The Chen family set off for town early the next morning.
Old Man Chen and Mrs. Zhou first led everyone to the place where cattle were sold. They picked out a total of seven cows. The prices of the cows varied, with cows being more expensive than bulls. Mrs. Zhou bargained with the bailiffs and finally spent a total of twenty taels of silver, plus a lot of ropes for leading the cows.
After buying the cattle, Old Man Chen first had his eldest and second sons take the cattle to their uncles' and eldest sister's families, and then everyone else went to buy their own cattle. He left the fourth and fifth sons with Chen Kai and his nephews and nieces.
After they parted, Chen Kai said in a coquettish tone, "Fourth Brother~, Fifth Brother~, I want to buy a few rabbits to raise."
Old Chen patted Chen Kai's head and said with a smile, "Of course, let's go to the place to buy small animals now."
“If there’s anything you want to raise, you can tell your fourth uncle, and he’ll pay for it.” Then he turned to the others and said.
When they arrived, the children were very excited, looking around and touching everything. The market sold all kinds of small animals, including common ones like chickens, ducks, fish, and pigs, as well as snakes and field mice, which are harder to catch.
The children were overwhelmed by the choices and didn't know which animals to buy. Chen Kai and Xiao Tian, however, embarked on a shopping spree, spending all the money they had brought. They bought a total of ten chicks (two males and eight females), two rabbits (one male and one female), and a sow.
After the two of them ran out of money, seeing that the children hadn't decided yet, Chen Kai started urging Daya and the others to buy geese, saying, "Daya and Erya, you should buy geese. I heard that geese are very protective of their owners, and their pecking is really painful. If anyone dares to bully you in the future, just let the goose peck them."
When Da Ya and the others heard Chen Kai say that, their eyes lit up and they said, "Then let's buy geese!"
Xiao Tian couldn't help but laugh when he imagined the scene of each of them being followed by a large goose.
Hearing Xiaotian's laughter, Daya turned around in confusion and asked, "Xiaotian, what are you laughing at?"
Xiao Tian suppressed a laugh and said, "It's nothing, big sister. I just thought that you two would look really cool taking the goose out in the future, and no one would dare to bully you. I'm happy for you."
After paying the deposit, Chen Laosi took the group to other places to shop. They asked the vendors to mark the items they bought, and they would pay the remaining amount and take the items back when they returned.
While shopping, Chen Laowu saw that Da Ya and the other girls were staring at the hairbands and hair accessories but were reluctant to buy them. He said he would pay for them so that they could pick out more, and also pick out a few for Zhou Shi and her two sisters-in-law.
After the girls had chosen their items, when Chen Laosi was about to pay, Da Ya and Er Ya bargained with the shop owner for a long time, getting him to throw in several headbands and some small accessories before they finally left satisfied.
After shopping for so long, the group was hungry. Since they had some money this time, they bought a bunch of meat buns, ate one each, and also brought one for each of their family members.
When we got home, everyone had bought a lot of things, including cages for the small animals and other odds and ends, which filled the whole car.
A few days later, the new sleds began to be sold in the county town and other towns, with prices fluctuating around two taels of silver, eventually stabilizing at one and a half taels. As soon as the new sleds came out, they were snapped up by many wealthy people and merchants. The government also secretly made a batch and put them on sale, but the supply still could not meet the demand.
Some people found out that the new sled was invented by the Chen family, and went to Anping Village to buy the new sled from the Chen family. However, the Chen family also said that they did not have any extra new sleds, and no one came after that.
With the new sleds, the Chen family finished cultivating all the fields in about ten days.
It was time for breeding, and Chen Kai saw that his father had soaked a lot of rice seeds. He asked in surprise, "Dad, why did you soak so many rice seeds? Even if some of them are unusable, this is still too many?"
Old Man Chen sighed and said, "My dear son, some of these seeds won't sprout, and some will be eaten by insects, so we'll have to replant them!"
Chen Kai said, "Dad, it's such a waste to only plant half of this land."
Old Man Chen frowned and said, "The other half of the land cannot be cultivated, otherwise the soil will not be fertile enough."
Chen Kai said, "Dad, don't worry about the land lacking fertilizer. Xiao Tian and I have read about many ways to compost in books. Even if we cultivate the rest of the land, we can continue to cultivate it next year."
Old Man Chen asked excitedly, "My good son, what does the book say?"
Chen Kai said, "The book mainly mentions several methods of composting, namely composting, tamping and manure treading."
"The composting method involves digging a pit in the field, putting in weeds, wood ash, and tree branches and leaves, and then using high temperatures and rainwater to decompose the weeds into fertilizer."
"Composting is mainly a process of mixing straw, weeds, mud, household waste and other materials with animal excrement to make fertilizer."
"The treading method is a type of composting. Plants are spread in a layer in the animal pen, and they decompose through the trampling and excrement of the animals, thus becoming fertilizer."
At this moment, Xiao Tian spoke up and said, "It's just like what Uncle usually does: he lays out dry grass in the cowshed, the cows defecate on it, then trample on it, mixes the dry grass and manure together, and then piles it up to decompose, which becomes fertilizer."
Xiao Tian continued, "Grandpa, Xu Guangqi's manuscripts record a method for preparing 'fecal pills'? I think this method is very good, and it can also kill insects. The main ingredients are human excrement, animal excrement, poultry excrement, sesame cake, soybean cake, black beans, animal carcasses and internal organs, hair and blood, etc., plus alum or sulfur, mixed together, sealed in a pit, and after it has decomposed, it can be dried, crushed, and used?"
When Old Man Chen heard Chen Kai and Xiao Tian mention so many things, he asked in surprise, "Do we really need so many things? Do we have all of these things at home?"
Chen Kai smiled and said, "It's alright, Dad! We have most of these things at home, and if we don't have them, we can find substitutes. Besides, we grow soybeans, right? After we harvest the soybeans, the roots left in the ground will decompose and fertilize the soil. Wood ash is also fertilizer, which can make the soil more fertile."
Old Man Chen said happily, "My good son is really great! Studying makes all the difference. Let's try these composting methods first. But the remaining land is our food supply for next year, so we can't touch it. If it works well this year, we'll plant all the land next year."
Old Man Chen took a sip of water and continued, "Later, I'll have the fourth and fifth brothers go with Xiao Tian to find materials for composting, and then dig a pit to compost."
“Yes, Father!” Chen Lao Si and Chen Lao Wu replied.
Chen Kai thought that his father was really efficient at taking action sometimes, arranging everything so quickly.
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