Chapter 91 Chapter 91 Renting Livestock
"Left, a little more left. Yeah, that's right!"
"This courtyard wall must be rammed solid. No stone or material should be wasted. It's important to build it well and solidly!"
In early May, the weather had already warmed up, and work was in full swing on the Fan family's land. The sounds of chiseling stones and lifting wood could be heard from miles away.
Next to the old house of the Fan family, a new large house was built, facing the twenty houses.
Bricks, tiles, stones, wood... were piled up in several huge piles. Two work teams were responsible for building the houses. This was the busiest place during the day, and the farmers in the village who were having fun loved to come here to take a look.
It was almost noon and the sun was rising, shining brightly on people. Kang He brought a bucket of tea from the house and called out to the repairman who was repairing the house to have some water to quench his thirst.
When the farmers who were enjoying the cool under the big locust tree saw Kang He coming out, they flattered him by saying that the house was so spacious and luxurious that it was almost as big as the village head's house.
Kang He smiled, took the bowl, and called on the farmers who were watching to eat.
There was also someone who was sour-mouthed that he refused to drink Kang He's tea and said, "Kang He, your house is so spacious, and the outer walls are several feet high. Even a person with an ordinary ladder can't climb in. We are all from the same village, who are you guarding against?"
The person who spoke was a family surnamed Deng in the village. Three years ago, they accidentally started a business and made some money in the past few years. They have become a well-off family in the village.
When a small family suddenly becomes rich, it is inevitable that they feel that they have some talent for wealth and status, and they start to show off in the village.
But when you really see someone who has more money than you do, you can't help but feel jealous. Although you know you are far behind them, you still feel unwilling to accept it.
He thought about how poor the Fan family was in the past. When there was a disaster, their rice jar was empty and they had to borrow rice from their family. People who were even worse off than their family suddenly became rich.
In fact, I started my business only two or three years earlier than theirs, but I don't know how I was able to acquire so many properties.
Take the village for example. Now their family has 43 acres of cultivated land, and three tenant farmers farm for them.
He made a rough calculation and estimated that the harvest from the land alone could earn him hundreds of strings of cash a year.
It is not enough to just grow rice and grains, but some people know how to plan and plant things that can turn into money, like rapeseed.
There are more than ten acres of rapeseed fields, which bloom beautifully in the spring, making it seem as if half of the village is golden. One crop of rapeseed can produce hundreds of kilograms of oil after being harvested and pressed.
It would be fine if they just planted rapeseed, but they also set up beehives. The nectar they produced was sweet and fragrant. I heard that all the pastry shops in the city bought honey from the Fan family.
People grow rapeseed and beans, soybeans and mung beans, whatever you want.
What’s infuriating is that some people are good at everything, but the second uncle of the Fan family is not good at anything else, but he is very good at managing the fields. There is plenty of fertilizer at home and the land is good, so how can the crops not be productive?
Speaking of fat, we have to mention the livestock and poultry raised in the large sheds at the house, including chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits. Everyone in the surrounding area knows to go to the Fan family to buy poultry meat when they have a banquet.
Not to mention setting up a banquet and eating meat, you can even go to his house to buy livestock. He has cows, horses, mules, and donkeys. I don’t know where that man surnamed Mou got them from, and how he raised them.
This is still an industry in the village. The man also runs a shop in the city and the business is booming. I wonder how much he earns in a year.
If they earn less, how can the village build such a big house? And they still have to employ four or five people. Who wouldn't be jealous of the life they lead?
Mr. Deng just couldn't figure it out. Apart from the occasional skills he had acquired, he wanted to learn from the Fan family and run the business in more ways, but for some reason, it didn't work.
Last year, I wanted to learn from others and find a business on the land, so I planted some vegetables to sell. After working hard for a year, the profit and loss were barely offset, and it was all in vain.
The more he watched the Fan family prosper, the more uncomfortable he felt.
Kang He was not angry after hearing what the Deng family said. He smiled and said, "This high wall is to protect against those with bad intentions, but it's obviously not to protect Brother Deng. Don't be too suspicious."
Everyone laughed when they heard this. Deng felt like he was being made fun of, but he was too embarrassed to say anything.
The more he argued, the more it seemed as if he really wanted to gain something from others.
At noon, the Fan family had lunch at the other end of the old house.
The weather was scorching hot. Xiaoxiang, the farmhand we hired last year, made a dish of tender lettuce leaves mixed with homemade mountain pepper oil at noon. The dish was refreshing and delicious, which pleased everyone.
Xiaoxiang was rented here and usually helped with cooking, washing clothes, and there was also a long-term worker named Lian Si Ge who did some rough work.
At the dinner table, Father Fan ate a bowl of porridge and said, "This house should be finished in a month or so. It's been going on for four or five months, and there's always so much noise inside."
Chen Sanfang said to him, "You still think it's too noisy, but other people want to endure this kind of suffering but have to endure it too."
Upon hearing this, Father Fan smiled and thought that what he said was true.
Not only is his new house spacious, but the materials used to build it are all high-quality. The stones and bricks used for the walls alone cost dozens of strings of cash.
To complete the house, it would cost at least two hundred strings of cash. That's a lot of money. If you take this money to the city, you can buy a small house with two entrances.
Now, whenever he goes out or comes in, everyone looks up to him, Fan Shoulin, and everyone greets him with a smile first when they meet him.
Kang He and Fan Jing did not join in the quarrel between the couple. They sat on either side and watched Da Fu, who was sitting in the middle, eat.
This little fellow had already turned five years old in February. He had grown up just like the little tree outside and was as tall as the seven or eight-year-old children in the village. However, he was growing so fast that he was no longer as chubby as when he was young and looked a little thin.
Kang He thought Dafu was not gaining weight, so he scooped a spoonful of minced meat and stewed tofu into his bowl. Dafu took a round spoon, said thank you, Daddy, and mashed the stewed tofu and put it into his mouth along with the glutinous rice.
He is not picky about food and is even better behaved when eating than when he was a child. He doesn't need anyone to supervise him while he eats.
It seemed like Kang He and Fan Jing had never had to deal with children, and they didn't seem to be addicted to taking care of children. But in the blink of an eye, the children grew up and became more sensible and well-behaved.
They always found time to take care of the child, feeding him with a bowl of rice during meals and taking him to take a bath at night.
Dafu was a quiet man, and he didn't like to make a fuss. But one day, he couldn't bear it any longer, so he buried himself in Chen Sanfang's arms and cried sadly.
“I’m not a child anymore, I can eat and bathe by myself.
Daddy and Little Daddy always take care of me. Am I not smart? Am I really a stupid child? "
After hearing this, Chen Sanfang was both angry and amused. He coaxed Dafu for a while and then went to scold Kanghe.
The father saw that Dafu was well-behaved and rarely cried, so he said that he was afraid that the child was stupid and wanted to take him to see Doctor Zhu. He didn't know when he would say such things again. If Dafu heard it, he would probably be very sad and remember it in his heart.
She said to Kang He, "You two are still young. You should stop being so busy with business and take some time off to have a few more children. Then you won't think our Dafu is too sensible."
Kang Hejiao was speechless and dared not serve Dafu anymore.
"Where are you going this afternoon?"
Kang He looked at Da Fu and wiped his mouth and asked him what he wanted to do.
Dafu replied, "Brother Fifteen is coming to look for me. We are going to help Uncle Mou collect quail eggs. I told Uncle Mou this morning to save the eggs for the afternoon."
Fifteen is the boy from Xu Yang’s family, named Xu Anyan. Because he was born on the fifteenth day, his nickname is Fifteen.
He is a year younger than Dafu, but the two kids get along well.
Upon hearing this, Fan Jing said, "Then don't break the eggs."
"No. Uncle Mou taught me how to take quail eggs. Fifteen and I both know how to do it."
Dafu asked Fan Jing again, "On the 15th, he came here last time and saw the newborn bunny. He loved it. When he comes here later, can I give him a black bunny?"
Fan Jing responded, "Your uncle Yuan always brings you snacks, so it's only natural that you give a little rabbit to Shiwu."
Dafu was very happy. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, said something to the people at the table, and ran to the door to wait for Shiwu.
After a while, Yuan Ge'er brought Shiwu home.
The two little guys were so happy that they jumped and danced, holding hands and ran to the shed.
They could play in the shed all day long.
Yuan Ge'er brought a food box and made some glutinous rice and sweet lotus root. He took a plate of it for Chen Sanfang and the others to try, and left another plate for the two little ones to eat when they were tired of playing.
"He barely ate a few bites of lunch and he's already clamoring to come over to look for Dafu, not to mention asking him to take a nap before coming."
Chen Sanfang called Yuan Ge'er in to sit down and said with a smile, "Da Fu has been mentioned several times at the dinner table."
Kang He asked Xu Yang what he was busy with recently, as he hadn't seen him for two days.
Yuan Ge'er said that he had gone to the county and had just taken office as the county magistrate. He always called on the village heads to go and ask about some miscellaneous affairs in each village.
Fan Jing went to take a look in the shed and saw Dafu and Shiwu following behind Mou Dalang like his two little tails. Each of them was holding a small basket, gently picking up thumb-sized quail eggs and carefully placing them in the basket.
The little fellow found the quail eggs very interesting and kept pinching them. He found the spotted ones very interesting.
We now have hundreds of quails at home. These little quails are very willing to lay eggs, and the female quail lays almost one egg a day.
Dozens of female quails can lay dozens of eggs in a day.
Kanghe sells very well in the shop, even better than chicken eggs and duck eggs.
People think that quail eggs are small and exquisite. One quail egg costs a copper coin, so wealthy families buy thirty or fifty eggs to eat.
Last year, Kang He took some to He Xiaoqiu's shop to braise and sell, and also made some pine quail eggs, and the supply was still insufficient to meet the demand.
After a while, Kang He also came in.
He looked at the boy picking up quail eggs and then walked around the barn.
Mou Dalang said to him, "We've been raising the livestock ourselves for a while now. Several farmers have come to look at them, but none of them have bought any. Could we sell them to the city at a lower price?"
Kang He saw a few familiar-looking strong animals, which were eating grass and fodder with their heads buried like fools. They were the ones who ate the most in the shed, and their weight was growing day by day.
It's not a big deal if they can't sell the fish for such a long time and keep them at home. One or two is not a big deal, the important thing is that they have 20 or 30 fish of various types raised at home.
When the newly raised livestock grow up with great difficulty, they have to be sold for some money. However, a lot of expenses will be spent on raising them during the day, and the longer the time, the less money you will earn.
But if it is sold to the livestock market, the price is indeed low. Take a strong donkey for example. If it is sold to the livestock market, you may get twelve or thirteen strings of cash, but the other party will sell it for eighteen or twenty strings of cash.
If Kanghe sold the animals himself, instead of selling them at the high price of the livestock market, he could sell them for fifteen or sixteen strings of cash, which would be a good deal for ordinary people, and he could also earn a few strings of cash more than if he sold them to the livestock market.
For this reason, many farmers inquired about the price of their livestock and were willing to come to see them no matter how far away they were, and the livestock sold at a good price.
When it comes to business, it's hard to say whether it's always good to be stable.
Kang He was debating whether to sell them or not, when Fan Jing said, "If you don't want to sell them to the city, but you're tired of keeping them just eating and doing nothing, why not find some work for these strong animals?"
Kang He asked him, "Our family's land is worked by livestock in shifts. Aside from the three tenant farmers who come to borrow our livestock, when else can we teach them to work?"
Fan Jingdao said: "The renters cannot afford to buy animals and still want to use the animals to work."
When Mou Dalang heard this, he clapped his hands and said it was a good idea.
"Brother Kang may not know this, but every now and then someone comes to our house to borrow animals. They are relatives on both sides, so it's hard to refuse them.
But once the door is opened to borrowing, it's out of control. If we borrow from one family and not from another, people will start to find fault with us, and by then I'm afraid the whole village will be borrowing animals from us."
Old Man Fan also knew that this was not a good thing. Whenever he saw someone coming to borrow animals, if Mrs. Chen and Qiao'er were not at home, he would either lie in the house pretending to be asleep or sneak out through the back door.
I was the only one who was entangled with the people in the village.
People outside said that he was a bully, and sometimes even his husband and Doctor Zhu heard some of the unpleasant things he said.
Mou Dalang said, "If we use the animals as servants, not only can we earn some money, but it will also make the villagers feel embarrassed to borrow them for free."
"If they want to use the animals, they'll take the money and let them do whatever they want. It's unkind of them to not lend us money."
He had long wanted to find a time to talk to Kang He about the matter of people borrowing animals, but he was busy all day and had no chance to talk.
After hearing this, Kang He realized that he was busy with business outside all day and was really unaware of what was going on at home.
But if you think about it carefully, this is indeed something that would happen in the countryside.
"You should have discussed this with me earlier, so let's do it! Set a time and a price, and we'll get started."
In the past few years, Mou Dalang has been working very hard for the Fan family. At the beginning of last year, he married Zhu Dalang's apprentice. As the expenses of supporting a family increased, he raised her salary by 500 yuan.
He works at the Fan family, and Ji Ge'er still lives in the village. He said earlier that he was planning to bring his young father over to live with him so that he could take care of him more conveniently. That would be great.
Mou Sanlang happily agreed to the deal.
After that, Kang He said to Fan Jing with a smile: "Our brother Jing is also good at business planning, which is amazing."
Fan Jing was not impressed by his flattery. He thought to himself that he had no business intentions. It was just that a few days ago he ran into an old man outside who was carrying heavy objects home. He happened to be driving an empty cart and gave the man a ride for a while.
The old man said that if he had more money, he would also like to buy some livestock. However, some of these animals are more expensive than people, and it is difficult for ordinary people to save up money to buy them.
He also sighed and said that if there was such a suitable person, it would be nice to rent him for three to five days.
To rent livestock, you have to go to the county. Ordinary rural households are not willing to rent livestock to the livestock dealership. You have to pay a higher price and a deposit. It is very troublesome.
Fan Jing listened and remembered it right away when he heard about the livestock today.
The next day, Kang He went to the livestock market in the city and inquired about the rental price of livestock and related matters. After finding out everything, he went back and set the rental price for his own livestock.
In order of value, the cheapest is the donkey, followed by the mule, a hybrid of a horse and a donkey, then the cow, and the most valuable is the horse.
The Ma Fan family only has two males and two females, and they are the most common horses without any expensive breeds. Even so, it was Kang He who got them by going through various channels and asking around.
One horse costs thirty or forty strings of cash.
Although he had taught Mou Dalang to breed a pony, Kang He was still reluctant to rent the horse out to others. However, he thought that no farmer in the village would be willing to rent a horse.
That would be just cows, mules, and donkeys.
The daily rental price of a donkey in the county is forty coins, and the price fluctuates by three or five copper coins depending on the quality of the donkey. The prices of mules and cows are similar, both at fifty coins a day, and the rules are the same.
Usually, cattle are rented for manual labor, and mules are chosen for going out or for harnessing carts. In short, cattle are rented according to demand.
Kang He rented it at a price ten cents lower than the price in the city.
From morning to night, four hours, the deposit is one yuan.
The deposit is for the purpose of ensuring that the property is returned on time, and also to prevent those who do not cherish other people's property and abuse animals.
Within two days, someone came again with a flattering face to borrow animals. Mou Dalang explained to the person how to use the animals. When the person who came to borrow animals heard that the Fan family wanted to make money by renting animals, he left silently.
He turned around and rushed into the crowd to curse.
"You Fan family are really obsessed with money. You treat everything as a business. You charge money for a load of manure, and now you even ask for money for an animal."
"Otherwise, where would the money come from to build a mansion? A person really has to be ruthless and unfeeling, otherwise he won't make any money. I went to borrow a donkey from my brother's house, but it was just to help cut grass and feed a bowl of grain, but the Fan family asked for thirty coins a day."
There were still two people who were reasonable. They said, "You can't just say that. Outsiders can't compare with our brothers."
"The Fan family raises so many animals, provides them with food and medical care, and employs people to help take care of them. How can they borrow people to use the animals for free?"
"I didn't go there empty-handed. I also brought some vegetables with me."
"The Fan family doesn't lack these things. They have a lot of land and can grow anything."
"Wang San'er, the Fan family has done you so much good, and you've always spoken for them. If you don't go and ask for some wages, it would be a shame for you to protect the Fan family so well."
The few people parted on bad terms, but despite their talk and quarrel, after a few days, people began to take animals from Fan's house and take them home to use.
Even though there were so many people saying bad things about the Fan family, he still went to rent it with a smile on his face.
Spreading this everywhere didn't make people hate the Fan family, but it did make people know that the Fan family rented out livestock.
The price here is more affordable than in the city, and the rental location is closer. If you think about it carefully, isn’t it a very convenient thing?
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