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墨書 Inktalez
On the second day, Shi Song brought several large carts of building materials into the village.
Yesterday, when she went to the town with Zhang Guihua, someone had seen them, and when the villagers inquired, she calmly admitted it. Yes, she had brought a man into her home.
The villagers were busy with their work and didn’t discuss this gossip for long. Qi Chong asked Lin Qiujiu to call two women to help Shi Song cook, paying them thirty wen a day. The men hunted and built houses to earn money, while the women made candy to sell. Life was busy, and before long, it was time to divide the earnings.
In October, many trees had begun to turn yellow and shed their leaves, but the old Banyan Tree remained lush and green. The villagers fell silent, understanding without words; even the children were affected and obediently stayed close to their parents. The only sound was the clattering of Qi Chong’s abacus as he made his final calculations.
Yu Chunmiao and Lin Qiujiu stood at a distance, cracking sunflower seeds and eagerly discussing which man had been wandering around with his wife in tow that night. Qi Chong approached the villagers with the account book in hand, and everyone focused on his tightly pressed lips.
He began to speak: "We sold Apple Snails for a total of three taels, six qian, and twenty-seven wen." His expression was flat, as if he were merely reading from a machine.
"We caught seven wild boars, earning twenty-seven taels, three qian, and fifty sanwen. We got twenty-eight mountain chickens for four taels and seventy-two wen. We also caught Bamboo Rats, wild rabbits, Azure Wind Antelopes, and sixty-seven jin of Brown Sugar for thirty taels and five qian."
In total, they earned seventy-one taels, five qian, and forty-nine wen.
Cheers erupted from the crowd, making Qi Chong pause. They only knew how to work hard; they had no idea they had saved up so much money in just one month. Qi Chong stood there until their excitement subsided.
In the past two months, he had tried to discuss plans for relocating the family with his mother, but she was unwilling.
He had never loved this place, which felt cold and indifferent, but now it seemed to have changed a bit. Just as Yu Chunmiao said, it was the same everywhere. Even someone as prominent as Lu Ziyou could be schemed against. Instead of fleeing, it was better to adapt.
He glanced at his wife in the distance, who was listening intently to gossip. When she played the rogue, it was truly hard to resist; when she was serious, she came up with brilliant ideas. Seeing her so captivated by Lin Qiujiu’s words, she even took gossip seriously.
“Stop talking; let’s hear what the village chief has to say.”
As silence returned, Qi Chong shifted his gaze away from Yu Chunmiao.
This time, twenty-six households participated, each entitled to receive eleven taels, nine qian, and twenty-four wen.
Another round of cheers erupted, and Qi Chong helplessly rubbed his forehead. Could they let him finish speaking?
Noticing his impatience, the villagers gradually suppressed their excitement and quieted down once more.
He continued, “I will only distribute eight taels to each household; the remaining money I need to keep. It’s not for myself but as public funds for your long-term livelihood.”
In the village, there were two lonely households: Grandpa Hu and Granny Qiu. Luo Dali, you will go to the town tomorrow and buy enough rice, flour, and oil for them for a month. Come to my house in the morning to pick up the donkey cart. The money will come from the public funds.
A villager asked, “Village chief, we have no objections to using our earnings to support the lonely in the village. But since hunting and making sugar are so profitable, why do we need to do other jobs?”
Qi Chong closed the account book and walked up to him. “The game will become scarcer; in another month, if we can hunt two wild boars in a month, that would be quite good. The sweet cane has its season; it can only be processed in autumn. Even if we could process it all year round, the court would come looking for trouble if they found out.”
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