Although Zhang Fu was furious, he was still concerned about the land tax on those thirty mu of land.
I'll help, since he doesn't have to go to the fields himself anyway.
Of course, it was impossible to hire long-term workers; they could only ask two servants from the household to do the work.
The next morning, Zhang Fu indeed sent He Ma and his servant Da Xing to report to the Li family.
The servant Daxing was fine, since he was the one who did the hard labor at home.
He Ma was inwardly cursing, thinking to herself, "Why am I so unlucky?"
Others who work as servants have done the most menial tasks, such as washing clothes, cooking, and carrying things around!
But even as a servant in the Zhang family, he still had to give his master dozens of acres of land!
After fleecing the master's family, they even want to fleece the son-in-law's family! What kind of people are these? They're nothing but skinflint! If they love skinning people so much, why don't they skin you shameless misers to death!
When the two entered, Zhang Shuiniang arrogantly raised her chin.
She acted as if to say, "Look, even if she gets married, she'll still be the Zhang family's daughter, and her parents won't let her suffer even the slightest bit."
Li Zhiyuan gently pulled Zhang Shuiniang to his side: "Shuiniang, thank you."
"What's the big deal? Even if I didn't ask, my parents would have sent someone over."
"Water Maiden, it's so good to be able to marry you."
When Ye Caiping's brothers came to help back then, Li Zhiyuan thought it was shabby and only fair.
When the Zhang family sent two servants, Li Zhiyuan felt proud, because they were proper servants!
It was his good fortune to marry Zhang Shuiniang, a wealthy young lady; he was benefiting from her success.
Li Zhiyuan, like a lord, stood with his hands behind his back and said, "You all go quickly!"
As He Ma walked, she cursed under her breath, "What's with the pretense! Ugh, so shameless!"
...
Granny Zhao excitedly walked into Ye Caiping's house.
Grandma Ye was sewing clothes in the corridor when she saw her, and she immediately perked up!
He put down his work, went back inside, and brought out a bowl of melon seeds.
"Hehe." Granny Zhao plopped down on a small stool in the corridor. "Let me tell you, the Li family is laughing their heads off."
She then proceeded to tell Old Lady Ye about how Li Zhiyuan's fields were overgrown with weeds and half of his crops had died.
Old Mrs. Ye cursed inwardly, "Serves you right: How come you're so well-informed? Something that happened just yesterday afternoon, and you already know about it."
"Hey, my little sister came to tell me this in the middle of the night."
Grandma Ye's lips twitched slightly. What kind of gossipy spirit is this?!
With you two old sisters around, how could this whole area not be lively!
Just then, Ye Yong and Ye Xuan walked in, their feet covered in mud, their trousers rolled up to their knees. Ye Xuan was carrying a small bucket, half-filled with snails.
"You went to the fields?" Granny Zhao sniffed the two of them, smelling the mud on their clothes.
Ye Yong smiled and said, "Yes, all the rice seedlings in the paddy fields at home have been planted today."
"Why is Ye Xuan going too? Isn't he supposed to be in school? A proper scholar, going to work in the fields."
Ye Xuan said, "I'm not some young master from a prestigious family. My family is just farmers. How can I not work in the fields?"
"Isn't it said that scholars shouldn't work in the fields?"
Where did this claim come from?
"That must be because scholars can't work in the fields," Li Zhiyuan said.
Ye Xuan chuckled: "Nonsense. Mr. Shen said that agriculture is the foundation of the nation. Every year during the busy farming season, both the county school and private schools would give students a few days off. Does Grandma Zhao think that the county school's days off are for students to go home and play?"
Granny Zhao exclaimed in surprise, "So even the county school is giving students a holiday to go home and work in the fields?"
"Um."
"And what about the scholar...?"
"Many scholars also attended the county school. If there was farm work at home, they would naturally go back to help. But some were lazy and preferred to cherish their hands and feet rather than go to the fields."
Upon hearing this, Granny Zhao seemed to have received some incredible intelligence. Her eyes lit up, and she forgot about eating her melon seeds and turned to run away.
Ye Xuan stared in disbelief at Granny Zhao, who had suddenly run away.
...
After someone harvested the grain, Li Zhiyuan's family was overjoyed.
Just then, there was a knocking sound at the door.
Li Zhiyuan was playing chess with Zhang Shuiniang in the courtyard when he walked to the door and was about to open it.
Suddenly, he remembered his two previous bad experiences. This time, he became cautious, peeked through the crack in the door, and then gasped.
That damned gossipy old woman, why is she here again?
Hmph, luckily he was careful!
You can just stand outside. Only a fool would open the door and make a fool of himself!
Li Zhiyuan returned to his seat, and Zhang Shuiniang asked, "Who is it?"
"It's that gossipy old woman. Let's pretend she's not here and ignore her."
Zhang Shuiniang's face changed, and she gritted her teeth in hatred. Every time this old woman appeared, she would be humiliated from head to toe!
"Open the door! Open the door! Scholar Li, why aren't you opening the door? I know you're home!"
Li Zhiyuan: "..."
"Oh, why are you so stingy? You're afraid of hearing even the slightest good news from your ex-wife's family."
"Open the door..."
Seeing Zhao Pozi cursing and swearing, Li Zhiyuan and Zhang Shuiniang felt smug. They refused to open the door. What could she do to them?
Granny Zhao patted for a while, then left.
Li Zhiyuan and Zhang Shuiniang breathed a sigh of relief.
But they didn't know that they were about to pay the price.
When Granny Zhao saw that they wouldn't open the door, she went straight to sit down under a big locust tree not far from their house.
The big locust tree is the favorite gathering place for the villagers of Lijia Village. Spring plowing has just ended, and everyone has some free time. A group of married women and young women are chatting and playing dominoes.
Granny Zhao was a very outgoing person; she didn't care who the person opposite her was, and she would start talking as soon as she opened her mouth.
"Oh dear, let me tell you, this Li family is such lazybones. Before, Cai Ping's family did farm work for them, and now they're making the Zhang family do it for them. Why does he like having his wife's family support him so much?"
The villagers were dumbfounded: "She's just having her family help with the work..."
"How can you expect your wife's family to do all the work while you don't lift a single blade of grass for your own family?"
The villagers agreed!
“They used to say that Caiping emptied her family’s coffers and starved her husband’s family. But what does the Li family have? Even the fields are cultivated by Caiping’s family.”
The villagers said, "Hearing that, it's true! This land and grain are the foundation of our livelihood, our biggest source of income. If even this is grown by our wives' families, then we're basically being supported by them!"
“Absolutely.” Granny Zhao nodded. “The oldest of this family, Granny Li, is only fifty. The youngest, Li Jiaojiao, is already fourteen. This whole family isn’t disabled; they’re all perfectly capable. They don’t do anything. They’re just lazybones.”
The villagers listened and felt that there was more to the story than met the eye in Li Xiucai's family.
In addition, there was this daughter-in-law who wanted her mother-in-law to serve her by washing her clothes, and the mother-in-law liked to be a lowly servant. Now she's also become lazy. It's really... well, she looks dirty and smelly.
"Where did this old hag come from, daring to slander my scholar uncle!" A sharp voice rang out; it was Li Gouwa.
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