Chapter 3020: Running Life
Old man Yuan was walking in the field dragging a bamboo basket, bending down from time to time to pick up a rice ear. Although he bent down once every ten steps, he could not pick up many rice ears.
Who doesn’t give the rice a rough check before harvesting it?
Therefore, there are not many rice ears left on a piece of land for scavengers to pick up.
He bent down, straightened up, bent down again, and straightened up again. He probably felt tired, so he just kept his back hunched. This way, the ups and downs of bending down and straightening up were not so great, and he felt less uncomfortable and could save some energy.
After he finished picking up the crops in one field, he went to another. There were people harvesting nearby, so he walked over, talked to them, and chatted with them.
"Uncle Yuan, how much have you picked up today?"
"Not much," Old Man Yuan found a spot on the edge of the field and sat down, letting people look at the rice ears in his bamboo basket. He sighed, "Times are hard, so everyone is harvesting very cleanly."
The owner of the house who was harvesting rice shouted as he was cutting rice: "Didn't the third and fourth brothers go to Master Fang's house to harvest rice?"
Old Man Yuan said gloomily, "I went, but there were many people going this year, so I only made twelve cents a day."
"That's a little."
"Fortunately, three meals are provided, so the family can save a lot of food."
Old man Yuan was even more unhappy. "This year, Mr. Fang hired a lot of people. It will be finished in a few more days."
Someone comforted him, "After harvesting rice, we still have to plant wheat. We can always find work."
As the sun grew higher, the harvesters decided to take a break. The people working in the nearby fields also stopped working, dropped their sickles, took some water and dry food, and came over, chatting, eating, and taking a break.
"Fortunately, the harvest is good this year, but where did Mr. Fang invite so many people from? I think most of them are not from our neighborhood."
"Oh, you might not know this, but before the government raided their homes, all those families lost their land, and their servants had nowhere to go, so they had to find temporary work, didn't they?"
"If a servant is confiscated, isn't he still a servant?"
"I heard that the new county magistrate released quite a few servants. Instead of selling them, he made them good citizens and gave each of them two or three mu of land."
"We don't even have enough land of our own, so why are we giving it to our servants?" Someone used Old Man Yuan as an example, "Isn't it Old Man Yuan's family that's short of land?"
Old Man Yuan quickly shook his head and said, "My family did receive a share of the land, but unfortunately, we weren't doing well. We sold a lot of land to pay for medical treatment, and now we're struggling to make ends meet."
“So you still can’t get sick.”
"I heard someone said that a medical clinic was built in Beihai County, and they offer free medical treatment."
"Yes, yes, I've heard that too. I've also heard that the state capital and our county will also be built there in the future. Lower-income households won't have to pay for medical treatment or medicine, and middle-income households won't have to pay for medical treatment either."
"Is this true?"
"Of course it's true. This is what Zhao Laosan, who works as a helper at the village head's house, said."
"Beihai County, that's pretty far away, right? Why is the hospital built there? We can still get there if it's built in the state capital. Where is Beihai County?"
"We still have to go to the state capital, right? I heard it's not far from the state capital, and the director of the medical department is the wife of the Beihai County magistrate. She must be partial to her husband."
"I heard that Beihai County is very different now. There's more land and fewer people there, so there's a lot of work to do. In the past, you could make twenty cents a day, and you could find work easily."
Old Man Yuan couldn't help but pay attention, "Is it true?"
"Of course it's true," the man said. "This news came from the village head's house, how could it be false? And if you settle down there, you can even get some land."
Old Man Yuan swallowed his saliva and asked, "Can those who have already divided the land in the past also get a share?"
"Sure, as long as you don't have land, you can transfer your household registration there."
Old man Yuan began to think about it.
"Hey, Uncle Yuan, you could ask your third and fourth sons to give it a try. They've sold the land under their names, haven't they? It's a good opportunity to go over and take a look. If they can get a share of the land, your family will make a fortune. Will you still be worried about not being able to support yourselves in the future?"
"It's easy to say, but it's not easy to do. For example, if we go to Beihai County, will we still be able to see each other at home? Do you know where Beihai County is?"
Most of the people here really don’t know. The farthest they have been to is the provincial capital, and most of them have been even further to the county town, Beihai County, and have only heard of it.
Old man Yuan dragged the bamboo basket back home after sunset. He had been out since sunrise and had been busy all day, but the bamboo basket was only one-third full of rice ears.
He placed the bamboo basket under the eaves. The eldest daughter-in-law came over to take a look, said nothing, took out the rice ears and hung them in the yard to dry, then turned around and went into the kitchen to continue her work.
Old Man Yuan asked, "Where are the third and fourth sons?"
The person in the kitchen responded, "I don't know. He came back a long time ago. I don't know where he went."
Old man Yuan frowned and was about to speak when his two sons came back from outside laughing. They were both wet and holding two pieces of wet clothes in their hands. He knew at a glance that they had gone to the river to take a bath and washed their clothes as well.
Old man Yuan took a look at the clothes hanging in the yard and found that their clothes were not there. Obviously, the eldest and second eldest families did not wash clothes for them.
Old Man Yuan sighed and made up his mind. After his two sons finished drying the clothes, he said, "Come with me. I have something to tell you."
The people in the kitchen probably heard the sound of chopping vegetables getting a little louder.
Yuan Sanlang and Yuan Silang didn't care and followed their father out to talk.
But they couldn't help but be surprised, "Going to Beihai County?"
"Yes," said Old Man Yuan, "A tree that doesn't move dies, but a person who moves lives. We have no choice but to move now. We won't be able to supply enough food in March or April this year. After paying taxes this year, we have to pay back the food we borrowed from your uncle and your uncle's family. There will be even less left. If this continues, it will become more difficult every year..."
Yuan Sanlang and Yuan Silang looked unhappy and interrupted him, saying, "Dad, the land we sold to the fourth brother and me was to pay for Mom's medical treatment. The eldest and second brothers should also give us a share. You can't sell our land and then kick us out."
"I'm not driving you out," Old Man Yuan said, looking at them with sad and helpless eyes. "If you two leave, I will definitely give you food and money. Everything in the house will be divided. Your eldest and second brothers will have the advantage of the land, but I'll give you more of everything else."
"I won't agree!" Yuan Silang stiffened his neck and shouted, "Even if we're splitting up, it's fine if my eldest brother gets more land, but we can't be without it, right? We agreed that the land would be sold to us, but we'd also have a share of the land owned by my eldest and second brothers."
"You can't survive," Old Man Yuan couldn't help but pat them with his hands, saying with both sadness and anger, "If we divide the remaining land, it would be better not to divide the family. With just those two acres of land, can you support yourself, marry a wife, and still serve in the army?"
"I'm sending you to Beihai County, but it doesn't mean we're going to divide the family property right away," he said in a gentle tone. "You go and have a look first. If you can get some land, we'll divide the family property later. If not, you can do some temporary work first. You can come back home during the holidays. What's yours will always be yours."
See you at 7pm
(End of this chapter)
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