They would be selling bamboo shoots and fruits in the future, so it would be better to learn now. The wind was getting colder and colder, and it would waste a lot of firewood, so Wang Lan urged them all to go back to sleep.

Lying in bed, Qin Xiaozhou's stomach was growling with hunger. There was nothing she could do; in order to lose weight, she only ate until she was 70% full each time. She burned calories quickly, and she was hungry before she even fell asleep.

Bamboo shoots are easy to weigh and sell, but unfortunately there are too few now, and the market only comes once every five days. He must dig up more when it gets a little warmer in a couple of days. The next morning, Lu Yunfeng continued weaving baskets. Bamboo in winter is less susceptible to insects, so the woven items are one coin more expensive than in other seasons. He wanted to seize the last of the time to weave as many as possible.

In the morning, Qin Xiaozhou took Lu Yan to dig wild vegetables in the orchard and cut off the withered grass. Lu Yunxing carried a hoe to loosen the soil behind them. The Lu family did not have a good view of this orchard, but they would follow Qin Xiaozhou's orders. Now the Lu family was eating rice, flour and meat that Qin Xiaozhou bought, so they could only listen to her.

Dozens of acres of land—let alone digging and loosening the soil, even walking through it is difficult. However, Lu Yunxing didn't complain of being tired and worked hard behind the scenes. Qin Xiaozhou couldn't take it anymore and said, "Let's go home, we're not digging anymore."

Lu Yunxing looked bewildered. "Huh? Sister-in-law, I can dig. If one month isn't enough, then two months. There will always be a day when I can finish digging."

"What's wrong with your brain!" Qin Xiaozhou pulled him towards home. It was only a few steps away. The Lu family lived at the foot of Guoyuan Mountain. When she got home, she drank a bowl of hot water, went back inside, rummaged through her drawers, and counted out a piece of silver for Lu Yunfeng. "Do you know where I can buy chickens and ducks? Go and buy some. We need ten geese, and the rest of the chickens and ducks."

Wang Lan asked, puzzled, "So many chickens and ducks? Where are they kept?"

Look at this yard, it's not small, but it can't possibly hold that many animals.

Qin Xiaozhou waved his hand and pointed to the orchard behind the house, "There, a natural breeding ground. Hurry up and have lunch. After lunch, the whole family will go to the bamboo forest to build chicken coops in the orchard and duck coops at the entrance of Qingzhugou."

Chickens, ducks, and geese are simply natural soil-loosening machines and waste-generating machines!

Qin Xiaozhou thought about it more and more and felt that this method was really good, and that her explanation was incredibly clever.

After dinner, Zhao Fen stayed home to take care of the children. She originally wanted to go too, but her body was too weak to allow it. Wang Lan stopped her, saying, "You haven't brewed your medicine for today yet. We're busy at home right now, and we don't have time to take care of you. Just stay home and take care of Xiao Si. Just take care of yourself."

“Mother-in-law, I feel much better these past two days. I’ll come and cut bamboo after Xiao Si falls asleep.” Zhao Fen felt guilty. No one in the village had it as easy as her. She only had to take care of one child every day, and she didn’t have to do the laundry or cooking. Now that her family was busy, she wanted to be able to help out in some way.

Lu Yunfeng said, "Mother, you stay at home."

Qin Xiaozhou chose a relatively gentle slope halfway up the hill in the orchard and directed Lu Yunfeng to level it. Then she led the rest of the people to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo. Lu Yu went out and also bent down to cut bamboo without saying a word. Lu Yan couldn't cut bamboo or carry it, so she could only run around in the bamboo forest, calling out, "Grandma, here, here."

Bamboo grows too densely and needs to be thinned out. New bamboo shoots will only grow in a few days when spring arrives. The Lu family has the most bamboo now, which blocks out the sky. Cutting bamboo to build chicken coops is not a waste. Last winter, when there was heavy snow, a lot of bamboo was flattened. Lu Yunfeng couldn't use all of it to weave baskets, so it was all cut down and burned as firewood.

Thanks to the heavy snow in December last year, the drought was alleviated after the snow melted, and the winter wheat in the fields did not wither and die. The wheat harvest will not be available until April or May this year. Otherwise, I don't know how many families would have sold their daughters to exchange for food if they could not see any hope.

Qin Xiaozhou was strong, probably because the original owner used a large knife a lot. She had a strange affinity and familiarity with knives. She could cut down a tree in four or five strokes. She would grab the base of the bamboo with her left hand and cleanly chop off the thin branches. Lu Yan would follow behind to pick up the chopped branches and the unwanted bamboo sections.

Lu Yan happily gathered the unwanted branches together and pulled up some vines. "We can tie them together and carry them back. They can be used as firewood and also as brooms. In the future, when we raise chickens and ducks, we can use these bamboo strips to sweep up their droppings."

Well, she knows about life at such a young age, speaks with clear logic and expresses herself well, and is quite clever. Qin Xiaozhou has a natural maternal love for Lu Yan.

Qin Xiaozhou tied her up with rattan, saying, "Our Xiaoyan is the most far-sighted girl."

Lu Yunxing carried bamboo to the mountainside again and again. When he had cut it down to almost the end, Qin Xiaozhou also carried it up. Lu Yunfeng had already dug out a large flat area, about fifty square meters, and dug out seven peach trees with well-preserved root systems. He explained, "They can be transplanted to other places."

"Okay." Qin Xiaozhou thought for a moment, "Let's plant it by the roadside near the entrance."

Lu Yunxing told her, "If we plant them by the roadside, others will pick them, and we won't be able to eat them."

Qin Xiaozhou patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry about such petty gains."

It's just a few peaches. Let others pick them if they want. Why make a fuss over such a small thing? "But if you openly say that these peaches are grown for the villagers to eat, they will be grateful to you. Even if it's just a few kind words, it's still a good thing."

Lu Yunfeng nodded, "Okay, I'll talk to the village chief tonight."

"That's right. If someone benefits from something, then we should let more people know that you did. If we talk about it more, maybe we can even salvage some of my reputation."

That afternoon, Lu Yunfeng dug holes by the roadside near his door to plant peach trees. Digging holes by the roadside was no small matter, and the village chief also came. Qin Xiaozhou took the opportunity to say, "Village chief, I'm following your advice to get along well with the villagers, so I dug up a few peach trees from the orchard and planted them by the roadside. These peach trees are for the villagers to eat. When they ripen, our Lu family will harvest the fruit from these trees and share it with everyone. We'll do this every year from now on."

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