The conscription was urgent, with the Village Chief beginning registrations the very day after the meeting.
In the following days, the entire Fu’an Village was shrouded in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
Except for Lao Xu Jia.
Among the men of Lao Xu Jia, only Xu Lao Nian’er could move about freely—the others were still bedridden. No one noticed anything unusual about Lao Xu Jia compared to the other families.
Everyone knew that most of those conscripted this time would likely never return.
Every household brought out the delicacies they had saved for the New Year, preparing a lavish farewell meal for those about to depart.
This might be their last meal at home, and no one wanted them to set off on an empty stomach.
Because of this, the rich aroma of stewed pork from Lao Xu Jia didn’t seem particularly out of place.
Half a month later, just as the villagers were beginning to recover from the sorrow of their loved ones’ departure, the court unexpectedly announced another wave of grain taxes.
Families like Lao Xu Jia, who hadn’t contributed any men to the conscription, were required to pay fifty percent more in grain taxes than those who had.
When the Village Chief finished announcing the news, everyone fell into a heavy silence.
Even after paying the usual taxes, they only had enough grain to barely last until the following spring.
Now they were being forced to give up even more!
Even if they weren’t required to hand over all their grain, what remained would never sustain them until they could forage in the mountains come spring.
How was this any different from sentencing them to death?
They didn’t want to die, so they decided to resist.
Gradually, an undercurrent of unrest began to stir in Fu’an Village.
Some people started plotting in secret, planning to deal with the tax collectors when they arrived.
If things went wrong, they could always take their grain and flee into the mountains—becoming bandits was better than starving to death.
But before the tax collectors even reached Fu’an Village, news arrived from the neighboring county: an entire family had been executed for evading taxes.
Not only that, the bodies of over thirty people were paraded through village after village across several counties, serving as a grim warning to anyone with similar ideas.
Seeing the horrifying sight of those decapitated corpses and the tax guards with their heavy blades, all thoughts of rebellion vanished from the minds of the would-be resisters.
If they handed over their grain, they might not survive the winter.
But if they refused, they might not even live to see the next sunrise.
In silence, everyone surrendered their grain, but their hatred for the Danyang Emperor, still seated on the dragon throne in the capital, deepened even further.
By the time the tax collectors finished their work in Fu’an Village, another half-month had passed.
After more than two weeks of rest, Li Shi had recovered well.
Strangely enough, Xu Dazhu and Xu Er Zhu’s legs were healing very slowly—even after all this time, there was no sign of improvement.
No one in Lao Xu Jia was worried; in times like these, having unhealed legs was actually a blessing.
With her two brothers-in-law still confined to their beds, Li Shi felt it was no longer appropriate for her to avoid work entirely.
After feeding Xiao Tianbao another bowl of goat’s milk, she gently touched the Little Dumpling’s cheek and turned to prepare the meal.
“Be good, my treasure. Stay with Grandma and Hu Zai. Mama needs to cook.”
Snow had begun to fall again these past few days, heavier than before.
Seeing Li Shi heading toward the kitchen, Liu Shi quickly stopped her.
“Fourth sister-in-law, you should go rest. I’ll handle the cooking today. After the ordeal you went through giving birth to Xiao Tianbao, you need more time to recover.”
Liu Shi’s expression carried a hint of flattery that Li Shi found rather unfamiliar.
Having given birth to Xu Hu, Liu Shi had always carried herself with an air of superiority in Lao Xu Jia, never before speaking to her so amiably!
All this was because of Xiao Tianbao.
Or rather, because of the big tiger.
Ever since Xiao Hu Zai first arrived at their home, the big tiger would deliver meat every other day.
Sometimes it was a small wild boar, sometimes wild rabbits or pheasants, and occasionally deer or roe deer.
In short, with this steady supply of meat, their family could hold out until spring even with limited grain supplies.
So now Liu Shi no longer constantly referred to girls as “useless mouths” or “money losers,” instead echoing Xu Lao Nian’er by calling Tianbao their “little blessing” every day.
Because of this change, even the family goat and Xiao Hu Zai had become much friendlier toward Liu Shi.
Today, Xu Lao Nian’er had quite a successful haul, returning with a flatbed cart piled high with firewood.
During the evening meal, just as he stuffed a mouthful of Coarse Grain Rice into his mouth, Xu Lao Nian’er suddenly exclaimed “Ouch!”
Even though the pain in his mouth was intense, Xu Lao Nian’er couldn’t bear to spit out the food, enduring the discomfort as he chewed and swallowed.
“What’s wrong? Do you have sores in your mouth too? Drink some Dandelion Root Water to reduce the inflammation!”
After speaking, Old Mrs. Xu glanced at Liu Shi and Zhao Shi.
Both women were also eating while grimacing in discomfort.
Who would have believed that one day they’d develop mouth sores from eating too much wild game?
Truthfully, they had little choice—the family’s grain reserves were running dangerously low.
Compared to grains, various meats had become their staple food.
Xu Lao Nian’er took a sharp breath to ease the pain in his mouth and nodded.
“It’s nothing. We should be thankful we have full bellies and meat to eat. You know, Qing Wazi went up the mountain today to dig for tree bark.”
Pouring a bowl of boiled Dandelion Root Water and placing it beside Xu Lao Nian’er, Old Mrs. Xu frowned deeply.
“Qing Wazi is only eleven! In this heavy snow, he went up the mountain alone to dig for tree bark? Has his family run out of grain completely?”
After taking two large gulps from the bowl, Xu Lao Nian’er spoke again.
“Not completely gone. That clever boy is just preparing ahead. In another while, even tree bark might become scarce.”
Hearing this, Old Mrs. Xu understood.
Although every household currently had limited grain supplies, none had resorted to digging for tree bark yet. But once families truly began running out of food, Qing Wazi wouldn’t stand a chance against others scrambling for the mountain’s tree bark.
“Speaking of which, Qing Wazi has it hard—father dead, mother remarried, leaving him with grandparents and two acres of dry land. They work all year only to pay everything in taxes. So… you gave him all your rations today?”
Worried his wife might disapprove of him giving away their food, Xu Lao Nian’er quickly explained.
“My cart got stuck in a snowdrift today. If Qing Wazi hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have gotten out. That’s why I gave him all the rations I brought.”
Actually, Old Mrs. Xu hadn’t thought much of it—she’d only asked because she noticed her husband, who usually saved some rations, had returned with none today.
Upon hearing Xu Lao Nian’er’s explanation, she realized it was inappropriate to have sniffed out the scent so openly in front of her three daughters-in-law.
After all, food was now the most precious commodity.
Especially the eldest daughter-in-law, Liu Shi, who had been constantly scheming to steal some meat from the household to send to her own family.
Once before, she had risen before dawn and sneaked into the kitchen to pilfer meat, only to search for a long time and discover that Old Mrs. Xu had locked away all the meat.
Not only had she failed to steal even a scrap of meat, but she had also been bitten by Xiao Hu Zai, who had been awakened by the noise of her rummaging.
Although the skin wasn’t broken and only a few marks were left on her thigh, it had frightened her enough that she never dared to covet the meat again.
Glancing at Liu Shi, Old Mrs. Xu spoke up, “Qing Wazi has helped our family, so it’s only right to give him a bite of food. Better that than feeding an ungrateful wretch.”
Liu Shi understood that Old Mrs. Xu’s words were directed at her and silently ate the meat in her mouth without uttering a sound.
Unbeknownst to them, the Little Dumpling nestled in Li Shi’s arms, seemingly asleep, had actually heard their entire conversation and understood every word.
That night, when everyone had fallen into a deep slumber, Xiao Tianbao, placed by Li Shi beside the pillow, struggled to free her chubby little hand from the small quilt.
She grasped the tip of the little tiger’s tail and gave it a couple of gentle squeezes.
Her strength had grown considerably by now—if she used her full force, Xiao Hu Zai’s tail wouldn’t break, but it would certainly hurt a great deal.
With a “swish,” the little tiger’s eyes snapped open, their eerie green glow appearing particularly sinister and terrifying in the darkness. Yet, in Xiao Tianbao’s eyes, they resembled two sparkling gems—not frightening in the least, but rather quite beautiful.
“Ah ah!”
The Little Dumpling softly called out twice to Xiao Hu Zai, released its tail, and pointed toward the main door.
Obedient to its master’s command, the tiger cub wagged the tip of its tail, stood up from the kang, and silently nudged the door open a crack. Without disturbing anyone, it slipped out of Lao Xu Jia’s courtyard.
Snowflakes continued to fall incessantly, and before long, the plum-blossom paw prints in the yard were covered by fresh snow, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.