When Da Ya and the others finished picking the locust flowers and were heading home, they saw Chen Laoda's wife carrying a load of winnowed millet back home.
As Chen's eldest daughter-in-law walked away, she cursed, "That damned, heartless merchant! I curse you to choke to death on your water or your food..."
Anping Village has a communal winnowing machine, which was purchased years ago by the village chief through contributions from each household. This winnowing machine is a treasure in their village; every household relies on this farm tool for winnowing grain.
A winnowing machine is a type of fan-driven machine used to remove chaff from rice and wheat. It is also known as a winnowing fan, chaff machine, or winnowing fan. It is a manually operated agricultural implement used to remove chaff, husks, and shriveled grains from grains for cleaning.
Before the widespread use of modern agricultural machinery, the winch was the most "mechanized" agricultural implement in rural areas. Essentially a manual blower, its function was to separate the grains and impurities from the milled cereals, thus purifying the grain.
The fan-driven machine is mainly used to remove chaff and impurities from grains. It consists of a frame, outer shell, fan, feed hopper, and regulating gate. During operation, grain is placed into the upper feed hopper, the fan is manually cranked, and air flows from below the hopper. Opening the regulating gate allows the grains to fall slowly under gravity. The less dense chaff and light impurities are blown out of the machine by the airflow, while the denser, fuller grains flow directly out of the lower discharge port. This separates the chaff from the grains.
The winnowing machine in their village was the most advanced agricultural machinery Chen Kai had seen here. It was quite advanced, and the person who made it must be a genius.
When Chen Laoda's wife saw Da Ya washing locust flowers, she said, "Locust flowers are something you should only eat once to try them out. One meal is enough. Eating too many will make your stomach uncomfortable."
Sophora japonica flowers are relatively cold in nature, and excessive consumption may damage the spleen and stomach, easily causing gastrointestinal discomfort such as abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea. However, the specific situation depends on individual constitution.
Daya said, "I know, Mom, we won't eat too much."
Chen Kai asked, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong with the millet?"
Chen Laoda's wife got angry whenever the topic of millet came up. She said angrily, "That heartless boss sold us a lot of empty grains and chaff. After passing through the winnowing machine, only half of a basket of millet was edible. After removing the husks, there was hardly any left."
Upon hearing this, Chen Kai realized it was indeed a rip-off; the reduction in the amount was too severe. However, with so many people from their family having gone there, they shouldn't have been fooled!
Chen Kai asked in confusion, "Sister-in-law, didn't you check the price of the millet when you bought it? How much did you pay per pound?"
His mother said that the price of millet was two coins less than that of rice, but he didn't ask how much it was. There were several different prices for rice, so how would he know which one they were comparing it to?
Chen Laoda's wife said, "We looked at it at the time, opened each bag of millet and looked at it. We also picked some millet and peeled it open. There were indeed some empty grains, but we thought the price was cheap, only 10 coins per catty, so we bought it."
Chen Kai was speechless; this was the consequence of trying to gain an advantage.
Chen Kai said angrily, "Sister-in-law, couldn't you have bought some better quality millet?" They dared to buy such cheap millet; I really can't believe it.
Chen Laoda's wife said, "Other millet is too expensive. Millet is divided into three grades: superior, medium, and inferior."
"Chen millet, top grade is 16 coins per catty, medium grade is 13 coins per catty, and low grade is 10 coins per catty."
"New millet, top grade is 26 coins per pound, medium grade is 23 coins per pound, and low grade is 20 coins per pound."
"Look how expensive other grains are."
So you all picked the cheapest one and bought it. What a bunch of idiots.
Chen Kai turned to go find his father. Their family's meager grain supply was far from enough to last until next year, so he needed to get his father to buy more.
When Da Ya saw Chen Kai about to leave, she asked, "Uncle, where are you going?"
Without turning his head, Chen Kai said, "Go find Dad."
Chen's eldest son's wife said, "Xiao Tian, you should come too, and keep an eye on your uncle."
As soon as they stepped out of the yard, Xiao Tian said, "Grain prices are going to go up."
Chen Kai asked, "Is it possible to buy food in time?"
Xiao Tian said, "It's too late."
Chen Kai frowned and asked, "How much will it go up?"
Xiao Tian said, "One coin."
Chen Kai sighed and said, "It would have been so much better if they had just bought 500 catties of grain. Instead, they insisted on buying the cheapest kind of millet. What a bunch of scoundrels."
On the way, they ran into Zhou Yu and his friends who were playing in the village.
Chen Kai walked over and asked, "Zhou Yu, was the grain your family bought last time the same as mine, millet that cost 10 coins per pound?"
Zhou Yu said happily, "Yes, Uncle. Our family and your family bought the same thing. We all bought it following our great-aunt's advice."
Including Chen Kai's sister's family, they were practically wiped out.
Chen Kai muttered, "From now on, I must go with them whenever they go to buy grain, at least I won't let them buy such cheap grain again."
Before long, they saw Zhou and the others. Chen Kai ran over and said, "Mom, let Dad take some money to buy grain later. Just buy rice, not millet. Buy more."
Zhou picked Chen Kai up and said with a smile, "My good son, why do you need to buy grain again?"
Chen Kai said, "Mom, the millet you bought last time, my sister-in-law sifted it in the winnowing machine today, and only half of the whole basket of millet is edible. After removing the husks, there will be even less edible millet left."
Zhou frowned and said, "How come the yield has shrunk so much? Fine, I'll ask your father to get some money to buy grain later."
Zhou then asked, "Let's not talk about that for now, my dear son. The ten acres of land you asked for have been plowed. What do you want to plant?"
Chen Kai said, "Mom, I want to grow vegetables. Let my sister-in-law plant some fast-growing vegetables."
Mrs. Zhou felt it was a waste to use all ten acres of land to grow vegetables, but since the land had already been cultivated and it was her good son who had asked her to do it, she had no choice but to comply.
When Chen Kai got home, he saw Chen Nong and the others poking around under the wall with sticks, not knowing what they were doing.
Chen Kai asked curiously, "Chen Shi, what are you doing?"
Chen Shi said, "Uncle, we need to get the mousetrap out. There are mice in our granary, and we need to use it to catch them."
Chen Nong said angrily, "There's a wooden barn in our house that a rat chewed a hole in, and the grain is spilling out. That nasty rat must have eaten a lot. If I catch it, I'll kill it!"
Upon hearing that rats had entered the granary, Zhou quickly put Chen Kai down and went to the warehouse while cursing.
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