Wasn't Xiahe Village quite poor before?
How can there be such a family living such a good life with wine and meat?
At this moment, He Zhilan and Lin Xiao both noticed that the two people's eyes were strange, and their expressions hardened.
"Sir, you've come all this way for what purpose—" Lin Xiao stood up and walked over to chat with the people.
The constable said, "It's nothing serious, just the annual grain tax payment. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
"Oh, I see, of course I remember!" Lin Xiao replied.
Lin Qixia remained seated, her gaze sweeping over the two as they spoke, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"What's wrong?" Huo Yanqing noticed something was wrong and asked her in a low voice.
Lin Qixia shook her head, "It's nothing, it's just that one of them looks kind of familiar."
It should be one of the people who were with Zhao Shao before, but more than two months have passed, and she didn't pay attention to those people at the time.
At this point, I couldn't remember at all.
If village chief Chen Weizhong were here, he would definitely recognize that person as Li Yuan.
Li Yuan also noticed Lin Qixia at this moment, and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.
Upon hearing that it was about paying grain tax, the atmosphere among the rest of the Lin family became somber.
Lin Jiudong muttered under his breath, "Most of the grain we worked so hard to grow is going to be harvested again..."
Even Lin Yi, who was originally cheerful, now listlessly rested her chubby chin on the table and stopped eating.
After the constable finished speaking with Lin Xiao, he came into the courtyard.
"You all eat, I'll go help carry the grain," He Zhilan said to the children as she stood up.
After all, we can't let Lin Xiao do all the work alone.
"Hurry up, stop dawdling!" one of the older middle-aged men urged Lin Xiao as he moved the grain.
Without any politeness, he mocked, "Moving so slowly, are you crippled?"
Lin Xiao froze, clearly realizing they had hit the nail on the head, and his face darkened.
Seeing this, Lin Yi stood up angrily, "You're not allowed to talk about my father like that!"
"Yi'er!" He Zhilan was startled, not expecting the child to react so strongly.
He turned back to look at the two officials, worried that they might change their attitude.
The middle-aged man's face darkened, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Lin Qixia and the others also stood up and looked at them warily.
Sensing that the tall, young man's gaze was still fixed on Lin Qixia, scrutinizing her from head to toe, Huo Yanqing silently moved in front of Lin Qixia, blocking his view.
"The child is ignorant, please forgive him, adults," Lin Xiao said apologetically to the man.
Lin Jiudong grabbed Lin Yi's arm, stopping her from continuing.
Everyone stared intently at the two men. Under the tense gaze of the Lin family, the middle-aged man opened his mouth as if to speak.
The young man interrupted them the next second, suddenly laughing, "It's no big deal, you don't need to be nervous."
"You agree, right, Zhuang Cheng?" he said, glancing at his companion beside him.
Reminded by him, Zhuang Cheng cleared his throat and replied, "Yes."
"Just move it slowly," Li Yuan told them.
Lin Xiao then continued carrying the grain and loading it into their cargo cart.
"Is that enough?" Lin Qixia reminded the man as Lin Xiao carried a few bags of grain.
Lin Xiao paused for a moment. Zhuang Xiang, who was not far away, seemed to have heard a funny joke: "Little girl, you're too naive. How can this little bit of food be enough? It's not even 30% of the total."
"Thirty percent?" Lin Qixia was startled.
I never expected the tax to be so high, it's 30%.
This damned imperial court, no wonder there were rebellions later on, plunging the world into chaos.
But what did ordinary people do wrong to deserve this?
Zhuang Cheng rebuked him with dissatisfaction, "This year, considering it's a famine year, the magistrate only set the tax rate at 30%. That's already a lenient approach for you people, and you're still not satisfied?"
"No, sir, please don't mind my ramblings," Lin Xiao chimed in.
Then he winked at Lin Qixia.
Lin Qixia shrugged and didn't ask any more questions.
In any case, they have no choice but to hand over 30% of the grain now.
Lin Xiao loaded several more bags of grain onto the cart before seeing the two constables off.
Before leaving, Zhuang Cheng also took a jar of wine.
"It's obvious that you're using your position for personal gain." Lin Qixia was smarter this time, and only complained after they left, "Big brother, why did you cooperate with them so much, letting them take whatever they wanted?"
After all, Lin Xiao's personality is not like this in normal times.
Especially when dealing with other people in the village.
He's not the type to bully the weak and fear the strong.
Lin Xiao sat wearily in a chair and said to her, "It's best to avoid getting involved with the officials for now, so as not to cause trouble for you when you do business in the city later."
Hearing his words, Lin Qixia pursed her lips and said, "Okay, I understand. Thank you, big brother."
Ultimately, Lin Xiao was only putting up with this because of her.
She almost regretted misunderstanding the other person earlier.
"Alright, everyone's gone. Let's continue with our meal." He Zhilan slowly exhaled, having returned to normal.
As she spoke, she served Lin Qixia some food, seemingly noticing that something was wrong with her mood.
Lin Qixia raised her face and forced a smile at He Zhilan, "Okay, let's eat."
Even so, Lin Qixia's mood had already been spoiled by the two constables.
The previously cheerful atmosphere at the dinner table was gone.
After a quick meal, the family dispersed.
Lin Qixia returned to her room, feeling utterly exhausted, and decided to wash up and go to sleep.
"Fortunately, with the grain that Xia'er hoarded, we have enough to get through the winter this year." In the courtyard, He Zhilan looked at the dozen or so bags of grain.
Then, remembering something else, he sighed, "I really don't know how things are going for other companies."
Thirty percent of taxes is not low. Besides, no household is willing to keep all the grain for themselves. They have to sell some to cover other household expenses, such as fertilizer for farming.
In the end, there was very little food left.
I'm afraid some people will go hungry in the winter.
Now that no one else was around, Lin Xiao didn't hold back his temper any longer. "Hmph! Those good-for-nothing officials, it's clearly a year of famine, they shouldn't be paying taxes, they should be giving us disaster relief grain!"
He Zhilan was startled by his words; she hadn't expected him to start cursing like that.
"Don't talk nonsense, or someone might overhear and spread it around," He Zhilan quickly advised him.
Lin Xiao pursed his lips, but didn't continue the topic.
The couple went back inside together.
Lin Qixia was leaning against the window in the room, unable to sleep, and got up to count the money she had saved.
While counting the money, he overheard the conversation between the two people outside.
She tossed the copper coin into the money box, thinking to herself, "I can't wait any longer! I'll go to the county town to find a shop tomorrow!"
After all, in the original story, this famine lasted for more than just one year.
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