"Uncle Bingfa, did your family buy a cow?"
"Dashan, this cow looks really strong. It must have cost a lot of money."
"Bingfa, where did you buy the cow? Did you pay attention to its teeth when you bought it? Some cows look strong, and it's easy to be fooled if you're not careful."
"Brother Dashan, next spring your family will have oxen to plow the fields."
Everyone gathered around the two of them, asking them questions.
Yan Bangfa was also excited. His family had a new animal, and there were not many families in the village who bought cows. "Everyone, you have seen the cow. There is no place to raise it here in Dashan. I have to take it to my daughter's house at the end of the village. She has a lot of land. It has been outside for most of the day, and I have to feed it some grass quickly. I won't say much to you. We can talk when we are free." After that, he led the cow out of the yard and returned to the end of the village with Dashan.
The children stayed at the end of the village with their parents these days, and they started shouting early when they saw their grandfather coming back with the cow.
Zhou ran over quickly and asked, "Did you buy the cow? How much did you pay for it?" She touched the cow's back and couldn't hide the smile on her face.
Da He and Chun Xiao soon came over. "Dad, this cow is really strong. It must have cost a lot of money." Da He walked around the cow and said, "It only took two or three days to buy it."
"Grandpa, I want to ride on the bull's back."
Yan Bingfa lifted Yan Qi onto the ox's back and said, "You ride it, and I'll let you herd the ox in the future."
"Ah?" Yan Qi's face fell, "I don't know how to herd cattle."
"It's okay, I'll go with you." Shufeng walked beside the cow and asked, "Grandpa, what's the name of our cow?"
"What kind of name can a cow have?" Zhou laughed. "It's just a big yellow ox. Old man, you haven't told me how much it cost."
Yan Bingfa counted with his hands, "Twelve taels. The man selling the ox is a farmer. He said the ox is in its prime working years, and if it weren't for someone at home who needed urgent medical treatment, he wouldn't have sold it. So he wouldn't give a cent. I looked at its teeth and thought it was good, so I bought it."
"Twelve taels is neither cheap nor expensive. Buying it means we've settled the matter." The crowd pushed the cow into the cowshed like stars surrounding the moon.
Zhang brought the fodder that had been prepared long ago, and several children rushed forward to feed the dog.
Yan Dashan called Chunxiao aside, took off the backpack and opened the curtain to show her, "The charcoal has not been selling well these past two days. Today, my father bought a cow and I went back with him. There is still a small amount of charcoal left to sell."
"That's fine. If we can't sell all of it, we can just sell it later. Our business is going very smoothly. Most people wouldn't be able to sell much in a day. I think we can just sell it every two days."
Everyone looked at the cow for a long time. "Dad, now that we have a cow, should we buy a wooden plow for plowing the land? Can Uncle Wu make it?"
"There's pig iron in front of the wooden plow. I'm afraid your fifth uncle can't make it. Let's go to town to buy some when the New Year comes." Yan Bingfa stared at the ox. "You have to take good care of this ox. Old woman, go to the village tomorrow to collect some more straw and make a thicker layer underneath so it won't be cold even if it snows."
"Got it. You and Dashan should go eat quickly. The cow has eaten, and you two are still hungry."
Yan Bingfa was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something, "Chunxiao, the well digger will come to check out the location the day after tomorrow. You should get ready."
Chunxiao was stunned, "What are you preparing for?" Just look at it if you want to.
Yan Bingfa noticed her dazed look and smiled casually, "I forgot to tell you, this old craftsman will pay silver for every job he does, regardless of whether it's successful or not. If it's not, he'll pay 200 coins. If it's successful, they'll set a date and ask for half of the deposit upfront. They'll need to prepare the materials. I don't know how much it'll cost, so just prepare some extra."
Chun Xiao nodded, "I understand."
On the morning of the day before the New Year, the well diggers arrived as expected. There were three of them in total, two of whom were father and son.
Yan Bingfa took them to the open space in front and told them that he wanted to dig a deep well in the middle of the area to see if it would work.
A few people looked around, dug, and sniffed the soil. It was not until noon that they were told that the middle place would not work, but there was a place to the west of the middle that would work, and they were asked if they wanted to dig.
Chunxiao nodded to her father, and suddenly she pointed to her own yard and asked if a shallow well could be dug in the yard. The end of the field was a bit far away, and it would not be convenient to water the fields in the future. If there was a well in the yard, it would be much more convenient to use water.
A few people looked around the yard again, and finally pointed to the edge of the vegetable garden, "That place is fine."
Chunxiao was delighted and asked his father to ask the price.
"Are you going to dig a large well or a small well? A large well costs 22 taels, a small well costs 15 taels, and a shallow well costs 9 taels of silver."
Everyone gasped when they heard this. Digging a well was too expensive. No wonder no one in the village dug a well. These 22 taels could be used to build a house.
"Chunxiao, why don't we dig a small deep well?" Zhou said from the side.
Chunxiao hesitated in her heart for a while. She couldn't save this money. "Dad, I still want to dig a deep well and a shallow well."
Tian also wanted to persuade him, but Dashan pulled her sleeve and she stopped talking.
Yan Bingfa frowned at Chunxiao and asked, "Do you really want to take two bites?" Two bites is 31 taels, which is a lot of money. It can buy two and a half cows.
Chunxiao nodded seriously.
"Master, let's dig a deep well outside and a shallow well inside the yard."
The three masters were also happy. After all, they had received a big order. "How about we start work on the 16th after the Lantern Festival? We agreed to pay half of the deposit first, so let's pay 15 taels first."
Chun Xiao nodded, "Okay." Then he went into the house and took out 15 taels of silver, "Waiting for the masters."
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