Chapter 225 News
With oxen, the work can be much faster.
Zhou Silang and Xiao Qianshi, one led the ox and the other held the plow, while the others broke up the plowed soil and loosened it up at the back.
Because the sun was too hot, they were worried that the buffaloes would get tired, so they took a break for more than half an hour.
They gave it some water to cool down before continuing, but even so, they plowed out this field of more than one acre before dinner.
The Zhou family did not return the cow immediately, as borrowed cows were not returned in this way, so they asked Zhou Liulang to take the cow to graze, and then bundled up the fresh rice harvested from the field and sent it back to the Bai family together with the cow.
Rice is considered food for buffaloes.
I guess this is the only cow in the village that is so luxurious as to eat rice directly.
After dinner, the Zhou family, including Manbao and Qian, went to Xiaowan together.
The sun had not yet completely set, but it was no longer as scorching.
The twelve people in the family almost filled the field. They borrowed some farm tools from their neighbors in the village, divided into three rows: left, middle and right, and started to divide the field into ridges from the ridges on both sides and the middle.
A ridge is further divided into two groups, upper and lower.
Manbao and a few other kids were in charge of picking up large stones and some grass from the fields and throwing them away. Before it got dark, everyone had finished their work and even started a business.
Looking at the fields that had been arranged into rows, Qian and her daughters-in-law discussed which plots to plant which vegetables. After they had made their assignments, she said, "It's hot, so don't plant tomorrow morning. Spread the fertilizer tomorrow morning and come back tomorrow evening after dinner."
Xiao Qian agreed.
Next time, of course the whole family will come.
Xiao Qian, her three sisters-in-law and Zhou Xi were responsible for planting the seeds, while Zhou Dalang and others fetched water for watering. It only took an hour to plant the seeds, which was very fast.
This made the villagers watching on the side extremely envious.
The Zhou family made such a big fuss that it was hard for the villagers not to know about it.
So many people came to Xiaowan to watch the fun today. Everyone stood on the edge of the field to watch the fun and chat with the Zhou family in the field.
Knowing that these vegetables were grown and taken to the county town to be sold, someone asked Zhou Erlang excitedly, "Are the vegetables in the city really that easy to sell?"
"It's okay, but the bamboo weaving can't be sold, so I thought of selling vegetables. Even if he's a city dweller, he still needs to eat vegetables, right?"
"Who doesn't have a piece of spare land at home? It would be great if we could grow our own vegetables. Why would anyone buy vegetables from them?"
"If you don't have enough vegetables to sell on Tuesday, take some from mine. I'll sell them to you at a discount."
Zhou Erlang: "...this vegetable is worthless. If I buy it from you again and can't sell it, I will lose a lot of money."
He said, "I'm selling my own produce with no profit. If I can't sell it, I take it home to eat. If I can't finish it, I feed it to the chickens. If I buy from you and can't sell it, will you give me a refund?"
"That's right. If they don't refund me, and they feed the chickens with their vegetables on Tuesday, wouldn't that be like them spending money to feed the chickens? Uncle Jin's chickens are too expensive, aren't they?"
Everyone burst into laughter and the matter was over.
But there are still some people who are jealous and envious, and they privately discuss going to the city to try their luck, thinking maybe they can make some money too.
But as soon as the idea was proposed, someone poured cold water on it, saying, "If you go sell vegetables, what will you do in the fields? We haven't caught all the bugs yet, and weeded them yet. I saw Uncle Jin and his family all go to add fertilizer today, so they're obviously done."
"That's right, that's right. No other work here is as important as working in the fields. That's the food we need to survive."
So the matter came to nothing, but the next day someone still went to the county town with Zhou Erlang, picking up some vegetables from his home.
They felt a little embarrassed when they saw Zhou Erlang.
Zhou Erlang happily greeted them and asked everyone to go together.
What a joke! He wished someone would go to the city with him to sell things every day, so that he wouldn't have to wait for people from other villages to go on the road together.
There are refugees inside and outside Luojiang County now, and the public security is not as good as before. He is still very afraid of being robbed on the road, so the more people the better.
It’s not that you can sell vegetables just by carrying them to the county town. For the same vegetables and the same price, people will definitely prefer to buy them from familiar people, and greetings are also very important.
At least among those who went out with Zhou Erlang that day, Zhou Erlang was the only one who came back with an empty cart. One of them was the most pitiful. He only sold one portion of the vegetables he took out, and that portion was sold by Zhou Erlang for him. It was barely enough to pay the protection fee, and he even lost the money to go into the city.
The next day, Zhou Erlang was alone when he left the village again. Obviously, no one had gone there since yesterday.
When he got home that night, he told his family about it as a joke. Manbao said, "They are too weak to persist. If it doesn't work on the first day, try the second day. Wait for ten days or half a month. If there is still no improvement, it's not too late to give up."
Zhou Erlang laughed and said, "That's right. When I first set up a stall to sell bamboo weaving, I also didn't sell anything. Later, I squatted aside and watched how people greeted customers. Although it was embarrassing, I had to be thick-skinned and greet people. Not everyone is born with the ability to do this."
At this point, Zhou Erlang paused and said, "Except for the fourth one."
Zhou Dalang laughed and said, "There's nothing we can do about the fourth brother. He's naturally thick-skinned."
Zhou Silang was unhappy. "Just teach your children, why do you have to involve me?"
"That's easier said than done," said Xiao Qian. "Now it's not like before. Before, if you sold bamboo weaving, you didn't have to go to the county town, but people would buy it at the big market. But now, if they sell vegetables, can they go to the big market?"
The big market in Dali Village is a farmers' market, and every family there is still hungry for vegetables.
"But going to the county town now not only requires an entrance fee, but also protection fees for setting up stalls. Even if you go without food or water for a day, it will still cost you several coins. It's okay once, but if you lose money, you lose it. If you go for ten days or half a month, you'll lose seventy or eighty coins, and it's so easy. Who can afford this?"
That's true.
Manbao frowned, "Why doesn't County Magistrate Fu do anything?"
It would be strange if he could manage it. Zhou Erlang said, "The county magistrate is not in the city. I don't know where he is. Even if he wants to manage it, he can't."
"Where did he go?"
"How would I know that? I only heard it from the yamen runner when I was delivering the letter to you. That's when I learned that Magistrate Fu had left the county two days ago."
Manbao decided to write a letter to Fu Wenyun in the evening to ask, didn’t you say that you wanted to find a way to relieve the disaster?
She also wanted to see what kind of subsidies Zhou Daliang's family would receive.
Zhou Daliang is the fourth brother's good friend. His family is in a difficult situation now, and Zhou Silang has been very worried about him recently.
As a result, just after she sent her letter to Zhou Erlang and before she had time to wait for Fu Wenyun's reply, Bai Shanbao told her, "My uncle said that the county magistrate has gone to Brazil, and our state may also have to reduce taxes. My uncle took people to Brazil early in the morning."
(End of this chapter)
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