When it got darker and it was almost six o'clock in the evening, Su Ze returned to the family temple with the snakeskin bag on his shoulders.
Su Ze had just hidden the snakeskin bag and carefully arranged the potatoes and sweet potatoes under the bed.
He watched with distress as a sweet potato was crushed into two pieces.
This must have been damaged when it was stuffed into a crack in the stone.
Just after finishing his work, Su Ze heard the voice of the little carrot-head Lin Cainiang outside the door:
"Brother, master calls you to eat."
Su Ze said in surprise: "Have you not eaten yet?"
Since there were only two meals a day, and they usually had dinner at three or four in the afternoon, Su Ze thought they had already eaten, but unexpectedly they were waiting for him to eat.
Lin Cainiang's stomach growled outside the door, and she seemed to have been hungry for a long time. Su Ze stood up quickly, opened the door apologetically, and followed Lin Cainiang to the back canteen.
The tempting aroma came from the pot, and Lin Cainiang said happily: "Brother, master put in more rice today and cooked seafood razor clam porridge!"
Aunt Jiu opened the lid of the pot, and the aroma of seafood porridge wafted out. The little carrot head filled a bowl of porridge for Su Ze.
Su Ze took a sip, and when he chewed the chewy and smooth razor clam meat, Su Ze almost moaned in comfort.
After putting down the bowl and looking at the little carrot head Lin Liangjun beside him who was devouring his food, Su Ze couldn't help but ask:
"Auntie, why is this kid still here with us? Doesn't he need to go back to eat?"
Lin Liangjun, the little carrot head, immediately jumped up and protested:
"I also have a share of the credit for catching the razor clams! I also have a share of the porridge! This is a matter of lightning!"
Aunt Ninth murmured: "Is it natural?"
The little carrot head jumped on the stool and said to Su Ze: "How brave! You, a thief, are actually rude to this general! Guards on your left and right, capture this thief quickly!"
Su Ze looked at the arrogant little carrot head, pushed him down on the stool, and said to Aunt Ninth:
"Auntie, I'll make breakfast tomorrow."
Aunt Ninth glanced at Su Ze with her cloudy eyes, nodded and said, "Then I'll leave it to you."
When he heard about breakfast, the little carrot head said again: "I want to come too!"
Su Ze said helplessly: "Don't you have food to eat in the guardhouse?"
Little Carrot Head said: "I'm not full! I can finish my meal at home and rush over to eat!"
"Are all hundreds of families in such a difficult situation?"
Su Ze originally thought that Aunt Ninth was so poor because there was too little farmland in the family temple, and Aunt Ninth was too old to cultivate good land.
But seeing that all the men, women, and children in the guardhouse were all sallow and thin, and even Lin Liangjun, a younger brother from a hundred households, couldn't have enough to eat, Su Ze asked doubtfully.
Lin Liangjun said: "He's not my brother yet! He said that I am not a regular soldier of the guard station and cannot eat the meals of a regular soldier! I can only eat cold vegetable porridge at home every day!"
Aunt Ninth noticed Su Ze's confusion and explained:
"Most of the food in the health center is supplied to the soldiers. They have to drill every day and often go to sea for inspections. Therefore, Baihu has set a rule that the soldiers can eat three meals a day, including rice and pasta.
"
Su Ze had some respect for this Baihu whom he had never met before. As a leader of the health center, he could set an example. Although Little Luobotou was her biological brother, he still insisted on following the rules and did not open the back door for him to take advantage of him.
meal.
Looking at the empty pot, Su Ze couldn't help but ask:
"Everyone works so hard to support the soldiers, don't you have any complaints?"
This is also what Su Ze is confused about. Although most of the Changning Guards are named Lin, they have been here for several generations, and the villagers are still willing to support the guards' regular soldiers.
Aunt Jiu said: "Where would we be without the Changning Guards? Other places in southern Fujian are often plundered by Japanese pirates, and the county seat has been breached. Only our Changning Guards can be stabilized. This is all due to the contribution of hundreds of households and hundreds of households."
Aunt Ninth pointed at Lin Liangjun and said, "Don't listen to this kid's nonsense. Hundreds of households gave him half of their rations. Look at his head, does he look like he doesn't have enough to eat?"
Su Ze looked at the eight or nine-year-old Lin Liangjun, who was almost as tall as the fifteen-year-old Lin Cainiang. He nodded and said, "This kid just wants to make a living."
Aunt Ninth glanced at Su Ze, and then said to Lin Liangjun:
"You can come to eat if you want, but after eating, you want to learn to read with me, how about that?"
As soon as he heard that he needed to learn how to read, the little carrot head immediately showed a bitter look on his face.
He touched his belly and said, "My brother wants me to be literate, and Aunt Jiu wants me to be literate too. What's so good about literacy?"
Aunt Ninth said sincerely: "Your family has been in the family for hundreds of generations, but to lead soldiers in war, you also need to learn military skills. How can you lead good soldiers if you are illiterate?"
The little carrot head covered his ears and said: "I know, I know! Then I will learn to read with my aunt after breakfast tomorrow!"
Aunt Ninth nodded with satisfaction. Lin Liangjun finished licking the bowl, looked at the dark night outside, and said quickly:
"It's over, it's already so late! I have to go back quickly, or my brother will beat me again!"
When the little carrot head left in a hurry, Su Ze said to Aunt Ninth:
"Auntie, I see that there is a bit of wasteland near the temple, and I want to reclaim it. Are there any rules in the guardhouse?"
Aunt Ninth glanced at Su Ze in surprise. Although he was tall, he had the temperament of a scholar, so Aunt Ninth thought he was a scholar and wanted him to temporarily perform the temple blessing.
Unexpectedly, Su Ze wanted to open up wasteland. Aunt Ninth said, "It is not easy to open up wasteland. Can you really do it?"
"I want to try."
Aunt Ninth said: "According to the rules set by Master Hongwu, the land reclaimed from wasteland can be exempted from taxes for three years."
"If you want to open up that piece of land, then I will report it to Baihu with you. As long as you open up the land, Weili will waive your land rent for three years."
"As long as you don't miss your morning classes, then all the output of this land will belong to you. If you leave the health center in the future, this land will be bought by the health center at the market price to compensate you. How about that?"
Su Ze nodded quickly. Aunt Ninth was impeccable in her work and very fair. No wonder the entire health center respected her very much.
Lin Cainiang collected the bowls and chopsticks, and Aunt Ninth said again: "There are still some winter vegetables and rice seeds in the temple. Just take them and plant them."
Su Ze knew that this was Aunt Ninth's kindness. For these poor people, seeds are also very precious things.
However, he planned to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes on the new cultivated land, so he said: "Thank you for your kindness, Auntie, I am going to plant something new."
Aunt Ninth didn't say much. She just thought it was the whim of Su Ze, a scholar. She packed up the dishes and went back to sleep.
Su Ze was lying on the wooden bed, touching his sore waist. Who said that people in ancient times gave birth to children at night when they had nothing to do?
Today, after just driving for a long time, Su Ze was very tired. He usually didn't have enough to eat at night, so how could he still have the energy to do such a thing!
Su Ze lamented once again that the pastoral life imagined by young bourgeois is really not pastoral or beautiful at all!