Xu He covered the two pieces of cloth with a layer of cloth and placed them at the bottom of the cart. Then the two of them returned to the village.

The village has been in turmoil recently, as the collection of taxes cannot be completed in a few days. The yamen runners come every day, which makes people feel uneasy and worried.

After entering the village, Xu He saw a backpack and a knife on the cart, so he told Zhang Fangyuan to go cut some grass from the vegetable field and take it home to feed the livestock, so as to avoid having to turn back later and walk less distance.

Zhang Fangyuan put him down on the road and said, "Okay, I'll go back and clean up first."

Xu He responded and went to his own field carrying the basket on his back.

The most common weeds in the cabbage fields are melon seed grass, mother-in-law's nail moss, purslane, etc. They are all quite tender. Cutting them can not only remove the weeds so as not to hinder the growth of cabbage, but also take them home and chop them up to feed chickens and ducks.

The two pairs of chickens and ducks in the yard have grown up. The ducks are growing very fast. In just one or two months, they have grown from small yellow ducks to big yellow ducks, and have grown twice as much. On the contrary, the two pairs of chickens that were larger when they were originally bought could no longer grow larger than the ducks.

At first, there was a pair of chicks that, perhaps due to unfamiliarity with the local climate, refused to eat or drink much. They spent the whole day huddled beside the chicken coop with their wings spread out. He fed them fine bran and cabbage stew, but they refused to eat. He thought he could no longer keep them alive. He didn't know where Zhang Fangyuan got some medicine from, but he ground it into powder and mixed it with water. After eating the medicine, the chicks became lively again.

Xu He thought that since his family had land, and his fourth uncle's family had planted vegetables on their land, he would have to go cut vegetables. He thought about raising two piglets. Not only could he raise them to sell, he could also slaughter them for his own consumption during the New Year. However, Zhang Fangyuan refused. He first said that his family had not raised pigs for many years and the pigpen had to be repaired and he had no time to do it. Then he said that it would be troublesome and raising pigs would keep him at home.

There were only two of them at home, and sometimes they were short of manpower, so he didn't insist on it.

"Well, it's good to have a scholar in the family. The yamen runners are always respectful when they come to the house, and they don't even breathe a sigh of relief. I heard that if the family has no money, they can borrow money from the yamen."

Xu He was squatting on the ground cutting grass when he suddenly heard voices. He looked up and found that there were villagers hoeing the ground under a chestnut tree in the soil.

"My family already receives monthly wages from the government, so why do we need to borrow money?"

After listening for a while, Xu He realized that the villagers were talking about the Fei family. Today, the government runners have come to the Fei family to collect the tax. Fei Lian passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. Although he is not as exempt from taxes as a juren, he still has some face in front of the government and the county government, and can receive certain preferential treatment.

"When Fei Lian passed the imperial examination, his wife was very proud of herself. She could receive two thousand coins from the government every month. It has been three or two months, and she must have received five or six thousand coins. The villagers went to her house to borrow money to see if she would lend it to them or not."

"You think she can't see the difference between fellow villagers. Someone came to her house and cried, saying that her son had borrowed a lot of money to pay back for his early studies, and that he had to spend a lot of money on the wedding and couldn't borrow money."

The woman sneered: "Why is she still bringing this up? Who with a son doesn't spend money on marrying him off? Besides, last time Liu Xianglan came to make a scene, I won't say much. It didn't cost much to marry Xu Shaochun."

"That girl from the Xu family is really something. The two families are similar, so it's a perfect match for them. Ever since the quarrel, Madam Fei has stopped pretending to be a magnanimous mother-in-law. Xu Shaochun was also a pretentious person. After the quarrel, everyone knows who is who. Madam Fei has been using Xu Shaochun to do things for her every day."

The woman was very interested and asked, "What to do?"

"In fact, it's just what a daughter-in-law does, cooking, washing clothes, working in the fields, and taking care of livestock. Farmers only do those things. It's also because Xu Shaochun didn't study hard when she was a girl at home, otherwise she wouldn't be forced by her mother-in-law to learn how to do it after getting married. Every day, she either cries or makes a fuss. I've seen it several times."

"Then Fei Lian doesn't feel bad?"

"Fei Lian only comes home a few times a month, and he is an obedient and filial son. When he comes home and sees Xu Shaochun busy all day, he even praises her, saying that she is a thrifty and capable wife, leaving Xu Shaochun with no place to complain."

The woman laughed and said, "Liu Xianglan felt so sorry for Xu Shaochun, why didn't she come to make trouble again?"

"Why are you making such a fuss? If you continue to make a fuss, you might even lose your son-in-law. The last time Xu Shaochun went home and lived for such a long time, the Fei family didn't go to pick her up. If she makes a fuss about going home again, she will have to go back in disgrace. If she goes back a few more times, I'm afraid her husband's family will belong to someone else."

The woman sighed, then said, "I didn't expect it to turn out like this. It seems that it was He who was..."

Seeing that the conversation was about to fall on him again, Xu He quickly made some noise, and when he saw the two people looking down, he greeted them. The two women laughed and exchanged a few pleasantries with him, then automatically forgot what they had just said.

After cutting enough grass to fill a basket, Xu He sorted out the vegetables in the field. The vines of the pumpkins were very long, and the leaves were large, forming a patch. Looking at the young pumpkins that looked like long-necked and big-bellied bottles lying under the big furry leaves, he was very satisfied. He thought that they would be very sweet when they turned yellow and grew older.

Seeing that the pumpkin vines had grown long enough and clustered into a large patch, he simply picked the young pumpkin vines that had tall, slanting tendrils and grew like big butterflies. He picked a large handful at a time, took them home, rinsed them, and stir-fried them with bacon, and dinner was settled.

When he got home, Zhang Fangyuan had already chopped a small hill of firewood and was holding the axe as if he was talking to someone.

Xu He thought that he might be here to borrow money again, but when he entered the room, he saw that it was Wang Ju. It turned out that he was here to sell mountain products again.

"Brother, go get two thousand coins and give them to Wang Ju."

Xu He saw that everything was already discussed, but this person didn't even bother to pour the guest a glass of water.

He agreed, put down his backpack and went into the house to get the money. Wang Ju took the money and didn't keep any for himself. Xu He invited him to drink some water and left without even drinking it.

"People are in a hurry to go back and pay their taxes."

Xu He looked at the rabbits, pheasants, and badgers that were delivered. There was quite a lot of mountain products. "Why are you doing him a favor by buying so much?"

Zhang Fangyuan said, "It's half and half. His wife had a difficult childbirth a while ago and it cost a lot of money. I'll take all the goods now so he can go to help out. Besides, the mountain products we bought last time were also easy to sell. We made a profit of nearly a thousand yuan."

Xu He didn't believe that he did it just to make more money.

"I'm serious. Although we're living a decent life now, we still have to save more money. If we have a child in the future, we can send him to school to learn how to read and write. If we have a son, we can let him take the imperial examination. If he's a capable person and passes the examination, we won't have to worry about taxes in the future."

Zhang Fangyuan's initial enthusiasm for making money was because he wanted to marry Xu He. After he got the money, he almost didn't have the same enthusiasm as when he first started the business. Now seeing that Xu He worked harder than him, he also reflected on himself.

Xu He felt very relieved when he heard the first part of the story. He couldn't help but say after hearing the last part, "You are really putting all your hopes on your children. You are a good father. If studying was easy and passing the imperial examination was easy, wouldn't everyone in the world go to school?"

"Well, this is called hoping that your son will become a dragon and your daughter will become a phoenix. You can't just rely on your children."

Xu He muttered again: "Even if I'm counting on it, it's still too late to count on it."

Zhang Fangyuan had sharp ears and came closer, wagging his tail: "Then I'll give you some hope."

"Zhang Fangyuan! Put me down!" Xu He exclaimed, but found himself in the yard. He quickly covered his mouth and was carried into the house in a blink of an eye.

He found that this person would carry people off if they disagreed with him.

Zhang Fangyuan put Xu He on the edge of the bed, then turned around and went to the cabinet. The thing he bought had not been opened yet. If it weren't for the tax and borrowing money, he would have used it long ago.

That bastard An Saner gave me some new stuff, saying that it is cool and comfortable and best for summer use. He thought it was just right. Xu He was afraid of heat, and when the weather got warmer, she often refused to let him hold her in his arms to sleep. He threw away the quilt, but was afraid that she would catch a cold in the middle of the night.

"No, in broad daylight."

Xu He hardly stopped him from doing that, even though he had some unpleasantness due to some unknown things before, he never said no, but the prerequisite was that the time was right.

"It's already dinner time. What's the point of broad daylight? With the doors and windows closed in this bedroom, it's like nightfall."

Xu He was pressed onto the bed: "What if someone comes to borrow money later?"

Zhang Fangyuan went to untie his belt. It was the beginning of summer, and his clothes opened as soon as he pulled them. It was still daylight, so he could see more clearly than at night. The two hadn't done it for a while, and Zhang Fangyuan felt hot when he saw Xu He's exposed collarbone.

"Whoever chooses this time to come here is unlucky. I won't lend you the money even if I wanted to."

Seeing that the other party was determined to do it, Xu He made a few excuses and said nothing more. Just when the two of them were passionately attracted to each other, someone actually came.

Zhang Fangyuan was so annoyed that he wanted to curse. She interrupted the show before it even started. It was so annoying!

But after hesitating for a moment, he lay back down again, asked Xu He to speak in a low voice, and simply pretended that no one was home. Xu He blushed, thinking that there were people outside, they stayed in the house with the doors and windows closed and did other things. If this got out, they would be laughed at.

"You'll be laughed at. Get up."

Zhang Fangyuan said, "It's already this late. If I go out with my pants up, won't that just tell people what we are doing?"

Xu He's face turned even redder: "Then put on your clothes before going out. Who told you to put on your clothes while walking?"

"You bit my jaw. If you keep dragging your feet, it doesn't matter whether you're wearing clothes or not."

"Just said I was going to take a shower!"

Zhang Fangyuan grabbed a handful of hair and said, "These hairs are all dry. How could you have thought of that?"

Then he smiled slyly: "But if I work harder and go out later, I guess people will believe it."

Xu He wanted to kick him under the bed, but was grabbed by the ankle: "You are a hooligan!"

"That's exactly it."

Chen Si was holding a plate of scallion pancakes, which were prepared by his husband and sent over. He clearly saw someone in the yard at first, but now they had all gone out, which was strange.

He shook his head and returned in vain. Ever since they got married, they have seen each other less and less, let alone hanging out together all day like before, as they are both busy with their own things.

Chen Si didn't find anyone but ran back happily, he was afraid that Zhang Fangyuan would keep him for a drink and wouldn't let him leave. As they were newlyweds, he didn't want to drink with Zhang Fangyuan.