Chapter 10

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Er Zhuzi was of the same generation as Dong Sanchun and the others, so when he saw that Old Master Dong wanted to greet him, it was a matter of etiquette for him to reply as his junior.

After Second Uncle greeted him, Old Master Dong asked with a smile, “Second Uncle, who in your family is going to dig the river ditch this year?”

Xiaowan Village handled digging the river ditch. Every summer, when there was a lot of rain, they had to dig the river ditch to ensure that the river flowed smoothly and could be used both upstream and downstream.

This was considered difficult labor. Every year, besides the digging, the villagers also had some other miscellaneous tasks. If one added all the tasks together, they would probably need to work for more than two months to complete everyone.

Of course, conscription did not require the entire family to mobilize. Under normal circumstances, there was no particularly urgent work, so women did not need to go, only men fifteen years old and old.

Moreover, each household conscripted only needed to produce half of the strong labor force. After all, each family still had to work in agriculture, especially the farming season was nigh. The fields would be too busy, and the commoners would not be able to get their food. There would be a huge problem in the future.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he paid attention to these problems, so he paid attention to controlling the duration of the conscription.

The main crops in Kobayashi Village were wheat and grains. There were other crops, but those were in small proportions.

The ripening period of the wheat was around mid-August. The grain ripened later because it was planted late, so the village would have to wait until October.

It was mid-July now, so they could take advantage of this time to dig up the river ditches. It would not delay the harvesting of wheat in August. The Imperial Court had arranged the time perfectly.

Dong Nuan was hanging behind her family casually. Since her head was still wrapped in bandages, she actually had an excuse to not help.

However, how could she execute her plan without some hard work?

If the Host’s younger siblings were not taught well, they would grow more troublesome as they grew up.

Since she had nothing to do anyway, she might as well do it.

Moreover, lying down for an entire afternoon was probably already a hard limit. If she lay down for another day, even if she had caught a fat pheasant, Old Master Dong probably would not be satisfied.

Especially after she set a trap for Fifth Uncle this morning. Old Madam Dong would definitely keep an eye on her now. After all, he was her favorite son.

Moreover, besides teaching her younger siblings well, Dong Nuan also needed to go out.

This was because the flames of Fifth Uncle’s matter still needed to be fanned to make the various branches in the family even more dissatisfied. Only then could they be urged to go to town and secretly investigate Fifth Uncle’s matter.

Dong Nuan’s goal was very simple. She wanted this entire family of blood-sucking parasites and idiots to come back and farm the fields as soon as possible!

Dozens of taels of silver a year! No farming house could withstand such a scourge.

Hearing that they were going to dig a river ditch, Dong Nuan was a little interested. Unfortunately, with her being only five and a half feet tall, it was obvious that the bailiffs would not let her go!

Even if she proved that she was very strong, it would probably be difficult for her to convince the public. That would be a lot of trouble.

The bailiffs would not want such trouble. It was best to not let Dong Nuan go at all.

“This isn’t fun at all!” Dong Nuan muttered in her heart. She turned her head and met Dong Xing’s hateful gaze.

Dong Xing’s face was still swollen, and the corners of her mouth were not only torn, but also bruised. It looked quite scary.

This morning, she was so focused on digging Fifth Uncle’s grave that she forgot to pay attention to Dong Xing. How was she going to eat like this?

Noticing that Dong Nuan was looking at her, Dong Xing’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Her gaze was so hateful that it was fit to to spew fire.

Dong Nuan did not mind Dong Xing’s fierce gaze. Not only did she not mind, but she also deliberately slowed down her pace and walked to Dong Xing’s side. She asked with a smile, “Lil Xing, do you think Lil Man had enough fighting yesterday? Will she still come looking for us today? I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to protect you, but I really can’t stand Lil Man. And my head is still hurt! If Lil Man really comes by today, you’ll have to hold the fort down.”

After Dong Nuan finished speaking, she took two steps to the side, widening the distance between her and Dong Xing.

Fortunately, Dong Nuan had dodged quickly. After hearing Dong Nuan’s words, Dong Xing spat at her fiercely and scolded hoarsely. “You slutty fox, why don’t you die? You…”

The young girls in the village were illiterate and had never experienced the outside world. They had learned how to scold people from their elders. Dong Nuan had only heard the Dong family’s scoldings, and she was planning to memorize them.

Dong Nuan did not care about the scolding at all. At this moment, the elders were all surrounding Old Master Dong, chattering about going to serve the laborers.

Who would not feel sorry for the men set on this task? Rather, who wanted their man to go dig a ditch on a hot day? No one wanted to go, so they had to find an excuse to make Old Master Dong keep an eye on men and let the other families go.

“Father, Erchun’s waist has been hurting so much these past few days that he can’t even straighten it. How can he dig a river ditch?” The person who said this was Second Aunt. As she spoke, she pushed Dong Erchun beside her, trying to get him to agree.

In the end, he only received a silly smile from Second Uncle Dong.

Second Aunt was so angry that she almost fainted. In the end, she pinched Dong Erchun’s arm hard, making him jump in pain. “Hey, hey, hey, hey!”

The other families were also prepared to fight, but no one wanted to be the first to step forward. Even Madam Dong Wu, who was the most tactless, only dragged whined a little after Second Aunt Dong finished speaking. She said softly, “Father, perhaps Lil Yao got frightened sometime a couple days ago. He can’t leave his father’s side. I’m afraid that if Sanchun goes, Lil Yao won’t be able to take it. Lil Yao is my life. If he doesn’t recover, I won’t recover either. Boohoo…”

As Dong Wu spoke, she even started crying.

This scene made Dong Nuan gasp in amazement.

She had neglected to consider the ‘Dong Wu Corporation’s’ soft power.

Look, at this critical moment, she had methods and schemes ready.

Although her words were already very inappropriate, Lil Yao was also eight years old, so it was ridiculous he was still being treated like a baby. Now, he was protected by his mother every day and only pretended to do work. It was all because Madam Dong Wu was bullying the three girls.

Dong Yao was not even stained with mud!

The other young children in the village who were more sensible made up a third of the village’s strong labor force.

Even if they were insensible, they could still help their family.

If they could not lift anything heavy, could they still pick up the wheat stalks in the field.

After Second Aunt and Madam Dong Wu spoke, Fourth Aunt also spoke. After them was Eldest Aunt and Fifth Aunt.

After the incident with Fifth Uncle in the morning, Fifth Aunt wished she could fall into the ground.

The two of them slept under the same blanket. How could she not know what Fifth Uncle Dong was like?

It was precisely because she knew that that she felt guilty. Usually, she would be stubborn and not give in at all. Now, she was the last to step forward.

However, after stepping forward, Fifth Aunt was at a loss again.

That was not right!

Why did she step forward?

Scholars were exempt from conscription!