The daily life of a farm girl raising a family

Chapter 20 Service
  When Zhao Youcai heard his father's roaring voice, his heart was frightened and he ran towards the yard.

"What? What happened?"

Hearing the sound coming from outside the house, the red-faced father and son who were arguing inside the house instantly turned off the car.

Zhao Yunxi followed his second uncle and ran into the main room. He was shocked when he saw the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Dad, in previous years I only served half the time, and this year I will be no exception. You said your family is short of money, but you can earn dozens of taels of silver from selling kiwi fruits.

You said the Dalang exam requires money, but you can't ignore my health. It’s not like you don’t know how hard it is to serve in this service. Every year, there are not a few people injured in service, and some seriously lose their lives. "

There was thunder on the ground, they were just talking about whether they would not have to serve this year. Unexpectedly, half a day had not passed before I received the notice of service.

"Dad, Youli is right. My eldest brother was injured, and there won't be enough manpower for spring plowing next year. If Youli can do something else, how will our family live?"

In the main room, everyone fell silent when they heard what the third-fang couple said.

Old Zhaotou couldn't help but tremble in his heart when he thought about the days when he served in the army when he was young. If his family had enough money, how could he bear his son to suffer this?

It would be great to serve after the autumn harvest, but now it’s winter. Not to mention the cold weather, the ground was frozen.

"Third brother, I don't feel sorry for you if it's not your father. You know the situation at home now. The family's money is important to Dalang and the others. As long as they are admitted as scholars next year, our family will no longer have to serve in the military."

Old Zhaotou put down his cigarette and explained patiently.

"But Dad, you know how hard it is to serve. Not only do you have enough to eat and are tired, but you are whipped and scolded at every turn. If the work deadline is not completed, you have to work all night long. The weather is so cold on winter nights. For a month, my How can my body bear it?"

After hearing the conversation between the two, Zhou also thought of serving in previous years. There were people in the village who couldn't stand it because they had to work all night. Thinking of this, Mrs. Zhou couldn't help but sob softly.

Today, the Zhao family, no, the entire Shatin Village. After everyone received the news that they were going to serve, the lively village became silent, and the sounds of children playing in the usual afternoons were gone.

"Old man, why don't you use your money to work half the time! What the third child said is right. If he is also injured, next year's spring plowing will definitely be affected.

Moreover, we are still serving in winter this year, which is the coldest time of the year. If something happens to the third child, what should the third room do? "

Zhao Yunxi knew that serving in ancient times was very hard, but he had never seen it and didn't know what it was like.

But based on what I learned in my previous life, I know that in addition to meeting deadlines, another reason for the hard work of serving is not having enough to eat.

"Ah Weng, Grandma, I have an idea. You guys should listen and see if it works."

The people in the hall stared at her with wide eyes, and Zhao Yunxi spoke out his thoughts.

Old Zhaotou said hesitantly: "You mean to go to the service area to deliver food to your third uncle?"

"Yes, you must have eaten cakes while serving. If the nutrition cannot keep up, the physical damage will be great. If you can eat hot food every meal and drink a sip of hot water when you are thirsty, everything will be much better."

Everyone in the room fell into deep thought after hearing Zhao Yunxi's words. They are not afraid of tiring and hard work. After all, they usually have to do a lot of farm work, especially when spring roots and autumn planting are in full swing.

But the most fatal thing is not having time to rest and not eating well while working.

"Now that we have a car at home, it's not a big deal to go back and forth every day. If my third uncle's body still can't bear it, I can use silver instead. When the time comes, the uncle's family will also go, and the two families can come alternately every day. Aweng, what do you think?"

"Yunbai, go and ask your cousin to come over. Let's discuss it. Third brother, can you accept the method Xiaojiu said?" When his niece proposed this method, Zhao Youli thought about it seriously. It was feasible. of.

When I heard my father ask myself, "Dad, I think it's okay, but it's going to be hard for my second brother to run back and forth every day."

When Zhao Youcai heard that the matter was resolved, he no longer worried. He smiled and said, "What's the matter? Mao Dong is fine anyway. As long as you can come back safely, that will be the greatest blessing."

Seeing that the two brothers had reached an agreement, Zhou felt relieved. Even if the third child is sometimes unreliable, he is his son after all, so he must still feel distressed.

After a while, Zhao Youbai came over with his uncle and cousin.

A group of people were discussing the matter of serving in the main room. When Zhao Youde heard the method proposed by his third uncle and his family, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Third uncle, it's decided. This year, everyone in our village will be on the road together, so we can all take care of each other."

"Aweng, when the time comes, we can buy some big bone stewed radish. Each bowl costs a copper. Many people will definitely buy it. If everyone doesn't mind the hard work, you can also bring some thick noodles to make pancakes. Warm pancakes are better than Enjoy the hard pancake!"

As soon as Zhao Yunbai finished speaking, he saw everyone looking at him. Zhao Yunbai, who was still happy at first, suddenly turned red and said timidly: "Isn't this okay?"

Zhao Yunxi didn't expect that the fourth brother could bring such a surprise. He immediately spoke affirmatively: "Of course, Fourth Brother, your idea is very good. We all have to do it anyway, so of course we can make more and sell it. There is no need to worry about selling the bone soup, but we must first establish a good relationship with the government officials." , otherwise they will definitely drive us away.”

After Zhao Yunxi finished speaking, he looked at the lobby uncle. Zhao Youde saw that everyone's eyes were on him.

He said cheerfully: "Okay, leave this matter to me. As long as we don't interfere with them, staying a little further away shouldn't be a problem."

Three days later, the corvee workers in Shatin Village set off in unison.

Zhao Youli followed the crowd to their destination. He saw that most of the people were wearing winter coats with patches and catkins, and touched his newly made cotton-padded jacket.

Thinking back to my attitude towards my parents a few days ago. Zhao Youli felt a flash of guilt in his heart. In fact, compared to the people in the village, the life of the Zhao family was already considered very good.

Dozens of people walked on the road for nearly two hours and finally arrived at the destination of this service - Kaoshantun.

Kaoshantun is the only road from Pingyang County to Lanshan County. The entire official road is full of potholes, which is worse than the path out of their Shatian Village.

Zhao Youde looked at the admin officer in front of him and hurried forward to greet him. The two sides handed over the number of people, and by the way, they said that their families would come over to bring some food and hot water, so that they could take care of them. Naturally, good things would definitely come to mind for them.

The officer held the money bag in his hand and nodded tacitly. Ask them to stay away a little when they come, so as not to interfere with the rush to work.

After things were arranged, Zhao Youde looked at the villagers and gave some instructions. It's nothing more than asking them to be careful and not get hurt.

"Okay, don't delay, hurry up and get to work. You have a task every day. If you can't finish it, you have to rush it. You don't want us to rush you every day!"

After a fat official finished speaking, he selected twenty people from Shatian Village and led them forward, including Zhao Youli.

After walking for a quarter of an hour, the official stopped.

"You should seize the time to dig this road."

Zhao Youli, who was in the crowd, looked in the direction pointed by the Yamen officer and was instantly dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)