So Song Anxin went to Sister-in-law Lin's house to ask her to come and help pickle duck eggs the next day. She also paid her for the five days she had worked there, as well as the money for making wooden buckets and basins, for a total of 186 coins.
She also had Lin Fengshou bring in some more earthenware jars. After all this, Song Anxin only had a little over one tael of silver left. However, she would have new income in three days, and there would be more in the future. Her family's business was finally starting to pick up.
It was clear that Sister-in-law Lin and Zhang Mei alone couldn't finish pickling everything, so Song Anxin went to ask Granny Han for help. Granny Han had helped before, was skilled and didn't talk much, but this time she would have to stay at Granny Han's house all day, and she would be paid twenty coins a day.
As Song Anxin left Granny Han's house, she happened to run into Stone's mother. Stone's mother seemed to be in much better spirits and greeted Song Anxin warmly. She even insisted on inviting Song Anxin in for a cup of tea, but Song Anxin politely declined, as she didn't want to run into that scoundrel, Drunkard Lin.
Looking at Stone Mother, Song Anxin remembered that Lin Fengshou seemed to have said that their family still owed the clinic a lot of money for medicine.
After catching rabbits, Lin Shitou would take them to the county to exchange for money to pay for medical expenses, but recently these rabbit-catching teams have been unable to catch any rabbits.
She thought for a moment and said, "If Stone Mother isn't busy at home, my family needs a day's work tomorrow. It's not hard work, and it's twenty coins a day. Would Stone Mother be willing to come?"
Zhang Mei has to collect duck eggs and do many other chores at home, and she also has to attend classes. We need to hire another person to help her manage.
Stone Mother stared in disbelief, her mouth agape. Twenty coins a day! Her husband couldn't even earn twenty coins a day. She quickly said:
"Sister-in-law Lin, no, no, I don't want money. You helped me before and let Shitou study with you. How can I ask you for so much money for doing some work?"
Song Anxin smiled and said, "Shitou already returned the favor to me with a rabbit. He also often came to my house to help out while he was studying there, so that's fair. I definitely have to pay him for this work."
After Song Anxin and Shi Tou's mother made their decision, she left. What worried her was that the salted duck egg business would grow bigger and bigger in the future, and she would definitely need to hire people for a long time. She would definitely need to set up a workshop to specialize in the salted duck egg business. Where should the workshop be located?
The wasteland behind her house is quite nice, but buying wasteland costs money, building a workshop costs money, hiring people costs even more money, and oh right, there's also the mushroom house. It's so difficult! The meager resources she has are not enough to make ends meet.
When Song Anxin returned home, Zhang Mei had just finished cooking. For dinner, they ate white flour pancakes with wild vegetables. The soup was made from a small piece of leftover bone from yesterday, and it was served with their own salted duck eggs—it was incredibly delicious.
The younger children, slurping their noodles, exclaimed that they must be living the life of gods.
After lunch, everyone gathered together to start class. The younger children were becoming more and more capable, not only able to recognize and write characters, but also gradually developing their own insights, making the class more and more lively.
Song Anxin was very satisfied. The most important thing about reading is to broaden one's mind and stimulate one's thinking. Even if one does not take the path of the imperial examination, it will still be beneficial in the future.
The next morning, Song Anxin's family started to get busy. Lin Fengnian and Lin Feng took down the soil, Lin Fenghe and his sister-in-law went to dig up red soil, and Lin Fengyao went to dig up grass to feed the rabbits.
"Fengnian's mother, we've arrived."
Granny Han and Stone's mother greeted each other with smiles as they entered through the courtyard gate. Second Sister-in-law Lin was to be paid, so they had to come early to avoid delaying things.
Song Anxin responded with a smile. She and Zhang Mei were at the well preparing to draw water to wash the duck eggs when they saw her and rushed over to help.
Yesterday, Old Zhang brought over a batch of duck eggs, and this morning, a woman from the village brought another batch. There are now more than two thousand duck eggs in the yard.
Yesterday, Lin Fengshou couldn't bear to leave so many duck eggs piled up in the yard, so he simply slept on the ground there.
It's alright in the middle of summer, but it won't be good when the weather cools down in autumn. People will freeze. So we have to build houses after the autumn harvest.
Thinking of the autumn harvest, something flashed through Song Anxin's mind. After arranging things, she took Lin Fenghe out. Both of them carried baskets on their backs. She left the courtyard and walked straight to the village entrance.
Lin Fenghe asked in confusion, "Mother, aren't we going to pick mushrooms in the back mountain?"
Song Anxin replied, "Let's go to your village head's house first before going up the mountain. I have some things to tell your village head."
Lin Lizheng's house was located at the entrance of the village, and it was a short walk from there.
"Uncle Village Head, is your wife home?"
Song Anxin called out to the village head's courtyard.
Lin Lizheng's house is the best house in the village. Although it also has mud walls, it has tiled roofs, which are much sturdier than their thatched roofs.
The village headwoman heard the noise and came out to see what was going on.
"It's Fengnian's mother and Fenghe! What brings you here so early in the morning?"
Lin Fenghe obediently greeted her, "Hello, village head lady."
Song Anxin replied with a smile, "Is Uncle Village Head home? I have something I'd like to discuss with him."
The village head was puzzled. What could Fengnian's mother possibly want from her husband? She hoped it wasn't some kind of argument. But Fengnian's mother seemed to be living a better life lately, and she hadn't been seen fighting with anyone. The village head just couldn't figure it out.
But she still greeted him politely, saying, "Yes, I'm here. Your village headman happens to be home. Fengnian's mother is really lucky to have come at such a convenient time."
If you're any later, your village head will be heading to the county government office. Come in quickly.
Song Anxin led Lin Fenghe into the courtyard with the village head. The village head's daughter-in-law was mending and washing clothes; she greeted Song Anxin with a smile, and Lin Fenghe also greeted her politely. The village head's two sons had gone to the fields, and her grandchildren had probably gone up the mountain to chop firewood and gather wild vegetables.
"Old man, someone is looking for you."
Lin Fenghe greeted everyone, "Hello, Grandpa Village Head!"
Lin Lizheng turned around and was immediately surprised. "Fengnian's mother, what brings you here? What do you want with me?"
Lin, the village head, changed into a set of unpatched clothes and put on cloth shoes, indicating that she was indeed going to the yamen (government office). This was perfect; after she mentioned this matter, the village head could immediately go to the yamen and the higher-ups could expedite the production.
She began, "Uncle Village Head, is the county government here to discuss the autumn harvest?"
Lin Lizheng nodded. There were still about ten days until the autumn harvest. At this time of year, the county would always summon the village heads to the government office to give them some instructions on the autumn harvest.
Why is Fengnian's mother so concerned about this?
"Fengnian's mother, why are you asking this?"
Song Anxin slowly said, "I once saw a kind of agricultural tool in a book called a threshing machine."
It only requires a person to step on a pedal and put the end with the rice in, and it will automatically thresh the grains. The speed is extremely fast; a stack of rice can be threshed in moments, and a hundred pounds of rice can be threshed in half an hour.
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