Chapter 12: The Opportunity Has Come!

Hearing his mother bring up the past, Song Lao’er sighed with a sidelong glance, then grinned. "Mother, if you had really been stripped of your clothes back then, I would be Fifth Uncle’s son, not the step-son of Song Lao’han.

I could be eating meat and drinking wine every day; why would I be fretting over the one tael of silver for the corvée labor?"

Every household was required to provide corvée labor; if you had the manpower, you sent a person, otherwise, you paid money. The substitute fee for one month of labor was one tael of silver.

Song Lao’er was dragging his feet on signing the papers because he didn't want to work, nor did he want to pay that tael of silver.

Hearing his mother say that Village Chief Song wouldn't dare force him into labor, his tone was tinged with jealousy.

If he had a Village Chief for a father, he could walk sideways through the village.

Perhaps he could even be like the Village Chief’s eldest son, working as a minor official in town with real authority, instead of having to calculate every copper whenever he wanted to drink some flower wine.

Hearing her son’s complaints, Old Madam Gu also said with annoyance, "You can only blame Song Lao’hei for his lack of guts. Back then, your mother was quite the flower..."

Young Madam Gu frowned. "Mother, you’d better stop talking about the past. I’ve heard Father and Mother say it was you who thought the Village Chief’s family was poor and dark-skinned, which is why you didn't marry him."

Her back and legs had been aching all day, and she was in a foul mood whenever she remembered Song Lao’er hitting her for that little slut.

Besides, these old stories didn't help with the current problem, and her mother-in-law was just bragging.

Exposed by her daughter-in-law, Old Madam Gu pursed her lips and stopped talking about the past.

The most important thing was the present.

Village Chief Song said the town officials would come to collect people the day after tomorrow morning; it must be true.

She could use her shamelessness to drive the Village Chief away, but that wouldn't work on the town officials; if she made a scene, she’d just get a beating.

"How about we just pay the one tael of silver for the substitute fee?" Song Lao’er said lazily, half-lying on the kang.

Anyway, once Song Liyun was sent to the Xue family, he would have fifty taels of silver. Why go so far to suffer and toil for such a small amount of money?

"You think a tael of silver is easy to pay? It’s not just words spoken between the lips. Keep it to buy a few more pounds of meat for the grandson to build up his health." Old Madam Gu clearly didn't want to spend the money.

"This won't work, that won't work. Then what do you suggest?"

Song Lao’er grew impatient. It wasn't as if the family couldn't afford it.

These days, to avoid the corvée, he had to avoid people even when going to town to drink; it was miserable.

Young Madam Gu’s eyes rolled. "Tell me, have you forgotten there’s another able-bodied man in the house who can go for the corvée?"

"You mean Zhenping?"

Song Lao’er curled his lip, pulled the quilt under him to make himself more comfortable, and then shouted at Young Madam Gu, "You ignorant thing, don't talk nonsense. There’s a pile of work for him to do at home; he can't go."

"That's right! Let that cripple go," Old Madam Gu clapped her hands and shouted.

Besides Song Lao’er, there was one other laborer in the house.

That was the eldest son of the first branch, nineteen-year-old Song Zhenping.

Song Lao’er shook his head. "No, he has a lame leg. How could he go for corvée? Not to mention the town officials selecting people, even the Village Chief wouldn't let it pass."

Corvée labor was heavy work; they had to select healthy, sturdy men. Although Song Zhenping was of age, he had a limp, and others wouldn't want him.

But this wasn't set in stone. As long as the people below were perfunctory, they could deceive those above.

Hearing the worry that the Village Chief wouldn't agree, Old Madam Gu’s eyes widened. "I’ll go find Song Lao’hei. If he dares not agree, I’ll take off my clothes and lie on his kang."

Song Lao’er chuckled.

Over the years, Village Chief Song had high prestige in the village, and his word was law, but it was useless against their family.

During farming season, when other families had to queue for water, his family only needed his mother to step out, and they could take as much as they wanted. Song Lao’hei could only jump with rage.

If they sent the cripple to do the corvée this time, although they would save a tael of silver, Song Lao’er was still hesitant.

Right now, Song Liyun was going to the Xue family. His previous thought had been to tie her up and knock her out to send her off.

But now, the girl was willing to go, and she would bring some benefits to the family in the future.

Song Lao’er wasn't stupid.

The girl agreed to this, ultimately, so that the two boys in the family could have it better.

For the sake of this cash cow, he couldn't let his mother and the others abuse the two brothers too much in the future.

He had to strike a balance; he couldn't let the girl have her way too much, but it was a real headache!

At lunch today, the girl said she wanted to see the two brothers, but he didn't agree. That meant she could only see them after she obediently went to the Xue family.

Thus, the three of them huddled in the room, discussing how to deal with the corvée and how to handle Song Liyun.

In the side room, the person being discussed slowly retracted a strange metal cylinder from the wall.

With a wave of her hand, she put the listening device back into her space. Song Liyun raised an eyebrow and snorted: So there was a corvée labor requirement. It seems it won't be hard to leave Song Lao’er.

Originally, she had planned to use her "marriage" to the Xue family to pressure them into a family separation and escape Song Lao’er’s control.

Now that she knew the corvée was the day after tomorrow, and hearing that the three of them intended to send Song Zhenping, it was like someone handing her a pillow just as she was getting sleepy.

With her mind made up, Song Liyun sat back on the kang, rummaged through the brothers' clothing chest, and began preparing to leave the Song house.

But everything she touched was rags and tatters; even the thick winter coat was stuffed with reeds.

Large patches were sewn over small patches; it was impossible to mend them again.

In a fit of anger, Song Liyun threw all the clothes into the kang stove with a dark face.

Meanwhile, Village Chief Song emerged from Song Lao’er’s courtyard, clutching his chest and groaning.

He felt that every time he stepped into this courtyard, he lost ten years of his life; a few more times and he would be angered to death.

Just as he left the gate, the Village Chief couldn't help but sigh: by the roadside and on the courtyard walls, villagers were everywhere, waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

With a dark face, the Village Chief pointed at them and cursed, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a mad dog bite someone?"

The man he cursed hugged his shoulders, shrank his neck, and laughed strangely. "Heh, Village Chief, did you go find Widow Gu to rekindle old flames and get splashed with manure?"

The Village Chief gritted his teeth. "Get lost! I’d rather go up the mountain to find wild monkeys than see that woman. I went to talk to that coward Song Lao’er about business."

"Hey! That’s not what Old Madam Gu said. She said you were still pining for her youthful beauty!" Someone chimed in, and a burst of laughter erupted around them.

The Village Chief jumped with rage, picked up a clod of dirt from the ground, and prepared to throw it. "Get out! Get out! Get out! What kind of people are you? You can't even understand human speech."

Laughter and chaos broke out all around!

Just then, two "woodpiles" walked in from outside the village.

The people who had been grinning a moment ago suddenly stopped talking, each with a strange expression.

Those on the courtyard walls quickly closed their doors, and those by the roadside slowly slipped away along the walls.

The Village Chief dropped the dirt clod in his hand and greeted the woodpiles. "Daping, Xiao’an, are you two gathering firewood again?"

Out of the hundred or so households in the village, only Song Lao’er’s family had plenty of firewood.

The moment he entered their courtyard, he saw the mountain of firewood stacked behind the house. This wood was cut by the two brothers day and night, ready to be sold in the city before winter.

Thanks to these woodpiles, Song Lao’er had another source of income.

If they encountered a year where heavy snow blocked the mountains, selling them for three taels of silver was possible—enough to buy grain for the whole family to eat.

Hearing someone call his name, the "big woodpile" looked up, revealing a dark, thin face, his large eyes filled with exhaustion.

Song Zhangping asked suspiciously, "Village Chief, did you just come from our house?"