Su Qingluan naturally didn't know that she was almost completely exposed. She was now busy and exhausted.

After returning home, she immediately wrote the job advertisement. Su Qingluan originally thought that it would take at least the next day for someone to come and apply for the job.

But she didn't know that the last time a large number of craftsmen came to the village to help the Su family repair their house and courtyard, they had already spread the "reputation" of Su's carpenter family.

So Su Qingluan had just posted the notice, and just as she got home to change her clothes and wash them, before she had time to drink a sip of water, someone came to her door and asked, "Mrs. Su the Carpenter's daughter, are you hiring?"

Su Qingluan paused while pouring water for herself from a coarse porcelain bowl: So fast?

In fact, Su Qingluan was right. After the last house repair incident, everyone found that if they did short-term work for the Su family, they would be paid generously and at a high standard. There would be no deductions or delays in payment, and they would also be provided with a big pot meal with vegetables and meat, and the leftovers could be packed away.

This kind of treatment is among the best in Huaxi Village, not to mention in the surrounding area.

Many wealthy peasants and gentry have mountains of money, but if they are asked to pay these temporary workers even a penny, they will feel as if their hearts and livers are being torn out; and those who are generally honest and willing to not delay wages often just ask for a hand.

To put it bluntly, for ordinary people, it is rare to get paid just for "helping out". Usually, they just get a meal and that's it.

The Su family provides both wages and meals, but it’s either not available or very little.

So this time, when Su Qingluan posted the recruitment notice again, everyone who felt that they could meet the requirements came.

Anyway, there was still a second round of "interviews", so Su Qingluan only wrote down the basic information of the applicants and told them to come to the Su family in two days.

Originally, she was not sure whether these villagers and neighbors could accept the "interview", but now the reasons are ready - the number of people needed is limited, and there are too many people coming, so she has to be selective.

But Su Qingluan was still a little puzzled as to why so many people seemed to come to do odd jobs all of a sudden - although in a sense it was exactly what Su Qingluan wanted, it was still beyond her expectations.

This doubt was answered for her after Su Guangfu and Yang came back.

"Is the autumn harvest over?" Su Qingluan gulped down two large bowls of hot tea to suppress the dryness in her mouth caused by the constant explanation of what the "second round of interviews" were and why they were necessary.

Su Guangfu nodded, but sighed. It was clearly the harvest season, but it didn't make people happy.

Originally, Su Qingluan didn't know why, but when she learned about the tax rate, she sighed - that's right, after working hard for a year, most of the harvest has to be handed over.

Moreover, the remaining 40% cannot be completely in his own hands - because he needs to save seeds.

There were no farmers' markets with a wide variety of seeds to choose from these days, and the idea of ​​the government providing seed subsidies was unthinkable. Farmers were required to turn in their grain as taxes, regardless of good weather or natural disasters.

Don't pay? Sorry, the punishment could be either forced labor or imprisonment, or even death. Farmers struggle just to survive, and as long as they have enough to eat and wear, they'll work diligently.

Although there were no major disasters this year, the summer was not as hot as in previous years, which affected the harvest of some crops and caused a reduction in production.

However, this level of disaster did not reach the level of a "disaster year", so the court did not issue any amnesty decree to reduce or exempt taxes.

This represents a harsh reality: although grain production has decreased, it's not severe enough that, without further instructions from higher authorities, every grain that's due must be turned in. Coupled with the need to reserve some seeds for next year's planting, the villagers of Huaxi Village have virtually no grain left.

Su Qingluan couldn't help but sneer when she heard this: She was trying so hard to help the villagers of Huaxi Village survive the winter, and now these already poor villagers were being exploited like this. Well, let alone surviving the winter, even "entering winter" would probably be a problem.

So when returning to the previous question, Su Qingluan naturally figured it out - the family was so poor that they could barely afford to eat. In the past, they could still hope for a bigger harvest, so that they could have some left over after paying the grain.

Now the autumn harvest is basically coming to an end, and the yield in the fields is already determined, so there is no hope. Anyone with hands and feet will never be willing to just wait for the severe winter to come. So at this time, in order to earn a little more money, everyone is looking for various odd jobs, hoping to add bricks and tiles to their own families before the severe winter comes.

After a lot of effort, they finally had a chance to help, and the other party had been verified and praised by the villagers before. Naturally, everyone was eager to come and help, just to earn some money to support themselves.

After sorting out the whole cause and effect, Su Qingluan didn't know what to feel.

At this moment, a "patta patta" sound brought Su Qingluan back to her senses. She looked carefully and saw: Wow, this is a quite big black fish, jumping happily in the net bag in Su Guangfu's hand.

The "pat pat" sound was nothing else but the fish jumping too hard and hitting the platform next to it.

Even though it was having difficulty breathing in the air and had its mouth wide open, the black fish was still jumping around happily.

"It's true... life goes on and on, and struggles never stop..." Su Qingluan couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth.

After clearing away the chaotic thoughts in her mind, Su Qingluan stared at the black fish with a smile: "What's wrong with this fish? Didn't you say you were tired of sweet and sour tastes?"

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