He wanted to prove to Mother that in this family, only he was cut out for studying; even if the others had the chance to study, they would never compare to him.
After Qin Sang finished her bath, she heard a rhythmic recitation coming from the main room outside. Her lips curled into a slight smile; Xiao Wu now knew to lead the family in progressing together, which was a good change.
...
The next day, Qin Sang went to the fields to check the situation and found that more than half of the households in the village were harvesting grain, while only a few families stood by the edges of the fields watching.
Tian Yuanshan stood on the field ridge chewing on a grass root:
"You people actually believe Widow Tian's words? A mere woman who believes every rumor she hears—now that you've harvested the grain, what will you use to pay the imperial grain tax? Do you plan to chew on grass roots and book covers while waiting for the autumn harvest?"
Tian Jinshui narrowed his eyes:
"You're actually listening to her. When has she ever not made something out of nothing? Just passing by her front door is enough to be falsely accused of stealing her chickens. Have you all forgotten?"
Listening to the two brothers' indirect insults, Qin Sang recalled when the Original Body received news of her husband's death. In her moment of grief, these two brothers' Mother had come to the door to persuade her, saying she favored the Original Body's fertility and wanted her to remarry into their family. She claimed they would help raise the children so she wouldn't be bullied; the only condition was that she had to hand over the fifty taels of compensation silver.
The Original Body was naturally harsh and stingy; she had beaten the old woman out of the house then and there, cursing them roundly and saying that despite sharing the same surname, the two brothers were nothing but beasts.
They had several more shouting matches later, and things only quieted down after the old woman passed away two years ago. However, whenever she encountered these two brothers, the Original Body never gave them a pleasant look.
It wasn't that the Original Body hadn't thought about remarrying, but she had high standards. She looked down on all the families in the village, and wealthy families wouldn't want her. It could only be said that life was hard for women in ancient times, and even harder for widows.
Qin Sang had come to check on her own field's harvest. Being pointed at and criticized now, she naturally didn't hold back:
"Yes, I am a woman with short-sighted views, but surely the Village Chief is more discerning than I am? Yet you see the Village Chief's family is also harvesting grain. Could it be that the Village Chief also believes every rumor he hears?"
The Village Chief was not only the Village Chief but also the Clan Leader of the Tian Clan. Tian Yuanshan and Tian Jinshui dared to question Qin Sang, but they didn't dare provoke the Village Chief.
"Well, I didn't say that. The Village Chief is getting old, and Brother You Gen is injured; it's normal to be unable to distinguish things clearly when trouble arises. It's just that everyone is harvesting grain because they heard your news. If the locust plague doesn't come, how will you take responsibility for everyone's losses?"
Without waiting for Qin Sang to answer, a nearby villager straightened up and joined the conversation:
"We harvested this grain ourselves. Why would Widow Tian need to be responsible?"
From the nearby Xia family, Widow Xia also chimed in:
"No one forced anyone to go down to the fields and work. With the way the grain grew this year, even if it stayed in the fields for a few more days, it would still be like this. If there really are losses, we can only blame the Heavens."
Others thought the same way:
"In the past, although Widow Tian's words weren't pleasant, she never took advantage of other families. Especially since she saved You Gen last time, I believe her warning about a possible locust plague was truly out of consideration for our village."
"Exactly, exactly. Even if the locusts don't come, she doesn't need to be responsible. It's not much grain anyway. But you two brothers should think about it—if the locusts really do come, life will truly become unbearable."
Tian Yuanshan and Tian Jinshui really didn't expect these people to trust Qin Sang's words so much. They themselves didn't believe it:
"Fine, go ahead and harvest. It's better if you harvest it all clean; then no one will be fighting over the river water later."
"Exactly. Brother, let's go. When they have nothing to eat later, let's see if they come begging at our door."
Once the two had walked away, Qin Sang asked everyone how their harvest was.
Those working in the fields were dripping with sweat. When the harvest was mentioned, their faces became filled with worry, looking like dried-up gullies:
"It's no good. At most, it's thirty percent of what it used to be. We don't even know how many portions we'll have to hand over for the imperial grain tax then. *Sigh*..."
Yields per mu in ancient times were originally only about three to four hundred catties; thirty percent was less than a hundred catties.
Qin Sang couldn't help but deeply miss Grandfather Yuan.
Even if she were to take Hybrid Rice seeds out of the Mall now, it would be too late. The villagers still had to get over this immediate hurdle first.
Qin Sang had an idea. When evening came and Mrs. Tian Li returned with her two sons carrying mugwort, Qin Sang weighed out three catties of rice for her as promised. Mrs. Tian Li refused to take it no matter what:
"Younger sister, I really can't take it. When I took rice back last night, I got a real scolding from my husband and father-in-law. If I take more today, my husband will surely beat me."
Qin Sang forced it into her arms:
"Sister-in-law, you must take it. If you don't, then tomorrow you should go back to your own fields to harvest grain. To tell you the truth, you've done me a huge favor by helping me collect mugwort. I've signed a contract with someone, and if I can't deliver the goods on time, I'll have to pay a huge fine.
To be honest, with just this much mugwort, I feel like what's collected in a day isn't enough."
Mrs. Tian Li's eyes widened:
"Still not enough?"
"Yes. Think about it, Sister-in-law. We don't know when the locusts will arrive. If the locust plague comes and the mugwort on the mountain is all eaten up, I'll have no raw materials. If I can't deliver the goods, I'll lose money.
So I want to collect a batch of mugwort as soon as possible, along with other medicinal herbs, to be prepared for any eventuality.
Unfortunately, everyone is busy harvesting grain now. The patrol team has taken people away, and there aren't enough people for the harvest as it is. I'm really embarrassed to ask everyone, since grain is the foundation, after all. I'll just have to go up the mountain and look for it myself tomorrow."
As Qin Sang spoke, she pushed Sister-in-law Tian outside. By the time she finished, the rice had been given, and the door was closed.
She intended to help the villagers out and wanted to use Mrs. Tian Li's mouth to spread the word about her collecting medicinal herbs. If she openly announced she was hiring villagers, it would get them moving quickly, but it would also bring many troubles.
Collecting mugwort required going up the mountain, which wasn't without danger. If she made an announcement and a villager was bitten by a snake or insect and got injured or died, what if they came to her for compensation?
In her later life, she had seen many cases where a department proactively advanced money, but when the patient died, the family still sued for compensation.
Human hearts are unfathomable; people might not cherish what is proactively given to them.
Qin Sang had already arranged the household tasks into an assembly line based on what each person was best at. She herself took advantage of the time they were focused on making mosquito coils to quietly sell the collected mugwort through the Space.
Currently, the mugwort in the yard was piled as high as a mountain. A few dozen catties missing here and there went completely unnoticed, and Qin Sang's Mall balance was rapidly climbing.
When the sky was dimly dark, Hunter Xu and his son came down the mountain. They no longer took the long way around. When they left in the morning, Qin Sang had told them that if they caught any prey, could she have first pick? Sure enough, Xu Hu was holding two large rabbits. Seeing Qin Sang, he immediately brought them over:
"Aunt, here are the male rabbits you wanted. My dad has a female one over there."
Knowing they were going to buy meat to eat again, everyone in the family ran out to watch the excitement. Si Jin dashed out the fastest. Taking the rabbits from Xu Hu's hands and looking at them, she asked curiously:
"Brother Huzi, these rabbits don't have a single wound on them. How did you catch them?"
Xu Hu scratched his ear, and Hunter Xu laughed loudly:
"Huzi remembered your Mother said she wanted male rabbits to raise. When he saw the male rabbits today, he insisted on not letting me shoot them. He went through the trouble of finding the rabbit burrow, blocked three exits, and used smoke at the entrance. He caught them alive when they ran out. Look at his hand—he was too impatient to catch them and got a gash from a thorn bush."
Qin Sang pulled Huzi's hand over to look. Sure enough, there was a long gash from the webbing of his thumb to the back of his hand, still seeping blood:
"Oh dear, this wound isn't light. Come in quickly, Aunt will wash it for you and put some medicine on it. It wouldn't be good if it gets infected later."
"Eldest daughter-in-law, go quickly and boil some mugwort leaf water."
Tian Si Jin stuffed the rabbits into her eldest sister-in-law's arms and ran toward the kitchen:
"Mother, I'll go boil the mugwort leaf water."