Chapter 25: Smart Ghost Xu Ling
Xu Fugui tugged at his wife's sleeve, signaling her to shut up, and Wang glared at him.
But Xu Nian thought it was nothing. It didn't matter if Zheng didn't understand the intricacies of this matter. She could explain it to her.
"Second Aunt, although our family has lost some money, only those who have passed the imperial examination and become officials will be exempted from taxes and labor service. Do you know how much can be exempted?"
Zheng shook her head.
"The eighth rank can be exempted from 480 mu, but the soil in the northern border is not good, so the King of Zhenbei will be given an additional 150 mu."
Zheng's eyes widened with shock, and the Xu family also listened very carefully. This was the first time they knew about this.
"And there's more to it than that. Only if my father enters the officialdom can my brothers gain more resources and connections in the future..."
Old Man Xu nodded repeatedly after listening to this. When it comes to the overall situation in the family, it still has to be the eldest girl.
Before going to bed at night, Xu Nian sprayed some water into the two large wooden basins in the room, which contained the bean sprouts she had grown a few days ago.
In order to increase the success rate, Xu Nian always soaks soybeans in stream water in a space.
Moreover, she distributed two pots of soybeans, one with the soybeans bought by Old Man Xu, and the other with the soybeans she grew herself in the space.
Xu Ling lay under the quilt with her furry little head exposed.
"Sister, when can we eat the food in the bowl?"
Ever since Xu Nian started sprouting bean sprouts, Xu Ling would ask him the same question every night.
"Wait two more days."
Xu Nian filled the brazier and put out the candles before going to bed.
After tucking Xu Ling in, he said softly, "Go to sleep quickly."
"Sister, are you still telling stories today?"
Xu Nian smiled and said softly, "Then let's tell a story about the three little pigs today.
Once upon a time, there lived a family of pigs in the forest..."
Hearing the long breathing sound coming from beside him, Xu Nian stopped talking, closed his eyes and entered the space.
There was no extra space in the large tent in the space, which was filled with corn, sweet potatoes, and various fruits and vegetables.
The crops planted in the fields have just sprouted, and now the seeds she has harvested are planted in the fields. I don’t know if the harvest will be affected.
There was a pile of unthreshed rice next to the tent. Xu Nian was dizzy at the sight, but he still resigned himself to his fate and took out a wooden bucket to start beating the rice ears to thresh the rice.
It took me more than two hours to finish it. After a simple tidying up, I left the space and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, all the men in the family went out to reclaim the wasteland, and Wang took her two daughters-in-law to tidy up the small vegetable garden in the backyard.
It must have been a long time since vegetables were planted in the garden. It was full of sand bags blown by the wind, and it was very uneven with many potholes.
Wang planned to clean up now so that she could grow some vegetables in the spring.
Xu Nian found the vegetable planting pot that he had asked Xu Weian to make and planned to plant some vegetables and sell them together with bean sprouts.
Each vegetable pot is one meter long, and there are five of them in total. Xu Nian can imagine that if they were placed in the room, there would be no place to put them.
It looks like she'll have to ask her uncle to make another shelf for her.
In order to grow the vegetables, she took some black soil from the space and spread it at the bottom of the pot.
She plans to plant pea sprouts, spinach and amaranth.
She put the amaranth into the space on the way here, and later planted it in the space and left the seeds.
Xu Ling followed Xu Nian in and out. She now felt that her eldest sister was the most powerful person in the family and there was nothing that her eldest sister couldn't do.
Xiao Liuzi, who was following behind Xu Ling, pouted and muttered.
"Fifth sister, you haven't told me your story from yesterday yet? What are you doing following your eldest sister?"
Xu Nian really couldn't stand the two little ones behind her. She would bump into them every time she turned around.
"Ling'er, go take Xiao Liuzi and tell him the story of the three little pigs. I'll be done with it soon."
Xu Ling lowered her head and ran out with Xiao Liuzi, feeling guilty. Could she say she didn't remember? She had been dreaming about eating delicious food last night, and she had long forgotten what her elder sister said.
But she didn't dare say she didn't remember. What if her elder sister didn't tell her later?
The three Xu Ji brothers were practicing calligraphy in the room when they saw two people running in.
"Second brother, eldest sister said that it's time for Xiao Liuzi to learn to read, so she wants you to teach him together."
Xiao Liuzi was confused. He was just listening to a story, so how come he could recognize words again?
As soon as Xu Ji saw the little girl's scattered eyes, he knew there was cat poop in it.
"Okay, we are all tired from writing, come here, Xiao Liuzi."
Xu Ling felt that her plan had succeeded, and was about to go out with a smile, but was stopped by Xu Ji.
"Ling'er, come and learn with us."
Xu Ling said bitterly: "Second brother, I want to learn too?"
"Of course, you want to help Big Sister, but how can you help if you can't even read?"
Poor Xu Ling, at such a young age, was trapped by Xu Ji's few words and could only accept her fate and take small steps.
Seeing their sister's tearful expression, the Xu Kang brothers laughed heartlessly.
Xu Nian listened to the laughter coming from the room and couldn't help wondering why the learning atmosphere was so good today!
In his previous life, Xu Nian dreamed of working from sunrise to sunset and resting from sunset to sunrise, but he never expected that this would become a reality in another world.
It was a busy day and it soon got dark. The bean sprouts that I had originally planned to wait for another day were finally served on the table tonight.
"Don't mention it, this is quite delicious."
Old Man Xu never thought that his granddaughter asked him to buy soybeans for this purpose.
"Big girl, are you planning to sell this for money?"
Xu Nian swallowed the food in his mouth and replied, "I don't plan to sell the gifts I gave out this time. I didn't give out much in the first place. I'll give them to the neighbors. You have helped us so much before, but we never gave you any thank-you gifts.
I’ll sell the next time I send it out.”
Old Man Xu nodded, that's right.
"Then let your grandma deliver some to each household tomorrow."
The children didn't care what the adults said, they were just eating happily with their heads down.
The Xu family had just finished their meal when they heard noises coming from outside.
When Xu Youliang opened the door, he saw that it was his elder brother and his wife who had returned.
"Dad, it's my eldest brother and his friends who are back."
When Old Man Xu and his companions came out, they saw that it was indeed the eldest couple.
Old Man Xu couldn't help but ask worriedly, "But what happened?"
It's no wonder he thought so. The eldest girl had just visited them at the county government office and didn't mention anything about taking a day off.
Xu Yaozu came forward and said with a smile, "That's good news. Dad, hurry inside. It's cold outside."
"Okay, okay, come inside and talk."
Tian went forward to greet her mother-in-law and her sisters-in-law, then followed everyone into the main hall.
Zheng and Xiao Wang looked at their sister-in-law beside them and couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: She is worthy of being an official's wife. Her temperament has changed after not seeing her for such a short time.
Old Man Xu sat down and asked anxiously, "What good thing is worth running back so late at night?"
Xu Yaozu looked very happy and took out three letters from his arms.
"This is a letter of recommendation from an adult for my three stepson brothers to enroll in the county school, haha~"