In the year of disaster in the book, the villain girl is the real winner

"Little sister, I'll take the bus back first."

He Huaiping's voice came from behind.

He Qiudi quickly turned around and climbed onto the mule cart: "I'll go back with you."

Lan County is not far from Shiliu Village, and the Xu family probably only arrived not long ago.

Coming to the He family at this critical moment must be bad news.

You know, the last time someone from the Xu family came was many years ago when Xu Yushi had a miscarriage. Xiao Meng came to Shiliu Village to scold Old Lady He, saying that Old Lady He was too harsh on Xu Yushi, causing her to overwork herself and causing her to miscarry the male fetus in her belly.

After Xu's miscarriage, Mrs. He was too embarrassed to face people for a long time.

This time, Xu is pregnant and it is a turbulent time. I am afraid that the Xu family’s people coming to visit again have no good intentions.

The mule cart arrived at the He family.

Jin Cuihua had sharp ears and soon heard the voice. She ran out in a hurry. When she saw He Huaian, she said quickly, "Huaian, Lan County has already started conscription. The Xu family has only one son, so he didn't have to serve in the army. But the eldest grandson of the Xu family is over ten years old, and the Xu family no longer has only one male. My second sister-in-law's brother will be conscripted. The Xu family wants to spend money to find a replacement, but the Xu family can't afford so much money, so they came to the He family to borrow money. My mother refused to lend it to me, and my second sister-in-law is crying. My second sister-in-law's mother is begging my mother to lend me money."

coming!

Conscription!

Pay someone to replace you?

He Qiudi suddenly thought of something.

In the previous life, it stands to reason that He Huaizhang was an official in the He family. Although he was a minor official, the He family was still exempt from corvee labor and military service.

But He Huaiping still went to build military defenses.

Could it be that he went there on behalf of Xu Yushi’s brother?

Given Xu Yushi's personality, it seems like she could really do such a thing.

However, since the novel is written from He Qingya's perspective, many things are what He Qingya thinks they are. In fact, the facts may not be so.

We will have to wait and see what choice Xu Yushi will make before we can draw any conclusions.

Hearing Jin Cuihua's words, He Huaiping's face looked a little unhappy.

He Huaian asked: "What did mother say?"

"Mother will definitely not lend it to you. She asked for fifty taels right away. It's a full fifty taels. No one's money comes from the wind. The Xu family will definitely borrow this money without paying it back."

He Huaian frowned: "Why is it so expensive?"

He Qiudi also thought it was very expensive.

Going to enlist in the army does not mean conscription.

There is a huge difference between the two.

Regular military service means repairing the military headquarters, helping to transport food and fodder, and doing logistical work. After finishing the work, you can leave.

Once you are conscripted into the military, it is very difficult to leave.

In previous years, it only cost fifty taels to find someone to replace military service.

It shouldn't be so expensive to find someone to replace military service.

Jin Cuihua sighed and said, "The garrison of Licheng is sending reinforcements to various cities in Lizhou, especially Lan County and Ningyuan County. The notice of military service and corvée has been sent to each village. The government will no longer open the way for people to leave Yongning Prefecture. Now everyone is saying that after the autumn harvest, we will have a battle with the Western Rong people. There is no difference between military service and corvée at this time. They are all life-threatening jobs. Fifty taels is the money to buy your life."

He Qiudi thought about it and realized that this was the truth.

Peacetime military service is military service, and military service is military service.

But once the war breaks out, there will not be enough regular soldiers, and these young and strong people who have joined the military will be recruited from their original positions and forced to become cannon fodder soldiers who need to go to the battlefield.

If the Western Rong wanted to go to war, Lizhou could not only rely on the troops dispatched from all over the country, but also had to recruit soldiers and perform military service locally.

The government's actions accelerated the spread of rumors of impending war.

He Huaiping got off the mule cart and walked home with a sullen face.

He Huaian quickly grabbed him and said, "Second brother, listen to mother this time."

Hearing this, He Huaiping's face showed embarrassment, and he nodded with difficulty: "Yeah."

"Father."

He Qingya walked out of the house with red eyes. When she saw He Huaiping, she felt like she saw a savior. She choked up and said, "Dad, grandma is here. She wants to borrow fifty taels from the He family, but grandma won't agree."

He Huai said calmly: "I understand."

He Huaiping and He Huaian walked into the He family side by side.

He Qiudi followed closely behind.

In the main room, Xu sat silently wiping her tears. When she saw He Huaiping, it was like she saw her backbone.

She quickly stood up, came over and grabbed He Huaiping's hand, begging bitterly, "Master, please, save my brother. He has never suffered hardship. If he goes to the army after the autumn harvest, he will be exhausted to death."

He Huaiping looked at her coldly.

"Yu Niang, how do you want me to save him?"

Xu Yushi said: "Just ask mother to lend the Xu family fifty taels of silver."

He Huaiping sighed and said, "You know, even if I don't eat or drink for a whole year, I can only earn a dozen taels of silver at most. I have to work for three years to earn fifty taels."

Xu Yushi lowered her eyes.

"Yes. You can earn more than ten taels of silver for the family every year. If you beg mother, she will agree to lend you the money. I promise that the Xu family will pay it back when they have money."

He Huaiping looked at her disappointedly.

Jin Cuihua was standing nearby and could not help but say, "Today the Xu family came to borrow fifty taels, and tomorrow Uncle Tiantang's family will need one hundred taels, and the Jin family will need two hundred taels. And the villagers in Shiliu Village, who doesn't have military service, will you lend them all? Isn't this going to hollow out the He family? The He family can't save so many people."

Hearing Jin Cuihua interrupt, Xu Yushi looked at her resentfully.

Xu Yushi moved her gaze from Jin Cuihua to He Huaiping's face and stopped entangled with Jin Cuihua.

"Huaiping, you know my brother cannot endure hardship. The Xirong people are coming and it will be a tough battle sooner or later. If my brother is forced to join the battlefield, he will surely die because he can't lift anything with his hands or shoulders. Please save him!"

As soon as Xu Yushi finished speaking, Xiao Meng knelt down in front of Old Lady He.

In front of so many people, Xiao Meng begged bitterly: "Sister, I only have this one son. Please save your nephew for the sake of our being each other's only remaining blood relatives. In the next life, I will work like a cow or a horse to repay you."

If it were in the past, Xiao Meng would not kneel down to Old Lady He.

But now the situation is pressing, and the only family that can help the Xu family is the He family.

Old Lady He stepped aside and said coldly, "Don't kneel before me. After my brother passed away, I no longer have any brothers or sisters in this world. Your mother is not worthy of being a member of my Meng family, and neither are you."

Mrs. Meng argued, "Sister, my brother was seriously ill and could not be cured. Even if I did not take the money for the medicine, he would have left us. I... I went to buy meat just to make him a delicious meal, so that he could go on the journey with a full stomach instead of starving to death. You can't vent your anger on me for this."

As she spoke, little Meng burst into tears and was in great pain.

"Big sister, I love my younger brother as much as you do. I know that only if my younger brother is alive, we sisters will not be bullied. How could I want to harm him or want him to die?"

Old Lady He snorted coldly, "Do you really think I'm old and confused? It's been thirty years since the incident happened, and I can forget the original situation. Can you confuse right and wrong? Can you write history books about the years? The money for my brother's treatment was earned by working for others. I didn't give it to you. You stole it."

"I looked for you for a long time but couldn't find you. My brother was suffering in the thatched hut for a long time, but you didn't come back. You ate and drank your fill, took the leftover chicken legs and packed them back, and said that you stole my money to satisfy my wish? Do you really think I'm stupid?"