Ever since the day Li Yuzhu rented cattle from a neighboring village and hired people to plow the land, Third Hall Uncle Li Wencai’s brows had been furrowed.
These naughty girls rented cattle and people, where did they get all these copper coins?
Last autumn, Jinzhu's naughty girl went to pay the grain by herself. He asked the county grain book and calculated that it was only a small fortune. With this small fortune to pay the tuition for Xuedong, there would definitely be no surplus.
I will rent cattle and people later, where did she get the copper?
Yuzhu and Yinzhu are all busy in the fields. Jinzhu, Xuedong, and that little girl are all gone! Where did they go?
From the day he discovered that the three Jinzhu siblings were missing, the third cousin squatted at the entrance of the village with a bowl to eat even when he was eating. He just wanted to see what happened to that damn girl Jinzhu.
As soon as Li Jinzhu took Li Xiaonan around the corner, the third uncle saw him. He looked left and right but didn't see Li Xuedong, and his brows tightened even more.
The third uncle hid behind the tree, watched Li Jinzhu and Li Xiaonan pass by, and continued to squat at the entrance of the village waiting for Li Xuedong.
When it got dark, Li Xuedong was not there.
The third uncle walked slowly home with his hands behind his back.
This damn girl must be hiding something from him, so I need to find out.
Where can I ask?
Gao Cunji definitely can't do it. Back then, when he was still studying in school, he couldn't deal with the guy named Gao, so where would he go?
The third uncle stopped and looked left and right. After thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure out where to ask.
After standing there for a while, Third Uncle quickened his pace and headed back home.
I'll go to Lijiaji tomorrow and ask my eldest brother. His eldest brother is very thoughtful. Even if he doesn't know about this matter, he can still give him some direction and give him an idea.
The next morning, the third uncle, Li Wencai, went out with a few dried cowpeas and arrived at his eldest brother's house around noon.
His sister-in-law took the cowpeas and threw them on the stove without even looking at them.
His eldest brother Li Wenxi had just come back from the fields. When he saw the face of his third brother from those cowpeas, he frowned and asked, "The fields are busy right now, why are you here free?"
"He has never been to the ground." His sister-in-law continued in the kitchen.
"You haven't eaten yet? Give his third uncle a bowl of rice." Li Wenxi frowned and shouted towards the kitchen.
The sister-in-law brought out a bowl of rice and threw it into Li Wencai's hand.
Li Wencai didn't mind, as his sister-in-law had a bad temper and was sharp-tongued.
Li Wenxi is a frugal person. The rice is hard rice, but the dishes are too simple. They cook dried bamboo shoots in the same way and stir-fry basil in the same way. Li Wencai went back and forth between the two dishes to pick and choose.
After eating, Li Wenxi looked at his younger brother and asked, "What happened?"
"No big deal, just a small matter. I miss you, brother. Come and have a look." Li Wencai is a scholar after all, and he pays attention to detours and respectability.
"I'm busy here. If you have nothing to do, I have to leave." His elder brother stood up and was about to leave.
The fields were very busy, and he had no time to talk nonsense with this useless brother.
"Brother, why are you so short-tempered? As you get older, you need to cultivate your moral character." Li Wencai stretched out his hand to hold his eldest brother.
"If you have something to say, just tell me!" Li Wenxi's throat became thick.
He has not liked this younger brother since he was a child.
"In our village, Li Wenshan, who died a few years ago, left behind four daughters and a sick son. He seems to have made a fortune this year. This is a bit strange. His family is like this.
Where did the copper coin come from?" Li Wencai had no choice but to put aside his politeness for the time being and say what he had to say directly.
"Get rich? How did you get rich?" Li Wenxi frowned.
"Last autumn," Li Wencai paused, swallowing the fact that Li Jinzhu paid for the food himself.
His eldest brother strongly disapproved of the fact that he paid his own grain tax to every household in the village, and then took some hard-earned money from each household according to the rich and poor, but he was an upright person, so he couldn't do it in vain. The county's grain book
, they all have rations!
"I mean, last fall, that sick boy went to school in Gaocunji again. Going to school requires gold coins, and going to school is not cheap!
"At the beginning of the month, his family rented a healthy cow from Zhaozhuang, and a cow driver, who used it for several days. The eldest daughter of his family and her younger brother and sister were away for seven or eight days. Yesterday,
I just got back.
"I'm worried that their family is full of unmarried girls. Do you think they might have done something immoral? If so, the reputation of our Li family will be ruined by them!" "Li Wenshan's solitary seedling is called Li Xuedong, right? That Li Xuedong passed the county examination in February this year. You don't know about this? I haven't been at home for the past seven or eight days. I'm afraid he went to Pingjiang Prefecture to take the national examination."
?You don’t know either?” Li Wenxi looked at his brother with an expression that he couldn’t tell.
"Xuedong is very stupid!" Li Wencai blurted out, "He took third place in the county exam. That's impossible!"
"After he got third place in the exam, his eldest sister pushed him on a small cart and came to the Lijiaji. She wanted the clan to provide copper coins for him to study, but the clan did not have such coins." Li Wenxi glanced sideways.
His younger brother.
"The clan didn't give it to him, so where did he get the copper? He rented cattle and walked for seven or eight days?" Li Wencai stared at his elder brother.
"You and his family are in the same village, and you don't even know that, how can I know?" Li Wenxi said back very rudely, "Where did his family get the copper, and what does it have to do with you? What are your plans?<
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"How many times have I told you, don't always take advantage of others, you are upright and you must be fair!
"I have to go to the fields, please go back." Li Wenxi didn't want to look at this younger brother, stood up, and walked out with his hands behind his back.
Li Wencai followed him out. When he reached the gate of the courtyard, he turned around and went in. He stood in the courtyard and shouted: "Sister-in-law, are there any pickled duck eggs this year? Bring me some. The salted duck eggs pickled by sister-in-law are the most delicious. They are all oil. Buy them from outside.
Less than."
"Get him some!" His sister-in-law's voice was full of disgust.
After a while, the eldest daughter-in-law came out and handed Li Wencai a lotus leaf bag containing four or five salted duck eggs.
Li Wenxi walked half the street, turned around, and entered the ancestral hall.
Just after dinner, the clan leader was sitting in the corridor of the ancestral hall talking with several clan elders.
Li Wenxi nodded and greeted everyone, pulled up a bamboo chair and sat down, stretched out his head and said: "I heard that the scholar from Xiaoli Village went to the imperial examination to take the imperial examination. He was busy with farming, and his family was leasing cattle and people.
, it seems that this family is very well-off, but they still have to go to the clan to beg for copper coins, it’s really hard!”
"Did you pass the exam?" the clan leader asked with concern.
"Look at what you're asking. If you had passed the exam, you would have been beaten in front of us with gongs and drums! There are so many things to do in the county exam, but the prefecture exam is not that easy.
." Li Wenxi pouted.
The patriarch leaned back in his chair in disappointment.
Li Shikuan, the clan elder who was sitting against the wall, leaned over when Li Wenxi mentioned the junior student in Xiaoli Village, and started chatting with the clan elder next to him, as if he didn't hear what Li Wenxi said.
Around dinner last night, he received a letter from Mr. Gao. Li Xuedong got 18th place in the exam and passed it. Now he is preparing to take the exam at the Hangcheng Examination Institute in July.
"Just now, the third child of my family came over and talked about Xuezi's family, saying that they shouldn't have so many copper coins. I was worried that the four girls in his family, without the control of their elders, should not do anything immoral for the sake of copper coins.
It hurts the face of our Li family. Shouldn't we take precautions against this?" Li Wenxi frowned and said with a worried look on his face.
"I remember that four years ago, during the clan's big festival, each house had an equal share of copper coins. There were two households in Xiaoli Village. One of them was your third brother's house. Is that the one you're talking about?
Are you from a family that has learned Chinese calligraphy?" Li Shikuan asked with a smile.
"I remember, it's his house." The clan elder next to Li Shikuan answered and confirmed.
"There are not many families in our clan who can produce copper coins according to the same amount. Such families can always afford to take the exam in Pingjiang City, don't you think?" Li Shikuan looked at the clan leader and said with a smile.<
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"Insatiable greed!" the clan leader spat, "My family clearly doesn't need these coins, yet I still come here to cry for poverty!"
"That's right, that's what I mean." Li Wenxi quickly changed her tune.
"Let's not talk about it anymore. It looks like we are doing well this year." The patriarch changed the topic.
