang, Rong Zhan, and Rong Shen. It couldn't be said to be very good, but the stitches were tight and fine.

"Very good, Sipo, here is your wages."

A set of outer clothes cost thirty cents, an inner garment cost fifteen cents, and six sets of inner garments cost ninety cents. When these were handed to Li Sipo, her calloused hands were shaking.

As soon as Mrs. Li Si left, Mrs. Wang Wu came again. She also came to give her underwear and also paid her with ninety coins. She was overjoyed.

Doctor Zhang picked out his underwear and said with disgust, "How ugly." But his mouth stretched behind his ears.

The six adult men in the compound all had their underwear, but Li Jin's hadn't arrived yet. He looked a little disappointed as he helped Doctor Zhang into the kitchen to eat.

More and more people came to deliver ready-made clothes. It wasn't until the afternoon that Zhou, who was making linings and outerwear for the two young men, Li Jin and Rong Wanli, came over. Chuncao then realized that something was wrong with her. "Aunt Dashan, what's wrong with you?"

Zhou didn't answer. With red eyes, she accepted the 180 coins Chuncao gave her and left in a hurry.

After she was far away, Xiao Sanya came over and whispered to Chuncao, "Sister Chuncao, can you give me two steamed buns? The money will be deducted from my savings."

Chuncao raised her eyebrows, "Why, you and your mother didn't get any food again?"

"It was my mother who didn't eat. Grandma scolded her. Last night, grandma scolded my mother for being a chicken that doesn't lay eggs, and she also scolded my father for being heartless. But when I woke up in the middle of the night, my mother was still crying softly, complaining about how cruel my father was and what oath he made. She also blamed grandma for being cruel and for forcing my father to break his oath. My father didn't say a word last night, no matter how grandma scolded him."

Chuncao asked San Ya to pick flowers to pay for the steamed buns, then turned back to the kitchen and repeated what she had said to Rong Tang. Rong Tang looked at her gloomily.

Two more fancy candies appeared on the chopping board. They were lollipop molds carved by Rong Qianqi, with patterns on the surface. One was spherical, the other flower-shaped.

And today I have some experience. Several juicing machines are used together to squeeze juice, which quickly fills a bucket, reducing the time of contact with air and oxidation. The color of the syrup is much better, light gold, golden yellow, and golden red.

Rong Tang knew that his idea was feasible, and the next step was to race against time.

Fuxinzhuang.

Yang Liangui was captured by the Beishan Camp and released only a few days later, which made the wounded soldiers in Fuxinzhuang extremely desperate.

They thought they had a new backer, but this backer was too weak. He was just a self-defeating kid who could not resist his father's authority, nor could he provide them with survival security. They were destined to continue sinking in the sea of ​​suffering.

Wei Wu, who was elected as the leader, looked at the worried faces in front of him and shook his half-empty right arm. He seemed to have made up his mind and said, "Fuxin Village can no longer support all of us. I have decided to take some people out to make a living. Who is willing to follow me?"

They have said this many times, but it has never been realized because there is a paradox.

The five or six hundred wounded soldiers are just five or six hundred in numbers, but they are not the actual five or six hundred laborers. Some of them have no labor force.

Those who are able to work are at best semi-laborers, and in some ways are not as good as women and children who have all their limbs intact.

The thousands of acres of land in Fuxinzhuang were cultivated thanks to the concerted efforts of these people and their mutual support. Initially, it was enough to cover expenses, and after a few years, they could have enough to eat. Later, Jin Shizhao took over the Bo Mansion and made his second brother-in-law the owner of Fuxinzhuang. That's when the hard times began.

A few years ago, they knew they had to find another way to supplement their food rations, but they couldn't find work if they wanted to go out to work. They had to take little or no wages and just eat. Only a small number of "strong laborers" could find jobs, and the rest were even more disabled and couldn't even farm the land, and were waiting to starve to death.

In order to prevent them from starving to death, those who can work are not allowed to go out, forming an unsolvable closed loop.

Among the most seriously injured soldiers, one was Rong Zheng's former personal guard leader. Both of his legs were broken at the knees, and he needed help even to go to the toilet. His eyes were filled with pain. "It's me! I'm a burden to everyone. I should have died long ago. If I were dead, there would be no need to waste food."

"Rong Xian."

Wei Wu's eyes were red. "My uncle established this Fuxinzhuang retirement village for you. Without you, Fuxinzhuang has no reason to exist."

Rong Xian smiled bitterly, "I've lived so many extra years, and my uncle is dead, but I'm still here. It's ridiculous to think about it. Forget it, enough is enough. My uncle has good intentions, but there is no successor. Now the relatives are in power, and the emperor changes his ministers. If he wants to take back Fuxinzhuang and drive us all away, there's nothing we can do. Even if we report it to Jingzhao Prefecture, even if the prefect takes pity on us, there's nothing we can do about it. This is the situation now. If you think there's a way out, leave. If you think there's no way out, stay. Anyway, we still have a thatched cottage here, so we can die with dignity."

Wei Wu said anxiously, "I didn't mean to abandon you and escape alone. I just wanted to earn some money and buy some food to make up for the shortfall..."

"Then tell me, what kind of work can you do?"

"I……"

Wei Wu couldn't say it.

"You want to take a group of brothers to beg, right?"

Rong Xian's voice was shrill, and Wei Wu's face was pale. "You know?"

"I've had this suspicion for a long time. Sometimes the wild vegetable porridge we eat has a distinctly sour smell, yet it still contains shredded pork. Are you dumping the leftovers you beg for into the big pot?"

A skinny man without an eye next to Wei Wu came over to admit his fault, "Brother Xian, it's not Brother Wu's fault. It's me. I went begging. Even if it's leftovers, at least I have something to eat, which is better than starving to death. If you want to scold me, scold me. It's my own fault for being useless and bringing disgrace to the Rong family army."

Rong Xian trembled, his eyes suddenly moist. Where was the Rong family army? Where was the military might?

"The Rong family army...is gone."

He closed his eyes in pain. "Youzi, this is not your fault. You did the right thing. What I want to say is that even if we have to beg, it should be us useless people who go. What is face worth? Wei Wu, you who can work should farm well, and let us useless people beg."

He said it with difficulty, but firmly.

Youzi started to cry, "Brother Xian, I only lost one ear, but I have to cover my head and face so that no one can see it. People in the city are very precious, they say..."

"Yuko!"

Rong Xian was on the verge of collapse as Wei Wu shouted. It turned out that people like them were even looked down upon for begging.

Wei Wu said anxiously: "Rong Xian, it's not entirely like that. The rich people in the city are not allowed to enter, but ordinary people are still easy to talk to. If you don't care about other people's eyes, I can carry you..."

Rong Xian's eyes grew redder. Wouldn't it be even more of a burden to have a one-handed man carrying a two-legged man? If Wei Wu was chased away, he wouldn't even be able to run fast.

It turns out that I am not even worthy of begging.