Chapter 65
But the village head had to consider the issue of growing crops, so it was best for her not to stand out. She smiled and said, "Just follow what the village head said. No matter what kind of field it is, 70% is best. But I think the villagers may not be willing to believe me in the first year, so it depends on each family's wishes. We can make a statistics based on how much they want to plant... Can I ask the village head for this?"
She could do it herself. Isn't it just a matter of each family coming to ask how much land they can spare? However, if she did too much, it would be like vying for the power of the village chief. Besides, she was not a person who had much free time.
The village chief's wife agreed readily.
Then he asked tentatively, "I just heard that you had guests coming to your house today? Why don't you see any guests?"
Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "He's not a guest, but the shopkeeper Song from Xiao Song Village. He wanted to propose marriage to his son, but I didn't agree."
The village chief's wife widened her eyes, looked Gu Xinxin up and down, and clapped her hands: "I said that there was something I neglected. Xinxin, you are old enough. Did you not agree because of something wrong with the Song family?"
"It's not that the Song family has done anything wrong, it's just that I have no plans to get married for the time being." Gu Xinxin said with a smile. The village head's wife came to hold Gu Xinxin's hand and said, "You are wrong. Men and women should get married when they are old enough. Getting married is something that everyone must experience after reaching a certain age. If you don't get married, when you turn 18, the court will start collecting taxes, and the taxes will get higher every year. If you don't get married by the time you are 24, the government will be able to decide your marriage."
Gu Xinxin widened her eyes and was speechless for a while. She originally thought that the idea of having to pay taxes if one did not get married when reaching a certain age was made up by novelists. How could such a thing really happen?
Freedom of marriage... Bah, modern marriage is not free yet. There were more shackles in ancient times, it seems... right?
Bullshit! This is oppression and persecution of women!
If she could rush into the palace now, she would definitely put a knife to the emperor's neck and force him to change the law.
But she couldn't even get to the capital, let alone the palace.
Gu Xinxin pursed her lips and said, "This is the first time I know this. Thank you for telling me, auntie."
"It's not worth thanking me. Your parents will tell you later. By the way, I have a nephew from my mother's side. He is eighteen years old this year. He is handsome and tall. Do you want to meet him?" If her son's age was not too old, she would have wanted to introduce Gu Xinxin to her son.
Look, she can make money, and now she can do accounting, read and write, almost as good as the girls in town. Although her temper is a bit bad, think about her stepmother... If she had a better temper, her life would be difficult too.
As a girl, it's okay for her to have a bad temper. It will help her stand on her own feet and she won't be bullied in the future.
Gu Xinxin quickly waved her hands: "Thank you for your consideration, auntie, but I really don't have any thoughts of getting married right now. I want to wait for Xiangrong to study. Once he passes the exam, I won't have anything to worry about, and then we can talk about getting married."
Now Gu Xiangrong is her excuse.
The village chief's wife disagreed: "Xiang Rong is still young, a child in his teens. It will take at least three to five years for him to achieve success. You are already fifteen this year..."
Gu Xinxin felt depressed. She was only fifteen, the age for junior high school students. In modern times, she would still be watching cartoons on TV, but her marriage was mentioned twice in one day.
Just as they had seen off the village head's wife, Wang Daya's mother came over. While cracking melon seeds, she called out to Gu Chenshi, "What are you doing at home? I haven't seen you go out to chat these past few days. With the autumn harvest almost here, have you finished your household chores?"
The tools used in autumn harvest include hoes, rakes, pickaxes, etc. For example, when harvesting sweet potatoes, you need to use a rake to gather the vines together and cut them off, and then use a pickaxe or hoe to dig out the sweet potatoes.
After the autumn harvest, the land needs to be plowed with a rake. Some ground is hard and cannot be plowed with a rake, so a shovel has to be used to dig.
You can't wait until after the autumn harvest to pack up the farm tools you will need, as that would be too late, so you have to pack them up now.
There are two steps to cleaning up farm tools. The first is to check the handles to see if they are loose, rotten, or broken. The second step is to check if the tools are rusty and if they need polishing. Check for deformation, which could cause injury.
These tasks will take two or three days.
The Gu family has little land, only two or three acres in total. Usually, Gu Daniu worked alone, and Gu Chen would help out.
When Wang Daya's mother asked, he shook his head and said, "I haven't done it yet. My boss said that we have to hire someone to do it this year, otherwise the workshop will be too busy."
Gu Daniu could actually still make some time, but he was rich now and could be a grandfather, so why did he have to work in the fields in such hot weather?
Wang Daya's mother immediately became excited: "You have so little at home, and you still need to hire someone? Otherwise, why not hire me, the head of the household? I'm strong and can do the work carefully. It won't cost much a day, just thirty copper coins..."
In the yard, Gu Xinxin burst out laughing and shouted, "Mother Daya, do you think I'm a fool for being your stepmother? Harvest workers are out there, and even short-term workers only make fifteen copper coins a day at most. You're really asking for thirty. Did the money in our family come from the wind?"
Gu Chen also glared at her, and Dayanniang quickly said with a smile: "Your family is so rich, and you still need three walnuts and two dates?"
"My family is rich, but we are not fools, nor are we a family of fools." Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "We don't want you to do any work in our family."
"Hey, girl, you are so arrogant. Do you have the final say on your family affairs?" Daya Niang snorted coldly. Gu Xinxin didn't say anything, but turned around to look at her account book.
Dayanniang waved to Gu Chenshi: "Come here, the work is another matter. I came here today for something else. I heard that someone came to your house today to propose marriage? There was also a carriage. Is it from a family in town? Whose family is it? Have you accepted it?"
Gu Chen was a little unhappy. On the one hand, she felt that Dayan Niang was dishonest and treated her like a fool. On the other hand, she really wanted to complain about Gu Xinxin. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "I proposed marriage to Xinxin, but she didn't agree. I wanted to marry her as a stepmother, but Xinxin didn't want to."
Dayan's mother clapped her hands and said, "Being a stepmother is really not an option. Look at you, you are also a stepmother. You have worked hard for more than ten years to raise them. Logically, even if you have no credit, you have worked hard. They may not thank you, but they must accept your kindness when they call them mother, right? In the end, you call me a stepmother as soon as you open your mouth. Now that they make money, you don't get much of it. It's obvious that being a stepmother is not easy. Xinxin is a shrewd girl. She definitely doesn't want to be a stepmother."
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