Hearing his mother bring up the past, Song Lao Er glanced sideways and sighed, then grinned and said, "Mother, if you really were stripped naked back then, I would be Uncle Wu's son, not Song Lao Han's second wife's son."
I can eat meat and drink wine every day; why should I care about the one or two taels of silver for corvée labor?
Every household was required to perform corvée labor; if someone was willing to do it, they would contribute manpower, but if no one was willing to pay, the monthly labor fee would be one tael of silver.
Song Lao Er was dragging his feet on signing the document, threatening not to work and trying to evade the remaining tael of silver.
When he heard his mother say that Song Lizheng dared not make him perform corvée labor, there was a hint of bitterness in his voice.
If you have a village head as your father, you can do whatever you want in the village.
Perhaps he could become a minor official in town, like the eldest son of the village head, without having to worry about money when he drinks and dine.
Hearing her son's complaints, Old Madam Gu also said with regret, "It's all because Song Laohei didn't have the guts. Your mother was a beauty back in the day..."
Madam Gu frowned: "Mother, you'd better not bring up the past. I heard Father and Mother say that you didn't marry into the village because you thought the village head's family was poor and dark-skinned."
She had been experiencing back and leg pain all day, and the thought of Song Lao Er beating her for that little bitch made her feel bad.
Besides, these old stories don't help with the current problems; what my mother-in-law is saying is just bragging.
Having her past exposed by her daughter-in-law, Old Madam Gu pursed her lips and didn't mention it again.
The most important thing is to talk about the present.
Song, the village head, said that the town would come to collect people the day after tomorrow morning, so it must be true.
She could drive away the village head by acting like a rogue, but she wasn't very effective with the people in the town. If she caused trouble, she would get a beating.
"How about we just pay one tael of silver as a service fee?" Old Song said lazily, half-lying on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Anyway, once Song Liyun is sent to the Xue family, I will get fifty taels of silver. Why should I go so far and suffer for such a small amount of money?
"You think a tael of silver is easy to pay, that it'll just come out with a few words? Keep it to buy your grandson a few more pounds of meat to nourish him." Old Madam Gu clearly didn't want to spend the money.
"If this won't work and that won't work, then what do you suggest we do?"
Song Lao Er became impatient; it wasn't like his family couldn't afford to pay.
These days, in order to avoid corvée labor, he even has to avoid people when he goes to town to drink, which is not pleasant at all.
Little Gu's eyes darted around beside her: "I say, have you forgotten that there's another able-bodied person in the family who can perform corvée labor?"
You mean Zhangping?
Song Lao Er pouted, grabbed the quilt and put it under himself to make himself more comfortable, then yelled at Xiao Gu Shi, "You ignorant fool, don't talk nonsense. He has a lot of things to do at home, he can't go."
"That's right! Let that cripple go!" Old Madam Gu clapped her hands and shouted.
Besides Song Lao Er, there was another able-bodied person in the family.
That's Song Zhangping, the eldest son of the first wife, who is now nineteen years old.
Song Lao Er shook his head: "No, he's lame, how could he possibly do corvée labor? Not to mention the town's selection process, he wouldn't even pass the village head's test."
Labor service is hard work, and only healthy and strong men are selected. Although Song Zhangping is of advanced age, he has a limp, so no one would want him.
But this isn't always the case; as long as those below are perfunctory, those above can also get away with it.
Hearing that the village head might not agree, Old Gu's eyes narrowed: "I'll go find Song Laohei. If he dares not agree, I'll take off my clothes and lie down on his kang."
Song Lao Er chuckled.
Over the years, Song Lizheng has enjoyed high prestige in the village; his word carries weight. But when it comes to his own family, he's utterly useless.
When farming, other families had to queue up to get water, but in his family, as long as his mother was there, they could get water whenever they wanted. Song Laohei could only jump up and down in anger.
Even though it would save a tael of silver if the cripple were sent to perform corvée labor this time, Song Lao Er still hesitated.
Now that Song Liyun is going to the Xue family, the old idea would have been to tie her up, knock her unconscious, and send her there.
But now Er Yatou is willing to go there, and she will even bring some benefits to the family in the future.
Song Lao Er isn't stupid.
The second daughter agreed to do this ultimately so that her two sons could have an easier life.
For the sake of this money tree, I still can't let my mother and sisters mistreat my two brothers too much in the future.
However, we need to find the right balance and not go too far in pleasing Er Ya.
During lunch today, Er Yatou said she wanted to see the two brothers, but I didn't agree. That means I can only see them after Er Yatou obediently goes to the Xue family.
The three of them then whispered among themselves in the room, discussing how to deal with the corvée labor and how to handle Song Liyun.
Inside the side room, the person being discussed slowly retracted a strange metal cylinder from the wall.
With a wave of her hand, Song Liyun put the listening device back into her space. She raised an eyebrow and snorted coldly: So there's still corvée labor involved. It seems it won't be difficult to leave Song Lao Er.
She had originally planned to use her upcoming "marriage" into the Xue family to pressure them into separating from the family and breaking free from Song Lao Er's control.
Now that she knows she has to perform corvée labor the day after tomorrow, and that the three of them are suggesting that Song Zhenping go, it's like a pillow being delivered to her when she's sleepy.
Having made up her mind, Song Liyun sat back down on the kang (a heated brick bed), rummaged through the brothers' trunks, and began preparations to leave the Song family.
All they got were tattered clothes, and even the thick winter coats were filled with cattail fluff.
Large patches are strung together with smaller patches, making it impossible to patch them again.
In a fit of anger, Song Liyun threw all her clothes into the stove hole with a dark face.
Meanwhile, Song Lizheng came out of Song Lao Er's courtyard, clutching his chest and groaning.
He felt that every time he walked into this courtyard, he would lose ten years of his life, and if he came a few more times, he would be so angry that he would die.
As soon as he stepped out of the courtyard, Song Lizheng couldn't help but sigh again: everywhere, along the roadside and on the courtyard walls, were villagers waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
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