When Li Xiangping returned from clearing the wasteland that evening, he found Yuan Huiniang sitting in the house in a daze.
Since the family split up, Yuan Huiniang has been either busy with high spirits or hovering around Yan Qingqing every day, rarely having such a leisurely time.
Seeing that Yuan Huiniang hadn't reacted even after he entered the house, Li Xiangping stepped forward, waved his hand in front of her eyes, and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Yuan Huiniang then came to her senses and said, "Mother asked me to buy chickens and ducks today, and I agreed."
Li Xiangping responded with an "oh," indicating that it wasn't a big deal.
Seeing that Li Xiangping didn't react at all, Yuan Huiniang continued, "But I'm afraid I won't be able to do it well?"
Li Xiangping looked at her with some surprise. It was just buying a few chickens and ducks. What was so difficult about that? Did his mother have some special requirements? But chickens and ducks are just male and female.
Seeing Li Xiangping looking at her like that, Yuan Huiniang said helplessly, "It's because Mother asked for too many. She wants ten thousand chickens and ten thousand ducks."
Li Xiangping was also surprised to hear this; why did his mother buy so many chickens and ducks?
Because Li Xiangping was busy with farm work all day, he had no idea that Yan Qingqing was planning an ecological orchard.
However, trusting Yan Qingqing, Li Xiangping felt that his mother must have a big purpose in buying so many chickens and ducks, so he said, "Since Mother has given the order, then go and buy them as much as you can."
I remember there's an aunt on your mother's side who specializes in selling chickens and ducks. If you don't like it, you can go back and ask them how many chickens they can get.
Besides, my second brother often travels around the county town and knows a lot of people; I'll have him ask around again later.
Upon hearing Li Xiangping's words, Yuan Huiniang immediately felt reassured. Her mother-in-law had entrusted this matter to her because of her trust in her, and she genuinely wanted to handle it well.
The next morning, Yuan Huiniang said to Yan Qingqing, "Mother, I want to go back to my parents' home today."
Yan Qingqing was somewhat surprised that Yuan Huiniang had decided to go back to her parents' home when it wasn't a holiday.
It's no wonder Yan Qingqing was surprised. Why is there such a preference for sons over daughters these days? Because once a daughter is married, she's considered like water spilled from a cup. She only returns to her parents' home when her family invites her for holidays or important events. Of course, there are exceptions. If the mother-in-law is tolerant enough or the family is of high social standing, then it's not necessarily the case.
However, Yan Qingqing was not the kind of wicked mother-in-law. After her initial surprise, she said, "Hui Niang must be homesick. Go ahead, let Da Lang accompany you."
There are still a few bolts of cloth in the storeroom. Go and pick out two to make a couple of new outfits for your parents.
Yuan Huiniang knew that her mother-in-law was kind and generous, so she said, "Mother, when I went back last Mid-Autumn Festival, you asked me to bring a lot of fabric to my parents."
My mother told me to thank her, but I won't bring anything this time. I'll just buy them something when I pass through town.
Yan Qingqing knew that Yuan Huiniang had money, so she didn't press the matter and didn't say anything more.
After breakfast, Li Xiangping accompanied Yuan Huiniang back to her parents' home, while Yan Qingqing took care of Li Xiangyang in the room.
This little girl is over a month old and chubby. She's awake much more now than she was during her postpartum period, but she doesn't cry or fuss as long as she's full.
Actually, Yan Qingqing didn't really want to breastfeed the girl, mainly because it was too painful. She lifted up her clothes and saw that the skin was all raw.
But there was no milk powder in this era, so she couldn't do anything about it. Even though this girl was her own flesh and blood, she didn't plan to breastfeed her for too long. Yan Qingqing thought that if all else failed, she would buy a goat that could produce milk.
When everyone returned home in the evening, Yan Qingqing gave them a half-hour lesson as usual. Li Xiangbao knew that his foundation was weak and that he was behind his older brothers and sisters, so he studied very hard.
Yan Qingqing really liked this kind of positive and motivated child. If she had extra time, she would even tutor him individually. Li Xiangbao was deeply moved and became even more determined to serve Yan Qingqing in the future.
After everyone had finished class, Yuan Huiniang said to Yan Qingqing, "Mom, there's an aunt in my family who makes a living selling mayfly chicks."
I told her that our family needs 10,000 chickens and 10,000 ducks, and she got excited, but she couldn't come up with that many all at once.
The current batch consists of two thousand chickens and five hundred ducks, which should be ready to leave the nest in about three to five days.
This year, we can raise a maximum of three thousand chickens and two thousand ducks. After that, when the weather gets colder, the daphnia won't be able to come out anymore.
As for the price, chicks, whether male or female, are priced at two coins each, while ducklings are relatively more expensive, costing three coins each.
"Mother, is this alright? If so, I'll pass on a message to my family."
Yan Qingqing then realized that Yuan Huiniang had returned to her parents' home today for this matter, so she smiled and said, "Of course, it's already quite a lot for one family to have so many."
Erlang often travels around the county town, and there are many vendors selling chicks on the streets and alleys.
"It's enough if he goes to the city every day and brings some back."
Li Xiang'an chimed in, "My brother told me about this this morning, and I've already spread the word. Today, several people selling chicks were waiting for me at the entrance of Yuelaiju."
But our family's organic orchard isn't finished yet, so I didn't dare bring any back today.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangjian quickly added, "We're already building the fence. Because we need so much barbed wire, I had to visit several blacksmith shops to order it all. It will probably be another two weeks before it's actually installed."
Unlike building an embroidery workshop, which requires time and effort to construct large brick and tile houses, ecological orchards still need to have proper protective measures in place, such as sturdy fences and wire mesh.
Yan Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "Erlang can buy some of them first and keep them in our old courtyard. We can put them in there after the place is repaired."
Also, buy some more geese. You don't need too many, about a hundred or so will suffice.
The chicks are too small to be free-range for now, because their low resistance and high mortality rate mean that Yan Qingqing doesn't want to go through the trouble of buying them back, knowing that she might not have many left.
Geese are excellent at guarding the house. With a hundred or so geese around, weasels and chicken thieves can be basically kept out.
Li Xiang'an quickly agreed, then looked at Yan Qingqing and said, "Mother, when I asked Manager Xue to buy horses, things have already made progress. He said that a batch of good horses will be coming from the foreign lands soon, and he will try to reserve one for our family."
Another issue is the matter of increasing the dosage of our family's "Flip Red" product. This was something we had already promised Manager Xue, but he didn't mention it because my mother was still in postpartum confinement.
Today I asked him to buy horses, and he finally couldn't resist anymore. I'm thinking maybe I should increase the supply to them.
Yan Qingqing nodded in agreement; it was indeed something she had promised Manager Xue. Besides, the weather was gradually cooling down recently, so making more wouldn't hurt.
So he replied, "Now that the business is in your hands, you can manage it as you see fit. But you can't just give us whatever they ask for; we still need to do some scarcity marketing."
After talking about so many things in one go, Yan Qingqing was also a little tired, so she told them to go back and rest.
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