Chapter 13 She is the Head of Household (Correction of Bugs)
Pei Ying looked at her talkative younger sister and replied, "Then I'll share half with you if it gets hot later."
Lin Duo'er stuck out her tongue. "Brother-in-law, you can eat. I've already eaten."
Pei Ying put down the bamboo and unlocked the door, then casually carried the basket inside. Lin Chuntao took the things out of the basket before realizing that she had forgotten to buy a basket.
"It's over!"
Lin Chunxing hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Chuntao slapped her forehead: "I forgot to buy a basket. We borrowed a sickle and hoe from Grandpa Village Chief, and now we need a basket. I was thinking of going to the city to buy one today so I could return it later."
Lin Chunxing breathed a sigh of relief, but then looked at Lin Chuntao quietly for a while before saying, "I thought something was wrong. Doesn't Aunt Guizhi in our village often weave baskets to sell? Let's go ask her in a bit."
Lin Chuntao's heart skipped a beat; she had forgotten about this.
But since Lin Chunxing said that, she could only agree, "Then let's go after lunch." After saying that, she asked, "What do you want to eat for lunch? Do you want some buckwheat pancakes?"
"Eat!" the third and fourth brothers replied in unison. Lin Chuntao looked at Pei Ying and said, "I'll eat too."
Lin Chuntao took the buns out of the basket; they were still warm. She handed them to Pei Ying, saying, "They're still warm; you can eat them directly."
Pei Ying took the steamed bun that Zhou Shi had given her back. Lin Chuntao washed her hands and broke it into four pieces, with each of the four sisters taking two bites.
It was still early before lunchtime, so after eating the steamed bun, Pei Ying started making a bamboo fence, while Lin Chuntao helped trim the bamboo branches with a sickle.
Pei Yingquan cut thin bamboo for the bamboo fence, cutting all the bamboo into roughly the same length and sharpening one end. Once he had done all that, Pei Yingquan drew a line around the yard, marking the entrance and exit. Then he started inserting bamboo along the line. The soil in the yard was quite hard, so he had to use stones to tap the bamboo to make it go deeper and more securely into the ground.
Chunxing and her two younger sisters carried bamboo, Pei Ying planted bamboo in the soil, and Lin Chuntao followed behind, tapping the bamboo.
By lunchtime, they had planted the seeds in most of the yard.
They continued working, and Lin Chuntao went to fetch water first and came back to prepare to make buckwheat pancakes.
This doesn't require any special skills. Just knead the dough, add the right amount of water, heat the pan, pour in the dough, and fry over low heat. Flip it over once it's cooked through, and it's ready to eat.
Several buckwheat pancakes were made very quickly.
When the pancakes were almost ready, Lin Chuntao called them over to wash their hands and start eating.
Even with just one buckwheat pancake, Lin Duo'er exclaimed, "Sister, it's so delicious!"
Lin Chuntao really wanted to crown her the best cheerleader.
"Is it really that delicious? Let me try it." Lin Chuntao said, removing the firewood and tearing off a piece of cake.
It was still a little hot, but it was actually quite good to eat. It wasn't bitter, and it even had a unique buckwheat aroma.
She thought the buckwheat she ate at Lao Lin's house was all bitter buckwheat!
No wonder Lin Duo'er said it was delicious; it really was quite good.
"It would taste even better with honey." As soon as Lin Chuntao finished speaking, her three younger sisters all looked over at the same time. Lin Chunhe smiled and said, "Sister, honey is so sweet, it will taste good with anything."
Lin Chuntao smiled. She wanted to say that buckwheat pancakes dipped in honey have a special sweet taste, but the original owner of this body had never eaten them before, and if she said that, she would give herself away.
"That's true, honey is so sweet, it must taste good with anything."
Pei Ying glanced at her indifferently upon hearing this, but said nothing.
After lunch, the group continued working together on the bamboo fence, and soon they had almost finished planting all the bamboo.
But it wasn't all done yet. It needed to be tied with several horizontal braces to make it more stable. Lin Chuntao and the others didn't have any hemp rope, so they had to wait until they bought some later to tie it. Pei Ying continued to make a simple bamboo door. The sickle was almost used up. He checked it over and made sure it wasn't damaged before handing it to Lin Chuntao: "You can return it to the village head now."
Lin Chuntao took the sickle and rested in the yard until noon. Seeing that the villagers who had gone to the fields had all gone home to drink water, she called Chunxing to go to the village head's house to return the things.
She took some money with her, intending to see if she could buy a new basket.
Seeing that her eldest and second eldest sisters were going, Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er also wanted to join in the fun and go along.
Since there was nothing else to do, Lin Chuntao let them follow along.
To get to the village head's house, you have to pass by the Lin family's house. Today, when I passed by, several adults from the Lin family and several villagers were standing outside the yard chatting.
Seeing them pass by, a woman called out, "Chuntao, where are you going?"
Lin Chuntao recognized the woman as Zhang's close friend; the two had a very good relationship.
She asked a question, and there might be other things to say next. Lin Chuntao smiled and replied, "Auntie, we're going to Grandma's house to return the basket."
The one who asked the question was Zhang Qiuniang. She thought that Lin Chuntao used to be timid and hesitant, and now that she had been kicked out by the adults, she probably wouldn't even dare to speak.
Unexpectedly, not only did he dare to reply, but he also smiled and replied to her in front of all of them.
"I heard you're living in your great-grandmother's old house now?"
"Yes, Grandma is so kind to let us stay here for a while."
Zhang Qiuniang exclaimed "Oh dear!" and then said, "Chuntao, the elders are only angry for a short time. No one feels as comfortable living at home as they do at someone else's house. Bring your sisters back and apologize to Grandma as soon as possible. How can a family really sever ties?"
The Lin family remained silent, while Madam Qian and Madam Zhang ate melon seeds, looking down at Lin Chuntao. They were probably really waiting for her and her sisters to beg to go back because they couldn't make ends meet.
Lin Chuntao smiled slightly and replied to Zhang Qiuniang.
"I hope Auntie won't be the kind of person who sells her granddaughter for money in the future."
Zhang Qiuniang's expression froze, and she looked embarrassed. Lin Chuntao didn't give her a chance to reply and continued, "There are all kinds of people. Auntie is kind-hearted and only said things in anger. How do you know that others are like that? Auntie, please don't try to persuade me, otherwise I will be jealous of my cousins' good luck and want to go to your house and become your daughter."
She smiled, but every word she spoke was barbed, and the Lin family members looked grim.
Lin Chuntao and her sisters had already walked over. Zhang Qiuniang, facing the Lin family with an embarrassed expression, could only mutter, "When did Chuntao become so sharp-tongued? She really doesn't let anyone off the hook."
To ease tensions, the woman next to them joined in: "I bet they'll be coming back crying in a few days. They've been clinging to the village head's house lately. Do you think the village head's family will keep supporting them forever? Once Aunt Sun gets tired of them and they have no food or shelter, they'll slink back home."
Many people nearby chimed in, "That's right, Aunt Tian, don't worry."
At this time, the entire Muramasa family was sitting in the courtyard drinking water.
Lin Chuntao knocked on the courtyard gate before going in. She saw her uncles, aunts, and great-aunts greeting her with smiles. Then she said to Madam Sun, "Grandma, I've come to return your sickle and basket. We've already used them. Thank you!"
Sun came out of the house and said with a smile, "You're too polite, girl. Why thank me for using a basket and sickle?" As she spoke, she took the things, glanced at them and found that they were not damaged. She smiled and said to them, "Sit and play for a while. Your great-grandfather went to get your household registration done. He should be here soon."
Upon hearing this, Lin Chuntao prepared to sit down with her sisters and wait a while, but before they could even sit down, the old man returned.
Lin Chuntao hurriedly called for help.
"Grandpa."
Lin Cun looked up at them and said cheerfully, "It's Chun Tao! Perfect timing, your household registration certificates are ready. Take them home and keep them safe." He then reached into his pocket, took out the household registration certificates, and handed them over.
Lin Chuntao quickly took it, opened it, and saw that she was the head of the household, with her sisters and Pei Ying listed behind her.
Seeing Lin Chuntao's delighted expression, Lin Cunzheng continued, "The imperial court also has a policy for those who marry outsiders. Starting this year, you will not have to pay taxes for three years."
Upon hearing this news, Lin Chuntao was shocked and repeatedly thanked the old man while holding the household registration certificate.
Everyone in the courtyard was astonished. "We don't have to pay land tax and corvée labor anymore?"
"Yes, our land tax and labor service fees have also been reduced, which is all good news."
Lin Chuntao was very happy to receive this item; she needed to take it back and put it away safely.
She only stayed at the Muramasa's house for a short while before taking her sisters back home.
As soon as they left, Madam Sun asked Lin, the village head, "If the fifth son's family hadn't driven them out, would they have been exempt from paying land taxes?"
Lin Cunzheng just smiled and didn't say anything.
But everyone in the courtyard understood. Madam Sun said, "If Madam Tian knew, she'd faint from anger, wouldn't she?"
Lin Chuntao and the others didn't go to buy baskets as originally planned; they went straight home.
Seeing that they had returned empty-handed, Pei Ying asked, "Didn't you buy a basket?"
"I haven't looked at the basket yet." Lin Chuntao said, waving the household registration sticker in her hand at him. "Look what this is."
Pei Ying guessed it, reached out and took it, carefully flipping it open; it was their household registration certificate.
"You got it back so quickly?"
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "It should be that the village head took you to report something, and it would be faster if you did it on the side. I was so happy that I forgot to ask for details."
"Also, we won't have to pay taxes for three years."
"Really?" Pei Ying was somewhat skeptical.
Lin Chuntao nodded. "Of course it's true."
The group spent a long time in the courtyard celebrating before calming down. They carefully put away the household registration stickers and then skipped off to buy a basket.
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