The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences
The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences Chapter 62.2

Chapter 62: Four Stones Four 2/2

Sang Lou fetched water to wash the Artemisia argyi, prepared the seasoning, and got ready to make spicy oil mixed with vegetarian tripe. Vegetarian tripe and crystal fruit were the goods Sang Lou was going to take to the county today.

While she was preparing the ingredients, Shen Ning had already gone to fetch firewood to help start the fire.

This kind of understanding made Sang Lou unsure of what to say for a moment.

If she said she wasn’t upset at all, it would be impossible. It wasn’t because of these two little ones. Since they were living together, she was willing to pay the rent for the two children.

What she didn’t expect was that a person who was already gone still had to pay two stones in tax.

Really, he had carried the burden for all three of them.

Wasn’t this like seeing a ghost?

But she couldn’t curse the man named Shen Lie, who was ostensibly her husband. If the spirits of those who died on the battlefield were alive, they might all crawl out of the ground and choke today’s necks and drag them down to the netherworld.

Thinking of this, combined with a whole night of nightmares, Sang Lou couldn’t help but feel bad, and she just didn’t feel like talking.

It wasn’t until the tofu was ready, and the vegetarian tripe was made and packed in pottery pots, and the three jars of crystal fruit were packed, that the three of them sat down together and had breakfast. Sang Lou calculated the time, moved the stones that were pressing on the tofu board, and saw that the tofu had formed well and was neatly cut into pieces.

The sky was already slightly brightening, no longer pitch black.

Chen Youtian and Qin Fangniang came to knock on the door, and Gan and Feng Liuniang came too. Sang Lou handed the goods to a few of them, saying that she would go to the county with them today.

After everything was taken out, it was time to leave. Originally, there was nothing that the two siblings needed to help carry, but they each insisted on carrying a small jar and followed along down the mountain.

Chen Youtian was about to leave with the cart, and Shen An couldn’t help feeling a little panicked.

Following Sang Lou for several steps, when Sang Lou asked them to go home and rest a bit, Shen An and Shen Ning both grabbed Sang Lou’s sleeve.

Looking around, perhaps considering Qin Fangniang and the others, Shen An didn’t know how to speak up.

Seeing him like this, Sang Lou simply asked Chen Youtian and the others to wait for a moment, then sent the two siblings back home and reassured them, “Don’t worry too much. Did you have a rough night? Go back and get some rest.”

The siblings shook their heads in unison.

Shen An whispered, “Sister-in-law, I’m not tired. I’m grown up now. I can make tofu, do household chores, and go into the mountains to find things. I can also help earn money to support the family now. Sister-in-law, please don’t reject me and my sister.”

Shen Ning also nodded, “Sister-in-law, I can raise chickens and ducks. If you buy a few more geese, I can take care of them too. We can make some money from these things in a year.”

Sang Lou smiled and patted Shen Ning’s head, “Okay, after we pay the rent, if we have money, I’ll buy a few more ducklings and geese for you to raise. We’ll rely on you for eggs in the future.”

This sentence about future arrangements seemed to reassure the two siblings. They both smiled, and Shen Ning nodded vigorously, “Yes, I’ll definitely take good care of them!”

Sang Lou smiled and said, “Go back now, everyone is waiting. I won’t see you off. Take care of yourselves.”

After the two siblings responded, Sang Lou watched them walk a short distance before turning back to join Qin Fangniang and the others.

There were no insensitive people here. Qin Fangniang whispered, “Do they know about having to pay the rent?”

Sang Lou nodded, “I’m afraid they think they’re a burden and are trying to work hard.”

Actually, she was probably also afraid of leaving them behind.

Several people sighed.

Among these four families, each one had to pay two stones in rent for their relatives who had gone to the battlefield and never returned.

Two stones—on good land, with diligent care all year round and the blessings of heaven, you could only harvest one and a half stone of grain. If the land was originally leased, you still had to pay rent to the landlord. After paying the rent, the remaining harvest was yours.

This meant that even if you worked hard to cultivate two acres of land, all the harvest would go directly to the government.

And with the rent that these people had to pay, over the years, many families had lost their sons to disasters, corvee labor, and the battlefield. In a situation where labor was already scarce and there were no oxen for plowing, they could hardly cultivate much land throughout the year. How much could they save for themselves?

Gan sighed, “These two children are lucky to have met you.”

If they were still in the hands of Shen San and Li’s family now, having encountered this incident yesterday, their fate would have been uncertain.

If pushed, not to mention finding a so-called elder sister-in-law to cover up for their nephews’ lives, it was also possible to split up the two siblings directly, as the Great Qing Dynasty supported the splitting of households to collect more household taxes, not the cohabitation of families.

For example, the main and secondary households of the Shi family were already listed as two separate households in the household registration. It was just that the brothers were originally united, and the Shi Erlang couple was even willing to listen to Gan’s words. They lived together as one family most of the time.

So if they hadn’t encountered Sang Lou, and Li’s family hadn’t found a chance to pair up Shen An, Shen Ning, and Sang Lou as a cheap family, now that they had this matter on their hands, these two siblings might have been thrown out directly.

“The two children are also sensible.” Sang Lou was actually quite fortunate to have encountered these two children.

Along the way, they inevitably had to discuss the matter of paying the rent. Feng Liuniang sighed, “Do you know about Zhou Laizi’s family next door? Last night, the whole family was still crying. Although they don’t have much land, they have a lot of mouths to feed. They probably won’t be able to pay this time’s rent. The gap is quite big. Even if they do pay, they probably won’t make it through next spring.”

Paying two years’ rent in one year would crush families that were already struggling.

Thinking back to what Zhou Lizheng had mentioned yesterday, Feng Liuniang asked Sang Lou, “A’Lie’s wife, does the court in your hometown provide disaster relief?”

Sang Lou had received memories about this aspect from the original owner when she first crossed over, so she shook her head at the question. “I don’t know about other states and counties, but there’s no disaster relief where we’re from. We’ve never even seen a bowl of rice soup with no grains of rice in it. Otherwise, why would so many people flee south? My family used to be well-off too, but in the end, we don’t know how many of our clan members survived.”

Sang Lou hadn’t spoken much about what her family was like, but Qin Fangniang and the others knew a little. They had ancestral recipes, could read and write, and were meticulous in their daily lives. Their courtyard even had a stone-paved flower path. They probably weren’t any worse off than the Wang family in this area.

They fell silent.

The court says that relief efforts are costly, which is why they’re facing difficulties and have to collect taxes in advance. Gan and Qin Fangniang’s group didn’t understand much about national affairs, but common people weren’t fools. Didn’t continuous wars require funds and provisions? Didn’t building palaces and mansions require funds and provisions?

Everyone had their own accounting of where the money and provisions taken by the government ended up.

From pitch darkness to broad daylight, the gates of Qiyang County were right in front of them. Those who often entered the city to set up stalls would always see some familiar faces. The people were still the same, but their faces were filled with more sorrow and numbness.

Seeing everyone like this, Sang Lou realized that if she continued to worry, she might not be much different from them in the near future, so she quickly rallied her spirits.

Worrying wouldn’t bring in three thousand cents. She had to smile, smile and find a good buyer for the things she had made for herself.

1 comment
  1. M&M's has spoken 5 months ago

    I feel so sorry for Shen An and Shen Ning having to worry about their livelihoods, and possibly being abandoned, as such a young age. It’s good that Sang Luo realizes that a good, positive mentality can a difference, though, since being depressed won’t improve the situation, but can even possibly make it worse.

    Thanks for the chapter! 😀

    Reply

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