CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 30: DAD, DO YOU NEED TO PEE?

As soon as she decided, Qin Yao didn’t delay for a moment, discussed with Old Liu, and in the afternoon cut two one-pound pieces from the remaining meat to report to the village chief and the clan leader.

The unclaimed land in the village is assumed to be communal, as is the soil. While daily use is fine, large usage, such as building a house, should be mentioned to the village for accountability.

This is when having a clear household registration benefits you. If you were an outsider wanting to use the village’s mountain and water resources, you wouldn’t be allowed.

The village chief and the clan leader, actually relatives of uncle and grandfather generations, didn’t make things difficult for Qin Yao, the junior, and besides being a bit surprised that Liu Laosan’s family was building a house, they happily agreed.

Qin Yao also noticed that the villagers in Liu Family Village are quite united. Even though they dislike someone like Liu Ji, being of the same clan, when outsiders come to trouble him, the villagers still back him up.

The last two times Lin Erbao came to the village, if not for the villagers surrounding them, Liu Ji would have been beaten to death.

Because all the clan members are here, even if they are just watching, Lin Erbao and others would still be wary. If someone died, the Liu clan wouldn’t let them go.

Sheng Country is a clan-based society under a feudal system, and these villages, large and small, are actually formed by the gathering of clans.

Ninety percent of the people in Liu Family Village bear the surname Liu. Walking around the village with Old Liu, Qin Yao discovered that she was of quite a high seniority level.

Most people called her aunt, a few called her sister-in-law, and a very few referred to her as Mrs. Liu San.

After leaving the village chief and the clan leader’s houses, Qin Yao went with Old Liu to the homes of the paternal uncle and paternal uncle’s brother to inform them about building a house and invite them to help.

Old Liu said to provide helpers with lunch and additionally a token of two coins a day.

Qin Yao, unfamiliar with the situation, wondered if that might be too little.

Unexpectedly, both the uncle and the paternal uncle were delighted and agreed readily, saying they would bring tools and spare labor from the family to start work at her house the next morning.

For villagers constantly struggling with subsistence, a lunch is equivalent to saving a meal’s worth of food for the family.

At the hardest times, stretching that meal into thin porridge could keep the family alive for an extra day.

Previously, Qin Yao thought Liu Ji’s family was already the poorest in the village, but coming to the paternal uncle’s house and seeing the emaciated women and children, she realized this was the norm.

Lacking tools prevents intensive cultivation, resulting in low grain yields. For large families, preventing starvation is challenging, let alone eating their fill.

Moreover, land wasn’t always available. It was this year, with the New Dynasty’s emergence and land reallocation, that there was this land.

Old Liu, seeing Qin Yao’s ignorance, guessed her family’s past conditions were probably not bad, and sighed:

"It’s only this year that His Majesty redistributed the land, so everyone doesn’t have to worry about not getting through winter. In previous years, at this time, there would be nothing to eat."

Qin Yao was startled, "It’s just after the autumn harvest, and there isn’t enough to eat?"

Old Liu, with a knowing look, shook his head and continued: "Right after the autumn harvest comes tax collection, and the village chief will lead people to each village to collect grain taxes, which must be paid in grain and cannot be substituted with silver, money, or cloth. With only a few acres of land and production limited, once an eighth of the grain tax is paid, how much do you think is left?"

No need to calculate, if there’s anything left, that’s already remarkable.

The two went around to several nearby houses; everyone was happy to come to help, not for the two cents, but for the lunch.

With that, manpower was sufficient. Uncle Jiu would be informed by Old Liu, time was not early, so Qin Yao went home to prepare.

The next morning, as dawn just began to break, Liu Ji, who was still making sweet dreams, was suddenly awakened by a commotion outside the house and sat upright in shock!

"Da Lang! Da Lang!" Liu Ji shouted towards the door, somewhat panicked.

Could it be a beast coming down from the mountain to forage?

But he was clearly overthinking. The tightly shut door was pushed open, and Da Lang walked in, looking confused but already dressed and seemingly up for a while.

"Father, do you need to pee?" Da Lang walked to the bed and bent to get the chamber pot.

Liu Ji gave his son a speechless look, always asking if he needed to pee whenever he saw him—as if he had so much pee. "No need!"

"What’s happening outside? What are you guys doing making such a ruckus?"

Da Lang put down the chamber pot and answered, "We’re building a house. Aunt is leading everyone to dig the foundation and lay stones."

Liu Ji was a bit dumbfounded, "Our family is building a house?"

Da Lang nodded and, seeing his father didn’t need to pee, was about to leave, "If you don’t need to pee, I’ll be off; there’s plenty of work to do."

Saying this, he gave his father a meaningful look, suggesting he might not need to just lie around and perhaps could help the family with some work.

Thinking this, Da Lang ran out to tell Qin Yao:

"Aunt, my father seems to be getting better."

Qin Yao emptied a shoulder full of heavy stones onto an open space, where someone would use the stones to fill the foundation.

Alone, she carried back more stones than three strong adult men. The youngsters, including Liu Fei, collecting stones by the river bank, couldn’t keep up with her pace.

Knowing they’d be collecting stones by the river for a while, she gestured for Da Lang to follow her, walked to the water jar by the stove, scooped a ladle of cool well water, downed it in one go, and then asked, "Recovered?"

Da Lang nodded, "He can walk around on his own." He had seen last night, while the stepmother wasn’t home, father turned everything in the room upside down.

Da Lang guessed he was probably looking for silver but didn’t find any.

The stepmother had tied the money bag to her waist, so it was unlikely father could find it.

Qin Yao gently patted the young lad’s head, "Alright, I got it. You can head back inside and rest with Second Lang. So many people are working here, we don’t need a little lad like you."

Da Lang felt a little embarrassed and nodded before turning to enter the house.

The house had many belongings, with no dedicated place to hide them. He helped keep an eye on things to prevent anything from being taken in the crowded area.

Qin Yao watched Da Lang walk into the side room, pushed open the main room’s door, and went inside.

Liu Ji had already gone back to sleep, and despite the noise outside, it didn’t rouse him again.

Yet somehow, he felt increasingly cold behind him, chilly as if being watched by a snake sticking out its tongue.

Suddenly, Liu Ji woke up in fright, lifted his eyes and locked eyes with Qin Yao’s cold, sharp gaze.

"Wife? You scared me to death!" Liu Ji patted his chest, breathing heavily, casting a somewhat blaming glance at Qin Yao.

Seeing Liu Ji looking lively, Qin Yao reached to remove the anti-swelling herbs stuck to his face. The swelling had already subsided, leaving only some bruises.

It turned out that what Da Lang said was true; Liu Ji was ready to get up and help with some work.

Even if it wasn’t heavy labor, he could certainly manage a fire, cooking, and such light tasks.

"Get up!"

With one swift move, Qin Yao pulled his quilt off.

Liu Ji was alarmed; could it be this shrew had discovered his unmatched handsomeness and, driven by impulse, wanted to have a go with him?