At noon that day, Meng Changqing came back from the fields and passed by the room where Qi Renli worked. Seeing the door that had not been opened for a long time, she turned sideways and asked Bafang, "How long has Mr. Qi been out?"
"It's been a few days." Bafang was so busy following Meng Changqing every day that he had no time to pay attention to Qi Renli.
"I don't know where he went. Did he find out about silkworm raising?" Meng Changqing was worried about his safety. If he didn't get the letter tomorrow, she would send someone to look for him. It was rare for someone she recruited to be like this. Be passionate and nothing will happen to you.
Qi Renli covered his hands with his hands and sneezed.
Qi Xiang hurried forward, "Master, are you catching a cold?"
Qi Renli waved his hand and asked the shopkeeper who was leading the way: "Is this Hongfu Village?"
"Yes." The shopkeeper pointed to the house at the back and introduced: "This is my father-in-law's house. He probably went out for something." He said this, but he was also muttering in his heart. It's not the time to go up the mountain. Why is there no one in the house? No.
The shopkeeper looked around and assigned a clerk, "Go to someone else's house and ask..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw the door opened next to him, and the shopkeeper hurried over to ask.
"The old couple went to you, why did you come back to look for him?" The neighbor was worried for the family, "Your father-in-law just left not long ago, and you didn't see him on the way here? You must have missed him! Go find him quickly. Find.”
The shopkeeper became anxious when he heard this. Well, why would two old people go to him?
At the moment, he didn't bother to ask in detail, and asked the waiter to look for them quickly, "Look on the path, they must not have taken the same path just now."
"Alas!"
After the waiter left, the shopkeeper asked his neighbor, "What happened at home?"
The neighbor sighed, "It's not that something happened to Mr. Xu's family. Everyone in the village envies his family. If I have a useful son-in-law like you, I can have a place to seek refuge."
The shopkeeper knew as soon as he heard this, "Has the Hong family raised the rent again this year?"
"Alas." The neighbor leaned against the door frame, "The money has increased by another two hundred cents, how can we raise these silkworms? All the money has been taken away by the Hong family all year round. Our efforts are not in vain, and we have to pay to go in. This is called What's going on?
I really don’t want to raise it anymore. ”
Qi Renli was originally standing far away, and when he heard what they said was related to sericulture, he walked over and said, "Old man, the rent of something has increased?"
"What is this?" The neighbor was curious about Qi Renli's identity.
"This is a distinguished guest from Beishan Town." The shopkeeper did not introduce much, only named the character "noble" to show that he could not afford to offend.
"The price of mountain land has increased." The shopkeeper explained to Qi Renli, "We raise silkworms here in the mountains, but the mountains around the village belong to the Hong family. If you want to use them, you have to pay rent. In recent years, the rent With the price rising every year, many people can no longer afford it.”
Qi Renli asked: "In this case, can't we raise it at home?"
"What?" The neighbor smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "I've never heard of it. Generations here have been raising silkworms in the mountains. You said no one really does this at home."
The shopkeeper was afraid that the neighbor's unpleasant remarks would anger Qi Renli, so he immediately blocked the neighbor.
Qi Ren immediately thought about it, thinking of what Master Meng was doing now, he might try it. While following the old methods, he also tried new methods.
The shopkeeper kept looking towards the intersection, wondering if the waiter had found his father-in-law and his family. "Old man." Qi Renli bypassed the shopkeeper and walked to the neighbor. He lowered his head and asked curiously, "You said just now that many families can't afford the rent. If that's the case, why do they still raise silkworms? But silkworm cocoons are easy to sell. ?”
"Is it easy to sell silkworm cocoons?" The neighbor seemed not to understand this sentence. "After raising silkworms for so many years, I really don't know whether silkworm cocoons are easy to sell."
The shopkeeper had to explain again, "The silkworms raised in the village are collected by the Hong family at a fixed price. They cannot be sold privately to other places without bypassing the Hong family."
"It's because we don't want to sell!" The neighbor suddenly became angry, "It's not like the Hong family is bullying others."
"What's going on here?" Qi Renli asked.
The shopkeeper said to himself, "Okay!" Finally got to the point! He wrinkled his face and said: "I was thinking that people who raise silkworms in this village must abide by the rules set by the Hong family. After all, everyone is raising silkworms for the Hong family. The cocoons they raise must be handed over to them and cannot be used privately. For trading, if someone in the family wants to weave, they have to spend money to buy cocoons or silk threads from their family. The woven silk cannot be bought or sold privately, and they still have to wait for the money from the Hong family to collect it.
As for how much money the Hong family is willing to give, it all depends on their mood. ”
Qi Renli was shocked, "How can this be true? What benefit did the villagers get from them? Why should they obey them like this?"
The neighbor pushed the shopkeeper away, "What's the benefit! We have to obey them! Do we have to listen? Can we beat them? Or can we run away from this place? In the dark sky and dark bottom, we are told to fight evil spirits with our bare hands. , how can we fight!”
The person in front of him was agitated. Qi Xiang was afraid that he would do something drastic, so he quickly stepped forward to protect Qi Renli.
The shopkeeper also kept holding on to his neighbor, "Don't get excited, don't get excited, this adult doesn't know, please speak slowly."
"Sir? What master?" The neighbor wanted to wave the shopkeeper away regardless, "Who is it that comes to curry favor with the Hong family? How come you have a relationship with such a person?"
"Misunderstanding."
Just as the shopkeeper was about to explain, the waiter came back with his father-in-law and his family.
As expected, the old couple walked from the path. Now they were helped back by the waiter. They looked at the son-in-law in front of them and said curiously: "They are really a family. I just wanted to go to your house and you came."
"Mom and dad, if you want to go to town, please ask someone to bring you a message and ask me to come back to pick you up. At your age..."
The father-in-law waved his hand, "Don't be verbose." After speaking, he pointed at Qi Renli and his group, "Who is that?"
The shopkeeper asked his father-in-law to open the lock first, invited everyone to the house, and introduced Qi Renli's identity and purpose.
The excited neighbor who was shouting outside just now knelt down in front of Qi Renli after hearing this, "Master Guan, I didn't know you were an official from somewhere else. I offended you.
But you came to us to make money for the people in the county. You must be a good official.
Please help us, help us get rid of the Hong family. ”
How does Qi Renli have this right? But after hearing what this man said, he couldn't ignore it. He wished Master Meng was right next to him. He really wanted to ask Master Meng what he would do if he encountered such a thing.
However, although Mr. Meng is not around, he can take the people here to Beishan County. Anyway, he lacks people who can raise silkworms. (End of chapter)