The firewood was carried back by four people in three trips, and it had already filled up half of the straw shed.
"Do the villagers have any objection to us chopping firewood this way?" Chunxiao smiled as he stood at the door.
"What's your opinion? We didn't cut down any trees. If you have any opinions about cutting some branches, don't go up the mountain anymore. It's a question of diligence. The main thing is that if we cut too much, they won't be able to use it all and have nowhere to store it. We will cut more trees tomorrow and not go up the mountain for the time being."
Yan Dashan was asking Yan Dahe about his charcoal sales today.
Chunxiao came over and said, "Brother, let's split the money every ten days. It's quite troublesome to calculate it every day."
"You can divide it however you want. I have no objection."
"I have no objection either," the two brothers answered readily. Chunxiao then put the money into the small jar beside the cabinet.
Yesterday, the village head had already prepared the land deed and handed it over to Yan Bingfa. Zhou said that he would bring her money box later so that she could check the deed herself to see if there was any problem. The money could now be returned to her for safekeeping. She also joked that she could not afford to compensate for the loss of her money box.
Chunxiao thought about the cotton seeds again, and asked Dashan and Dahe to help inquire about it when they went to the town.
That day, the whole family was weeding in the field. Even Shuwen was helping Zhou to plant a fence on the edge of the field when he suddenly heard Shufeng's voice calling.
"Feng'er, what's wrong?"
Tian came out from the grass.
"Mom, the pig collectors are coming to the village. Aunt Fang asked me to come and tell you that the price is okay, so I want you to go over and take a look."
Tian went to find Yan Bingfa. Selling pigs was a big deal. Yan Bingfa took Dahe Zhou and his two wives away. Shuwen also went to watch the fun. Chunxiao also wanted to go and take a look, but thinking that there was no one here, she had to give up.
It had been cloudy for the past few days. Yesterday, she had boiled water to wash her hair and bathe. Her clothes were still hanging out in the yard, drying in the sun. She was thinking about adding another tub to the house, or even a bathtub. Yesterday, her father had suggested building a small bed for the utility room so he could sleep there if anything happened. She looked around the house and realized it was too small. If the backyard hadn't been enclosed and a large thatched shed had been built, there wouldn't have been room to store the firewood. She thought it would be better to build a brick house when she had the means. The village head's house was brick, and it looked clean.
After her family members left, she had nothing to do, so she simply took a piece of paper and began to plan the division of her cotton field.
She has gotten to know the general terrain of the land to be reclaimed in the past few days. Her home is located in the middle and back of this wasteland, so she needs to dig a big hole in the front center. In the spring, she will ferment fertilizer. Without this base fertilizer, the cotton will not grow well.
The land for raising seedlings should be prepared and fertilized before the New Year, and the location behind the house should be chosen.
Once the land is ready, watering it will be a tiring job. If possible, it would be best to dig a well in the front plot, so that watering will be much more convenient and labor-saving. The existing open space next to the house will still be vacant, which will be convenient for drying things. Anyway, we already have more than ten acres now, so it doesn't matter if we plant an extra acre and the space becomes tight.
I was drawing and revising in the main room. I didn't know how long it had been before Zhou and the others came back.
"So soon, the pigs are sold?"
"Your second brother's family sold over 300 catties for 3 taels and 6 cents of silver. Your father said the eldest family's family won't be sold. In ten days or so, he'll ask the butcher to come and kill some and then divide the profits among his family. You always ask for meat, so we'll give you more to salt. Didn't you buy plenty of salt?"
"Then I'll reserve 100 kilograms and pay them the same price as they sell to others. This saves me from having to buy it from outside."
"100 kilograms, can you finish it? Your appetite is too big. Even if you eat one kilogram a day, it will take three months."
"Brother, the smoked meat I make can last me for half a year. Otherwise, I have to buy it outside. The meat outside is expensive and its quality is not certain."
"Okay, I'll give my little sister 100 kilograms." Tian laughed, "I'll keep some for smoking later, so I'll have 50 kilograms so we can eat meat regularly."
"Then I'll order 50 kilograms too. After the New Year, I'll go to my father-in-law's house and bring him 10 kilograms. I see they always look down on people."
"You've already divided 200 kilograms. How much will you be able to sell by then?" Zhou laughed. "Then the villagers will have something to say."
There are a lot of rumors about their family in the village now. They say that since Chunxiao came back, their family has made a fortune. Chunxiao was just robbed and lost several taels of silver, and then she went to the town to buy cotton and cloth, and spent so much money to buy land. No one knows where her money came from. As soon as Zhou returned to the village, some people tried to get close to her and ask her about it in disguised form.
"You can talk about it if you want. It won't affect us anyway."
When Dashan returned, he saw them gathered together chatting, "They are all resting today."
"Big brother's back." Chunxiao went over to help him unload the backpack. "Did everything go well today? Second brother's pigs have been sold, and we're discussing how to divide up the pork from big brother's."
Dashan found a stool and sat down, "Dad, why didn't we sell our pigs together?" Tian brought him a bowl of water.
"We need meat for the New Year, and if we sell it, we'll have to pay a few cents to buy more meat. It's unnecessary. It's the same if you sell meat to them." Yan Bingfa looked at his forehead. "Why haven't you healed the area around your eyebrows yet, my dear wife?" He glanced at Tian. "Cook two eggs for him later."
"I brought a lot of coarse grains from home today. I'll be busy here for the next few days, so I won't go back home to cook lunch. I'll eat here at noon."
"What about the children in the family?" asked Zhang.
"Chunxiao has two pots over here. I'll heat some food in the pot. When Shuwen finishes eating, I'll go back and take over. Shufeng and Duo'er over there are already big enough. Don't worry. I can finish the housework that the children can't do in the morning. This way, they won't have to run around and waste time."
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