After shedding almost all her tears and regaining her breath, Mrs. Qian opened the box, took out a box from the bottom, opened it and showed her youngest son and daughter the money inside.
Inside were strings of money, quite heavy, and only two small pieces of silver, which were left over from building this house.
The only money her family saved was copper coins. When she saw the money, Qian couldn't help but shed tears.
She counted the money again, and after all the calculations, she still found that there were only nine ounces of money, and the two broken pieces of silver added up to only one or two and a half.
Qian took out the money box from the bedside table again, which contained money for daily use. This period coincided with the autumn harvest. The third and fourth sons went to Bai Landlord's house to help, received their wages, and returned.
She hadn't even counted the money that came up and put it in the cupboard for storage.
But this part of the money is not much, and it is also counted and strung into strings, one hundred coins per string, and ten strings for a hanging.
They were really unlucky. There were only six bunches of money in the box, and there were twenty or thirty coins of loose money left at the bottom of the box.
Mrs. Qian looked at her daughter, then at her youngest son. When she heard the screams getting louder and louder outside, she stood up and handed all the money to her youngest son to carry him out. He helped her daughter's hand out.
Seeing his mother come out with the money box, Zhou Lang breathed a sigh of relief and almost burst into tears.
Man Bao saw clearly and was very angry with his fourth brother.
There are also gamblers in the village. The third family in their family, Uncle Zhou, lost his bet half a year ago. He came back with someone from the casino and sold his wife and children to offset the debt.
Their eldest niece is two years older than her and is a good friend with her, so she remembers that gambling is a life-threatening thing. She doesn't know whether it will cost her own life, but it will definitely kill her relatives.
At that time, my father and mother had taught their brothers and strictly ordered them not to engage in gambling. Unexpectedly, it was their turn now.
Man Bao was so angry that he rushed forward and stepped on Zhou Lang hard, right on his face.
Zhou Lang shouted "Hey!" and shouted: "Yao Mei, Yao Mei, don't step on me, I, I know I was wrong!"
Qian didn't stop him, but said to her husband: "We don't have enough money, we still need four and a half taels."
Old man Zhou frowned sadly, while Mrs. Qian looked at the three daughters-in-law and said, "Take out whatever you have at home. Your fourth brother borrowed it from you, and let him pay it back later."
Xiao Qian, Feng and He went to see their husbands. Seeing their ugly expressions and nodding, they took their children back to the house to get the money.
The Zhou family is not divided, and all the money they earn must be handed over to the public, and everything they eat and drink belongs to the public. Xiao Qian and Old Man Zhou have said a long time ago that if they want to separate their families, unless they die, they will have to wait for all the children.
Only when they all get married.
But Qian also knows that sons who are married are different from those who are not, and they must have some money on hand.
Therefore, her hands have always been loose. She collects all the harvest from the fields, but she only collects 60% of the money earned by each family through other means, and the remaining 40% is collected by each family.
For example, in Dafang, Xiao Qian has a job as a cook in a school and earns at least one hundred cash a month. Except for the sixty cash she pays in, the rest of the money is her own.
Another example is the second room. The second brother secretly learned some carpentry skills when he went to Bai Landlord's house to help in his early years. He also knew how to weave bamboo. In his spare time, he could weave things and take them to the market to exchange for a small amount of money.
Another example is the third house. The third brother works hard and the manager of Landlord Bai's family likes to use him the most. He is called on whenever there is work, so he can also earn some money.
As for the remaining three younger sons, there is no need to count on the fourth one, who is lying on the ground. The fifth and sixth sons are not very old. They have either been coaxed away by their mother or sister, or they are begging for money.
I went to the market to buy candy. Even if I searched all my clothes, I probably couldn't find two cents.
Qian stopped searching them.
The daughters-in-law of the three families quickly took out their own private money and pooled it together. It was not enough, and there was still two strings of money missing.
Qian looked at the head of the household and his sons.
Xiao Qian couldn't bear it at first, so she sat down on the ground, patted her legs and said: "Mom, it's really gone. We spent all the money we had prepared to buy cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival for my mother's family. This is going to break up the family."
ah!"
Mrs. Qian was so angry that she slapped her, "Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet. I've survived the disaster years. Are you still afraid of these two hundred coins?"
Man Bao thought for a while, ran back to the main house, found a silver lock from his treasure box, took it out and gave it to Qian, "Mom, use this of mine."
Qian's face changed greatly, and he immediately snatched the silver lock and put it in his arms, saying angrily: "You can't give this thing, this is... this is what your father and mother gave you. The Taoist priest said that your life is precious, so you must have something to hold it down."
Come on, this is for your life."
Old man Zhou also said: "I can't give it."
The thug laughed angrily and said, "A long life lock is more important than your son's life. I said, will you give it or not? It's already half time. We still have to go back to the county. If we can't make it back, you are responsible for it."
One night’s food and lodging?”
The thugs behind him immediately started to move and began to move and kick around in the yard. "Hurry up and give the money. It is only natural to pay back debts."
People from casinos never come to visit. How could Zhou Dalang allow them to search the house? He quickly stopped them.
Zhou Lang and Zhou Lang stopped guarding Zhou Lang and hurriedly went to help their elder brother.
Wu Lang and Liu Lang also followed their brothers forward with enthusiasm. Of course, the villagers of Qili Village did not want to see the villagers being bullied, so they also stepped forward to support them.
Not to mention, it was the first time for the thugs to see so many brothers in the gambler's family. Seeing the villagers surrounding them, they didn't dare to go too far. They just meant that you push me and I push you, but they couldn't help but get angry.
Soaring upwards.
Seeing this, the village chief sighed, stopped everyone and said, "Okay, there's only two hundred coins left. Uncle Jin, I'll lend it to you first, and just remember to pay me back later."
After that, he asked his son to go home and get the money.
The money collected in this way was piled up in the box. Except for the two small pieces of silver, it was all copper plates. The thugs didn't mind it, so they just counted the coins and stuffed them into the bag and carried them on their backs.
But in the end, he tossed the broken silver pieces and said, "This amount of silver can be converted into more than this amount of copper coins. You should also know that in the bank, one tael of silver can now be exchanged for twelve strings of money, so..."
Zhou Dalang stepped forward and kicked Zhou Lang and asked, "Are you betting on copper coins or silver?"
"Copper plate, it's copper plate."
Zhou Dalang directly punched him with his fist and asked angrily, "Is it a copper plate? Is it a copper plate?"
Zhou Lang's nose was bruised and his face was swollen, his nose was bleeding and he kept wailing, "It's a copper plate, it's a copper plate."
Zhou Dalang kept punching his face one after another, and asked with a livid face, "Is it a copper plate? Is it a copper plate?"
Zhou Lang cried for his father and mother, "It's a copper plate, brother, it's a copper plate. They lied to you, they lied to you."
When the thugs saw that Zhou Dalang was not sparing any effort and Zhou Dalang was beaten like this, they couldn't help but sneer at him. They put away the broken silver pieces and nodded: "Okay, a copper plate will be a copper plate."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Zhou Erlang stood in front of them and asked: "Where is the IOU?"
The thug curled his lips, gave him the IOU, patted his shoulder and said: "People like you can't afford to block it. You'd better keep a close eye on your brothers, otherwise your luck may not be so good next time. In this world
, because many families have been ruined by gambling."
The Zhou brothers looked at Zhou Lang unkindly.
Zhou Lang curled up on the ground, and when he saw the eyes of his brothers, he buried his head and didn't even dare to cry too loudly.
The thugs finally left.
Old man Zhou and his eldest son laughed and sent the villagers away, thanking them for their help, especially the village chief, who repeatedly expressed their intention to treat him to a meal sometime.
After sending the person away, Old Man Zhou asked Zhou Xiaoliu to close the door, turned around, picked up the pole and continued to whip his son.
Mrs. Qian was afraid that her little girl would be frightened, so she took her back to the house in advance, but the effect was not very great, because the child kicked off her shoes and climbed onto her bed. She lay on the window and looked out to see her father beating her fourth brother.
Enjoy it with relish.
Mr. Qian was not in good health. She was sad and tired after all the hard work. She did not stop her daughter and asked her three daughters-in-law to go to the kitchen to make something to eat. From morning to now, they have not eaten a grain of rice. Your Excellency,
Come on, a few kids can't stand it.
After the arrangements were made, he called the little girl over, put the silver lock on her, and said, "Didn't I tell you not to take it off? This is what your parents use to give you a chance to control your life. You are not allowed to take it off in the future. You know.
?"
Manbao said awkwardly: "It's uncomfortable to wear."
Qian thought for a moment and said, "You don't have to wear it at night, but you must wear it during the day."
Man Bao reluctantly agreed. Seeing her mother's sad face, she asked, "Mom, what should I do with my fourth brother?"
"Ignore him and let your father beat him. After a few years, he will learn how to gamble. He deserves to be beaten to death."
Man Bao said: "If he is beaten to death, it is better to be beaten to death by the casino people. We will also save money."
Qian choked for a moment and said, "You kid, your mouth is just like your father's. You are not forgiving at all."
"Hey, is my dad so smart?"
Qian didn't answer her question, but said: "Then you have to beat him. If you don't beat him, you won't have a long memory. If he does it again in the future, how much money can the family give him to defeat him?"
"Fourth brother cares about food and not beating. It's useless even if he's crippled, unless his legs are broken so that he can't walk."
"That won't work, we have to take care of him in the future." Mrs. Qian was also afraid that Lao Zhou would beat her son, so she sighed and shouted out the window: "Okay, if he is disabled, he will have to pay for medical expenses, but at home,
Not a penny left."
The snapping sounds outside slowly disappeared. Old man Zhou glared at his son with hatred, kicked him and asked the eldest and second eldest son to drag him back to the room.
Man Bao said to her mother in the room: "Mom, I have a good idea that can punish him without spending any money on the family."
"What's the idea?"
"Let the fourth brother go to open up wasteland, and then let him plant things on the wasteland, and use the money he earns to repay the family and his brothers and sisters-in-law. He owes the family and his brothers and sisters-in-law fifteen taels of silver."
Qian was very confused, "Opening up wasteland? Why do you want to open up wasteland?"
Man Bao said: "Isn't that what the village chief said? The yamen asked us to open up wasteland. The land we open up belongs to us. No taxes will be collected for the first three years."