It took a large group of people more than two hours to ride on an ox cart to reach Huangkou Village.
When we got to the place, we started to divide the work into different plots.
There is strength in numbers. In about an hour in the morning, they cleared almost 20 acres of land. At noon, Zhao Shitou and Chunliu took people to the nearby village with buckets to fetch water. After eating and drinking, everyone started working again.
By mid-afternoon, sixty to seventy acres of land had been cleared.
It would take more than two hours to get back, so they had to go. Yan Bingfa and Yan Mingli sent the well-diggers to their residence in Huangkou Village, and then took Chunxiao and the people in the village back with them.
After four days of hard work, the field was finally cleaned and turned over. They piled the corn stalks at the dividing line between the outermost edge and the middle, so that they could build a wall along the line.
When Yan Dashan and Yan Mingli returned that afternoon, they confirmed with the bricklayers in town about the pick-up time for the next day. They also discussed renting two more houses in Huangkou Village, so they could stay close by and avoid the commutes. They also agreed to hire 40 temporary workers from Huangkou Village while the houses were being built. While Chunxiao had more people, the commutes were too time-consuming, so hiring more was better.
Everyone was exhausted when they returned to the farm in the evening. Fortunately, they didn't have to go out again tomorrow, and there was no work to do, but the ride in the car was really uncomfortable.
"Miss, has the head of the village next door come to visit today?"
Chun Xiao was stunned. "What's the matter?"
"He wanted to know how we grow cotton. Some people in the village also grow cotton, but the harvest is not satisfactory."
"How did you reply to him?" Chunxiao was packing her clothes to take a shower. The weather was not hot now, but after working in the fields all day, she needed to take a shower before she could go to sleep.
"I told him that since we have a lot of people and are willing to use fertilizer, it's natural that the crops will be good. He didn't say anything else and he went back."
"Next time someone asks, just brush it off."
The construction of Zhuangzi's house has already started. A team of bricklayers are working on both sides at the same time. The drawings have been handed over to the leading master, and Yan Mingli is in charge of it.
Originally, they planned to find 40 people in Huangkou Village, but in order to speed up the project progress, they finally hired 70 people, 40 from Yan Mingli's side and 30 from Chunxiao's side. The well digging masters had already started working in the yard, and the young men in the village were also helping with the work.
After starting work, Chunxiao no longer went to the fields every day. She basically went there once every two or three days. Only Yan Dashan squatted there to watch over her every day.
"Miss, they've seen a lot of refugees from other places in town these days. Chun Ersan said they all came from Hejian. They said many of them were dressed in rags and were looking for a place to stay in town."
"Dongsheng said that Hejian was blocked before. Now that it is open, there must be people who are afraid of war and have fled elsewhere. Otherwise, if the situation is bad, it will be difficult to survive." It is always the people who suffer in war.
"Miss, you'd better be careful when you go out. There are so many refugees that it's easy for trouble to happen."
Chunxiao nodded and said, "This is a rural village, they probably won't come here, but we should still be careful. We should pull up the poles in a couple of days."
"Miss, I forgot to tell you a good news. We have harvested all the remaining cotton in the field. We have harvested more than 6,400 kilograms."
"So many!" This was truly a pleasant surprise. "Then don't buy them yet, keep them all. Oh, by the way, there are still many rooms that only have one quilt. Go to each courtyard and count how many quilts are missing. Tomorrow, take two people with you to town with cotton. If you can exchange some extra cotton from last year, do so. If not, forget it. Make up for the missing quilts and make a few more for the main courtyard as a backup."
She thought about it and realized Huangkou Village might need to prepare more. "Well, let's make up for the others and make 100 extra. It won't go bad if there aren't any left when we need them. We'll put them on the shelf in the warehouse here."
The next day, she had a rare good sleep. When she woke up, she found that Xingfu had already taken people to the town in a ox cart.
Meiman was hanging clothes in the yard. It was a bit cold today, so she put on a light jacket and stood at the entrance of the yard, looking at the endless cotton stalks. "Meiman, what are they doing over there in the distance? They're all gathered there."
"They are people from the surrounding villages. They want to buy our cotton and ask if we can sell it to them at a discount. We have already sent them away twice. Our selling price is 130 wen. How can we sell it at a discount? We are pulling out the cotton stalks now, and they want to find it among the stalks. Miss, their efforts are in vain. The people in our village have harvested the cotton very cleanly."
Chunxiao sighed. It was cold in winter here, and without a thick coat, they might not be able to survive the winter. "Go and tell the people in those villages that if they want cotton for their own use, let their village headmen come. It's 80 wen per pound. Each village must give them some, and it must come from the village headmen." If she gave it to one person and that person sold it, then her kindness would be helping others.
"Miss, you are just soft-hearted."
Meiman left, and soon all those people left.
In the afternoon, the village heads from the three surrounding villages came one after another, and Chunxiao invited them into the house.
"Master Yan, our villagers said that you are willing to provide some cotton for the villagers at 80 wen per pound. I want to come and ask if it is true."
"We're here to ask. If it's true, I'll go back and count the numbers and bring you the money."
"Fellow village heads, I was able to build this farm here thanks to your support. As you all know, some time ago, I sold some of my cotton to cloth merchants and some to military supplies. I originally had no more, but recently I have collected a small amount of residual cotton. I thought since the village needs it, I should at least take care of it. You should also know the price of this cotton. I sell it at 80 wen per catty, which is definitely a loss. It is mainly to give back to the village. The quantity is not large. Please go back and count it quickly. Otherwise, if it is a few days later, I am afraid I will not be able to hold on. This farm is so big, people will always come to ask about it."
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