Chapter 64: Long Teeth
Moreover, calligraphy is also a skill, and it is always useful to learn more.
As she practiced more and more, her skills were gradually recognized by the villagers, and she occasionally got some extra work to do.
For example, tasks such as helping neighbors write wedding posts or making signs for shops.
This kind of work can not only improve one's skills, but also supplement the family income, which can be said to be the best of both worlds.
Zhao Chunhua was sewing a bib for the child while thinking about all sorts of things.
Every aspect of life needs to be considered carefully, and none of them should be taken lightly, whether it is food, clothing, housing or transportation.
In this era, one thousand wen was one guan of money, which was equivalent to one tael of silver. But for most ordinary people, how easy was it to accumulate so many copper coins?
Especially when you need to use the money to make some large expenditures, you have to consider the exchange cost: every time you go to the money shop to exchange copper coins for silver, they will charge a handling fee of twelve cents.
This means that if you actually want to get money worth the equivalent of one tael of silver, you actually need to pay at least one thousand and twelve coins.
Fortunately, the money in the market is still very valuable, especially in small villages far away from the bustling city, where prices are relatively stable.
Living in the village, if you are particularly frugal, a family may only need to spend one or two taels of silver a year.
But such a lifestyle requires great restraint and sacrifice, and not everyone can withstand living in such harsh conditions for a long time.
Especially for families with children, many necessities are irreplaceable.
For example, when it comes to food, even if you own land and can grow vegetables to be self-sufficient, you still have to spend money to buy meat products.
After all, children are in the growth and development period, and balanced nutrition is very important for them.
The price of pork is between 12 and 20 wen, which is a burden for many ordinary families. The price of mutton is between 25 and 30 wen, which is much higher than pork. The price of rabbit meat is not much different from that of mutton, and it also fluctuates roughly within this range. As for beef, it is more expensive, usually selling for 35 to 45 wen.
However, here, cattle are very precious animals, and the law does not allow the random slaughter of healthy cattle, so it is almost impossible to see beef in the market.
The common meats that ordinary people can buy on a daily basis are chicken, duck, fish and other common meats.
Fish is the cheapest option, costing only ten coins per pound. In comparison, chicken and duck are slightly more expensive.
Some, about twenty cents to buy a pound.
For an average family, they eat meat at least three or four times a month, rotating through several different types. So the cost of buying meat alone would be at least seventy or eighty cents a month.
If calculated on an annual basis, the cost of meat alone would amount to more than one or two taels of silver.
In fact, there are many other necessary expenses that are not included.
As a result, she did feel tremendous pressure and was unable to enjoy even the most basic standard of living.
It is obviously impossible to completely stop eating meat, because it is not only a need of life, but also a basic guarantee of quality of life, so the only way is to reduce spending on meat as much as possible.
To this end, she thought of a good idea, which was to build a small fish pond next to her house to raise some fish. The required fish fry could be caught from the river. If she could raise them successfully, she would no longer need to buy fish from the market.
Although it is not easy to catch adult fish, it is relatively easy to catch some small fish.
People in the village said that there were fish in the river, but unfortunately no one had actually caught them to prove the truth of this statement.
However, such rumors gave her a glimmer of hope.
In addition, there are eight chicks in the house. According to her sister-in-law, six of them are hens that can lay eggs, and the remaining two are roosters.
If these chicks can successfully grow into adult chickens, the chickens can be self-sufficient in eggs, and the surplus can be sold in the market in exchange for other daily necessities.
Once the chicks grow up a little, she plans to increase the number of chicks she raises so that she can have more harvests and income in the future.
Raising pigs is not suitable, not only for practical reasons but also because of many complex details involved.
First of all, pigs have a very strong smell, which not only affects the quality of the living environment, but also causes dissatisfaction among surrounding neighbors.
Secondly, as pigs grow, they eat more, which means more time and effort is needed to prepare the feed, which is obviously not a feasible option when resources are limited.
Therefore, she doesn't even think about raising pigs now.
It would be a waste of space if it was left empty. Since it cannot be used to raise pigs, we have to find something else to do.
Raising some chickens seemed like a good option.
In this way, not only can the vacant land be fully utilized, but it can also provide a stable source of food for the family.
Eggs can be used in cooking, and chicken can supplement protein and improve the diet of the whole family.
They can then be self-sufficient in chicken and no longer need to purchase additional meat, which not only saves money but also improves the family’s financial situation. More importantly, home-raised food is safer and more reliable to eat.
In a short while, Zhao Chunhua had skillfully sewed three bibs.
In fact, such a simple item is not difficult for her. It mainly requires a piece of cloth of the right size, and then a thin strap that is long enough to be wrapped around the child's neck and tied with a knot to secure it.
Although the design is simple, it is very practical and can effectively prevent children from the trouble of getting their clothes dirty due to spitting bubbles or eating.
Just try it on your little one to see if it fits his neck size and how comfortable it is.
Unexpectedly, the child obviously didn't like the feeling of having something restraining his neck. He began to twist his body and struggle, and refused to let his mother tie a bib on him. He seemed to be uncomfortable with this new thing.
After all this commotion, a pool of saliva appeared on his collar, which was wet and uncomfortable.
While helping the child wipe clean, Zhao Chunhua's hand accidentally touched the child's gums, and she unexpectedly discovered that there was a slightly white part faintly visible there.
Driven by curiosity, she gently lifted the child's lips and carefully observed the inside of his mouth. Then she shouted in surprise: "Wow! Shitou, you are actually starting to grow teeth!"
This major discovery immediately made Zhao Chunhua very excited. After all, it marked that her beloved son had entered a new stage of life.
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