Qian's tears were almost shed, and she was able to catch her breath, so she opened the box, took out a box from the bottom, and opened it to show her younger son and daughter the money inside.
Inside are strings of money, which are quite heavy, and there are only two small pieces of silver, which are left over from the house.
The only thing she kept in her family was copper coins. Seeing these coins, Qian couldn't help but wiped her tears.
She counted the money again, after many calculations, she still only had nine coins, and the sum of the two pieces of silver was only one and a half.
Mrs. Qian also took out the money box from the bedside table. Inside was the money for daily use. It was just in time for the autumn harvest. The third child and the fourth child went to help the white landlord's house and returned after receiving their wages. She hasn't counted the money that came up and put it in the cabinet for deposit.
But this part of the money is not much, and it is also counted and strung together in a string, a string of one hundred coins, and a string of ten strings to make a hanging.
They were really unlucky. There were only six strings of money inside, and there were twenty or thirty cash left at the bottom of the box.
Qian looked at her daughter and then at her youngest son. Hearing the louder and louder screams outside, she got up and handed all the money to the youngest son, and then helped the little girl's hand to go out.
Seeing his mother coming out holding the money box, Zhou Zhoulang breathed a sigh of relief and almost couldn't help crying.
Man Bao could see clearly and was very annoyed at the fourth brother.
There are also gamblers in the village. Uncle Zhou’s family used to be the third household in their family. His son lost a bet half a year ago, and he brought the casino people back and sold his wife and children to pay off the debt.
Their niece, who is two years older than her, is a good friend of her, so she remembered that gambling is a fatal thing. She doesn't know if it will kill her, but she will definitely kill her relatives.
At that time, the old father and the old mother had taught the elder brothers and strictly ordered them not to gamble, but they did not expect that it would be their turn now.
Full of arrogance, he rushed forward and stretched out his foot and stomped on Zhou Zhoulang hard, right on his face.
Zhou Zhoulang yelled "Hey" and shouted: "Yaomei, Yaomei, don't step on me, I, I know I was wrong!"
Qian didn't stop her, but said to her husband, "The money is not enough, it's four and a half."
Old man Zhou frowned sadly, while Mrs. Qian looked at the three daughters-in-law, and said, "Take out how much each of your families have. It's your fourth brother's loan from you, and let him pay it back later."
Mrs. Xiaoqian, Mrs. Feng and Mrs. He went to see their husbands, and seeing their nods with ugly faces, they took their children back to the house to get the money.
The Zhou family did not have a separated family, and all the money they earned had to be handed over to the public, and all the food and drink were from the public. Xiaoqian and the old man Zhou had said a long time ago that if they wanted to separate, unless they died, they would have to wait for all the children. We can all get married.
But Qian also knew that a married son was different from a non-married son, and he had to have some money.
So her hands are always loose, and she collects all the harvest in the field, but she only collects 60% of the money earned by each family through other means, and the remaining 40% is collected by each family.
For example, in the big house, Xiaoqian has a job as a kitchen helper in the school, and earns at least 100 Wen a month. Except for the 60 Wen handed in, the rest of the money is her own.
Another example is the second room. The second child secretly learned a little carpentry skills when he went to help the landlord Bai's house in his early years. He also knew how to weave teng bamboo.
Another example is Sanfang, the youngest does not spare any effort to work, and the housekeeper of the white landlord's house likes to use him the most. He is called whenever there is work, so he can also earn some money.
As for the remaining three youngest sons, the fourth is nothing to worry about, lying on the ground, the fifth and sixth are not very old, and if they have some money, they will be coaxed by their mother or younger sister, or they will beg for the second son. Brother went to the market to buy sugar, even if he searched all the clothes, he probably couldn't find a penny.
Qian didn't search for them anymore.
The daughters-in-law of the three families quickly took out the money from their own private houses and pooled it together, but it was not enough, and there were still two strings of money.
Qian looked at the head of the family and his sons.
Xiaoqian couldn't bear it at first, she just sat down on the ground, patted her legs and said: "Mother, it's really gone, we took out all the money for buying cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival that we prepared for my mother's family, this is to break the house ah!"
Qian was so angry that he patted her, "Why are you crying, my mother is not dead yet, I have survived the disaster year, why are you afraid of these two hundred wen?"
Man Bao thought for a while, then ran back to the main house, found a silver lock from his treasure box, and gave it to Qian, "Mother, use mine."
Qian's complexion changed drastically, and he immediately snatched the silver lock and put it away in his arms, saying angrily: "This thing can't be given, this is... this is what my father and mother called for you. The Taoist said that your life is precious, so you need something to hold it down." , this is for your life."
Old man Zhou also said: "I can't give it."
The thug laughed angrily, "Combining a long life lock is heavier than your son's life. I said, whether you will give it or not, it seems that the second half rings. We have to go back to the county seat. If we don't, you will be responsible for it." Food and lodging for one night?"
The thugs behind him started to move in an instant, and began to flip and kick around in the yard, "Hurry up and pay the money, it's only natural to pay the debt."
People from casinos never come to the door without any grass, how could Zhou Dalang allow them to search the house, and hurriedly stopped them.
Tuesday Lang and Wednesday Lang stopped betting on Thursday Lang, and hurried to help the elder brother.
Friday Lang and Saturday Lang also followed their brothers forward enthusiastically. Of course, the villagers in Qili Village couldn't see that the villagers were being bullied, so they also stepped forward to pull.
Not to mention, it was also the first time for the thugs to see so many brothers in the gambler's family, and seeing the villagers surrounding them, they didn't dare to go too far. Steaming up.
Seeing this, the village chief sighed, stopped everyone and said, "Okay, isn't it only two hundred Wen short, Uncle Jin, I will lend it to you first, and remember to return it to me later."
After all, let the son go home to get the money.
The money collected from here and there was piled up in the box, except for the two small pieces of silver, it was all copper plates.
He just tossed the broken pieces of silver at last and said, "This amount of silver can be exchanged for more than this number of copper plates. You should also know that in the bank, one or two pieces of silver can now be exchanged for twelve strings of money, so..."
Zhou Dalang stepped forward and kicked Zhou Zhoulang, and asked, "Are you betting on copper or silver?"
"Copper plate, copper plate."
Zhou Dalang directly punched him with fists, and asked angrily, "Is it a copper plate, is it a copper plate?"
Zhou Zhou Lang's nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and he wailed repeatedly with his nose bleeding, "It's a copper coin, it's a copper coin."
Zhou Dalang didn't stop, his fists landed on his face one after another, and he asked with a livid face, "Is it a copper plate, is it a copper plate."
Zhou Zhoulang cried to his father and mother, "It's copper coins, brother, it's copper coins. They lied to you, and they lied to you."
Seeing that Zhou Dalang spared no effort and Zhou Zhoulang was beaten like this, the thugs couldn't help but embarrass themselves, put away the broken pieces of silver, nodded and said, "All right, copper coins are copper coins."
After that, he turned around and left.
Zhou Zhoulang stood in front of them and asked, "Where's the IOU?"
The thug curled his lips, gave him the IOU, patted him on the shoulder and said, "People like you can't afford to be blocked, you better watch out for your brothers, or your luck might not be so good next time. In this world , because there are quite a few people who have lost their families because of gambling."
The Zhou brothers looked at Zhou Zhoulang unkindly.
Zhou Zhoulang curled up on the ground, seeing the eyes of his brothers, buried his head and didn't even dare to cry too loudly.
The thugs finally left.
Old man Zhou and his eldest son sent the villagers away laughing, thanking them for their help, especially the village chief, who repeatedly expressed that he would treat him to a meal when he found time.
After sending the man away, old man Zhou asked Zhou Xiaoliu to close the door, turned around and picked up the pole to continue beating his son.
Fearing that the little girl would be frightened, Qian brought her back to the house ahead of time, but the effect was not too great, because the child kicked off his shoes and then climbed onto his bed, lying on the window and looking out, watching her father beat her fourth brother, watching Have relish.
Mrs. Qian is not in good health. After all this trouble, she was sad and tired. She didn't stop her daughter and asked her three daughters-in-law to go to the kitchen to make something to eat. Come on, a few kids can't stand it.
After the arrangements are made, call the little girl over, put the silver lock on her, and say, "Didn't I tell you not to take it off? This is for your fate, and you are not allowed to take it off in the future, you know?" ?"
Man Bao said awkwardly: "It's uncomfortable to wear."
Qian thought for a while and said, "You don't need to wear it at night, but you must wear it during the day."
Man Bao complied helplessly, and seeing her mother's distressed face, she asked, "Mother, what should fourth brother do?"
"Don't care about him, let your father beat him up. After a few years, he will learn how to gamble. He deserves to be beaten to death."
Man Bao said: "If you beat him to death, it's better to be beaten to death by someone from the casino. We've saved money."
Qian choked for a moment, and said: "You child, your mouth is just like your father's, and you are not forgiving at all."
"Hey, is my dad so smart?"
Qian didn't answer her question, but said: "You have to fight. If you don't fight, you won't have a long memory. If you commit another crime in the future, how much money can you give him?"
"Fourth brother remembers whether to eat or not to beat. It's useless if he is disabled, unless his leg is broken and he can't walk."
"That won't work, we have to raise him in the future." Qian was also afraid that the old Zhou would beat his son, sighed, and shouted out of the window: "Okay, we have to pay for medical expenses if he is disabled. There's not a penny left."
The crackling sound outside slowly disappeared, old man Zhou glared at his son resentfully, kicked him and asked the boss and second child to drag him back into the room.
Man Bao said to her mother in the house: "Mom, I have a good idea, which can punish him without costing the family money."
"What idea?"
"Let the fourth brother go to open up wasteland, and then let him plant things on the wasteland, and use the money he earns to repay his family and brothers and sisters-in-law. He owes his family and brothers and sisters-in-law fifteen taels of silver."
Qian was very puzzled, "Open up wasteland? Why do you want to open up wasteland?"
Man Bao said: "Didn't the elder brother of the village say that the yamen let us open up wasteland, and the land opened up is ours, and no tax was collected for the first three years."