Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

At times like these, Juhua would move to his side, gently fanning him and wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead with a cotton towel until her arm ached and she drifted off to sleep.

They could only feel relieved once the early rice was harvested. When the wind-dried, winnowed grain was stored away in the underground storeroom, they felt even more secure.

After they had planted the late rice, news came from Xiatang Market: this year’s summer tax had risen by forty percent compared to previous years. This was, of course, an additional levy.

A forty-percent tax was manageable for the Zheng and Zhang families, and most of the farming households in Qingnan Village could handle it as well. For the majority of villagers, however, it was nothing short of a devastating blow. The small increase in income they had gained from Xiatang Market’s growing prosperity wasn’t even enough to cover this new expense. Meanwhile, the farmers who had registered their land under Li Changfeng’s name secretly celebrated their wise decision.

After Li Changfeng became a scholar, many nearby farmers registered their land under his name. The Li Family had now become the largest landowner in the area, surpassing even the wealthiest households in Xiatang Market. And yet, farmers from Qingnan Village were the least likely to do so.

And why was that? As long as they could make ends meet, who would be willing to become tenants? Farming one’s own land was, of course, the best option. Besides, while taxes had been heavy in previous years, County Magistrate Hu hadn’t imposed extra levies during his six years in office, and life had been getting better year after year. Consequently, even though Qingnan Village had produced a scholar, the village itself didn’t become his appendage. Instead, it was people from the surrounding villages who became the Li Family’s renters and tenants, with the Li Family becoming their landlord.

But if this County Magistrate Li continued to torment them with ever-increasing demands, he would force everyone to give up their status as independent farmers.

’This is how land consolidation happens,’ Juhua thought with a sigh.

The villagers of Qingnan Village had a strategy: they would clamor, protest, and even wail, creating all sorts of trouble for the government officers collecting taxes. Only at the very end would they reluctantly pay up. They didn’t hope to stop the magistrate’s greed, only to discourage him from imposing any more levies.

After they had dealt with this season’s taxes, Qingmu and Zhang Huai came back talking about the chaos in Xiatang Market, shaking their heads and sighing. Suddenly, they both turned to look at Zhang Yang, their gazes intense.

Zhang Yang squirmed under their gazes and quickly stood up. "I know what you’re thinking! I’ll definitely do my best in the exam next year, but you can’t blame me if I fail. Hmph! You were the one who told me that as long as I studied hard, it didn’t matter if I earned a title. Now you’re pinning your hopes on me?"

Zhang Huai laughed. "We see that the Li Family doesn’t have to suffer over taxes, so of course we’re envious. We were just thinking that if you could also earn a title, we wouldn’t have to worry about giving our land away for nothing if we can’t make ends meet in the future. But that’s just a nice thought. We can’t force you to work yourself to death, can we!"

Qingmu said with a grin, in a coaxing tone, "Yangzi, if you also become a scholar, the Zhang family will be great landowners. It’d be hard *not* to get rich."

Zhang Yang said scornfully, "Look at the two of you. You’ve read plenty of books, yet you’re talking like this over some petty profits. Even you, Qingmu, have started trying to coax people. I don’t want to get rich. I just want our family to stop having to deal with that damned official over taxes. And another thing—while there are plenty of corrupt officials in this world, I particularly hate this County Magistrate Li. If I ever get the chance, I’ll definitely take him down."

Juhua and Liu Yunlan sat to one side, shredding sweet potato stalks as they listened. Juhua frowned and said, "These taxes are heavy, but we can still manage. What I’m worried about are the workshops. I’m afraid that damned official had ulterior motives when he came last time. Sooner or later, he’ll set his sights on these two workshops."

Zhang Huai nodded. "I think so too. He came to feel us out. Just you wait, he’s bound to pull some stunt soon."

Juhua asked, "Have you all thought it through? Right now, we have two paths before us. One is to hand the workshops over to the Li Family; the other is to sell them to the Fang family to run. I think it would be better to let the Fang family operate them. After all, they have the wealth, influence, and an established foundation—they already have sausage workshops in other places. The Li Family could also manage them, but Li Changfeng is a scholar and has to take the Imperial Examination in two years. It wouldn’t be good for Li Changyu to engage in business so openly. In the past, they could claim they were just selling their own produce, but now they probably wouldn’t dare to be so brazen."

Qingmu nodded. "I’ll ask him about it later and discuss it with him."

Juhua added a word of caution, "If their family is reluctant to give up the workshops, then just let them take over. We’re all from the same village, and the village chief has always looked out for us. We should grant them this favor." She had her own calculations in mind but didn’t voice them.

Qingmu glanced at his sister and nodded. "Of course."

Zhang Huai let out a breath. "That’s for the best. Transferring them will be a weight off our shoulders. We can go back to focusing on farming and raising pigs."

Juhua smiled faintly. "If the Fang family runs these two workshops, they’ll do an even better job than us, and Xiatang Market will prosper even faster. Even if the Li Family runs them, it won’t be too bad—at worst, it will be the same as before. As long as we focus on farming our land and raising our pigs, we can sell our produce to the workshops or at the market. Won’t we still have an income? Wasn’t that our original intention, anyway?"

Qingmu nodded. "Right now, the Fang family wants Xiatang Market to boom more than anyone. If we also let them have the two workshops in the village, it goes without saying they’ll invest a great deal of effort here. A lot of merchants are already coming to Xiatang Market just because of the Fang family’s reputation. It all depends on what Li Changyu thinks now."(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets or monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)