Chapter 7 The Winter of Despair

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Yun Lin and Yun Shan, father and son, went to the town to transport grain to pay taxes again and again. Because there was no transportation vehicle, they could only carry it on their backs. For dozens of miles, they could only transport 300 kilograms of grain once a day, plus

The whole process of selling food to repay debts took five days.

My shoes were worn out after every trip.

During this period, long lines of people would line up in the village early every morning to bring food to the town. After all, paying taxes was not a matter for each household. Everyone went together, which was lively and safer at the same time.

The current social environment is not peaceful. If the grain used to pay taxes is robbed by bandits and bandits, it will be a shame. After all, the government does not care so much, it only depends on whether you have paid enough taxes.

Of course, the government also took action during this period. After all, taxes are the foundation of the country and cannot be lost. Police officers rushed everywhere, and the army was always on standby to ensure that taxes could be collected normally.

If anyone dares to jump out and rob taxes and grains at this time, they will definitely be suppressed with iron blood.

The majesty of the dynasty cannot be challenged!

Having said that, there has never been a shortage of people in the world who are not afraid of death...

Every day Yunlin Yunshan left with food and villagers, Jiang Susu would hug Yunjing at the door and stare at their backs for a long time until their figures disappeared from the end of sight.

Yunjing found that at this time, her mother's eyes were extremely complicated. She didn't know whether she was feeling sorry for the food that she had worked so hard to grow but was taken away by the court, or whether she was feeling sorry for the safety and hard work of her husband's family.

Every day when my father comes back, he will share some stories about what he saw in the town.

He said that a team going to pay taxes in a certain village was robbed by bandits. Several people died and the food was looted. Although the crime was reported and the government promised to suppress the bandits, if the food could not be recovered, those who were robbed would

Farmers need to bear the tax on their own. After all, whether the tax can be collected or not is related to the official career. He doesn't care whether you still have food to pay the tax.

He also said that this year, food production in a certain village was reduced due to lack of water. Those families who could not afford the taxes went to the government office to beg for leniency, which made those who watched the scene shed tears.

He also said that some people sell their children and daughters because they cannot afford the taxes...

Whenever Yun Shan talks about these experiences, Grandpa Yun Lin is always silent beside him, smoking a dry cigarette, finally cursing the damn world, and then goes off to do other things.

Fortunately, the tax payment process in Xiaoxi Village was relatively peaceful and no accidents occurred.

But even so, the food left by the villagers after paying taxes is always not enough to eat, and they have to find ways to fill the food gap from other aspects. Especially for those families with a large population, life becomes increasingly difficult.

But as long as you live, there will always be a way.

After the autumn harvest, the busy work for this year is almost over. After all, there are no off-season crops in this world.

But this does not mean that people can relax, but become busier.

Take the Yunjing family for example. They don’t have enough food to eat, and they are missing nearly 200 kilograms of food because of debt repayments. It is a heavy and breathless pressure to wait for next year’s harvest, so Grandpa Yunlin has no food every day.

He worked day and night to weave bamboo products and sell them in the town in order to supplement his family's income. He was so busy that he didn't even have time to talk.

Then there is Jiang Susu. While taking care of Yunjing, she is making shelf-stable food such as pickles, pickled vegetables, and pickled vegetables every day. This is already preparing for the coming winter.

It's a pity that my family is too poor and we don't have bacon or anything like that...

Also preparing for the coming winter is Dad Yun. He goes out to chop firewood with his ax before dawn every day, and keeps bringing firewood back home. He does this every day, doing only this one thing, as if he wants to destroy the mountains and forests.

Cut it all down.

Not only him, but in fact the main labor force of every household in the entire Xiaoxi Village was devoted to collecting firewood after the autumn harvest.

It makes sense that firewood, rice, oil and salt should be ranked first.

In the words of my grandfather Yun Lin, winter is very difficult to endure. For poor farmers, winter is a battle of life and death. If you survive it, it will be another spring the next year. If you cannot survive it, you will have to sleep in the cold winter.

During the cold winter that lasts for several months, firewood can be used for heating and cooking. Under the premise of lack of heating clothes, if there is not enough firewood, you can imagine what a cruel scene it will be.

There is a word called Snow Demon, which was said by Grandpa Yunlin, saying that it will come to the world every winter to harvest life, so every year people freeze to death!

The tense and busy days of preparation passed quietly, and before you knew it, winter had quietly arrived.

Overnight, the cold wind blew from nowhere, blowing off the leaves on the branches, withering the grass, and wrinkling people's hearts.

Lead-colored clouds covered the sky, and snowflakes were falling, becoming more and more numerous and dense, hazy the heaven and earth, decorated the world, and covered everything with a layer of snow-white.

For some people, winter is so beautiful that hundreds of poems can be written to praise it.

However, for the poor people, the cold wind is a murderous knife, the white snow is a talisman that urges death, and the ice is a despair that freezes everything.

Winter is not nice at all.

How wonderful it would be if there was no winter in the world...

I don’t know when the thick snow has quietly covered the world. Looking at the vast expanse of white, the whole world is born in black and white. If you step into the snow, half of your legs can sink into it. Going out has become a luxury.

Every household can only huddle up in the house and endure this sad winter quietly.

The whole world, with the advent of winter, inexplicably fell into a deathly silence.

The Yunjing family is okay. Although there is not enough food to eat, it is still enough to survive this winter. Dad Yun has prepared enough firewood to ensure that this winter can be spent warmly.

Yunjing, who is almost one year old, has started to learn to walk. He stumbles and stumbles. Every time he takes a step, his family members are nervous and worried. They are afraid that he will accidentally fall into the fire pit. However, every time he takes a step, he can make his family happy.

Bring a smile of encouragement and expectation.

Originally, the winter was supposed to be dull and quiet, but because of him, he finally had a rare trace of laughter.

However, how can one describe all the suffering in the world? Not every family can barely eat enough and not be cold like the Yunjing family. Bad news always comes inadvertently.

In the second month of winter, someone's house in the village was crushed by snow. After hearing the news, Yunlin and Yunshan braved the cold wind and thick snow to go to help.

Fortunately, he is fine and only suffered minor injuries. However, the house of that family collapsed. In this already difficult winter, there is not even a place to shelter from the wind. What kind of day is going to be faced next is an unbearable day.

Visual topic...

As the house of the first family in the village was crushed by thick snow, similar things happened occasionally in the following period. Each time Yunlin and Yunshan would go to help, but they only tried to save people.

They tried their best to help repair the collapsed house, but there was nothing more they could do.

Whenever something like this happens, Yunjing, who can barely stand still, will look up at the roof of his house and feel worried when adults are not paying attention.

You can't tell when the roof above your head will come crashing down!

"Hold on, winter will be over soon"

Every time I look up at the cloud scenery on the rooftop, I say this in my heart.

When the news came that someone in the village had frozen to death, Yunjing's family also lost the last smile on their faces. No one knew whether such a tragedy would suddenly happen to them...


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