The scorekeeper placed the ledger on the table and looked at Qingyou.

"Should I help you with the statistics, or will you do it yourselves?"

He had already heard about what happened that morning, so he didn't have a good impression of Liu Sanya, but he liked Qingyou instead.

After all, Qingyou is the only high school student in the village. If she comes to compete with him for the scorekeeper's job, his uncle might have no choice but to reluctantly agree in order to avoid gossip.

Qingyou smiled and said, "I'll do it. You just need to be a witness!"

The scorekeeper stepped aside, "Okay!"

Then Qingyou borrowed a pen and a piece of paper from the captain.

Everyone's name was written on paper, and the people in each room sat side by side.

Next, she checked the ledgers. Since everyone's work points were tallied every year, she didn't search through the daily records anymore. Instead, she recorded everyone's work points on paper year after year.

The total work points for each person were quickly determined.

The scorekeeper was amazed to see that she was not only fast, but also had an innovative and easy-to-understand method for compiling statistics on paper.

Then he exclaimed, "High school students are really something else, they're amazing!"

Qingyou said to the scorekeeper, "I've finished the tally, please check if it's correct."

The scorekeeper laughed and said, "I checked the numbers while you were tallying them, and they're all correct."

Not only was he watching, but Liu Sanya also came over to stare.

She attended elementary school until the third grade when she was at home. Later, she went out to work and learned accounting from someone, so she can understand it.

Qingyou then looked at Liu Sanya, "You've seen the numbers I compiled, right? Are they okay?"

Liu Sanya nodded, "No problem."

She was watching this closely, and Liu Qingyou hadn't cheated, so she couldn't find fault with her.

Qingyou then calculated the total amount of grain and cash that could be distributed according to work points.

She picked up the paper and said, "Everyone knows how much food each person in a family eats per month. Come and see if our Liu family is supported by the eldest son."

One villager laughed and said, "We do know that, but we can't read. Can you read it aloud?"

Qingyou smiled and said, "Okay!"

She recounted the situation of everyone in the Liu family each year, and also recounted the total income earned by the eldest, second, third, and fourth branches of the family each year from their work.

After listening, Liu Sanya had no reaction and still believed that what she said was right. Now, she would let the villagers see the true colors of this family.

Boss Liu and Wu Xiaocao's expressions changed.

After listening, the brigade leader's father said, "According to the work points statistics, the eldest son's family does indeed earn more money and grain than the other sons' families every year."

"To say you're supporting a whole family is an exaggeration." This was Hou Zhangsi.

“Take the sixth wife as an example, it consists of a couple and a daughter.”

"Not counting the money for Qingyou's high school education, the work points that the two of them earn each year are almost enough to feed their family of three."

"The other two houses are about the same, since there aren't many people living in them."

"While the eldest son's family does earn the most, they also have the largest number of members, so even if they have some surplus grain and money, it's not much."

The others agreed, saying, "That's right. The eldest branch of the Liu family does a lot of work, but with more people, they also eat a lot. In the end, the other branches don't really benefit much."

Liu Sanya felt something was off. "How can you say she didn't benefit? Even if the work points earned by the sixth branch are just enough to eat, wasn't the money for Liu Qingyou's schooling all these years paid for by her family?"

"The other families only have enough to eat for themselves, so isn't that just spending our eldest son's money to send her to school?"

She never imagined that her parents, who worked so much every day to earn full work points, weren't actually supporting the whole family.

But things have escalated to this point, and if we just let it go like this, the villagers will definitely think that she and the eldest son's wife are not a good match.

So she had to find a place to attack.

Upon hearing this, Liu Laoliu chuckled and turned to the old lady, asking, "Mom, is my Qingyou's school money paid by the eldest son's family?"

The old lady rolled her eyes at Liu Sanya, "If you don't know, don't talk nonsense."

She added, "Qingyou's school fees were not paid by the first wife's family, but by the sixth wife's family."

Liu Sanya immediately retorted, "How could that be? The couple in the sixth branch usually like to shirk their responsibilities. Liu Qingyou goes to school in the county town and doesn't work. They barely have enough to eat, so where would they get the money to send Qingyou to school?"

Nie Xue wanted nothing more than to slap Liu Sanya again for implying that her family was lazy.

She snorted coldly: "We don't agree with you being lazy, that's something you, Liu Sanya, like to do."

“We paid for Qingyou’s schooling ourselves, and I actually have proof of that.”

"Moreover, not only my family knows about this, but most people in the village probably do too."

“I know a little about pharmacology, so when I’m not working, I take my husband up the mountain to find herbs, dry them, and then sell them at the state-run pharmacy.”

Doing business is not allowed now, but if you grow vegetables, dig up medicinal herbs, feed chickens and ducks, or lay eggs, you are allowed to take them to state-run stores or purchasing stations to exchange for money.

“At the time, we were thinking that school would cost money, and we couldn’t take advantage of the other families in the family.”

“I keep a record of every single transaction I made to exchange dried medicinal herbs for money. If the eldest son doesn’t believe me, we can go to the state-run pharmacy tomorrow and ask them to produce the account books for verification.”

She and her husband weren't particularly enthusiastic about work, but that was because the work points they earned were enough for their family of three to eat and drink.

Although they didn't separate from the family, they never intended to be taken advantage of or leech off anyone.

She went to gather herbs to pay off her daughter's schooling, while her husband secretly hunted pheasants and rabbits to sell on the black market. Of course, she couldn't reveal the latter.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!