Chapter 281 The little yellow ox has a new owner

Gao Mingcheng didn't step into that door in the end. According to his observation, He Xiuman's stomachache was most likely fake. He Xiuman was not the kind of little white flower who would swallow her anger. She had plenty of ideas to fight back.

However, it would be unfavorable for Gao Mingcheng to go in at this time, as he would easily be entangled by He's mother.

So he turned and walked towards his parents' house.

The door to the yard was open. As soon as I went in, I saw Grandma Gao sitting on a chair, peeling an old loofah.

This kind of old loofah is specially grown for seed preservation. After it is air-dried, the hard skin on the outside is peeled off to reveal the loofah sacs inside. The loofah seeds are hidden in the holes of these sacs. Shake out the loofah seeds and save them for sowing next spring.

And the remaining loofah sacs do not need to be discarded, they have great uses!

The most common use is to wash pots and dishes. People with rough skin can also use it to take a bath and rub their backs.

Because of these uses, everyone will deliberately keep some extra old loofahs for future use.

"Grandma." Gao Mingcheng called out. Grandma Gao looked up upon hearing the voice, and a smile appeared on her old face, like a blooming daisy.

"Mingcheng is here. I heard that you went to the county to do business?" Grandma Gao asked kindly.

Gao Mingcheng briefly explained it, but didn't go into detail because even if he did, Grandma Gao might not understand. After talking for a while, Gao Mingcheng asked, "Where are my parents?"

"Your mother went to your aunt Xiuhui's house to knit sweaters. Your aunt Xiuhui has good skills, so she learned from her. Your father went to the fields." Grandma Gao said, with a lonely look on her face.

Originally they were a big family, but first Gao Mingcheng separated and moved out, then Gao Mingwan went to the transportation company, and then Gao Mingli went to the sugar factory. That would have been fine, but now even Gao Shufang has been taken to the county to sell clothes!

Therefore, there are only three permanent residents in the old house!

Originally everyone lived in such a crowded place that there were not enough rooms, but now everywhere is empty.

Gao Mingcheng keenly captured the loneliness of Grandma Gao. But everything in the world will change, as long as the change is good, people have to adapt to it.

As they were talking, Gao Mingcheng's father came back carrying a hoe.

He was holding a bamboo basket in his hand, which contained some freshly pulled young radishes. When he saw Gao Mingcheng sitting in the room, he was stunned for a few seconds.

At this time of year in previous years, Gao Yuanjian was very busy. He was away from home all day long. He had to go out every day to steam wine for people. All the money he earned throughout the year depended on this period of time.

Unfortunately, this year there was a drought and grain production reduction, so almost no one asked him to make wine.

But Gao Yuanjian was used to being busy and couldn't sit idle, so when he had nothing to do, he would go for a walk around the fields. He estimated that any changes in the fields would not escape his eyes.

"Why aren't you doing business in the county today? Is your business good?" Gao Yuanjian put his things down and asked with concern, and asked Gao Mingcheng to have lunch here at noon today.

Gao Mingcheng naturally agreed, as he just came here to eat for free.

After briefly talking about the business in the county, Gao Mingcheng said, "I came back today to pick up the goods, and I have to go to the county again in the afternoon. By the way, Dad, do you want to raise cattle?"

Gao Yuanjian's eyes flashed and he thought of a possibility.

He didn't speak right away. After thinking for a while, he said, "I am planning to raise a cow. I had to save money before because my family had a lot of expenses. Now I don't have much to spend. I am planning to buy a calf in the spring."

"Why, you don't plan to keep the cows anymore?"

Gao Mingcheng nodded and said, "I don't plan to raise one. I only have one mu of land, and now I've bought a tractor, so the cow won't be of much use. Besides, I go to the county every few days, so I don't have time to take care of it."

"Dad, if you really want to raise cattle, I will sell these cattle to you and you can give me a fair price, how about that?" Gao Mingcheng said straight to the point.

It's impossible to give it as a gift, cows are very expensive!

Gao Yuanjian didn't think Gao Mingcheng was exaggerating. Cows have been very precious since ancient times. Gao Mingcheng's cow has been raised for nearly a year and is already a little over one year old. When spring comes, he will put a nose pierced on it and let it follow the old cow to learn how to plow the fields. It will soon be useful.

Gao Yuanjian's family has quite a lot of fields, about eight acres. They need oxen to plow the fields and to harvest the rice. When the time comes, they can buy an ox cart and let the oxen pull the rice back home, saving the boss the energy of carrying the load.

Another thing is that if you want to go to Junling to sell vegetables, you can also use a ox cart to pull them there, saving time and effort.

After some consideration, Gao Yuanjian decided to buy the cow from Gao Mingcheng's family without saying a word.

He said, "Come on, let's go call your mother back to cook, and then go check on the cow."

Gao Yuanjian didn't mention the price right away because he had to look at it first before speaking.

So the father and son went to Aunt Xiuhui's house and called Luo Xiaohua back to cook.

Luo Xiaohua had always disliked Gao Mingcheng, but now it was different. When she heard that Gao Mingcheng was having lunch here at noon, she was quite happy and said with a smile, "There's a piece of pickled meat at home. We'll use it to stir-fry radishes later!"

Luo Xiaohua went home happily to cook, while Gao Yuanjian and Gao Mingcheng went to see the cows, while Black Tiger and Elf played around them.

The cows are not on the other side of Niuweiling, but in the fields near the old village.

The fields here are connected, covering a total of more than 800 acres. Although the weather is dry, it has rained a little bit from time to time before, and fresh wild grasses have grown in the fields, including many astragalus.

These wild grasses are the best food for cows.

Zhang Chengyuan was a hard-working man. He came early in the morning to lead Gao Mingcheng's cattle and sheep out, then chose a piece of land with abundant wild grass and put the cattle and sheep there.

When grazing cattle and sheep in the mountains, you can tie the rope to a tree trunk, but this is not possible in the fields because there are no trees.

But the wisdom of the working people is endless. They can tie a wooden stake to the end of the rope, sharpen one end of the stake, and then nail it into the field.

In this way, the cattle and sheep are restrained and can only move within the range of the rope.

There are some people raising cattle in the village, but Gao Mingcheng's family is the only one raising sheep, so it is easy to find them. Both father and son are good at walking, and they didn't look tired after walking for more than ten minutes.

"Dad, this is my family's cow. Look! It's well-raised. As for the sheep, I plan to slaughter it during the New Year."

Gao Mingcheng looked at his own cows. The young yellow cows were clean and had a pair of cute big eyes. When they saw Gao Mingcheng and the others coming, they looked at them with a gentle temperament.

Domestic cows are mostly docile in temperament, but as the saying goes, cows have tempers, and sometimes when cows get stubborn, they are not easy to mess with.

Gao Yuanjian was also an experienced farmer and was good at selecting livestock. He looked the calf up and down and found nothing wrong with it, so he tried to let the calf walk a short distance.

"Well, the cow has strong limbs and is in good spirits. Mingcheng, how much did you pay for this cow?" Gao Yuanjian asked.

Gao Mingcheng did not hide anything and told the truth. Gao Yuanjian pondered for a moment and added a little more to the original price, which was considered to be relatively fair, but definitely not a premium.

Gao Mingcheng didn't care about a few dollars more or less, and immediately made the deal with his father.

He untied the rope that tied the yellow cattle, handed it to his father, and then said, "I'm not at home recently, and Duomei's brother is helping to take care of the livestock at home. I'll talk to him later to avoid him being unaware."

"Then just let him take care of it for two more days. The cowshed at my house is not ready yet." Gao Yuanjian said immediately.

This is how it works when raising large livestock. You have to prepare the pig pens and cattle pens in advance, otherwise you won’t be able to raise them.

There was a little empty space next to the pigpen in the old house, and Gao Mingcheng guessed that his father would build the cattle pen there.

So he said, "I still have half a bag of cement and some red bricks. I'll send them to you later."

Gao Yuanjian nodded, and he would try to collect the remaining bricks and cement first. If it was not enough, he would buy some more.

The father and son completed the transaction and returned home again.

Although the cow was not taken home immediately, Gao Yuanjian still gave the money to buy the cow.

He counted the money twice before handing it to Gao Mingcheng.

Gao Mingcheng took the money and put it directly into his pocket. With the money from selling the cow, he had more cash on him.

Gao Mingcheng ate here at noon and had a rare full meal.

After dinner, he decided to visit his grandmother.

He Xiuman and her mother had each come up with some unique strategies before, and no one knows what the situation is now.

When he went over, he didn't see He's mother, so he thought she must have left.

"Ming Cheng, you're here." Grandma was also peeling old loofahs in the yard. The skins were piled on the ground at her feet, and there were quite a few loofah seeds in the winnowing basket.

"Ming Cheng, do you want loofah seeds? Bring some over later!" said the grandmother with a smile.

Those loofah seeds look like they weigh more than half a pound, but actually you don't need so many seeds.

People here seldom grow loofahs on good land. They just plant a row in the corners of walls in front of and behind the house and on the edge of a slope.

When loofahs are on the market in large quantities, they cannot be sold at a good price and families cannot eat too much. However, because the loofah sacs are needed to wash dishes and pots, every household in the village will plant seven or eight loofah seedlings.

Gao Mingcheng said: "No, I also left a few old loofahs, which are now hanging on the wooden beams. I will take out the seeds when I have time later."

"Where are Gao Zhuang and Xiu Man? Are they resting?"

Just as he finished speaking, Gao Zhuang came out of the house. He was quite happy to see Gao Mingcheng coming: "Brother Mingcheng, you opened the store, why are you back? Have you had lunch? We still have some food at home, do you want to eat?"

Gao Mingcheng smiled and said, "No, I just finished eating. Is your wife okay? I heard that you went to the health center to call a doctor?"

When this was mentioned, Gao Zhuang pursed his lips and started complaining to Gao Mingcheng about He's mother.

But he didn't know that Gao Mingcheng had already heard the general outline of what happened by accident long before.

After knowing that He Xiuman was indeed fine and it was just a false alarm, Gao Mingcheng was completely relieved.

"She is your elder, so just bear with it if you can. Xiuman is pregnant now, so just put Xiuman first." Gao Mingcheng could only persuade her like this, because this is the mainstream thinking now.

The grandmother immediately said, "That's what I said, too. His mother-in-law is very dissatisfied with him. She thinks that Xiuman was married to the wrong person. Originally, the father-in-law was beaten, and the son-in-law could have gone to help, but the way his family handled this matter... was not very decent."

Gao Mingcheng thought that He's mother was actually quite good, an honest person. What he hated most was the kind of person who lied and deceived others, and then showed up in indignation before finding out the whole story. That was disgusting.

Gao Mingcheng thought so and said so.

Gao Zhuang was stunned, thought about it for a while, and felt that it was indeed the case.

In this way, his resentment towards He's mother was slightly less.

He Xiuman also heard it in the room and couldn't help but sigh. It was not that her mother was honest, but that she didn't have the brains!

So as soon as I arrived, I explained the whole story clearly.

She knew her mother was difficult to deal with, so she didn't dare to confront her. She could only pretend to have a stomachache and blur the matter out.

After Gao Mingcheng chatted with Xi Nainai and Gao Zhuang for a while, he said goodbye and left.

He also had to go back to his home to take some vegetables from the fields and firewood to the county.

When passing by Zhang Chengyuan's house, he saw Zhang Chengyuan weaving bamboo baskets at home, so he told him about selling the cow.

"Brother, you can continue to help take care of the cow for a few days. Wait until my dad builds the cowshed and then take the cow away." Gao Mingcheng said.

Zhang Chengyuan naturally didn't say anything. With one less cow, his work became easier.

He just felt a little regretful. He also wanted to raise cattle, but unfortunately his family couldn't afford it at the moment.

Gao Mingcheng returned to his own vegetable garden and began to pull radishes and pick vegetable sprouts. The land was guarded by black tigers and elves, so some wild rabbits and field mice did not dare to disturb him. His vegetable garden was growing quite well.

Gao Mingcheng picked some edible vegetables and put them in the bed of the tractor.

The next step was to move firewood and the remaining bricks and cement for building the house.

After putting all the things in the truck bed, Gao Mingcheng prepared to set off. Before leaving, he realized that although he went back home, he only entered the yard and did not even open the lock of the room door!

But, as long as things are done well!

He drove a tractor and first delivered cement and red bricks to his father, then loaded the goods at Gao Shouwang's place, and headed towards the county at three o'clock in the afternoon.

At this time, almost no one would go to the county, and naturally no one would want to hitchhike.

Gao Mingcheng drove smoothly all the way, but the tractor was too slow, and it took him a full hour to reach the county.

As usual, he parked his car in the alley on the backyard side so as not to affect the store's business, and moved some goods in from the backyard.

As soon as he entered the backyard, he heard the sound of a sewing machine. Looking up, he saw that it was Mei who was sewing the hems of her pants.

The trouser legs of a suit are generally longer, but if the buyer is short, the long trouser legs will not look good and will make the person look unspirited.

So Xinxin Clothing Store provides trouser hem sewing services. As long as you are sure to buy a suit, the clerk will measure the customer's leg length, and then cut and re-sew the hems appropriately.

This also requires certain sewing skills, but Xuanyue Mei and Gao Shufang are both capable of doing this job.

This sewing machine belongs to Gao Mingcheng. It was previously placed at Dong Feixia's place. Later, Dong Feixia bought a lot of sewing machines, so it was no longer needed.

"How is business today?" Gao Mingcheng asked with a smile.

Manyu Mei looked up and saw him coming back. A smile appeared on her face and she said, "It's not too good, but there are still some business."

Gao Mingcheng comforted him: "Each store has a different positioning and a different customer base. Don't be in a hurry to open a store and do business, take your time!"

He almost wanted to say - we can afford the loss.

But in the end I swallowed it because I thought it was unlucky.

The business in the next few days was similar to that day. The popularity of the Xinxin clothing store gradually spread, but due to price restrictions, the business was destined not to be too hot.

But as long as people's income increases, they will definitely pursue buying better quality fashion clothing.

Gao Mingcheng stood in the deserted store and felt that this was not a solution. He needed to get one or two pieces to attract customers.

In some stores in later generations, there are always some special items. These special items will attract people to enter the store, and then other profitable items will be sold to the customers.

This trick is not only applicable to clothing stores, but also restaurants. Some restaurants even have very low prices for dishes, but they require you to order drinks, and drinks are the real money-making products of the restaurant.

(End of this chapter)