Chapter 211 October, I wish I wasn't my father's child, right?
(Thanks to reader 20210927202656356 for casting 5 monthly tickets.)
To everyone's surprise, it didn't even take half a month; in just twelve days, all the land in Liujiatun was harvested.
We were lucky; the weather has been exceptionally good for the past ten days or so. If we keep turning the grain in the drying yard, it only takes two hours to dry it completely.
Moreover, Li Shiyue defied public opinion and built this drying ground into a very large area.
Isn't this where the advantages become apparent?
The drying area is large, and each household has a sizable space to dry their produce.
And at the beginning, all the land could be spread out to dry, because the first land harvested was the land of the Wang family, which was closest to the land.
In just two and a half days, a group of people not only harvested all the land in Wangjia Village, but also dried it out!
This speed exceeded everyone's expectations; even Li Shiyue herself hadn't anticipated that the collective power would be so great!
On the thirteenth day, Yan Jiuniang, who had already tanned two shades darker, followed Li Shiyue and the others to the wasteland they had reclaimed during the earlier spring planting.
Currently, only these ten acres of wasteland in Liujiatun remain unharvested.
Originally, Li Shiyue only intended to take his own people to the wasteland to collect the crops, but on the way, they unexpectedly encountered Li Wangjin and his group by the riverbank.
Not only were there a dozen or so men from the Li family, but also three or four men from the Wang family.
Because Li Wangjin's wife, Wang Xiangxing, had a good relationship with Erdan's mother, Li Wangjin was pushed forward by the crowd.
Li Wangjin is actually a man of few words in front of outsiders, but he can talk more in front of his wife, Wang Xiangxing.
So now that he's been pushed to the front, Li Wangjin, whose face was tanned dark from working for the past ten days or so, is so flushed that no one can tell he's been pushed to the front.
He held the sickle and looked at Li Shiyue sitting on the carriage. He opened his mouth for several breaths, and finally opened his mouth and spoke under Li Shiyue's questioning gaze: "Everyone has finished working on their land, and there's not much work to do, so I just wanted to come and work with you."
After saying that, Li Wangjin couldn't open his mouth anymore and couldn't utter a single word.
Finally, a man from the Wang family stood up and said, "October, we all thank you for leading everyone to work, and we thought we'd come and work with you again."
You said that there is strength in numbers and that more people means faster work.
We don't need your grain; we're just thanking you. We're willing to work for you for free.
"Yes, we don't want grain, we're willing to work for you for free."
"Yes, it's all free work. Let us come along?"
"Yes, let us go!"
Yan Jiuniang, with her face that finally resembled that of a country girl, winked at Li Xiatian beside her. Li Xiatian lowered his head and whispered to Yan Jiuniang.
"They're not here to thank October, are they?"
They've seen that following October really brings benefits, which is why they're trying to curry favor with her.
"That's right! That's right!"
They weren't like this before!
Now they're saying they'll let us work for free!
"Hmph, you've certainly got a good plan!"
Li Shiyue naturally did not refuse their request; she felt that she still had the ability to use their labor for free.
Isn't the benefit she brought to Liujiatun this autumn harvest worth having these ten or so men work for her for free for a day?
Therefore, by the afternoon, all the grain on these ten acres of wasteland had been harvested.
Not only did they harvest the grain, but they also caught a brood of rabbits in the field!
As soon as Li Shiyue saw the rabbits, the idea of building a rabbit farm came to mind.
Humans cannot live without eating meat, but chickens are raised to eat chickens, and a household raising five or six hens is not considered a small number;
There aren't many people raising pigs nowadays. At the market in Qingsong Town, which opens on the 5th and 8th of each month, Li's mother and her family did encounter people selling piglets.
But these things are really hard to keep now. They need to be fed at least twice a day, and you have to build a fairly large enclosure. They also smell a lot.
Unlike raising chickens, which can be free-range during the day and return home on their own in the evening.
As for ducks, Liujiatun is a suitable place to raise them, since there is a fairly large river at the end of the village.
But didn't Li Shiyue and his group build a paper mill on the riverbank?
Raising ducks will inevitably have an impact on the water source.
Therefore, it's not easy to raise ducks.
After thinking it over and over, Li Shiyue remembered the rabbit.
Rabbits are great! They reproduce quickly, and you don't need a lot of space to raise them. Just build a burrow with bricks and arrange for someone to feed them hay on time every day.
Although rabbits don't have much meat on them, they still have some meat and rabbit skin. This is a good opportunity to make more money. When the market opens in the future, we can sell one more item and earn more money, right?
So, all six rabbits in the litter were tied together and given to Erdan's mother by Li Shiyue.
At first, Erdan's mother thought that Li Shiyue was being considerate of her, a widow raising Erdan, and wanted to give them food.
When Li Shiyue saw Erdan's mother refusing to eat it, she said, "Auntie, I didn't mean for you to take it back to eat."
There's just no room left in my yard; the horses, mules, and chickens are taking up a lot of space.
Could you take them back and raise them for me for a few days, and see how many survive?
If a lot of them survive, I'm thinking of finding a place at the foot of the mountain to build a rabbit farm; that would be a good business.
"From now on, Auntie, you'll be a rabbit handler, okay?"
Erdan's mother looked into Li Shiyue's eyes, then at the string of rabbits. She nodded emphatically and solemnly said to Li Shiyue, "Okay!"
Don't worry, your aunt will take good care of her!
The next few days will be the final days of the autumn harvest. After the harvest is finished, let the children pick through the remaining grains carefully. They should be able to find some grains.
The adults had to till the land, repair the ditches and ridges, so they were quite busy.
However, amidst the busyness, Li Shiyue served as the officiant for Ma Zi and Wei Zi's wedding, and two more happy events were held in Liujiatun.
Ma Zi and Wei Zi were already on good terms, so when it came to their wedding, they decided to have it all done in one day.
The banquet was arranged in the threshing ground, which was large and had plenty of room.
Neither Zhao Yan's nor Sun Xiaodou's families were picky. They gave generous dowries to Ma Zi and Wei Zi, and the wedding banquet was also very lavish. So the two families agreed to hold the wedding on the same day.
As Li Shiyue sat on the threshing ground for a meal in the evening, the occasional wisps of hair on her forehead were blown by the wind. Watching the village children running around wildly, taking a bite from one table and another from another, and listening to their shouts and cries as they ran, Li Shiyue felt a sense of peace and tranquility.
"Come on, drink!"
With her eyes glazed over from drunkenness, Yan Jiuniang held up a small wine cup to Li Shiyue.
Li Shiyue took the wine cup, tilted her head back and drank the whole cup of wine in one gulp. After putting the cup down, she went to "snatch" the wine cup from Yan Jiuniang's hand.
"Okay, give it to me."
You've had enough to drink today, let's drink again next time.
"many?
Not many, not many, where are there many?
I want more! I want more!
"Will you drink with me in October?"
Why would Li Shiyue let Yan Jiuniang drink again?
Yan Jiuniang looked like she was about to collapse.
However, Li Shiyue still echoed Yan Jiuniang's words: "Okay, okay, drink, I'll drink with you."
As she said this, Li Shiyue snatched the wine cup from Yan Jiuniang's hand, put it down, and pulled Yan Jiuniang into her arms.
Yan Jiuniang was brought into Li Shiyue's arms, which didn't surprise her at all. She even rubbed her head against Li Shiyue's shoulder a couple of times.
"Mother, I'll take Ninth Sister back first; she's drunk."
Li's mother wanted to go back with her, but Li Shiyue refused, saying that she was tall enough and that Yan Jiuniang was much lighter; she could easily lift her up with one hand.
Li's mother didn't insist on anything. After giving Li Shiyue a few instructions, she watched Li Shiyue stand up, help Yan Jiuniang up, turn to the side, and with a little effort, carry Yan Jiuniang on her back.
On the way back home carrying Yan Jiuniang on her back, Yan Jiuniang, with her eyes closed, mumbled in Li Shiyue's ear, "Shiyue, I wish I wasn't my father's child, right?"
Then I can find a man I like, hold a joyous and lively banquet like this, and get married to him, right?
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