An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

Daqing's wife is also humorous, with an expression of composure that shows she knows nothing of hardship. She said, "I feel it's good to be here. There's no comparison, no need to compete. Every family is similar, and I feel mentally balanced."

Mrs. Erqing echoed this, saying, "Just open the door in the morning and the whole family can count the people. There's no need to pay respects morning and evening, and there's no need to follow any rules."

It made everyone laugh.

Fortunately, the elders were not around, otherwise I would have definitely been beaten with a feather duster.

The few neighboring ladies-in-law who brought their grandchildren had already gone out to play and were now being received by Nanny Wang. They seemed to be chatting and laughing, and it seemed like they got along well.

Suddenly Chuntao came in and said to Jing Yongcheng and the other two who were drinking tea, "Old General, the village chief has a message for you."

Jing Yongcheng couldn't hear clearly and asked, "Is the village chief here?"

He felt very strange. Didn't the village chief say they were also slaughtering a pig to entertain guests today? The table hadn't even been set yet, so why did he come over? It wasn't even dinner time yet.

Chun Tao was embarrassed and quickly clarified loudly: "No, the village chief said that someone from the county government had come and asked the heads of each of our families to come over."

Jing Yongqiang, Jing Yongjian, and Jing Changming were shocked when they heard this, thinking something was wrong and stood up immediately. Jing Yongcheng waved his hand and asked them to sit back down, then continued to pour tea and said, "You're new here, nothing special."

These words did not ease the expressions of the three men, but they were finally less nervous. However, they did not have the heart to drink the tea.

Seeing that Chuntao hadn't left, Jing Yongcheng instructed her again, "Tell the Third Master to come over quickly."

The last time Jing Changning came back from measuring the land, he told him that the county government had to count the number of prisoners regularly, so Jing Yongcheng was not panicked. He thought that this should be the last count before the New Year.

Jing Changning had heard Chuntao talk about this on the way over, so he didn't look anxious. He said, "The village should slaughter pigs every two or three days. I'm afraid the yamen runners also came into the village to have a good meal and then try to get some benefits from us and the village chief. It's nothing serious."

Jing Changning's words finally put the three of them at ease, but when they heard about the benefits, they became unhappy again.

Jing Changning looked at the clothes of his two uncles and thought that they did not arrange to wear new clothes for the New Year after coming here. What they wore was just a little better than the one they wore in exile. It was clean and tidy with almost no patches. Perhaps it was because they came to dinner today, so they wore their best clothes, but fortunately they were not conspicuous.

As for Jing Changming, he was not worried. His clothes were definitely not good, and they were definitely the same clothes he wore when he was exiled. His clothes were so washed that the original color was gone, and there were several patches on them!

Jing Changning said, "Wait a moment, I'll go change my clothes."

Jing Changning was wearing a long gown today. The fabric was considered too good by the people in the village, so he definitely had to change it.

After entering the house for a while, he came out and changed into the clothes he had worn in exile. The indigo blue color was a little worn and there were creases on it.

After the four of them stood up, Nanny Wang came over and asked, "The old lady is worried and asked the old general and the third master to consider whether to send some festival gifts."

Without even thinking about it, both father and son waved their hands and shook their heads: "No need."

If you give gifts at the beginning of the year and it becomes a habit, the annual gifts will increase every year, which will attract the attention of the yamen runners. If the yamen runners remember it, they will blackmail you during every festival. If you forget to give gifts during a certain festival, they may even hold a grudge against you, which will be counterproductive.

Moreover, if only their family sent the gift and the other three families did not, it would cause dissatisfaction among the yamen runners, and none of the families would be in a good situation.

Seeing how firmly they answered, both saying they wouldn't give any gifts, the other three were a little scared, but they didn't dare to suggest that they give anything. So as soon as they walked out the door, they pushed each other and said, "We'll talk about it when we get there."

Once people become poor, they become less assertive in their words. I'm afraid they think that if a house is given to them, they can just move in. After all, they have not experienced much.

The four of them were considered late. When they arrived at the village chief's house, there were already eight people standing at the door, seven men and one woman lined up in a row. They could guess that these were the heads of the families of the more than one hundred exiled prisoners. Jing Changning led the three of them to form another row and stood behind them.

Someone outside said that everyone was present, and then the village chief came out. He first looked at the clothes of Jing Changning and the other three, then said nothing, just nodded at them, and did not invite them into the house, and turned back.

After the village chief walked in, the eight people in front turned around and greeted them. Two of them actually spoke fluent dialect, but apart from their tanned faces, they didn't look like people from this place at all. It seemed that they had been exiled for a long time and even their accents had changed. They were probably not the first generation of exiles. Their clothes were also completely integrated into local life and were no different from those of the locals.

There were young men in their twenties, old men in their sixties, and a woman in her forties. They all spoke politely. No one asked where they were from, nor did they reveal any information about their family. They just looked at them with consideration.

However, judging from their accents, heights and appearances, they don't seem to be exiled from the capital. Moreover, none of them seems to be having an easy life now. The hardships of life have smoothed out their original edges, and they have become almost the same as the local villagers.

They were all very friendly and didn't seem like they would cause trouble. Although there wasn't much sadness on their faces, it was obvious that life had worn away their fighting spirit, and they all had expressions of resignation.