On the same day, the villagers of Yegou Village harvested all the corn in their vegetable gardens. However, after drying the corn cobs, the villagers could only keep 10% of them, while the remaining 90% had to be handed over to the government. All the corn harvested this year was to be kept for seed.
However, they can still take a few to try. After all, the villagers can use the corn seeds as they please. Unless they are brainless, they generally won't eat them all.
Zhao Guihua took five pieces to steam. After steaming, she cut them into small pieces with a kitchen knife, and then each person could eat a small piece.
"It's so hard, it hurts my teeth!" Xingxing took a bite and frowned, staring at the large ear of corn in her hand with great disgust. Her mother loved her and had specially given her the biggest ear.
Others also tried to take a bite, and it was really hard. It would be a miracle if they could even bite it. How could anyone eat this stuff?
Zhu Lin's eyes flickered. She had heard that corn was bought from foreigners and was not available in the Great Jin Dynasty. However, Zhu Lin had eaten it when she was in the cultivation world. It was very soft, sticky and sweet, not this hard.
Xingxing hummed and murmured for a while, then suddenly a picture popped into her mind. She suddenly realized and said, "I think I understand what's going on. We planted this corn to cultivate seeds, so we just left it unharvested. It's gotten too old. If it were younger, it would definitely taste better. But it seems that dried corn can be ground into powder to make pancakes and porridge. I just don't know how it tastes."
"So that's how it is," Zhao Guihua said, looking at the cooked corn with a pained expression. "What a waste! Five ears! If we had kept them for seed, we could have planted several acres of land."
The crops in the fields have all been harvested, and the weather is getting colder. The villagers are busy going into the mountains to cut firewood to store for winter use. Because they have heated brick beds, they consume more firewood, so they have to spend several more days cutting firewood.
The Zhou family was used to doing these kinds of work. Every day, the whole family would go up the mountain, cut the branches, and then in the late afternoon they would tie the cut branches into bundles and carry them back in loads.
Erfu and Sifu were strong and carried the largest bundles. They worked like this for ten days, filling the sheds in the front and back yards, and even storing a lot in the sheds outside the yard. They wouldn't be able to use it all up in one winter, and then they wouldn't need to go up the mountain anymore.
"The weather is getting colder and colder, and none of the masters have cotton-padded clothes. I'll make two sets for each of them." That day, Xingxing went to town with everyone, and Zhao Guihua was busy buying cotton.
The cotton was only obtained from foreigners a few years ago. They haven't been able to get cotton seeds to plant yet, so they have to buy them from outside. It's difficult to buy enough cotton, so they have to ask around and collect it little by little.
There aren't enough in the south now, and I've heard there's even less in the north. Of course, apart from wealthy families, officials and merchants can definitely get their hands on some.
Zhao Guihua lowered her voice, and although the market was noisy, her senior brothers and sisters still heard her. Zhu Changge walked over and said, "Auntie, you don't need to make clothes for us. With so many people, how long would it take you? We have clothes to wear, so we won't get cold."
“But I’ve noticed you’ve all been wearing only thin clothes these days. Even with your inner strength, you can’t withstand the cold weather. It’s going to snow soon.” Zhao Guihua didn’t believe they had any cotton-padded clothes to wear.
“There are people from Xianwu Island in Nanyang Prefecture. They’re very rich, so getting a few winter clothes is no big deal for them. Someone will be delivering them to town soon. We’re not here to just browse the market; we’re mainly here to pick up our clothes,” Zhu Changge explained with a smile.
Zhu Changge and the others then waited for a while in front of a jewelry shop. Soon after, a horse-drawn carriage arrived. The driver gave them several large bags of things, handed them over, and then drove away. He didn't say a word from beginning to end, but he was able to deliver the things to the right people with precision.
Zhu Changge and the others walked toward Zhao Guihua and said with a smile, "These are several large bundles of cotton-padded clothes. We can't carry them all, so we have to put them on the carriage first."
Seeing that they had actually received the clothes, Zhao Guihua stopped insisting on making winter clothes for them. However, she had already bought some cotton, so she decided to take it back to make winter clothes for the three female guards, who were also planning to make winter clothes for them.
Since there was nothing to do in the winter, we simply let them make their own winter clothes.
With several capable people in the family, the five brothers Fu don't need to go to a private school; they can learn at home. They only hope that their masters can stay in Yegou Village for a while longer so that they can learn more.
However, sometimes the things you hope for most are the things that can't be achieved. Although Xingxing hasn't regained her memory, it doesn't stop her from having premonitions in her mind from time to time.
She had just gotten up that day and was still groggy when a picture suddenly appeared in her mind: a stunningly beautiful woman wearing a dragon and phoenix crown and a long-sleeved robe embroidered with gold dragon and phoenix patterns, exuding elegance and nobility, surrounded by a large group of servants.
The beautiful woman sat in front of her dressing table, surrounded by palace maids, eunuchs, and nannies. Her personal maid was about to comb her hair with a horn comb when the woman suddenly vomited and felt dizzy. The servants in the room screamed in alarm.
The beautiful woman remained unconscious in bed from then on, and it was unknown whether she could be saved.
"It looked like a palace. Although I can't remember it, I've dreamed about it a few times. Sometimes when I see magnificent things, fragments of memories flash through my mind, but I can't quite recall the key details."
When that woman vomited blood, I felt so uncomfortable, like I was suffocating and couldn't breathe. I was worried about her, and I didn't know what to do.
Xingxing pointed to her heart, and with a heavy heart, she told Zhu Lin about the scene she had foreseen that morning.
Zhu Lin gently patted her head to comfort her, "If I'm not mistaken, that woman is likely the current Empress. She's in trouble now, and something bad might happen to her soon, but she doesn't know what's going to happen, so someone needs to tell her."
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