Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1176: Chapter 1086: The Female Prime Minister 24

After raining continuously for three to four days, the storm finally ceased, and the villagers were relieved that no flood occurred.

Although the harvest is certainly affected this year, they will at least be able to pay their taxes.

As to whether they will have enough left to eat after paying taxes, it depends on whether the court decides to exempt them, but the hope is not high.

Their harvest has only decreased, not a major disaster, so tax exemption is unlikely; if no exemption is given, winter will be very hard to endure.

Because of this storm, the originally lively and cheerful autumn harvest became quite dull, with everyone having bitter expressions and working silently with bowed heads.

During this period, Yin Zheng and Yin An have been constantly helping others in the village, going to one family today and another family tomorrow, working quickly and effectively.

Yin Shuangshuang is busy making golden hairpins, and recently, the County Magistrate’s Wife hosted a banquet and wore the headpiece made by Shuangshuang, stupefying the entire venue.

This attracted many affluent merchants and officials’ wives, bringing Shuangshuang several large orders, keeping her very busy lately.

Finally, after handling the orders brought by the County Magistrate’s Wife, the shopkeeper of the Treasure Pavilion also immediately placed an order for ten sets of headpieces with Shuangshuang.

The order was for the main store in the Capital City; previously, part of Shuangshuang’s hairpins were sent there by the Treasure Pavilion’s shopkeeper and sold well, leading to the new orders, along with already delivered matching treasures.

Throughout the entire autumn harvest, Shuangshuang was busy, and even after it continued until winter was approaching. However, the rewards were substantial; Shuangshuang earned nearly twenty thousand taels of silver this time.

Seeing the weather growing colder each day, Shuangshuang plans not to take any urgent headpiece orders during the winter, choosing instead to slowly craft some single exquisite hairpins.

Her health is poor, and winter is the time when her body is weakest; crafts like making gold-threaded jewelry strain the eyes, and winter’s dull light is unfavorable, so she wishes to avoid worsening her eyesight here.

In this era, there are no places to get prescription glasses; if one becomes nearsighted, it would be almost like being blind.

Recently, villagers have been collecting mountain goods, chopping firewood, and painstakingly searching the fields for leftover grain as they prepare for winter.

The storm didn’t only affect field crops but also the wild fruits maturing in the mountains.

Wild chestnuts grow in these mountains, which Shuangshuang loves to eat; each year, Yin Zheng and Mrs. Wang would gather many to leave for her to eat throughout the winter.

This year, Yin Zheng and Yin An, the two men, went up the mountain to gather chestnuts; Shuangshuang felt unwell due to the cold, so Mrs. Wang stayed home to care for her daughter.

Anyway, now that they have money, if they don’t gather enough chestnuts themselves, they can buy some from villagers with silver.

Yin Zheng and Yin An went more with a playful attitude; their family is wealthy with no shortage of food and drink, making them quite relaxed.

However, the villagers are not relaxed; everything they collect is intended to save their lives during winter.

Whenever harvests are bad, elderly and children in the village often can’t endure winter; thinking about this prevents any ease of mind.

Yin Zheng and Yin An went up the mountain but came back empty-handed; not because they couldn’t get chestnuts, but because many immature chestnuts were knocked down by the storm, resulting in poor yields.

They didn’t have the heart to compete with villagers for the remaining chestnuts, intending to buy some with silver after the villagers finish collecting and drying them.

Sitting in a bright room, sipping tea, and enjoying pastries and candied fruits, Yin Zheng exhaled contentedly.

”This year, we don’t need to go to the mountain for firewood; we’ll buy several carts and some charcoal for winter heating.

This year’s harvest is poor, making winter tough for everyone; I’ve decided to use some silver to buy all the mountain goods from them.

For us, these goods are just about enjoying freshness, enriching our winter meals.

But for villagers, these goods are less essential than grains; trading them for silver allows buying more coarse grains, easing winter somewhat.”

Yin Zheng said to Mrs. Wang and Shuangshuang, while casually popping a piece of honey cake into his mouth, savoring its sweetness on his tongue, and squinting contentedly.

This kind of pastry, he had never had growing up; his parents showed favoritism, so even if they had pastries, he wouldn’t get any.

Once grown up and earning money, he secretly bought pastries for home, always leaving them for his unwell daughter and never eating them himself.

Now, thanks to his daughter, such pastries can be on the table for the family to enjoy freely.

Thinking of this makes Yin Zheng proud; although villagers are generally nice, gossip spreads.

Many said Yin Zheng was foolishly doting on a daughter like a sickly medicine pot, not seizing the chance to have a son, wondering if he’d rely on his daughter in old age.

Yet before aging, he indeed started to rely on his daughter; those who called him silly for caring for his daughter now speak differently.

None call him foolish anymore; they say having ten sons couldn’t compare to his one daughter.

Many families are changing their attitudes toward daughters, although not doting as he does, trying to balance treatment between sons and daughters.

Taking advantage of the sunny morning, Shuangshuang pondered jewelry designs, not opposing Yin Zheng’s words.

Understanding her father’s good intentions, Shuangshuang casually offered advice, ”Father wants to help villagers with high prices for mountain goods.

But doing so is not sustainable; showing benefits too clearly works for once or twice, but during inevitable future disasters, if you keep doing this, it’ll lead to bad habits.

Villagers may rely on our family as a wealthy household, asking for money whenever there’s trouble; if so, father’s good intentions turn harmful.

If father wants to support villagers, suggest dividing collected mountain goods and paying based on quality—a low, mid, and high price.

Then, father can set the low price as average market rate, the mid-price slightly higher, and the highest priced even more.

This way, villagers earn more silver, and we aren’t just handing out money, preventing them from developing dependency.”