The next morning, Shen Li sent Tian Sangui back to Zhang Shi.
He also had Xiao Shunzi move all the gifts that Old Madam Shen had given him into the main room.
After bidding farewell to Tian Sangui, he glanced at Tian Er one last time before driving away in his carriage.
The fourth and fifth children jumped around excitedly, wanting to eat candy, but were jokingly stopped by Zhang.
"Don't eat too much, one piece each, and we'll eat the rest tomorrow!"
The excitement of the fourth and fifth children was dampened by their mother.
She pouted and waited for Zhang to hand out candy.
The two brothers cherished the only osmanthus candy they had, and then went to the fields with Tian Lao Si and Tian Da.
On his way to the mountain, Tian Sangui happened to run into Wang Erwazi, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Today he was wearing a blue shirt, gray linen trousers, and brand new black cloth shoes.
She looked clean and refreshed.
Unlike before, when she was covered in dirt.
He always had a bright and sunny smile when he met Tian Sangui.
"San Gui, where are you going?"
After getting along with him several times and resolving some awkward situations, Tian Sangui realized that he wasn't as wicked as he had imagined.
"Let's go feed the chickens on the mountain!"
When Tian Sangui struck up a conversation with him, Wang Erwazi felt even more at ease.
"This is for you!"
He opened his hand, and a butterfly perched in his palm.
"This one is the prettiest!"
Tian Sangui held it in his hand, admiring it with a smile.
Wang Erwazi grinned foolishly at her; he loved seeing Tian Sangui's smiling face the most.
"You look like a completely different person today, so clean and refreshed."
"Hehe, I see you dress beautifully every day, so I make sure I look clean so you won't find me repulsive when I stand next to you."
Tian Sangui pursed his lips. This guy had suddenly realized the importance of dressing himself up.
"I'm leaving now, there's still work to be done on the mountain!"
Wang Erwa watched her until she disappeared from sight.
Then, brushing the dust off his clothes, he went home in a cheerful mood.
On the mountain, Tian Sangui released the butterflies, watching them fly freely under the blue sky, and felt a longing in his heart.
Once she has earned enough money, she will, like a butterfly, travel to all the beautiful landscapes of the country.
Time flies, and it's wheat harvest season.
In order to harvest the grain, everyone worked together, day and night, going door to door to harvest the wheat.
The county government dispatched additional officers and soldiers to be stationed in every village.
The villages are busy preparing to receive them.
It turns out they were there to monitor whether the villagers would voluntarily hand over their grain.
His Majesty cares deeply for the people. During times of war, farmers have had a hard time. Therefore, he issued an edict to reduce the taxes on farmers. The taxes will be levied primarily on landlords, while the taxes on ordinary people will be calculated per person: 100 catties, and 50 catties for children.
If there are less than five mu of fertile land, the amount will be increased to fifty jin per mu, plus twenty wen of silver as a supplement.
This greatly reduced the burden on farmers and ensured that people had enough to eat.
With preferential policies, the people were happy to accept them and voluntarily handed over their grain to the government, while the officials and soldiers drew up a list of those to be collected.
Tian Sangui's family only bought two mu of fertile land this year; the wasteland doesn't count.
Even though the grain wasn't planted in time, their family still had to pay the tax.
If there is no food, make up the difference with silver: fifty coins for adults and twenty-five coins for children, for a total of two hundred and twenty-five coins.
After harvesting the wheat, everyone began planting rice.
Old Tian had been preparing in the field for a long time, just waiting for this batch of rice seedlings.
Just like harvesting wheat, everyone worked together and started planting rice seedlings from house to house.
Tian Sangui's family owned the first and best-quality farmland. During the wheat harvest, Tian Laosi's family also contributed a lot of effort to everyone, and the villagers all remembered their kindness.
Sure enough, early in the morning, before Tian Laosi even had a chance to call them, people were already helping out in the fields.
One of the older women saw Zhang Shi leading Tian Sangui to the edge of the field and quickly straightened up to call out to them.
"Sigh~"
"It's already broad daylight and you're only just arriving. Look, we've almost finished all the work for you. Will you be able to get a few bowls of cold boiled water for lunch?"
"Hahaha!"
This drew laughter from the older women around her, and Zhang grinned, saying, "Forget about water, just provide food! Come to our house and let my girl show off her skills!"
As they were talking, Zhang rolled up her trousers, took off her shoes, and plunged barefoot into the paddy field.
The women kindly handed her a bundle of rice seedlings, and everyone continued chatting and laughing.
"I've long heard that San Gui has excellent cooking skills, but I've never had the chance to try them. I wonder if the aunties will be lucky enough to have a taste today?"
The women were busy tending to the rice seedlings, their faces turned towards Tian Sangui, and they chatted with her with smiles.
After planting a rice seedling, Tian Sangui replied with a smile, "It's just a meal, what's this talk of good fortune? Whenever the aunties come, I'll definitely slaughter chickens and ducks and treat them to fish and meat!"
"Oh my goodness, this is the first time I've known that San Gui is so good with words. It makes my heart feel so sweet."
"Why go anymore? We've heard enough of what San Gui has to say!"
"Hahaha!"
"You're joking!"
The women were laughing heartily, which made their husbands glance at them from time to time. Although they couldn't hear what the women were talking about, they just laughed along with them.
That evening, about twenty people finished working on Tian Sangui's one mu of fertile land, and also helped Aunt Wang's family finish their work.
I heard that after dinner, we'll continue transplanting rice seedlings for the next family. The sooner we finish, the less anxious we'll feel.
Zhang instructed Tian Sangui to go home early and, together with several young girls of similar age, prepare a meal for everyone.
This is a rule that has naturally formed in the village.
"San Gui, your house is so clean, big and spacious, much nicer than ours!"
Just as everyone was talking about Tian Sangui's house, the front door was suddenly kicked open from the outside with a "thud".
"Hey, who is it?"
Everyone quickly took a step behind Tian Sangui.
When they saw that it was Wang Erwazi, everyone's expressions returned to normal.
"Wang Erwazi, why are you being so reckless? Aren't you afraid of scaring San Gui?"
On the contrary, Tian Sangui was not surprised at all, but he startled them.
"Here you go, I've prepared it. There are also two big grass carp, which I caught in my field."
"I also have some snails here, I don't know if you like them!"
"Oh, so you've brought food. Wang Erwa, when did you become so thoughtful? Could you send some fish to my house sometime?"
Wang Erwazi only had eyes for Tian Sangui and paid no attention to anyone else until Tian Sangui accepted his things, his eyes sparkling as he turned and went home.
Their family has thirty mu of land, and they're quite busy with some of it.
Several maids immediately surrounded Tian Sangui, asking, "Wang Erwazi is so considerate to Sangui!"
"Yes, he used to be very aggressive towards people, and I was too scared to talk to him."
"Hey? Do you guys think he's taken a liking to San Gui?"
"Go!"
"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and start the fire to cook. You wash these vegetables, and I'll come and stir-fry them in a bit."
Seeing that their talk was getting more and more outrageous, Tian Sangui immediately changed the subject.
How old are they? How do they know what they like and dislike?
He just remembered the delicious meal he gave Wang Erwazi last time.
That must be it!
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