Mrs. Zhou asked in confusion, "My dear son, if we've told them all about this method, how are we going to make money?"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Xiao Tian and I saw a method for raising earthworms in a book. It looks quite simple. If we can raise them successfully, our family won't have to work so hard to dig up earthworms anymore, and we can even sell them directly."
Mrs. Zhou exclaimed excitedly, "Really? My dear son, earthworms can be raised?"
Chen Kai gestured for Xiao Tian to nod with his eyes.
Mrs. Zhou said, “My dear son, there are still many ungrateful people in this world. Just because you are kind to others doesn’t mean they will be grateful to you. Our family can tell them these two methods, but they have to pay for them. After they pay, our family will tell them the methods.”
Chen Kai asked, both amused and exasperated, "Mom, how much money do you want them to pay?"
After thinking for a moment, Zhou said, "If you want to know the method, you must pay five coins, and it's five coins for each item."
Chen Kai laughed and said, "Alright, alright, Mother, I'll have someone spread the word. You can just sit back and collect the money."
Sanya asked, "Grandma, can my maternal grandma's family not charge me?"
Zhou said, "Am I that stingy, Grandma? Alright, our Chen family's daughter-in-law's family doesn't need to take any money. We need to make them remember that they are the ones who benefited from our family."
Afterwards, Chen Kai asked Xiao Bao's three older brothers to find a large wooden box, collect some cow dung and straw from the house, cut some weeds, put all these things into the wooden box, put some earthworms in, and cover it with straw.
Earthworms can be raised using box rearing or pit rearing methods.
For box rearing, the best container is a wooden box with small holes at the bottom for drainage. The potting mix can be made from decomposed cow dung, cardboard, crop stalks, weeds, or mule/horse manure.
Earthworms can feed on cardboard boxes, waste cooking oil, apple peels, carrot peels, and sediment from kitchen dishwater. The breeding environment should be low in noise and vibration, with moderate humidity and appropriate lighting.
Pit rearing involves using earthen pits, brick pits, old animal pens, under eaves, corners, or even a stone-built breeding pond. For this method, the pit depth should ideally be around 50 centimeters; the size is not critical. Add fermented nutrient soil to the pit before introducing the earthworms. Later, a thin layer of feed can be added to the soil, and soil moisture should be carefully controlled.
Looking at the large wooden box, Zhou said in surprise, "My dear son, can we raise earthworms like this?"
Chen Kai nodded and said, "Yes, Mother. But this is just a trial first. If it works, we'll dig a bigger pit to raise it later."
Zhou looked at it for a while longer, but couldn't figure it out, so she went to get busy.
As Chen Laoda's wife was killing field mice, she called out, "Er Ya, come here for a moment and help me wash these field mouse skins clean and take them out to dry."
Seeing that the field mouse skins were peeled off very neatly, Chen Kai asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, what are these field mouse skins for?"
Chen's wife said with a smile, "Little brother, we'll use these field mouse pelts to make insoles for you. They'll be very warm to wear in winter."
Chen Kai asked, "Sister-in-law, how do you tan leather?"
Chen Laoda's wife said, "Treating hides is very simple. Just wrap the hide tightly in wood ash, bury it in dry soil, and after a while the hide will be treasured and you can dig it out."
Tanned hides, also commonly referred to as "tanned hides," were traditionally made by soaking dried hides in water with straw ash and then "burning" them. After being air-dried, the hides became softer, and the fur adhered more firmly. Tanning raw hides resulted in white, soft, beautiful, and elastic hides with good insulation, allowing for long-term storage and making them an excellent material for winter use.
Chen Kai said happily, "Then let's catch more field mice and make more leather insoles."
Suddenly, Er Ya said, "If only we could hunt wolves, we could make a wolfskin coat for Uncle."
Chen Kai felt he didn't need a wolfskin coat, so he said, "I don't want one. If we can hunt wolves, let's make a wolfskin coat for Xiao Tian."
Er Ya said, "It's fine to give it to Xiao Tian too!"
Xiao Tian rolled his eyes; he didn't want it either.
Old Man Chen saw that Chen Nong and his friends' mousetraps could catch field mice, so he sold them to the villagers for one coin each. Many families bought one, and some skillful people even made their own. As a result, a craze for catching field mice swept through Anping Village.
At the same time, Old Man Chen also asked those who went out to collect ground frost to take some mousetraps to other villages to sell, also at one coin each.
Just then, Chen Lao Er's wife returned from the county. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she said happily, "Mother, that Bai Lian is going to marry that old geezer tomorrow. It's so satisfying!"
Zhou said, "We haven't heard from that vixen for a long time. Let her set her sights on our family. It's her own fault for marrying that old geezer."
Soon, the women in the house started cursing Bai Lian all at once.
Listening to it, Chen Kai felt like a large flock of ducks quacking in his ear, it was so noisy that he couldn't stand it anymore, so he had to go outside.
Xiao Tian couldn't stand it anymore and went out with him.
Chen Kai strolled off to find his fourth brother. He wanted to organize a running race and games competition so that the villagers could help themselves or others in case of a flood. However, only men could participate in the games competition; in ancient times, it was considered immoral for women to show even a little bit of their arms or legs.
When Chen Kai found his fourth brother, his brother was picking fruit, and there were also many children in the village picking fruit there.
Chen Kai walked over and said, "Fourth Brother, I'd like to organize an event at the end of this month, including a running race and a game competition."
"Long-distance running competitions include 100-meter sprints, 1,000-meter and 3,000-meter races, and relay races."
"Swimming competitions include individual events as well as team events."
"The top three in each competition will receive a prize, which is tentatively set as a black mask."
"In the running race, the first place winner gets 10 jin of black flour, the second place winner gets 5 jin of black flour, and the third place winner gets 2 jin of black flour. In the game competition, the first place winner gets 15 jin of black flour, the second place winner gets 10 jin of black flour, and the third place winner gets 5 jin of black flour."
"I will notify you if there are any changes to the prizes later."
This was a decision made by Chen Kai and Xiao Tian after discussion. The purpose was to motivate the villagers, encourage them to exercise more, and improve their endurance and swimming skills so that their survival rate would increase when floods occurred.
The children around were thrilled to hear that there was fun to be had and rewards to be won.
One of the children asked, "Can we participate?"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "You can all participate."
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