The north wind was howling outside the house, and the cold wind that leaked in through the crack in the door caused the flames of the torches to sway. Xu Jin and Xie Xiaowan sat around a low table to have dinner under the dim firelight. A pile of red-hot coals was placed next to them to disperse them slightly.

Got cold.

Xie Xiaowan's face was still flushed, and she quickly served Xu Jin a bowl of thick gruel, while she only served a bowl of thin rice soup.

Without saying a word, Xu Jin poured both bowls of porridge back into the pot, stirred it evenly with a spoon, filled the two bowls of porridge again, tapped the little girl's forehead lightly, and lectured: "How many times have I told you, don't do this again?"

special!"

Xie Xiaowan stuck out his tongue and said: "My husband studies hard, you should eat more!"

"Xiaowan has to do housework, and it's even harder to take care of her husband. Eat quickly!" Xu Jin said with a smile.

While Xie Xiaowan was drinking porridge, she peeked at Xu Jin from time to time, feeling warm in her heart. When she first married into the family, facing a poor family and a bedridden husband, she felt that her life was miserable.

Life is also gray.

However, at this time, Xie Xiaowan felt that she was very happy and lucky to have met such an approachable husband who loved his wife. This was a blessing that many women could not get even by burning incense and worshiping Buddha.

Xie Xiaowan is immersed in her own little happiness, while Xu Jin is thinking about how to get out of the current predicament.

Although Xu Youguang spread three buckets of rice for his family today, and if he eats sparingly, he should be able to survive the cold winter, but after winter ends and spring begins, the harvest will not be available until June.

It's only mid-November now, and there are still six or seven months until the summer harvest. You can't always rely on others for help. Besides, with my current physical condition, I can't stand eating porridge every day if I don't supplement my nutrition. Besides, the weather

It's getting colder and colder, so Xiaowan needs to buy some thick clothes.

Also, according to the usual practice, the county examination will be held in February next year, the government examination will be held in April, and the college examination will be held in August. I must participate in it, and I must pass them all to gain the title of scholar, otherwise I will have to take the examination after the autumn harvest.

If you work as a corvee to dredge the river, your life will be in danger if you fail to do so.

Money is needed to take exams, pen, ink, paper and inkstones, food, clothing, housing and transportation, all of which require money!

Therefore, the top priority is to make money. Xu Jin Shanghai has been fighting for decades, and what he is best at is making money. However, in this remote mountain village, even if he can change the situation, he can't do it with nothing.

"Xiaowan, do you know how much one acre of paddy fields costs now?" Xu Jin suddenly asked.

Xie Xiaowan replied: "The upper fields near Poyang Lake can be sold for fifteen taels of silver, the middle fields for about ten taels, and the lower fields for five or six taels. We don't know here, so the price is probably lower."

"It's just that little!" Xu Jin couldn't help but frowned. Even if it was counted as ten taels per mu, he would only get sixty taels of silver from selling his six acres of paddy field.

Xie Xiaowan said in surprise: "Fifteen taels per acre is still a small amount? It is enough for a farmer to spend three or four years."

Xu Jin couldn't help being surprised. He really wasn't very clear about the purchasing power of one tael of silver in the Ming Dynasty. In this way, sixty taels of silver was really a lot.

During the Zhengde period, which happened to be in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy one stone of rice. Of course, the price of rice varied in different places, but generally one tael of silver was exchanged for one stone of rice.

The annual expenditure of an ordinary peasant family is about three to four taels of silver. The premise is that the food is grown by oneself. Therefore, fifteen taels of silver is enough for such a family to spend four to five years. If it saves more, it can even cost five to six years.

.

"Why did my husband ask this? Could it be that... my husband wants to sell our family's land?" Xie Xiaowan asked in surprise.

Xu Jin nodded and said, "We have such a plan!"

Xie Xiaowan's face suddenly turned pale, and she said with a smile: "Mr. Sir, why do you have the idea of ​​selling your land!"

Xu Jin was a little stunned. It was just selling land, so there was no need to react so loudly. He explained: "Xiao Wan, you also know the situation at home. The food given by the second brother can at most last until the beginning of spring. There are still several months before the summer harvest. No.

Where will the money come from selling the land to buy food?

What's more, taking the county exam next year will cost money. So I plan to sell the land and move to the county. With the capital, I can make money by doing any small business."

Xie Xiaowan was so anxious that tears flowed out, and she said in a trembling voice: "Mr. sir, our land cannot be sold. As long as we have land, we will still have roots. If we work harder, we will not starve. It is better than those helpless people wandering in a foreign land."

The roots of duckweed must be strong. Besides, my husband is a scholar, so how can he do those lowly business transactions?"

Although Xu Jin was speechless, when he saw Xie Xiaowan's miserable look with tears streaming down his face, he immediately panicked and felt a little distressed. He quickly stood up and coaxed: "Xiaowan, don't cry, alas... I'll sell the land now.

You can still buy it back, and when your husband becomes a high official in high school, you can afford to buy as much land as you want. Don’t you have confidence in your husband taking the imperial examination?"

Xie Xiaowan shed some tears after hearing this, sniffed and said: "Xiaowan naturally has confidence in Mr. Xie, but can we not sell the land and first ask the relatives to raise some money to pay for it? After the New Year, we will take over the paddy fields.

Come back and farm, and once we have food, our family will not be in such a tight situation, and Xiaowan can also make money by fishing, so the money we borrow can be paid back slowly."

Xu Jin quickly shook his head and said: "No, how can I trust you, a little girl, to go fishing on the river? It's so dangerous, what if there's an accident?"

"Ms. sir, I have good water skills. What accident could happen? Besides, I'm not a little girl!" Xie Xiaowan said aggrievedly, but her mood calmed down.

"As the saying goes, don't bully the mountain but the water. No matter how good your skills are, you are still afraid of the kitchen knife. No matter how good you are at water, there will be accidents. In short, you will not be allowed to go fishing in the future, otherwise... you will be taken care of by your family!" Xu Jin deliberately kept a calm face.

scolded.

Xie Xiaowan was immediately frightened, her face turned pale, she lowered her head and said aggrievedly: "I know!"

Xu Jin's expression softened, he gently wiped the tears on the little girl's face with his sleeve, and said warmly: "Eat porridge, it's getting cold!"

Xie Xiaowan lowered her head and tilted her neck slightly without moving. Xu Jin was both angry and funny. This little girl was soft on the outside but strong on the inside. She obviously didn't agree with the sale of land in her heart, but she didn't dare to challenge the authority of the head of her family, so she expressed it in this way.

protest.

"Little girl, are you angry?" Xu Jin asked with a smile.

"How can Xiaowan dare to be angry with my husband? It's just that the land in our family was passed down from our ancestors. If we sell it, how will Xiaowan be able to meet the ancestors of the Xu family in the future!" Xie Xiaowan said with tears coming out again.

Xu Jin couldn't help but feel a headache, and said helplessly: "Okay, the fields are not for sale, and you don't cry. The worst is that there will be no county examination next year!"

As soon as these words came out, the little girl's tears fell like broken pearls. Only then did Xu Jin realize that his tone had gone too far. After hugging and coaxing for a while, Xie Xiaowan stopped her tears and raised her head to cry.

With a broken face, she sobbed: "My husband wants to sell the land, just sell it, the husband is the wife's guide, how can Xiaowan, a womanly family, stop him? Why would my husband hurt others by saying harsh words about not taking the imperial examination?"

Xu Jin regretted for a while and said quickly: "My husband is wrong. My husband should not have hurt Xiaowan's heart with his indiscriminate words. My husband has apologized to you. Don't cry. Your crying will make my husband feel uncomfortable too!"

Xie Xiaowan was hugged tightly by Xu Jin. She was shy and sweet. She could see that her husband really cared about her. Who could let down his body and apologize to his wife like this? At this moment, let alone selling land, Xie Xiaowan felt that

Even if my husband asks me to die, I will not look back.

For Xie Xiaowan to have such an idea, it would be unbelievable and fake in modern times, but in a patriarchal feudal society, this is not surprising at all.

Xu Jin has a modern soul, and his worldview and values ​​are completely different from those of the men here. In his view, men and women are equal, and he doesn't think there is anything wrong with a man groveling down to a woman or even apologizing to a woman, so he doesn't realize it at all.

An apology from myself would move Xie Xiaowan so much.

Xie Xiaowan clung to Xu Jin's arms for a while, then suddenly raised her head and muttered: "Mr. sir, it's better to sell our land!"

Xu Jin had already given up the idea of ​​selling the land and was going to think of other ways. Hearing this, he couldn't help but be happy, but he immediately shook his head and said: "No, no, no!"

Xie Xiaowan bit her lips and said a little shyly: "Xiaowan just thought about it, my husband is right, you can buy it back after selling the land. Now our family's situation really needs money. With money, my husband can live with peace of mind."

Study and try to become a scholar next year!"

Xu Jin said happily: "Do you really think so?"

Xie Xiaowan nodded and hummed. Xu Jin kissed the former uncomfortably on his forehead and said solemnly: "Don't worry, madam, my husband will not disappoint you. He will come back as a scholar next year."

Xie Xiaowan's heart couldn't help but tremble, and she shyly buried her face in Xu Jin's arms. It was said that this was the first time that her husband called her "wife".

Xu Jin's mood is a little complicated. Now he is increasingly taking on the role of the original owner of the body. Perhaps it is caused by the continuous integration of the nerd's memories, or perhaps he is moved by this kind-hearted little girl in his arms who is loved and pitied.

Unknowingly they accepted each other's identities.

At this moment, Xu Jin couldn't tell whether he was a nerd or an old man from modern times.

"Whatever, just be free and do whatever you want. Just live in the present. Since you are lucky enough to travel through this life once, why waste your time?" Xu Jin put aside his chaotic thoughts and hugged the little man in his arms tighter.

Xie Xiaowan felt Xu Jin's strong embrace, and felt shy and happy in her heart. This man was her husband, the person she was closest to in her life. Infinite tenderness filled the girl's heart, and she couldn't help but hug Xu Jin's waist tightly.

The howling north wind blew through the dilapidated mud house, the dim firelight on the wall was emitting black smoke, and there was a swaying figure on the ground.
Chapter completed!