One day, An Ning was feeding rabbits at home when she heard the sound of gongs in the village. An Ning didn't know what was going on, so she went out to see what was going on. As soon as she reached the door, she saw Chun Ya coming out. An Ning asked in confusion, "Chun Ya, do you know what happened?"
Chun Ya said worriedly, "People from the county government are here to collect grain taxes. We have finally collected so much grain, but now we have to give back half of it."
An Ning just remembered this. The grain tax in this dynasty was 50% of the total harvest. One mu of land yielded about 300 kilograms of grain. An Ning's family had a total of 5 mu of land, including 2 mu of secondary land, so this year they harvested about 1,400 kilograms of grain. After paying the grain tax this year, there would only be 700 kilograms of grain left. If An Dashan hadn't been good at hunting, the family would have been unable to make ends meet.
Just as he was thinking about it, An Dashan came back to move food. He carried 700 kilograms of food back and forth five times. Fortunately, it was not far from the village chief's house. When An Dashan made the last trip, An Ning also followed An Dashan to the village chief's house.
When I arrived at the village chief's house, I saw several yamen runners weighing grain and a clerk recording it. There were several horse-drawn carriages parked nearby, and two of them were already full.
After paying the grain tax, An Dashan did not stay for long and returned home with An Ning. Although his family was rich now, An Dashan felt bad when he saw that the grain he had worked so hard to grow had been handed over. An Ning had no other choice but to hope that his winter wheat would be successful, so that there would be fewer ordinary people who would go hungry.
The little episode of paying grain tax was over, and a few days later, it was the day of moving. The day before moving, An Ning and An Dashan went to the town to buy some things they would need for the next day.
The pot for the kitchen had been ordered, but they had not yet gone to pick it up. The custom in this place was to order the pot on the day of moving, so An Ning and An Dashan went to the blacksmith shop first. The blacksmith Shi saw them coming and said, "Dashan, you are here. The pot you ordered is ready. Do you like it?"
An Dashan and Shi Tiejiang are old acquaintances. All the iron products of the An family are made by Shi Tiejiang. An Dashan touched the two large iron pots and one small iron pot, which were made of thick iron, and was very satisfied. He said, "Very good, I trust Brother Shi's craftsmanship the most."
The blacksmith laughed and said, "Okay, since that's no problem, I'll help you move it to the car."
As they talked, the two of them moved the pot onto the mule cart. An Dashan paid the money and took An Ning to the market.
The new grain for the family has arrived, and An Ning secretly took out some from the space and put it in the warehouse, so An Dashan did not buy any grain this time.
Because they had built a new house a few days ago, they had almost run out of cabbage and radishes at home, so they went directly to the market. An Ning saw an old couple selling good cabbage, so he said to An Dashan: "Dad, I think the cabbage sold over there is good, let's go over and take a look."
An Dashan nodded and drove the mule cart to the side of the stall. Then An Ning jumped off the mule cart, walked to the side of the stall, and said, "Old man, how much is this cabbage?"
The old man saw someone asking the price and quickly said, "Little girl, these cabbages are grown by me. They were just cut from the field. They are all fresh. I will sell them for only three cents per pound."
An Ning thought the price was not bad, and the couple's clothes were shabby, so their family conditions were probably not that good. So An Ning did not bargain and said directly, "I want all these cabbages. Please help me weigh them."
When the old man heard An Ning said she wanted them all, he smiled until his eyes narrowed and said, "Okay, okay, I'll weigh them for you right away."
The old couple carried the cabbages in bamboo baskets, so there wasn't much, only 63 jin in total. An Ning paid the copper coins, and then he and An Dashan loaded the cabbages onto the car.
After buying the cabbage, the two went to buy a lot of radishes. An Ning saw someone selling celery, and since she didn't grow any at home, she bought more than ten kilograms of celery.
Vegetables were somewhat scarce in that era, and in autumn there were only these few kinds of vegetables. After buying the vegetables, the two went to the butcher shop, and An Dashan generously bought a slab of pork.
An Ning thought that they must have fish when they moved to a new house, because fish symbolizes abundance every year, so the father and daughter went to the fish stall again. Huaishu Village is not big, with only a hundred people in total. An Dashan wanted to invite all the villagers to come and have fun, so he prepared ten tables. The father and daughter finally picked out ten fish, but then they found that there was no place to put them. An Dashan asked An Ning to wait here, and he went to the grocery store to buy a bucket to put the fish in.
While An Dashan was buying the wooden barrel, An Ning took out two large baskets of eggs from the space and put them into the carriage.
After waiting for a while, An Dashan came back and bought not only a bucket but also a string of firecrackers. An Dashan put the fish he had just picked into the bucket, paid the copper coins, and the two prepared to go home.
As the two drove the mule cart out of town, An Dashan suddenly remembered that he had not bought any wine yet, so he turned the cart around and went to the wine shop to buy some. An Dashan was reluctant to buy good wine, so he only bought the lowest quality muddy wine. After buying the wine, the father and daughter did not delay and went straight home.
After returning home, An Ning and An Dashan moved everything into the kitchen. An Dashan was afraid that the fish would die and not be tasty tomorrow, so he put some water in the wooden barrel. After doing all this, An Dashan saw that it was still early, so he went to the houses in the village and notified everyone to come to the banquet tomorrow.
At dinner, An Ning and Gao didn't make a complicated meal, just a pot of dumpling soup, put some finely chopped cabbage leaves in it, and beat a few eggs. An Ning also cut a small piece of lean meat and fried a plate of celery, which was crisp and refreshing to eat.
When An Dashan came back, the mother and daughter had already prepared the meal. Seeing An Dashan coming back, Gao said, "Dad, wash your hands and eat quickly, or the dumpling soup will not taste good."
An Dashan agreed, washed his hands with the hot water that Gao had prepared, and then sat at the table. The three of them ate while talking about tomorrow's affairs. After dinner, they cleaned up the dishes and went back to the new courtyard to rest.
An Ning did not go to sleep directly, but entered the space again. The crops in the space were ripe again. An Ning harvested the ripe crops with his mind, and then planted new crops.
After planting the crops, An Ning went to the rabbit farm again. Looking at the increasing number of rabbits, An Ning felt a headache. She thought that after she was done with the busy work in the next few days, she must get rid of these rabbits first.
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