Chapter 524 Interested in Medical Skills
Chengjia Village is very close to Dahe Village.
Generally speaking, if anything unusual happens in Dahe Village, Chengjia Village is among the first to know about it.
Both villages used to be about the same level of poverty, with Chengjia Village even slightly ahead. However, in the past year or two, Chengjia Village has gradually fallen far behind, and the villagers of Dahe Village are almost envious of Chengjia Village. Cheng Wanwan was originally a native of Chengjia Village, but after she married out, she brought prosperity to the neighboring village, leaving Chengjia Village to watch enviously.
"Second Aunt Cheng Zhao, we've come to ask about cotton."
"Yes, yes, I heard that last year every household in Dahe Village grew cotton and sold it for fifty coins a pound, making a lot of money."
"I wonder if Aunt Cheng Zhao still has any cotton seeds? Our family would like to buy some, is that alright?"
“My family also wants to plant two or three acres, and we hope that Aunt Cheng Zhao can spare some cotton seeds.”
Cheng Wanwan thought everyone was talking about something important, but it turned out to be this.
She paused and said, "Let me make some things clear first. Last year, cotton was able to sell for a high price because fewer people were growing it. This year, many places in Huzhou should be promoting cotton, and every household will be growing it, so the price may be much lower. Think it over carefully before you decide."
In fact, even if the price is reduced to five coins per pound, there is still a profit, just a smaller one.
However, due to the limited number of cotton seeds, the total cotton production this year will not be too high. After the cotton is harvested in the fall, the price may fluctuate around twenty coins, so you can still make a profit.
Hearing her words, the people of Chengjia Village were at a loss. They had only followed the trend to make some money, but if the price was too low, they felt it wasn't worth it and would be better to leave the empty land to grow some crops.
A woman tentatively asked, "Is Aunt Cheng Zhao planting cotton again this year? How much does she plan to plant?"
Cheng Wanwan's family has a lot of land, so she couldn't hide how much she was going to plant. She simply told them frankly, "I plan to plant about 200 mu."
“That’s great! My family will plant two mu.” The woman immediately understood. “The people in Dahe Village say that following Aunt Cheng Zhao’s footsteps is the right thing to do. I’ll take a gamble.”
“If Aunt Cheng Zhao grows so much, she must still be making a profit. So let’s grow some too.”
"By the way, how much are the cotton seeds? Are they expensive?"
Seeing that everyone had made up their minds, Cheng Wanwan said, "Because there aren't many cotton seeds, my family will be responsible for cultivating the seedlings this year. You can just come and buy the seedlings directly. The price is ten seedlings for one coin."
Last year's cotton seeds came from the market, while this year's seeds are from last year's harvest. These seeds can supply Huzhou, and we can barely spare some for the northwest. Any more than that, and we will run out. So we must conserve them.
With the seeds in Zhao Dashan's hands, the germination rate can reach over 90%. However, if they were in the hands of these villagers who know nothing about germination, the germination rate might only be around 50%. Therefore, this year she plans to entrust all the seedlings to Zhao Dashan for cultivation, and those who need them can simply buy the surviving seedlings.
Ten plants for one coin sounds expensive, but in reality, these villagers don't lose out and are saved from a lot of trouble.
The villagers of Chengjia Village had never bought cotton seeds before and did not know whether the price was high or low. However, they privately believed that a court lady who had become an official would not cheat them, so they said, "Then Aunt Cheng Zhao should remember to send someone to Chengjia Village to inform us, and we will go to buy seedlings immediately."
Cheng Wanwan nodded, and under the gaze of everyone in Chengjia Village, she boarded the carriage and headed home.
It's early February now, spring is in full bloom, and many busy figures are working in the fields. This is the most anticipated season of the year.
The carriage traveled all the way back from Chengjia Village. As soon as she got off at her doorstep, she saw Granny Ma and Granny Yang returning with bamboo baskets on their backs, both of them looking very satisfied.
"My lady." The two old women bowed immediately upon seeing Cheng Wanwan and said with a smile, "There are really a lot of good things in the mountains of Dahe Village. Please look, my lady, this is morel mushroom. It makes a particularly delicious soup. Tonight, this old servant will show you how to cook it."
Granny Yang took out the contents of her basket: "I found a lot of medicinal herbs on the mountain. These are herbs that are hard to buy in pharmacies in the capital, but they are everywhere on the mountain. It's a pity that all those herbs that no one picked in the past years have been wasted."
Granny Yang was skilled in medicine. After coming to Dahe Village, she often didn't have much to do. She would only come up the mountain with others in the spring and found enjoyment in it.
Just as Cheng Wanwan was about to speak, a round, glutinous rice ball ran out of the front door. Ye Zi followed behind anxiously, calling out, "Miss, slow down, don't fall... Anren is back, greet Anren!"
"Grandma...Grandma..."
Little Pearl stretched out her arms and hugged Cheng Wanwan's thighs.
She bent down and scooped up the little glutinous rice ball: "You little rascal, you're running around again. What if you get kidnapped by bad guys? You're so naughty."
Ever since her eldest granddaughter learned to walk, she runs around everywhere every day. Ye Zi is in charge of taking care of the child, and Wei Hongyan also helps out. They are both exhausted.
The little girl stayed in Cheng Wanwan's arms for a while, but then she couldn't stay still and started twisting her chubby body to look around.
She suddenly turned around and reached out to Granny Yang.
Granny Yang often teased the young lady when she had nothing to do, so she immediately put down the basket in her hand and took the little girl from her.
Unexpectedly, the little girl jumped to the ground, overturned the basket, found something, and put it in her mouth.
"Oh dear, young lady, this is medicinal material, you can't eat it!" Granny Yang quickly pried the medicinal material out and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's Coptis chinensis, it's non-toxic, you really scared this old servant to death."
"Waaah—" Little Zhuzhu cried loudly, wiping the drool from her mouth repeatedly, "Grandma, it's bitter...bitter..."
Cheng Wanwan was amused by her: "Serves you right for putting it in your mouth yourself. If people who didn't know better saw this, they would think that our family doesn't feed you every day."
The little girl was carefree; she cried for a while and then rushed back to Granny Yang, not to be held, but because she was very interested in the things in the basket.
"Madam, I see that the young lady seems quite interested in medicinal herbs." Granny Yang's eyes lit up. "How about this old servant teaches the young lady medicine?"
She's incredibly bored every day, and her medical skills seem to be going to waste. She can't wait to find a student to teach her, and the young lady is a good choice. She's young, talented, and from her master's family, so she'll definitely teach her everything she knows.
Cheng Wanwan pinched the little girl's cheek and said, "She picked a pig's knuckle during her first birthday celebration. She's a little foodie. She's not interested in medicinal herbs; she just wants to eat something she's never seen before."
"My lady, let this old servant give it a try." Granny Yang was full of energy. "If the young lady doesn't like it, this old servant will give up. If the young lady likes it, having medical skills is a skill, isn't it?"
Cheng Wanwan nodded in agreement.
Doctors are a scarce resource in any era. If Xiao Zhuzhu can really learn all of Granny Yang's medical skills, that would be a great thing.
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