Yang Xi turned her head and saw an old man in his fifties walking quickly towards her. He was walking rather hurriedly, and there was a lot of sweat on his forehead.

Zhou Yu stepped forward. “Liu Lizheng, what brings you here so urgently?”

Liu Lizheng had been walking too fast and was a little out of breath. He bent over and straightened up after a while. “You said last time that you were good at math. I remember correctly.”

Zhou Yu had indeed said that. He had lost his academic title and couldn’t retake the exam. To gain people’s trust, he needed to have some real skills, and math was a direct one. “Yes, you remember correctly, sir.”

Seeing that there were quite a few people around, Liu Lizheng cleared his throat. “Let’s talk somewhere less crowded.”

Zhou Yu’s heart stirred slightly. After several encounters with Liu Lizheng, he had figured out the old man’s character. He was the kind of person who wouldn’t do anything without a benefit. “Let’s talk behind the carriage.”

Only then did Liu Lizheng notice Yang Xi standing by the carriage. “Is this your wife?”

Zhou Yu’s eyebrows were gentle. “Yes.”

Liu Lizheng was an old man who was shrewd. The Zhou family was not like other settled people. This family’s demeanor was impossible to hide. Thinking of the information his son had inquired about, Zhou Yu clearly had no academic title, yet the Wu and Ye families addressed him as “Xiānsheng”. Obviously, he had many secrets.

Liu Lizheng smiled broadly, but inwardly, he didn’t care what secrets they held; as long as they didn’t harm his interests or cause him trouble, he wasn’t curious about them.

Once in the carriage, Liu Lizheng lowered his voice. “These past few years have seen heavy rainfall. Our county has good feng shui and hasn’t had any floods, but other counties haven’t been so lucky; they’ve all suffered some damage.”

His face seemed to say, “Your decision to settle in Xiang County was wise.”

Zhou Yu smiled. “We inquired about several counties, and only Xiang County has good feng shui and good people.”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng’s smile deepened even more. “Our Xiànlìng is a capable one. The Xiànlìng said we can’t rely solely on feng shui. You can see for yourself how gloomy the skies are—there’s been quite a lot of rain lately. The Xiànlìng said precautions must be taken, so he has decided to repair the dikes before the spring plowing begins.”

Zhou Yu’s smile faded. Repairing dikes meant corvée labor. The Xiànlìng of Xiang County had allowed people to migrate south, clearly indicating he had planned to repair the dikes long ago; the more people required for corvée labor, the better.

Liǔ Lǐzhèng understood Zhou Yu’s feelings. He was already worried sick about the corvée labor, and then came the bad news: “The Xiànlìng said that this year, corvée labor cannot be paid in cash; each family must provide one able-bodied man for it.”

Zhou Yu asked, “When do we register for corvée labor?”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng replied, “Asking that is useless. I know your brother is taking the imperial examination. There are three stages in the preliminary examination, and after the county examination, there’s the prefectural examination. There’s no time.”

Zhou Yu’s teeth ached a little. “You’re asking me about math; there must be some way, right?”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng took a puff of his pipe, not even holding it up. “There’s a mutually beneficial way.”

Zhou Yu asked. “What way?”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng lowered his voice even further. “Every time there’s yáoyì labor, the county posts notices recruiting people to handle the accounts. In the past, some xiùcái were willing to put in the effort to earn a bit of silver, but unfortunately, passing the xiùcái examination doesn’t mean one is automatically skilled at calculations. Every year, there are many people serving corvée. Guarding the account books all day also delays their studies, so over time, fewer and fewer people were willing to answer the recruitment notices.”

Zhōu Yù understood immediately. Xiùcái were unwilling to answer the recruitment notices, and as for jǔrén, there was no need to even think about it. As for tóngshēng, they wished they could split every moment into eight parts to use their time better. Once someone had passed the tóngshēng stage, who didn’t dream of becoming a xiùcái? Naturally, no one was willing to waste their time on such things.

As for other people who could do accounting, they were basically all managers who had signed contracts.

In ancient times, it was difficult to study, and illiterate people were everywhere. People who could read and do arithmetic were very few. Accounting was taught from master to apprentice, which made the talent scarce.

Liǔ Lǐzhèng liked speaking with smart people. Seeing that Zhōu Yù understood, he continued, “My biǎodì is an official in the county yamen who manages farmland matters. He can speak on your behalf. As long as you haven’t lied to me, then during your yáoyì service, all you’ll need to do is handle the accounts.”

Zhou Yu blinked. “Since you’re helping me so much, is there anything I can do?”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng chuckled, “My youngest son is a good-for-nothing. He’s almost twenty-five and has no skills. I was thinking of having him work for you, not expecting him to learn anything, just to get some guidance.”

Zhou Yu thought that his youngest son was his lifeline, and the lǐzhèng’s favoritism was not hidden at all. “Why did you choose me? There are quite a few talented people hidden in our village.”

He didn’t know much about the villagers who had migrated south, but he knew that those who dared to successfully settle in Ruizhou all had their own plans and more or less had their own means of survival.

Liu Lizheng bluntly stated, “Your family is rich.”

Zhou Yu was speechless.

In Liu Lizheng’s mind, his son naturally needed to be with someone rich to have a bright future. It was that simple and clear. In his eyes, the Zhou family being rich was enough.

Liǔ Lǐzhèng took another puff of his pipe. “What do you think of my suggestion?”

Zhou Yu asked. “When will the corvée labor begin?”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng had the best connections in the yamen. “Registration is in five days.”

Zhou Yu thought that his family had plenty of able-bodied men, and he needed to prove his abilities to establish authority in the village, so it had to be him who performed the corvée labor. “How long will this corvée labor last?”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng said, “At the very least, it’ll take a month. My biǎodì said the Xiànlìng intends to reinforce the dikes properly this time. But there is also good news—this round of corvée comes with wages, which is why people skilled at calculations are even more in demand.”

Zhōu Yù inwardly marveled at how prosperous and wealthy the south was. In most northern regions, people performing yáoyì labored for nothing. His thoughts turned, and he said, “Tomorrow, your youngest son may return to Yáng Town together with my qìdì.”

Liǔ Lǐzhèng narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll arrange it.”

Yang Xi sat in the carriage. Although the people outside were speaking in hushed tones, she still overheard most of it. Corvée labor was the most tiring, and dike repair was extremely dangerous. It was safer to repair roads or something like that.

The news hadn’t spread yet, but once it did, the village would be filled with sorrow; every year, there were deaths and injuries during dike repairs.

Zhou Yu adjusted the cushions for his wife as he got into the carriage. “You heard everything?”

Yang Xi nodded. “Yes, I heard it. Are you really going?”

Zhou Yu replied, “Yes, it’s safe for me to go and settle accounts. It’ll be a good opportunity to show the village my abilities, so no one will be foolish enough to anger you.”

Yang Xi snorted. “My heart is already very strong.”

She had been through too much; she won’t get angry easily because it was not worth it.

Zhou Yu signaled to Li Zheng, who was driving the carriage, to return to the Wu family home. Now that they had the news, they should inform Wu Shan to avoid being caught off guard.

Zhou Yu added, “Teaching the lǐzhèng’s youngest son will also help us integrate into the village; it’s a win-win situation.”

Yang Xi felt uneasy thinking about the corvée labor, “Repairing dikes and transporting heavy materials like stones is too risky.”

Zhou Yu patted his wife’s hand reassuringly. “The Xiànlìng is a practical person; if he’s willing to prevent accidents, there will be fewer casualties.”

Yang Xi’s tone was melancholic. “I hope so.”

When they arrived at the Wu family home, Wu Shan was still curious about why they had returned. Upon hearing the news of the corvée labor, Wu Shan’s face darkened. Wu Shan rubbed his face, “It seems there’s no escaping corvée labor anywhere. I once repaired the city wall, and many people died then.”

He was usually a robust man, but after returning home, he was thin as skin and bones and had been seriously ill.

Zhou Yu said, “I’ll go with my Dage.”

Wu Shan, no longer lost in his memories, stared blankly at Zhou Yu, “You?”

(End of Chapter)

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