certificate
Jiang Laosan and his wife thought for a long time, and finally, from some corner of their memory, they remembered the piece of paper on which the patriarch had asked them to put their fingerprints.
"Where did you put that piece of paper?" Jiang Lao San pushed his wife and asked in a low voice, "It's the one you brought back with the money."
Jiang Laosan's wife frowned and thought for a long time, then suddenly slapped her thigh and said, "The paper is under the wooden box!" She handed the child in her hands to Jiang Laosan's arms, then hurried into the inner room.
Jiang Miao's heart sank, it seemed that there must be that thing.
After a while, Jiang Laosan's wife came out with a piece of paper: "Boss, take a look, is this the one?" Jiang Laosan unfolded it and saw two dark red thumbprints on it. It was the paper! Jiang Miao stared at the paper. Most of the characters were in traditional Chinese. He guessed and understood that it was indeed the witness document written by the patriarch for the two families.
"Sanshui boy, what do you say? We have evidence that Youcai was adopted by us. Even if we bring it to the lobby, I believe that the Lord of Heaven will recognize it, right?" Now it was his turn to be proud.
Jiang Miao rolled his eyes and said, "Of course I admit it, but once you show it, it will prove your guilt."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Jiang Laosan's wife became more and more confused by what he said. Why couldn't she just take out this
"You signed the adoption documents in the clan, but you didn't register your household registration with the government, and you didn't pay the annual head tax. This is clearly an underreporting of population and an attempt to evade taxes! Not only will all your property be confiscated, but you and your wife will also be exiled to the army!"
Jiang Miao still remembers the big tax evasion cases that happened in modern times, with amounts of hundreds of millions. At that time, the people of the whole country focused on these things, and he was no exception. He thought that such a large amount of money was enough to put them in jail, but then he found out that they only needed to pay back taxes and fines. Everyone was naturally a little emotional about such an ending. So on a certain audio, someone brought out the punishment for tax evasion in ancient times, saying that only in this way could those people be punished. He didn't know how the punishment for tax evasion would be here, but in ancient times it was generally more severe, so it should not be much different.
Jiang Laosan and his wife were illiterate. Perhaps it could be said that there were not many people in the whole village who knew the law. Although they half believed and half doubted Jiang Miao's statement, their momentum was not as strong as before, and they occasionally showed a trace of fear in their eyes. In their opinion, Sanshui boy was useless. He could not lie since he was a child and did not dare to argue with others. He could be so confident now, he must have found out something in the past six months.
Seeing that he had frightened them, Jiang Miao knew that the time had come, so he said, "Uncle Jiang, we are relatives after all, and you have raised Xiao Shitou, and I don't want to take this to court. How about this, you let me take Xiao Shitou away, and I will pay you the expenses you have spent on raising the child over the years, and then we will be even, how about that?"
"Then... then we want twenty taels!" Seeing that his attitude softened, Jiang San's wife tentatively spoke.
Jiang Miao's eyes turned cold, and he walked out without saying a word.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Uncle Jiang hurriedly stopped him and advised: "Nephew Sanshui, take your time to talk! If you think the price is too high, you can bargain."
"According to the attitude of Aunt, I can't afford to pay back. You guys should just sit at home and wait for the government to come and arrest him!" Jiang Miao fixed his eyes on the chubby child in his arms and said, "I wonder if there are still kind people like you who can adopt him after you two are sent to exile, so that he can enjoy a good life like Little Stone."
The couple's faces changed drastically. Jiang San's wife snatched the child away and buried him in her arms, gritting her teeth and saying, "Ten taels, we only want ten taels."
"It's only this much for a daughter or a daughter-in-law. You dare to ask for this? It's okay if you don't mean it. I won't pay a penny, but I can get the little stone back." Jiang Miao looked at them with a smile, and continued to put psychological pressure on them. Bargaining is all about psychological quality. Whoever gives in first loses. This is his experience from doing business for many years.
"Five taels! It can't be any less. He had a serious illness two years ago, and the medicine alone cost one and a half taels!" Jiang San's wife glared at Xiao Shitou fiercely. She had said in the beginning that she didn't want this disaster star, but the head of the family insisted on having him!
Jiang Miao heard the hidden meaning in her words and knew that this was probably her bottom line. In other words, Xiao Shitou had been raised in her home for six years, and the total cost did not exceed five taels, and this included the medical expenses
"Okay, five taels is five taels. Give me the documents and I'll give you the money."
Jiang Miao had a calculation in mind. He started doing business on the third day of the Chinese New Year. Today was the 20th day. In the past 18 days, he only sold at the morning market for the first 15 days. He could save about 100 to 150 coins every day, and saved more than 2 taels in total. The Buddha will be set up for two and a half days, selling from morning to night every day. Business is very good. After deducting various costs, he also made nearly 2 taels. Add it all up, and borrow a little more, it will be enough for 5 taels.
"Give us the money first!" Jiang Laosan's wife refused to give in.
Jiang Miao glanced at her, took out a heavy purse from his bag, and threw it on the dining table with a "bang". Jiang Laosan's wife handed the child to Jiang Laosan, opened the purse and saw that it was full of copper coins, and immediately smiled happily.
She poured out the copper coins and counted them carefully. When she was done, she frowned and said, "Why is there only two taels? There are still three taels left?"
Jiang Miao reached into his chest and took out a handful of loose silver from the hidden pocket in the inner seam of his clothes. This was the money he had exchanged with Manager Wang before coming to the Buddhist Association. He was going to be away for three days, and he was a little worried about leaving so much money in the house. Especially since Uncle Mo's son was a scoundrel, he might sneak into his house when he saw that no one was there. People's hearts are hidden in their stomachs, so he had to be on guard.
"This is only two taels and five cents, and where is the remaining five cents?" Jiang San's wife took out a scale to weigh the change and found that it was still not enough.
"I still owe you five cents. I'll give it to you next time you come back." Jiang Miao said.
"Then I can't give you this document yet!" Jiang San's wife was afraid that he would default on the debt.
Jiang Miao picked up the purse and began to put copper coins and silver in it in silence. Uncle Jiang San saw his action and immediately scolded him: "Woman, your nephew Sanshui has made a fortune outside, how can he still owe you five cents of silver? Hurry up and give him the document!" As he said that, he held down Jiang Miao's hand that was putting copper coins in. If he could save five taels of silver in half a year, wouldn't he be rich
Jiang San's wife handed over the documents reluctantly, and Jiang Miao let go of the bag and put the documents in his arms.
"The remaining five cents will be given to you next month."
"Ha, no hurry, no hurry." Jiang Lao San said, "Then when will you come back next month?"
“… before fifteen!”
After saying this, he walked out holding Little Stone's hand.
Little Stone followed his brother out, and when he reached the gate of the yard, he couldn't help but look back. He didn't know why he looked back, but when he saw that his father and mother were only busy grabbing the silver on the table and didn't even look at him, he couldn't help but redden his eyes. He used to think that no matter how his father and mother treated him, they still remembered him in their hearts, but his brother was their biological child, so his father and mother loved him more. Now it seems that this is not the case.
"Brother, I will work hard in the future." Little Stone, who had been silent all night, suddenly spoke. His brother spent a lot of money to buy him.
"Working is something you will do when you grow up. Now you just need to grow up well." Jiang Miao touched his head gently.
"Now I can sweep the floor, wash dishes, water plants, weed, feed chickens, and collect firewood." Little Stone counted on his fingers, counting his skills, trying to show how capable he is.
"Well... from now on you just need to sweep the floor and wash the dishes, and the other brothers will do it." Jiang Miao thought about it. If he was not allowed to do anything, he would have no sense of belonging. People like to prove themselves through labor.
"Okay!" Little Stone's eyes lit up, and he suddenly felt more hope for the future, but now he didn't understand what this thing was.
"Knock, knock!"
There was a knock on the courtyard door, and everyone who was eating in the house was stunned. Wang Xiaochun looked outside in confusion, wondering who could be coming at this time
"Xiaoyu, go open the door." She ordered someone beside her.
A girl of about seventeen or eighteen put down her bowl and chopsticks, nodded, and walked outside. As soon as the door was opened, she saw two figures, one big and one small, standing outside.
"Ah--" she cried out with joy, then reached out to pull the younger child, motioning them to come in quickly.
Little Stone was a little scared and shrank back, but the girl didn't care. She still looked at them with a pair of smiling eyes and said "ah" twice inside.
Jiang Miao saw that this girl didn't seem to be able to speak. He immediately matched her with the information he had learned from Aunt Zhou. This should be his cousin from his uncle's family, named Jiang Yu.
Because his uncle and his family died very early, Jiang Yu had always lived with his grandparents. Later, when the family split up, his grandmother decided to live with his second uncle and take care of him in the future, so Jiang Miao's father gave up the old house and moved out with his wife and children.
"Sister Xiaoyu." Jiang Miao called out, and at this moment, Wang Xiaochun and the others also came out.
"Miao brother, you're back? Is this... Little Stone?"
Jiang Miao looked at the woman in front of him and called her "Second Aunt".
Wang Xiaochun looked at their expressions and seemed to have guessed something, so he didn't ask any more questions: "You haven't eaten yet? Come in quickly. Xiaoyu, go in and cook some noodles."
Eat dumplings when you go out and eat noodles at home. This is the first time that Jiang Miao has eaten this kind of noodles since his grandparents passed away.
"… That's what happened. I gave them the money, and Xiao Shitou will live with me from now on." After eating the noodles, Jiang Miao briefly told them what happened before.
Wang Xiaochun felt a little complicated. Miao Ge'er had gone out on a gamble, but he didn't expect that after not coming back for half a year, he actually made money and brought Xiao Shitou back.
"Since you have made up your mind, it's up to you. If you really can't make ends meet in the future, send him back. At least you'll have something to eat."
"Yeah. Where's my second uncle? Isn't he home?"
"Your second uncle took Xin Ge'er to a banquet outside today. When your grandmother was alive, she celebrated her birthday and people also came here." Wang Xiaochun said. It is not a good idea to bring too many people to a banquet, as every family has a hard time.
"Second Aunt, I still have a stall over there, so I'm afraid I'll have to leave tomorrow. Could you please find the household registration documents for me to see? I want to take Xiao Shitou with me to register the household registration then." Jiang Miao asked tentatively.
"Have you forgotten? Little Stone's household registration has always been registered with our family." Wang Xiaochun was a little surprised. She had quarreled with his second uncle over this before. "Didn't you go with your second uncle to pay the head tax every year?"
Faced with doubts, Jiang Miao remained calm: "I thought Xiao Shitou had returned and had to register again."
"That family is used to bullying people. How can the adopted child's household registration not be transferred? The head tax is 200 wen a year, and 1 tael and 2 qian of silver were paid for six years! The child raised by the two families together will have to help them with their old age when he grows up!" Wang Xiaochun got angry when she mentioned this. Usually when she saw Jiang Laosan's family, she never talked to them. "But it's better this way, so they don't have to extort money again." Jiang Laosan and his wife were so stingy, how could they spend five taels to raise a child
"Then use the money to buy peace of mind." Jiang Miao advised, "Second Aunt, does Xiao Shitou have a big name? I don't want to use Jiang Youcai, who was taken from his family."
Wang Xiaochun recalled and said, "Yes, your parents asked a fortune teller from another village to give you the name. He said that you lack water in the five elements, so they named you Sanshuimiao. He said that you would have a rough fate in the future and that you should be strong, so they named you three stones..."
"Lei? Jiang Lei?"
"Yes, that's the word Lei! Later, when Xiner was born, your second uncle asked someone to help him choose a word that was similar in style to yours." No one had called him by his real name for many years. Wang Xiaochun only remembered that they said three stones and his nickname was Xiao Shitou, but he forgot what the word was.
Jiang Miao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So that's how the name came about. Could it be that his grandparents also asked someone to tell their fortunes in modern times
(End of this chapter)