CHAPTER 119: CHAPTER 118: COMMUTING CORVÉE WITH SILVER

In the end, Yu Changhe and Mrs. Sun were just too attached to their home, reluctant to leave.

This small courtyard was truly their home in every sense, and leaving it was difficult, let alone adapting to the climate in Jiangnan if they were to go.

Yu Xiaolian wasn’t afraid of much, but she feared that in the autumn, when Yangcheng would be empty, Mrs. Sun might not have a good doctor or midwife during childbirth, putting Mrs. Sun in danger.

In ancient times, there was no such thing as a C-section, and Mrs. Sun was pregnant with twins, which was highly risky.

Yu Changhe thought Yu Xiaolian’s concern was very reasonable, and he too began to worry.

For several days, the Yu Family was torn between staying and leaving.

Yu Xiaolian thought she should go to Baihua House to get some news today, so she found an excuse to go out.

Sister Feng was already waiting for Yu Xiaolian and handed her a letter as soon as she saw her.

Yu Xiaolian opened the letter, and the more she read, the worse her expression became.

It turned out that the reason for Mrs. Cao’s sudden fortune was because of that plastic Slow Sheep toy.

Yu Ziyi had sold that Slow Sheep toy at a high price of three thousand taels at the black market auction.

Considering her own Pretty Sheep only sold for five hundred taels, Yu Xiaolian was quite annoyed.

Ever since Yu Changyu married Qi, the couple lived in comfort every day, doing no work, while all the dirty and tiring work fell on Yu Changfu’s family.

Mrs. Cao, though displeased, endured it, but Yu Ziyi couldn’t. He felt his grandmother was too biased towards his third uncle. His third uncle’s family did nothing, yet they ate the best food during meals, while his father worked tirelessly, eating coarse grains every day and still being scolded by his grandma. Thus, Yu Ziyi began to persuade his father to split from the family.

Yu Changfu didn’t feel he was losing out. He thought the third son was a scholar and deserved the best food and lifestyle. He himself was barely literate, so what else could he do but work hard?

Aren’t farmers supposed to work through dawn till dusk?

Yu Changfu disagreed with splitting the family, so Yu Ziyi began to provoke Mrs. Cao.

Mrs. Cao had already harbored deep resentment towards the old woman Yu when she refused to fund Yu Zishu’s expenses for his exams in Yangcheng.

Moreover, in recent times she had to cook every day, feed the family’s livestock, and even wash clothes for Qi and the third son, a life of toil she had long tired of.

Back when Mrs. Sun was around, they took turns doing these chores, but with Qi marrying in, the work for two fell solely on her, frustrating Mrs. Cao.

But what could she do?

With Yu Changfu not sharing her feelings, if she left the Yu Family with her two kids, where could she go? How would she survive?

While Mrs. Cao was distressed, Yu Zishu ’happened’ to see the ’Land God’ altar maintained by the old woman Yu and his eyes lit up. He called on Yu Ziyi to seize an opportunity to steal it.

With Silver in hand, Mrs. Cao became defiant, resolutely separating from that stubborn blockhead Yu Changfu.

Before leaving, she not only had a big fight with the old woman Yu but also verbally lashed out at Yu Changyu and Qi.

The Yu Family had only these two grandsons; Mrs. Cao could leave, but the Yu Family’s two grandsons shouldn’t leave with outsiders.

But how could the old woman Yu possibly stop them?

To achieve his dreams in the imperial examinations and to make something of himself, Yu Zishu had to leave this biased family. Otherwise, all the money would go to his idle third uncle.

Yu Ziyi was even more adamant, having pushed for the family split and now with three thousand taels in hand, he wouldn’t stay no matter who wanted him to.

With both grandsons wanting to follow their mother, the old lady Yu and old man Yu were furious, threatening not to provide them with household registration papers to make them stay.

Without household registration, one can’t take a step, let alone participate in the imperial exams. No registration, no exams.

However, the threat of withholding household registration proved ineffective.

Yu Zishu had long anticipated this and had already spent money to create a new household registration, where he was the head, and Mrs. Cao and Yu Ziyi were included under it.

Yu Xiaolian read through several sheets of the letter and felt relieved towards the end.

It turned out Yu Zishu had been looking for her because of Qi Yunfan.

But how did he know Qi Yunfan?

Anyway, as long as Yu Zishu wasn’t part of Jun Mobai’s group, it was a good thing.

This meant that they and Mrs. Cao could coexist peacefully.

Yu Xiaolian folded the letter neatly.

Sister Feng was amazed that Yu Xiaolian managed to read through the entire letter.

She was only an eleven-year-old farm girl who had never been to school, yet she could read?

Yu Xiaolian noticed Sister Feng’s surprised expression and explained, "My father knows how to read, I learned from him."

Yu Xiaolian thought of Yu Changhe and Mrs. Sun, who were shocked when they saw her writing labels, and she had lied, saying she learned from an Immortal in a dream.

At that time, her brushstrokes were wobbly, indeed looking like a beginner’s work, and Yu Changhe and Mrs. Sun had no doubts.

After all, they had something as magical as a supermarket, so why not a deity teaching their daughter to read?

Very normal.

Yu Xiaolian thanked Sister Feng and was about to leave when Sister Feng stopped her.

Sister Feng looked uneasy, "You... know your own identity, right?"

Yu Xiaolian paused for a moment without turning back, "No, I don’t."

Then, not waiting for Sister Feng to say anything more, she quickly walked away.

Sister Feng watched Yu Xiaolian’s departing figure and sighed.

Perhaps not returning to her clan was truly a blessing for her.

Too young, still too young.

Yu Xiaolian hurried back home, only to find the main door wide open, with several government officers in her yard.

The officers had come to conscript labor service, starting by checking Yu Changhe’s household registration. They discovered that the Yu Family had only Yu Changhe as an adult male, who was also a cripple, and they expressed disdain.

Cripples work slowly, not as enduring as those with good hands and feet.

But it was still better than nothing, and they were about to take Yu Changhe away.

Yu Changhe promptly produced a document from the county government allowing him to substitute Silver for labor service. The officer carefully examined it, confirmed it bore the county government’s seal, and only then left with curses under his breath.

Yu Changhe sighed, "Early this morning, they’ve already taken several from our alley."

Although most in this alley were petty traders, not many could readily produce thirty taels of Silver.

Some families, with more members, chose to send a strong laborer rather than pay thirty taels for exemption.

No matter how exhausting the labor service, it was only a few months of work, and a larger family could rotate turns, whereas thirty taels couldn’t be earned in a few months.

Mrs. Sun worried, "If Fengshou has to go for labor service, what will happen to the old and the young at home?"

She had no hope in Xu’s family at all.

Although Yu Xiaolian had previously left fifty taels of Silver for the Sun Family, Mrs. Sun knew her mother and brother would never bring out that Silver for the exemption.

Mrs. Sun was deeply troubled.

Sun Fengshou had done labor service before, but this time Mrs. Sun felt particularly uneasy, as if something was going to happen at home.