Chapter 352 The whole village planted white berries
With about two weeks to go before heading to Huzhou, Shen Zhengcheng and Yu Zhan studied even harder, reading until midnight every day.
At this time, the breath of spring is getting stronger. The cotton seedlings in the nutrient field behind Cheng Wanwan's yard are slowly growing. The ones that are growing better have sprouted two tender leaves, which looks very pleasing.
"Dashan, go and call Uncle Village Head to come and transplant the seedlings."
Zhao Dashan responded and immediately ran to call for help.
The village head's family mainly relied on Zhao Anhe for farming. He carried two earthen winnowing baskets over and carefully placed the cotton seedling nutrient pots into the baskets.
He made several trips back and forth, picking out a total of three hundred seedlings. On the last trip, Zhao Anhe brought over a bucket full of lively little fish.
He scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I made a fishing net a few days ago and tried it out. I actually caught some small fish. Sister-in-law can make soup with them."
They took so many cotton seedlings, and even if we offered her money, Sister-in-law Zhao wouldn't accept it, so she could only bring some unusual food.
Cheng Wanwan didn't stand on ceremony: "The small fish in spring are the freshest and most tender. Thank you so much."
These fish are only the length of a finger. They're coated in flour and egg, then deep-fried until golden brown and crispy. I can't imagine how delicious they must be.
She couldn't help but swallow hard. The biggest problem now was that she had to take care of all of this herself. She didn't really like going into the kitchen, but her eldest daughter-in-law was busy at the restaurant every day, so she had to do all the housework herself.
We're short-staffed, really short-staffed. If we want things to be easier, we have to hire more people.
And these tens of thousands of cotton seedlings under our feet need to be planted; one person from the mountains can't do it all.
Cheng Wanwan pondered for a moment and thought that perhaps she could hire long-term workers to help with the spring planting and autumn harvest every year, so she wouldn't always have to worry about hiring people.
As she was pondering the specific details, Zhao Dashan arrived in the backyard with several people.
They were some women from the village who did farm work.
"Grandma, I heard from Uncle Village Head that you have seedlings of white vines at home. What are white vines?"
"Didn't Uncle Village Head say that white flakes are similar to willow catkins that can keep you warm? If we plant them now, we can harvest them in the fall and use them in the winter."
"Grandma, could we borrow some seedlings? We won't take them for free; I'll pay for them."
"I also want to buy some white cypress seedlings to plant at home, so that no one will freeze to death in winter anymore."
"..."
"These seeds were given to me by someone else, and they're free," Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. "Uncle Village Head plans to plant half an acre of land and took three hundred seedlings. You can take as many as you need."
The first year of planting is mainly to test the waters. Once it becomes an industry-scale operation, the planting will be expanded, which will become the main source of income for Dahe Village.
The risks of working in a coal mine are too great; she prefers that the villagers become wealthy through farming or other crafts.
The women in the village came one after another to collect cotton seedlings. They followed Cheng Wanwan and the village head's footsteps without wavering, but there was nothing they could do. Their families had limited land and labor, and it was considered good if they could plant half an acre. Many people only took about fifty seedlings to plant in front of or behind their houses, just to make a token gesture.
After all, no one has actually seen what a fully matured white berry looks like; so far, it's just following the trend.
Once they witness the effectiveness of white berries in keeping warm, I believe that without her saying anything more, the villagers will definitely plant them on a large scale.
A total of 30,000 cotton seedlings were cultivated in the nutrient field. Many people from the village came to ask for seedlings, and about 5,000 seedlings were dug up.
Although Cheng Wanwan made it clear that she didn't need to give any money, the kind-hearted people of Dahe Village still sent their tokens of appreciation.
Someone brought a basket of bamboo shoots, someone brought the freshest toon leaves, someone picked newly sprouted wild dates, someone brought bird eggs they had collected in the mountains, and there were also many river delicacies...
In Cheng Wanwan's yard, all sorts of things were piled up.
She felt like crying but had no tears left. Her children were all busy with their own things, and she had to handle all these trivial matters.
After the opening of Dahe Banquet, she never had a carefree day again. Every morning she would get up to make breakfast, then clean the livestock shed in the backyard. After finishing these tasks, it would be noon, and she would have to quickly make lunch. After lunch, she would have to wash the dishes. She had no free time in the afternoon. She had to check the accounts of the soap workshop and occasionally receive merchants who came to place or pick up goods.
While doing all of the above, I also have to keep an eye on my granddaughter from time to time.
I was busy all day long.
"Big Mountain!"
Cheng Wanwan called out.
Zhao Dashan, who was busy transplanting seedlings in the backyard, immediately wiped his hands clean and came over: "Mom, what's wrong?"
"Have Sidan write a list and post it on the wall of the soap workshop, telling the whole village that our family needs to hire ten farmhands." She sat in a chair, rubbing her back as she spoke. "Farmhands means they have to be available whenever we need them. They have to come and help us whenever we need them. The pay is forty coins a day."
Whether it's spring planting or autumn harvest, it's busy all day long, much more tiring than the work in the soap factory. Working for forty-one days a day isn't considered high.
Zhao Dashan nodded and immediately went to handle the matter. His family used to have only twenty or thirty acres of land, which he could manage on his own. But now, with hundreds of acres of land, even splitting him in two wouldn't be enough. If he relied on farming alone, he would easily miss the best time for planting in the spring. Hiring people was the best solution.
Cheng Wanwan slumped in the rattan chair, her mind racing, wondering if she should hire two young girls to come and help at home.
If you've decided to look for someone, who would be the best person to contact?
"Waaaah—"
The little granddaughter inside the house burst into tears.
Before Cheng Wanwan could get up, Old Mrs. Zhao, who had just reached the courtyard gate, rushed in and picked up the little girl.
The old lady was feeding the little girl goat milk warm on the stove with a spoon.
It is thanks to the old lady's job that Cheng Wanwan doesn't have to be busy all the time. She can come and take care of the children after making a round of inspections. Otherwise, Cheng Wanwan would be even busier.
"Mom, are there any capable young ladies in our village?" Cheng Wanwan asked casually. "Hui Niang is busy in the city every day, and Chunhua has gone to help out. Her second and third aunts also have their own things to do. I have a lot of things to do at home, and I don't know who to ask for help. Mom, please give me some advice."
Grandma Zhao rattled off the names of Zhao San's wife, Zhou's eldest daughter, the blacksmith's wife... they are all hardworking people, but they all work in your soap workshop. The others who don't work at your house are all rather tactless... why don't you let Qiuhua help out?
Cheng Wanwan waved her hand: "Qiuhua is so young. How can I let a little child do things that I myself am unwilling to do?"
"Then you'll have to buy people." Old Mrs. Zhao shook the child in her arms. "Last time you bought that girl from the Xu family for two taels of silver. Do you know how many people two taels of silver can buy from a human trafficker? A fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl can be bought for half a tael of silver, so two taels of silver can buy four. Now you're a seventh-rank lady, a court lady, so you need to have maids to serve you."
Cheng Wanwan was speechless. She really didn't expect the old lady to give her such advice.
“The magistrate has plenty of servants in his household, why can’t you?” Old Mrs. Zhao said matter-of-factly. “Wait another two months, and Er Gou’s wife will also be married in. She is the eldest daughter of the Cao family. She has had maids serving her since she was a child. It can’t be that she, as a daughter-in-law, has people serving her while you, as the mother-in-law, have to do all the work yourself.”
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
That makes so much sense that she was speechless.
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