“Now that you’ve settled down, you’ll have to pay head tax, miscellaneous taxes, and perform corvée labor. Things are getting increasingly unstable these days. The government might call for conscription any time now. You’re young, strong, an orphan with no family ties – a perfect candidate for the draft. If anything happens to you, at least you won’t have to worry about funeral expenses!”,He gently pushed open the rickety wooden gate, made of pieces held together with twigs. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a thin, wiry old man with sparse whiskers and wearing patched-up shorts, sitting cross-legged in the courtyard. He skillfully mended a tattered fishing net with a shuttle.,Yang Ge ignored the old man's sorrowful eyes. With nimble hands and feet, he carried one heavy sack after another into the low-ceilinged hut. He untied the sack mouths and poured grain by grain of golden wheat kernels into the food barrel.。