Xia Daohua has a casual mind and a casual temperament, but she is still very quick in catching pheasants and rabbits.

Of the prey brought back this time, Jiang kept a hare for the children, gave a pheasant to the old couple as a filial gift, and stewed the fattest marmot with radishes and potatoes in a big pot, and gave a bowl of meat to each room.

Xia Youtian took the other items to the town to sell.

Xia Youtian was not as open in front of strangers as he was in front of Jiang, and he was not the eloquent one, but he had a simple and honest face, which made people feel a sense of trust for no reason.

The price he quoted was not expensive. It was a slightly higher price than the one he had heard Lao Lu and Hu the butcher mention before.

The result was unexpectedly smooth.

Two marmots were sold for one tael and six qian of silver. Two pheasants were sold for one tael and eight qian of silver. Four hares were sold for four taels and eight qian of silver. The mushrooms, all large and good quality, were sold for two hundred qian.

After this trip, I actually earned a total of eight taels and four cents of silver!

Xia Youtian didn't even dare to stay in the town and ran all the way home with an empty stomach.

When he handed the silver in his arms to Jiang, the silver and copper coins were still warm from his body temperature and sweat!

Jiang counted the silver and copper coins carefully, counting them two or three times.

Jiang put the silver in a separate pile, and when she had a hundred coins, she strung them together with a thin hemp rope, and when she had ten strings, she put them in another pile.

Finally, he put the silver and the whole string of copper coins into the money box that contained the silver obtained when the family was divided, and hid it safely deep in the clothes box.

Jiang put the remaining four hundred coins into a coin box for daily pocket money and sighed with satisfaction.

Xia Youtian and the Jiang couple exchanged glances and decided to keep the fact that they had sold the game for a high price a secret and not tell anyone.

Even the children cannot be told.

After all, the child is still young, and he might be tricked into telling lies.

The couple smiled foolishly at each other for a while. The money they earned from this sale was almost as much as the money they got from the family business. It really didn't seem real!

Think about it again, why is Lao Lu, the famous drunkard in the village, always drunk all day long?

Isn't it just because of his hunting skills?

When I was short of money, I would go for a walk in the mountains and hunt some wild game, which I could sell for wine.

Hunting is really profitable!

Xia Youtian couldn't help but feel a little moved, thinking that hunting was better than farming:

"My dear, what do you say to me, that I should go into the mountains more often and look for prey?

It doesn't make sense that Daohua and Lihua could bring back so many wild animals. I, a grown man, can't catch up with these two little girls!"

Jiang frowned and thought for a while, then shook her head in objection:

“Going into the mountains to hunt is not guaranteed, you have to rely on luck.

Sometimes you might wander around for a whole day and not catch anything; other times you might encounter a wild boar, a wolf, a black bear, or a tiger... It's not like farming, where as long as you put in the effort and work diligently, you'll definitely get a harvest."

"That's true. Unless it's a year when God wants to take us away, the harvest from the fields will at least ensure that the whole family has food to eat."

"Good things like this won't always happen. You should just focus on farming!"

Later I picked up the embroidery work again, and when I had free time I would make some small items such as handkerchiefs, purses, headbands, shoe uppers, etc., and send them to the embroidery workshop in town to sell.

Lihua's craftsmanship is almost complete. Daohua and Linghua can also learn it.

By then, the three of us will be at home, buying some good fabrics and embroidery threads, sitting peacefully on the kang, and embroidering some large items like kang screens, which can be sold for a lot of silver!

Isn't this safer than hunting?"

Xia Youtian disagreed:

“Embroidery is safer than hunting, but it’s still too laborious, and I don’t think it’s a good idea.

It would be better for me to pay more attention when I go into the mountains to chop firewood. If I can get fresh game, it would be better to sell it.

Anyway, we are not greedy. If we have it, we have it. If we don’t have it, we don’t have it.

As long as you don't go too deep into the forest, you probably won't run into any ferocious beasts."

Jiang was very happy to hear this, and she became even more determined to do more embroidery work to supplement the family income.

…

Xia Daohua's hair finally grew back. After two or three months, not only had the wound on her scalp healed well, but the scar had also shrunk significantly. Now, hidden by her long hair, it was no longer noticeable.

But the people around her gradually noticed the changes in Xia Daohua.

But as long as you consider the head injury she suffered, you feel that she was lucky to be alive. Even if her temperament has changed a little, and she has become more forgetful about people and things, it is not a big problem.

Later, Xia Daohua took the opportunity to catch some prey while digging wild vegetables with Lihua and collecting firewood with Wulang.

Every time Xia Daohua came back from hunting, Jiang would first give some to the old couple as a gift, then give some to each family to try, and the rest would be eaten by herself or sold.

Even so, the family gradually accumulated some money. The box that Jiang used to store her coins was already more than half full, including silver and copper coins.

The fourth family smiled more and more. After March 3rd, the fourth family was already discussing sending Wulang to a private school.

However, Goro himself disagrees.

Of course Wulang wanted to go to school, but he felt that the timing was not right.

If I really went to a private school, I'm afraid the whole family would think that the fourth branch had secretly hidden some private money before the family split up.

Xia Daohua disagreed with this concern, but Jiang and Xia Youtian took it to heart.

Therefore, Goro's plan to go to school was temporarily postponed until this fall.

Although it was also somewhat eye-catching, after a year of frugality and having just sold grain, it was not so unacceptable to let the child go to the village school to get an education and learn a few words.

After that, it seemed very natural for the family to arrange to borrow some money from the old couple or other relatives and friends to support Wulang's studies for a few years.

At the same time, Xia Youtian's wicker baskets and bamboo baskets, and Jiang's embroidery, were also started.

After collecting dozens of them, I would go to the market.

Wicker baskets and bamboo baskets were both serious tools, useful for both home and farm work. A wicker basket could be sold for eight copper coins, while a bamboo basket could be sold for fifteen. This was because the latter was made from harder-to-find materials and required more sophisticated craftsmanship.

It’s a pity that the demand for this kind of thing is not that great and not many people buy it.

Jiang's embroidery products, on the other hand, have no trouble finding sales. Even if she can't sell them at her own stall, the embroidery workshop is happy to buy them.

Even though sales were slow and the income was low, the couple still enjoyed their work. They worked diligently on the farm, raising chickens and pigs, and tinkering with these odds and ends.