The temperature dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius every day, and the vegetables outside could not grow well or survive. In the first two years, the village did not prepare vegetables for the winter, which made everyone suffer. Every day, they had sweet potatoes and cornmeal, and occasionally some chives and garlic sprouts were considered to improve their food. Therefore, after a winter, most people in the village suffered from oral ulcers, swollen and bleeding gums, and constipation.

Adults can still endure the horrible weather, but it is too much for the little kids. At home, the two children couldn't poop and rolled around in stomachache. Then Yang Dachuan finally managed to grow greenhouse vegetables, which should be said to be a copycat version of greenhouse vegetables.

The greenhouse vegetables are still planted on shelves inside the house, but the house is wrapped with two or three layers of oilcloth, and several charcoal basins are lit every day. Even with such careful care, the temperature in the house is only maintained at a few degrees, and the leafy vegetables do not grow very well, but it finally solves the problem of eating vegetables in winter.

But this greenhouse is not like growing vegetables on a shelf, which can be set up in any corner. The houses are so crowded that there is no space at all, or even if there is space, oilcloth cannot be found. Oilcloth is hard to find anywhere to buy nowadays, and charcoal basins need to be lit every day, which is too expensive. Few people in the village are willing to invest in this.

But we cannot live without vegetables in winter, so we can only free up the fields outside to plant radishes and cabbages that can be stored all winter. But if we plant too many of these, we will have to plant less rice and other grains in the fields. In addition, the good time for growing crops is much shorter, so everyone can barely eat white rice and coarse grains to fill their stomachs.

"Dear Dachuan, do you have any extra lettuces? Give me two!" Although it was just the beginning of winter, the crops in the fields were no longer growing. The new daughter-in-law at home was pregnant and was feeling hungry, so Aunt Yang thought of going to Dachuan's house to get some fresh food to whet her appetite.

"Okay, wait a moment, auntie. I'll get you two." Everyone in the village knew that their family grew vegetables. In the winter, some families were really greedy and liked to try some green leafy vegetables from their family to change their taste.

But growing vegetables in winter is not an easy job, and some families are shameless. They always try to take advantage of their relatives and elders by relying on them. After being cheated twice and being humiliated, they don't want to indulge them anymore and directly set a price for the fresh vegetables. No matter who comes, they will definitely not give them the money if they don't bring food.

"Take a look at this pound of rice." Aunt Yang took the lettuce and handed over the rice. Tsk tsk, look at this beautiful green-tiled house, and couldn't help but say sourly, "Your family is really blessed. Now people send rice to you even when you're sitting at home!"

It's really different fate for the same person. She is also a daughter-in-law of the Yang family, but no one comes to deliver rice to her door in the middle of winter. Moreover, it was a good time to pick tea seeds and press oil some time ago, so their family had income every day. Now everyone in the village says that their family can live a good life just by sitting at home and not working.

"Alas, Auntie only sees how prosperous our family is, but not the expenses. We have to light several charcoal basins to grow the greenhouse vegetables every day. In this cold winter, our Dachuan has to go out to collect firewood today." Yu Ge'er also knows that the villagers are jealous of their good life. Now he talks about his family's difficulties to everyone he meets. "The oil press is also very tiring. We have to work hard every day."

Yu Ge'er then sighed, "Besides, it will only be open for a few days. I heard that the government officials have come to the town, and the trading teams from the south and north will also come together. Our family has signed a contract with them, so we won't be able to do the oil pressing work anymore."

"Well, that's true! Nowadays, everyone has a hard time, so it's better to dig for food from the land." Aunt Yang felt better after hearing this, "Okay, then I'll go back first, you guys go ahead and get busy."

"Dachuan hasn't come back yet?" Grandma Shen saw Aunt Yang leaving, came out to take a look, and muttered, "It's so cold now, and you didn't stop him. What if he encounters a wolf on the mountain?"

"It's okay. He didn't go into the mountain alone." Although Yuger said it firmly, he was also worried in his heart.

In the past two years, there was always not enough firewood at home, and they used what they had here and there. Now that winter has just arrived and the weather is not too cold, Dachuan thought about going up the mountain to get more firewood.

Alas! It was also the fault of this greenhouse. Not only was it an eyesore, it also consumed a lot of firewood. Moreover, he had to get up at night to take care of it and not let the fire go out. If Dachuan hadn't insisted on doing it, he would rather eat radishes and cabbages for a winter than plant anything.

Grandma Shen looked puzzled and couldn't help asking, "Aren't the others going up the mountain to pick tea seeds? How can Dachuan be with them to collect firewood?"

The weather is cold, but there are still many camellia seeds on the trees. I heard that people from the south and north are going to reopen the camellia oil business this year. Who wouldn't want to make some money during the winter break? Even their family went up the mountain for several days to do it.

"Dachuan said it's not far away!" Yuger was feeling bitter, but he couldn't show it on his face. If he made his grandma anxious, it would be suffering in vain. Yuger blamed himself for being too soft-hearted and unable to tolerate Dachuan's nice words, and decided in his heart that he should not let the head of the family go up the mountain next time. It would be best if there was no next time.

"Just know it yourself." Grandma Shen saw that Yu Ge'er was worried, so she didn't say anything more. She turned around and worried about other things at home. "Where did we put the beans we exchanged in the town last time? Let's make some tofu while it's not too cold these two days and we can move around!"

"Under the stairs!" Yu Ge'er answered absentmindedly, fiddling with his work. Suddenly, he remembered and said, "Grandma, leave some tofu pudding for Dachuan. I don't know when he will be back."

"Where are the two children? We haven't come back yet." Grandma Shen scooped out the beans and poured them into the bucket. "Last time I went to the town to inquire, I found out that the Jiang Family School will start accepting students in the spring of next year. What exactly is the rules of our family? How did you and Dachuan come up with this?"

"The town is in a mess now, but I dare not send the child to the Jiang family. Dachuan said it won't be a problem if the child goes to school two years later." Yuger put down the needle and sighed. This matter was really speechless. At the beginning of this month, people from the government came to Qiuli Town. A few days ago, they also sent people to various villages, saying that they wanted to collect this year's grain tax and make up for the unpaid taxes in previous years.

Isn't this a mess? In the past few years, many people have been killed in each village, and there are also many people coming from outside. We can't even figure out the household registration and land, but they say they want to collect taxes.

They have suffered from the disaster in the past few years and have never seen the government intervene, and not many government officials have come. But some people are dissatisfied. The fierce folks in the village even closed the wall and beat the government officials out. Some of the more arrogant ones even brought people directly to Qiuli Town to ask for an explanation.

"It's good to be at home!" Grandma Shen poured hot water into the wooden barrel. It's so cold in this weather, so it's faster to use hot water. "What's going on in the village now? Should we pay taxes or not?" He had a lot of chores to do at home these days, so he didn't go out to inquire, and he didn't know what was going on in the village.

"Just drag it out! No one wants to pay, but no one says they won't." Yu Ge'er picked out the bad beans floating on the water. There are several villages around here, and I guess everyone has the same idea. No one wants to take the lead, but they don't want to offend anyone either.