Chapter 114 Chapter 114 Adding Population

At the beginning of the first lunar month, Kang He and Fan Jing took their two children to visit several relatives and friends, and their family also prepared banquets in the countryside and the city to entertain relatives and friends.

The number of relatives and friends visiting increases year by year. In the past, visiting three or four families in the first month of the lunar year was considered a lot. Later, it gradually became five or six families, and □□ families... Now, everyone has their own close friends and relatives, so the family simply separates and visits different places.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Chen Sanfang took Xiaofu and Fan Dad to a village home where they often visited for a drink, while Qiaoer went to the temple fair at Houer Mountain with her good friends.

Kang He and Fan Jing brought Da Fu and a lot of New Year gifts to the Luo family. Firstly, they wanted to pay New Year's greetings, and secondly, they wanted to pack up Da Fu's things and take them back to the Luo family.

Dafu has lived in the Luo family for half a year. Now that he is leaving, he should give everyone a proper notice.

The Luo family was holding a banquet that day. Not only Kang and Fan Jing came, but also many other relatives of the Luo family. It was quite lively.

Dafu knew that they would come to their aunt's house to pay New Year's greetings today. While his father and little uncle were preparing gifts, he and Xiaofu picked out a snow-white little rabbit from the poultry shed, took a cage, covered it with hay, and locked the rabbit in the cage, preparing to give it to Ang'er.

Dafu thought about how his aunt and uncle treated him very well when he was at his aunt's house. He was young now and didn't know how to repay them, but he had his father and uncle who took care of him.

But Ang'er's younger brother, who often ate and played with him, was about the same age as him, so it was a good idea for him to thank him. He was going to move back home one day, so it was just right to give him a gift.

"Brother Ang'er is quiet and doesn't like toys that make people sweat. He often learns embroidery and reading in the house. The little rabbit is gentle, fluffy and cute. I think brother Ang'er will like it."

"Brother Huaizhang is still young and can't take care of living things. Since he's a boy, I'll give him a box of toys like cuju and bamboo balls. What do you think, Dad?"

Seeing this, Kang He couldn't help but praise Da Fu: "You know that loving brothers and sisters is a good thing, it's amazing that you are so thoughtful."

He then pointed to Dafu, saying, "You're going there today not only to wish your aunt and uncle a happy new year, but also to say goodbye to the Luo family. You won't be living there anymore, so you should also give some gifts to the brothers and sisters of the first wife."

Da Fu nodded when he heard this, then went back into the house to pack up the gifts and put them in two new baskets.

After picking up some groceries, the whole family took a bus to the city.

When we arrived at Luo's house, quite a few guests had already arrived and it was very lively. At least five tables had to be set up for dinner today.

Kang He and Fan Jingjiao and Erxi brought the gifts in and distributed them. Dafu called a few elders and also brought gifts to the children of the two families.

When Luo Tongsheng saw Kang He and Fan Jing coming, he was beaming with the flattery of his relatives, but when he saw the couple, his smile faded a little.

He went to greet the couple and mentioned that he would take Dafu back to live in his house today. He said:

"It's a good thing that Dafu lives here and is taught by his uncle. I see how quickly he's progressing. If he's well-educated, maybe one day he'll have the chance to be like his uncle."

Kang He knew that Luo Tongsheng was sincere in his children's studies, but his words were not very pleasant to those who were not educated.

"Mr. Xu also said that Dafu has made progress. I think it's because he lives here and is under the guidance of his uncle and Luo Tongsheng. But if the child keeps disturbing us at home for too long, I'm afraid he'll miss his uncle's exams. Besides, his family misses him dearly."

"Fortunately, our two houses are not far from each other now, so we visit each other frequently, and it's not much different from before."

Speaking of the house, Luo Tongsheng's expression became a little unnatural, and he couldn't help but say with jealousy: "That's right, now that you have a new house in West City, and it's on Chaoxi Lane, it's understandable to take the child back."

"It's actually bad luck. When I was looking for a new house, I first went to Chaoxi Lane, but there were no houses for sale, so I had to look elsewhere in West City. After looking around, I finally chose this one. If I had waited a little longer, I might have bought in Chaoxi Lane as well."

Kang He saw the sour smell coming out of the food, and if he didn't know the situation of his family, he would have believed what he said.

The Luo family originally lived in East City. The old house was sold long before they moved to the new house. If they were well-off, they would not be in a hurry to sell the old house. They could just keep it and rent it out to others.

Furthermore, although their new house was also in the West City, it was located in an alley at the junction of the east and the west, and was already on the edge of the West City.

At that time, they really wanted to live in Chaoxi Lane, but there were no suitable houses there. With the connections of the Luo family, they could choose a place closer to the center of West City, such as Xinghua Lane and Qingshan Lane. It would be much easier for scholars who had lived in the city for many years and had achieved academic success to find a house there than for farmers and merchants like them.

Why did they finally choose the West City area? Was it really because the housing prices there were lower?

If this house of nearly twenty rooms were located in a more central area of West City, it would not be worth four hundred strings of cash.

Kang He's mind was as clear as a mirror, but he only smiled slightly and said, "It seems that buying a house is indeed very dependent on fate. The prosperity of the city is not like the countryside where you can just buy land and build a house. There are always some limitations."

"That's right. We chose this house because a Feng Shui master predicted it was a good place. Otherwise, a family of scholars like us, with our achievements, wouldn't live here."

Luo Tongsheng took this opportunity to ask, "Have you hired a Feng Shui master to look at your place? This is something you can't be careless about. If the Feng Shui is not good and the foundation is not good, it's useless to have a bright and beautiful house. Dafu is studying and pays great attention to these things."

Kang He said, "Although I haven't asked you to come and see it, I think it's not bad. The original resident was a family named Luo, and the head of the family was a scholar. I heard they were a family of scholars, and several generations ago they were all scholars."

"The Luo family? Oh... so it's the Luo family... that's not bad. Come to think of it, I was a classmate of the Luo family when I was in school."

Luo Tongsheng had a look of admiration on his face, but suddenly he remembered that he was talking to Kang He. He immediately put away his expression and said teasingly, "The Luo family is also a family of scholars. Why did they sell all their houses? Did they buy a new mansion in the city? There is no better place in the city than that one. Could it be that they are not doing well?"

"I don't know the truth, but I heard that the whole family moved to the capital, probably to see the prosperity of Kyoto."

Luo Tongsheng was suddenly speechless.

Luo Chuanyi hurried over and said, "Dad, Uncle Zhang said he wanted to talk to you. He's come all the way here, so why don't you go and have a good chat with him?"

He could hear his father talking about the house from a distance, and was afraid that if he continued to talk about the house, he would not only fail to show off but also make a fool of himself, so he sent him away in time to prevent him from bringing up the topic again.

Everyone in the family knew that he was jealous of the Fan family who bought a house in Chaoxi Lane. It would have been fine if he just said a few words at home, but he also talked about this and that in front of others. Even his eldest brother said that the Fan couple were capable people, but his father still relied on the fact that he was a scholar and said things that were unpleasant to the ear.

I don't know what's become of this man. As he gets older, he's not as cautious and modest as he was when he was young.

"Brother, don't just stand there. Go sit down and have some snacks. It's cold. Have a cup of hot soup to warm yourself up."

Kang He responded with a smile and went to sit in the guest room with Fan Jing. Da Fu had already gone to see the little rabbits with Ang'er and the two children from the main house.

After having lunch at Luo's house, Kang He told Fan Jing to go and pack up Dafu's things. Unexpectedly, the child had already packed all the clothes and belongings into boxes while they were talking in the courtyard, and Xiao could take them away.

In this way, he took Dafu to thank the Luo family and then went home.

"Dafu, if you have any questions about your studies, just record it and come and ask your uncle. Don't be shy."

"Well, uncle, I understand."

Dafu waved goodbye to his aunt and her family who were seeing him off at the door, feeling a little melancholy.

On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, classes at the Xu family private school would resume. After returning to the house, Dafu did not return to his hometown, nor did he go around visiting relatives with Kang and Fan Jing. He quietly read and wrote at home, hoping to calm down before class.

Furthermore, Kang He gave Da Fu the basket of books that Luo Xiucai had given him when he left. He picked them up and looked through them, and found that they were surprisingly good books.

The booklet was exactly about the knowledge required for the Tongkao and the Imperial Examinations, and it also had detailed annotations and insights. Dafu felt like he had found a treasure.

He was a little worried about the exam in February, but with this book, he felt a little more at ease.

On the tenth day, Kanghe had to go to inspect the newly built cellar and had no time to send Dafu to the school.

Fan Jing got up early in the morning, dressed Xiaofu, and the family of three had breakfast. Xiaofu held his brother's school box and waited for Fan Jing to harness the car so that they could take Dafu to the school together.

On the way back, it started snowing again. Fan Jing was sitting outside driving. Xiaofu couldn't sit still in the carport and was not afraid of the cold, so he wanted to sit outside with Fan Jing.

He was very brave and was not afraid of the strong mule at all. Seeing his father pulling the reins so proudly, he also shouted that he wanted to drive.

Fan Jing held him in front of him, taught him to hold the reins, held his little hand and swung the rope to satisfy his desire, and the little guy laughed.

When he got to the main road, Fan Jing saw people hawking charcoal along the street. The charcoal vendor was shouting that a basket of charcoal cost ten cents.

Their family was not short of charcoal. They had firewood collected from the mountains in the countryside, and sometimes the tenants would send some to their home. The charcoal in the city was sent from the countryside, and they had to buy it outside.

But Fan Jing still knew that the price of charcoal had increased. He remembered that it was only five or six cents a basket last year, but this year it had increased by almost half.

It's no wonder that the price of coal has risen. This winter is particularly cold. I heard that many counties outside have suffered from snow disasters. Although it has been snowing in their county, fortunately it has not become a disaster.

He slowly pulled the mule forward and saw a group of men and women walking barefoot with tattered clothes.

I heard the last one walking yell, "Hurry up and leave! If you freeze to death on the street, there will be no one to collect your bodies!"

Fan Jing frowned, thinking that these people were poor people who had suffered a disaster in other counties and were sold to pawnshops, and then taken to all corners of the country by pawnshops.

He stopped the mule cart and called out to the broker. Hearing the call, the broker quickly stepped forward and asked, "Sir, do you have any advice?"

Fan Jing asked, "Where are these people from?"

"Most of them are poor people from Erqiu County. This year, there was a severe snowstorm, and the price of charcoal and firewood has risen horribly. Many poor people have frozen to death.

The imperial court allocated disaster relief funds and food and charcoal, but if local officials did nothing, it would be useless. The suffering people would have to sell their children.”

The broker said, “There are so many people from Erqiu County coming to the brokerage business today that we can hardly manage them all. Look, there are four or five more coming today.

My husband is so kind, he gave me a place to stay, and at the same time, he helped me get some neat clothes and a pair of good shoes to get me through the winter. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'd die."

As he was speaking, a man suddenly rushed out and knelt down, kowtowed on the cold and hard ground, begging Fan Jing to buy him.

"You're not following the rules! Are you trying to commit suicide?"

In an instant, a powerful broker pulled it back.

Fan Jing frowned.

He thought that the new house would really need some help with things like cooking, washing, cleaning, and delivering lunch to Dafu at noon.

The house is big and there are many things to do. He and Kang He are completely unable to handle it alone. They also have to take care of the business. If they can take care of both, they must be extremely powerful.

He then asked the broker which brokerage firm they were from, noted it down, and planned to go back and tell Kang He about it before they went to take a look together. If they could buy one or two, it would provide a way for these people who had suffered the disaster and had no choice but to sell themselves into slavery to make a living.

Kang He went to settle the bill with the cellar master and came back earlier than Fan Jing. He ate some hot soup in the house. He heard the sound of carriages and horses, so he came out from the back door and saw Xiaofu in Fan Jing's arms.

He reached out and took the kid down: "It's so cold, and you're still driving the cart outside with your dad."

"I'm not cold at all." Xiaofu pretended to pull the reins and said to Kanghe, "Drive the carriage!"

Kang He couldn't help laughing and patted his butt lightly.

Fan Jing jumped off the mule cart and told Yihuan to lead the cart and horses to the stables. He said to Kanghe, "I see a lot of disaster victims have come to the dental clinic. If you have time, go and take a look."

"When I went to check out, I heard Xiao Liu say that there were a lot of beggars in front of the upper bunks recently. I think it was the people who were affected by the snowstorm last winter and ended up in our county."

Kang He said, "Even if there are other things to do, we should move them on first and arrange the staff as soon as possible so that we can get things done."

The couple sent Xiaofu to the pork shop first, asked Qiao'er to look after him for a while, and then they went to the pork shop.

There were really a lot of people inside. The house was probably full of people, so they just sat in a huddle under the eaves outside. Most of them were pale and skinny disaster victims, wearing thin and tattered clothes, huddling together to keep warm.

After all, the servitude center was not a refugee shelter. Although they had some conscience and did not whip these victims who sold themselves into slavery, they could not ensure that they had enough food and clothing.

"Husband, you are here."

The brothel dealer whom he had met in the street earlier spotted Fan Jing with sharp eyes and quickly called him over.

Kang He asked, "What's the current rental price?"

"In times of disaster, human life is worthless. We can only rely on doing good deeds to provide them with shelter. Ten or fifteen strings of cash, or something more ordinary, will be selected."

The broker said, "We can't afford to support so many people. We can't take care of them all. We won't bargain for a price. If you can negotiate a price that covers our costs, I'll let you take them all."

The dentist rubbed his cold hands and spoke the truth. If these victims were not accommodated in the dentistry shop for a long time, they might even freeze to death or die of disease.

In this way, not only did they lose their lives in vain, but the pawnbrokers also spent a lot of money and manpower to buy them from the disaster area. If they died before being sold, it would be a loss-making business.

Kang He sighed when he heard this. Even in peaceful times, ordinary poor families would find it difficult to survive a famine. If their family was still the same as it was ten years ago, they would definitely have a hard time too.

In such a disaster year, the only way for poor families to survive was to sell themselves at a low price and become slaves.

Kang He felt the same way and said, "Well, bring three or four good ones with you. I just happen to be short of help at home."

Upon hearing this, the broker hurriedly took the two men to see the population.

Kang He and Fan Jing chose a strong man, a boy and a girl, as well as a boy of twelve or thirteen. At the persuasion of the broker, they added a woman of over thirty to the family.

There were five people in total, and they just spent sixty strings of money, which was only ten strings more than what the two of them, one Huan and two Xi, had spent.

How can one not marvel at the low price of human life in a year of disaster?

Kang He led the few people he had bought back home, taught Yi Huan how to arrange accommodation for them first, and then told them their body measurements, and then went to Liang's cloth shop to buy two sets of winter clothes for each of them.

If you have typhoid fever, just ask a doctor to see you and prescribe medicine, and don't treat them poorly.

He thought that the people who were enslaved by the pawnbrokers were really pitiful, so he set off to visit a few familiar families and ask if they needed any help.

No matter if it's because of the low price or for some other reason, as long as they have a place to go in the end, it can be considered a good deed.

After hearing the news, Xu Yang actually brought a few people back. He said to Kang He, "Don't just think about the lack of people to work in the city. There are so many lands in the countryside. If you can bring some people back to be tenants, it will also be a good place to go."

Kang He said, "I understand that. Although it doesn't cost much to buy them, the cost of feeding each of them is not a small expense. External taxes are also enormous. The head tax for slaves is twice as high as that for ordinary citizens."

Xu Yang said, "That's true. I hold the title of village head, so I have received some favors from the court. My family can have four slaves who pay the normal taxes. My father and grandfather have the title of scholar, so they can reduce the tax by four more..."

"You have a big family to support, and it's really a heavy burden."

This is the difference between officials and civilians. Once people have some wealth, they will try to get promoted to officials.

As for the He family, Zhang Shili actually brought two young children with him to help with some things.

Their family had twins, and they had to take care of the children and run the business at the same time. The He family was already small, and with two more young children, they were overwhelmed every day.

Every time Kang He and Fan Jing met the couple, their eyes were filled with gloom. They sighed and said that raising children is not an easy task, and raising two children of the same age at the same time is even more difficult.

It would be a good idea to buy two people and get rid of them, so that I can free up my hands to manage my daily life.

Kang He gave names to the few people he bought. The youngest boy was called A Wang. Kang He discussed with Fan Jing and asked him to go to Da Fu's yard to do some chores during the day and take care of Da Fu.

The boy was called Qige'er, and the girl was called Xuejie'er. They were taught to serve tea, clean, and do laundry, as well as take care of daily life.

The able-bodied man was called Shenghan, and was responsible for menial tasks such as guarding the gate and feeding the horses.

The woman's surname was Hua, so we just followed her surname and called her Miss Hua.

This Miss Hua knew how to make soup, so she was assigned to the kitchen.

Although they were all disaster victims, they were not stupid. After being taught the rules for three to five days and with Huan leading them, they all knew how to do things.

The houses in this city have also been kept in good order.

Now that Kanghe had someone to look after his house, he asked Yihuan and Erxi to teach and guide him in the business outside so that he would have his own reliable people in the business.

The first month of the year has passed in such a busy manner, and it is almost the beginning of February.

Kang He and Fan Jing were preparing for the opening of the vegetable store, but they also had another big thing on their mind: Da Fu was going to take an exam on the sixth day of February!