"Brother Yun Shang, why don't you go back?" Feng Yun Shang, who was still working in the fields, heard the voice, raised his head and said with a smile, "Brothers, go ahead, I'll go back after I finish this."

Shouting slogans, several farming men walked together towards Village Thirteen, carrying hoes on their shoulders and joking with each other.

Fengyun Shang wiped his sweat. Although his cultivation level was banned, his physical strength was undoubtedly much higher than that of ordinary banker men. After a day of farming, although he sweated a lot, he never felt tired.

Sweat dripped on the ground, a small crown fell out, and he plowed on the mountain, buried among the fields. Fengyun Shang was particularly fulfilled.

"Go home." Fengyun Shang called out, picked up the hoe and walked towards home.

"Well, it's comfortable." After eating, he sat on a chair and put his feet in the hot water. Feng Yun Shang groaned and slumped down on the chair.

"The aunt next door came to see me today and said that she wanted to collect temple fees and tuition fees." Jiang Ruxue sat cross-legged on the bed, holding her head in her hand and said.

"Huh?" Fengyun Shang was stunned for a moment and asked, "What is that? How much does it cost?"

"According to custom, every year the village goes to the temple to offer sacrifices and perform social fire performances. Each household has to pay one hundred Shenting coins. This is the temple fee."

"Most families in the village cannot afford to light kerosene lamps, so they can only use the kerosene lamps in Xiangxu." Jiang Ruxue told Fengyun Shang exactly what she heard from the aunt next door in the afternoon, "But these kerosene lamps can also

It’s not free, every household has to pay fifty Shenting coins.”

Feng Yun Shang thought for a moment and realized that he only paid one hundred and fifty Divine Court coins in total, which was not very expensive. However, he still had to make sure that he could not pay the money in vain.

If you can defraud 150 Shenting coins this time, you will dare to defraud 1,500 Shenting coins next time. You must be on guard against the slightest mistake.

"Go to sleep first, I'll go find out tomorrow." Fengyun Shang dried his feet, poured out the foot washing water, slipped onto the kang and got into Jiang Ruxue's quilt, lingering there with a playful smile on his face.

After a night of silence, Feng Yun Shang stood up against the wall early the next morning. After breakfast, he sent Long to the fields to finish the unfinished work yesterday and go do a small job by himself.

The laborer was not in Thirteen Villages, but in the next village. Fengyun Shang went to do manual labor and could earn one hundred and fifty Shenting coins a day.

"Haha, I finished my work today, which is enough for Yun Shang to pay the temple fees and tuition fees." A man said with a smile as the donkey cart made a "creeping" sound as it headed towards the neighboring village.

Fengyun Shang took this opportunity to inquire, and then he realized that each household actually had to pay a total of 300 Shenting coins a year, but because he was new here, he was exempted from half of it.

After inquiring, Fengyun Shang learned that social fire is not only for worshiping ancestors and seeking good omens, but also one of the few recreational activities for villagers throughout the year.

As for tuition fees, in addition to buying kerosene, the remaining money will be given to students who graduate from Xiangxu and go to primary school or even university in the city. It can also be regarded as a subsidy to them from the village.

The sum of the two amounts of money was not too much, so everyone in the village was willing to pay such a sum of money. After Feng Yun Shang inquired about it, he was sure that he was not deceiving him, so he naturally donated the money happily.

After the day's work, Feng Yun Shang returned home, took out a plate of Shenting coins from under the kang blanket, took out three fifty face value coins and gave them to Jiang Ruxue, saying: "Go and hand over the money."

Jiang Ruxue took the money and went out. Feng Yun Shang hesitated, asked Feng Yun and Long to look after the house, and then left.

Listening to the rustling sounds in the preface, Fengyun Shang took a peek and saw several children using their fingers as pens to write and draw on the paper according to the fonts in the textbook.

Through the dim kerosene lamp, Fengyun Shang saw that the child's little face was full of seriousness, and a thin layer of calluses had even been worn out on his fingers.

Paper is relatively cheap, but these young children rarely actually write on paper if they don't have to, saving paper and pens.

"I am in the corner of a well, with stars in my eyes. There is poetry in my heart, and I feel at home in the distance." Feng Yun Shang murmured to himself, and returned home with a smile.

Thirteenth Village is really a lovely place.

The temple fair is held very quickly, and there is a team that specializes in making a living by relying on social fire. All you need to do is invite them. If anyone in the village wants to perform something, they can definitely join in.

I went to the temple to worship early in the morning. It took about half an hour to go through all the procedures, and then there was a performance in front of the temple.

Shehuo in Thirteen Villages doesn’t have many requirements. You can watch it if you want to, and you don’t have to force it if you don’t want to.

Fengyun Shang and Luo Jing had been watching the social fire in front of the temple except for going back for a meal on the way.

Shehuo's performance can't be called exciting or gorgeous, it can only be called ordinary. However, Fengyun Shang was very happy to watch it, maybe because the people around him were very happy.

The social fire continued from morning to afternoon, and they dispersed just before dinner time, and everyone went home.

Li Zheng directed a few strong young men to set up dozens of tables in front of the temple gate. After a while, various families came with food and placed it on the tables.

Tonight, a banquet for hundreds of households will be held in front of the temple. There is no scruple. Everyone, regardless of gender, old or young, can serve at the table. People who performed social fire during the day are also invited to the table.

After eating and drinking, the men in the village gathered around the campfire, telling dirty jokes and drinking wine.

The commotion lasted all night, and they dispersed late at night, leaving the women behind to clean up the mess.

When the men return home, they just take a nap for a while, then wake up when it gets light and go to the fields with their farm tools. Women, on the other hand, wake up later than the men. It is best to have lunch delivered to the field ridge.

The sweet potatoes planted by Fengyun Shang gradually matured. He dug them out of the soil, took part of them to pay the tax, and then took them to the city to sell them for money.

The money sold was divided into two parts, the larger part was used to repay the government loan, and the remaining loan was reserved for the next harvest to be repaid.

The smaller part is naturally reserved for daily expenses. I bought a few kilograms of ribs on the way so that I can cook a delicious meal for Jiang Ruxue when I get back.

In a few days, Fengyun Shang and Long were going to do hard labor, leaving Jiang Ruxue and Fenghuang at home. Fengyun Shang had to buy rice and noodles in advance, and visited his neighbors to ask them to help take care of Jiang Ruxue.

The labor in Shenting is quite humane, and you can choose to do it when you are free. It happened that the sweet potatoes had just been harvested, and it would have to wait for a while before they could be planted again. Fengyun Shang planned to do labor in the meantime.

After returning, the land will be almost cultivated and ready for sowing again.
Chapter completed!