Chapter 65 Rice Paddy Duck Farming

early morning.

It's coolest before the sun comes out.

Zhao Xiahua sat in the yard chopping wild vegetables for the chickens and ducks.

Zhao Dashan went to the fields to weed and fertilize before dawn.

Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu tidied up the ice jelly they made last night, and after breakfast they would take the oxcart to deliver it. Zhao Sidan was also helping out.

Wu Huiniang couldn't stand for too long, so she sat in the courtyard and continued cutting clothes. She cut two garments at the same time: the navy blue one was for Zhao Dashan, and the khaki one was for Cheng Wanwan. The two garments were finished in no time.

Cheng Wanwan was making breakfast in the kitchen. She mixed cornmeal with water, cracked an egg into it, added chopped wild vegetables, and mixed it all together. After mixing thoroughly, she stuck the mixture into a pan and cooked it. There were many people in the family, so each person got two pancakes, plus Xia Hua's, making a total of fourteen.

This time she got the heat right; the pancakes didn't burn and were still steaming when they came out of the pan.

Zhao Dashan won't be back for a while, so the two pancakes are still warm in the pot.

Cheng Wanwan called everyone to come and have breakfast.

Zhao Xiaohua wiped her hands and stood up: "Auntie, I've finished chopping the wild vegetables, I'll go back now."

Cheng Wanwan quickly stopped her: "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Have breakfast first, and then settle today's wages."

Zhao Xiahua waved her hands quickly. Breakfast at the old house would be an hour later, and dinner would be an hour earlier. They only had two meals a day. She didn't have the habit of eating so early, even though her stomach had been rumbling with hunger for a long time.

She picked up her basket and carrying her backpack and prepared to leave.

Cheng Wanwan quickly caught up with her, first stuffing two coins into her hand, then handing her two wild vegetable and cornbread pancakes.

"Auntie, I really can't accept this." Xia Hua was extremely anxious. "I have enough money. Let's leave the pancakes for Brother Dashan and the others."

Cheng Wanwan was forceful, and Xia Hua had no choice but to accept a pancake and hold it in her hand.

The boys in the house had already started eating. They were eating wild vegetable pancakes made with cornmeal and eggs. Each of them ate two, which were very delicious and filling.

After finishing their meal, Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu went to deliver goods.

Cheng Wanwan couldn't help but repeatedly remind him: "Be careful on the road, don't get into conflicts with anyone, and be sure to count the coins in front of everyone after delivering the goods. If there are too many or too few, you must say so..."

As the carriage swayed and wobbled away from Dahe Village, Cheng Wanwan's heart still couldn't settle down.

No wonder there's a saying that goes, "A mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles." These two boys were just delivering goods to town, yet she couldn't put her mind at ease.

"Mom, come try on the clothes."

Wu Huiniang bit off the thread, shook the clothes, and held them up against Cheng Wanwan.

Cheng Wanwan couldn't help but praise her daughter-in-law for her skillful hands; in just two or three days, a piece of cloth had been transformed into a garment.

Because it was made of homespun cloth, without any patterns or embroidery, the dress was very simple, with a tie at the waist. Once tied, it was ready. Overall, it looked pretty good. The only awkward thing was that the bust was a little too small, so it felt a bit tight... Well, if she wasn't wearing any underwear, the dress would have fit her perfectly. But she couldn't stand going braless, so she secretly bought a bra at the mall and put it on. She looked like a thief when she washed it...

Cheng Wanwan pointed to her chest: "Could you loosen it up a bit here?"

Wu Huiniang's face flushed slightly: "Okay, Mother, I'll change it right away."

Cheng Wanwan took off her clothes and put them back on the tattered clothes covered in patches, then began her day's work.

For farmers, no matter how tired they were the day before, a new day is a fresh start, with a multitude of things to do both inside and outside the home.

Zhao Sanniu brought back water early in the morning. She used a gourd ladle to water the plants in front of and behind the house. After all the vegetables sprouted, she would start fertilizing them. In ancient times, there was no chemical fertilizer, so they used farmyard manure... Cheng Wanwan really couldn't do this job. Fortunately, she had many sons in the family, so she could leave it to any of them. Once again, she felt that having many sons had many advantages.

While watering the vegetables, Cheng Wanwan noticed something furry in the garden. When she went over to take a look, she found that it was two dead ducks.

Of the twenty ducks she bought, two were dead. Judging from their bodies, they must have died last night, and no one had noticed.

It was a good thing that no one noticed. She quickly dug a hole to destroy the evidence, and then quickly bought two ducklings from the mall and sneaked in. The ducklings in the mall were unfamiliar with their surroundings and looked around blankly.

The big hen, Dahuang, and Erhuang, ran over from the left and right, and pecked the two ducklings on the head. The two ducklings immediately followed and waddled away.

Cheng Wanwan looked at the small puddle in her yard. The ducklings usually played in the puddle. The ducklings were still small and had weak immune systems. If one duck got sick, it would spread to the other ducks through the contaminated water. She noticed that four ducklings seemed to be showing signs of illness and might die in a day or two.

She opened the online store, bought a special medicine powder for ducks to resist bacterial infections, and mixed it into chopped wild vegetables.

"Four eggs!"

Cheng Wanwan called out.

Zhao Sidan squatted in the main room peeling agate seeds, which was his work for the whole day, and he had to peel at least three pounds of them.

Hearing his mother call him, he quickly got up and ran out: "Mom, I'm here!"

“Hurry these ducks out into the rice paddy and let them walk around,” Cheng Wanwan reminded her. “When the ducks start eating the rice, you must bring them back immediately.”

In her past life, she had heard of raising ducks in rice paddies. The rice paddies had water, which was suitable for ducks to live in. The weeds and microorganisms in the fields could be eaten by the ducks, and the duck droppings would become nutrient fertilizer for the rice.

Most importantly, there are a small number of locusts in the rice paddies, which ducks love to eat. If there are enough locusts, the ducks will not eat the rice. If the locusts are all eaten, the ducks must be driven back quickly to prevent them from ruining the crops.

Zhao Sidan got a new job and happily went out to herd the ducks.

Cheng Wanwan owns a total of thirteen mu of land, five mu of which are paddy fields planted with rice. From a distance, it looks like a large area, with the paddy fields shimmering in the sunlight. There are twenty ducks in the yard, which seem like a lot, quacking incessantly every day. But as soon as they enter the paddy fields, they disappear without a trace.

Twenty ducks can't eat many locusts or produce much droppings, so she'll have to buy at least a hundred more ducks.

She turned her head and saw Dahuang and Erhuang squatting in the chicken coop like empty-nest elderly people, and silently decided that she would have to buy some more chicks.

Just as Cheng Wanwan was about to go inside to get busy, a horse-drawn carriage slowly appeared on the main road of Dahe Village. It was the same carriage she had seen yesterday. The carriage stopped at the village entrance, and the driver jumped off. He said something to a nearby farmer, who then threw down his hoe and ran wildly toward the village head's house.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man dressed in silk stepped out. He looked to be in his thirties or forties, with a large belly that was particularly prominent.

The man wore an official hat. No one in the village, except the village head, had ever seen the magistrate before, but as soon as they saw his attire, they knew that the magistrate had arrived.

Behind him was a man in his forties or fifties, who was a staff member employed by the county magistrate and was called a secretary.

People working in the fields all stopped what they were doing, gathered around at a distance, and whispered among themselves, not daring to approach.