Farmers have no shortage of straw in their fields.
"It seems that some people just burned it directly on the threshing ground, while others simply scattered some chaff in the field. The straw was generally used for firewood, as a straw mat, and also to feed the old oxen when they had nothing to eat."
"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, madam."
I see. So these aren't anything valuable. That's good.
They can acquire things that are not valuable by spending little or no money. This is very important to them now.
"Wife, do you know which family has a lot of rice husks and straw? We can buy some for less money."
Although she was puzzled as to why Cheng Qingyan would buy these things that no one else would, Ye Lingyu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take you to them when you need them."
They only had less than five taels of silver left, and they still needed to repair the courtyard wall. They didn't know if they could make it until next summer's harvest.
After the millet has been dried for a few days, the rice pounding process begins.
Pounding rice is also physically demanding and requires two people to work together.
Cheng Qingyan was supposed to be Ye Lingyu's assistant, but seeing that Ye Lingyu was very tired, she volunteered to help her for a while.
It's only been less than half an hour, and her arms are already so sore and tired that she can't lift them.
This kind of physical labor is really not something she and Ye Lingyu can do. They can do it for a short while, but if they have to work on several acres of millet like this, how will they survive?
She refused to do the remaining 500 jin herself. She wanted to hire someone to pound the rice for 50 coins a day. But Ye Lingyu disagreed. This time, they pounded less than a shi of rice, but it would be enough for them to eat for a while.
Once winter comes, there won't be much work to do in the fields, so we can take our time with these tasks and not spend money to finish them all at once.
When it comes to managing the household, Cheng Qingyan follows Ye Lingyu's advice. If Ye Lingyu says not to spend money to find someone, then she won't spend money to find someone.
She was even ridiculed by a worker who was about to take an order, who said it was shameful for a "grown man" to listen to a woman.
She didn't feel any shame or anything like that, and it didn't matter to her. Putting aside the fact that she was a woman herself, as far as she and Ye Lingyu were concerned about their life together, she felt that listening to Ye Lingyu was perfectly reasonable.
With these matters settled and the millet transported home, the work in the fields was considered to be over.
While she was looking for help to plow the land, the father and son who had been repairing the courtyard wall also came to fix it.
Because the mud bricks were prepared in advance, the entire courtyard wall was repaired by the time Cheng Qingyan returned from the fields.
The father and son even repaired their front door with wooden boards, saying it was a free repair and they didn't need to pay for it.
The cost of the mud bricks for the courtyard wall and the labor was a total of five hundred coins.
Renting oxen to plow the land, the labor cost plus the cost of renting the ox, amounted to thirty coins per mu (unit of land area).
Of course, Cheng Qingyan would only pay the thirty coins after inspecting the farmland and being satisfied with it.
The first plowing requires deep tilling, which is quite strenuous for both the oxen and the people, so the price of thirty coins was initially disagreed with by Old Man Wu.
However, Cheng Qingyan told Old Man Wu that she would have to plow the land at least twice, and possibly three or four times. She wouldn't lower the price for subsequent plowings, so she would pay thirty coins for the first deep plowing and thirty coins for each subsequent plowing.
So, in fact, Mr. Wu didn't lose out.
Before preparing to plow the land, they first set fire to the field to burn away the weeds.
The ash and smoke from burning grass were blown by the wind to the mountainside, creating the thick smoke. With the development of modern industry and urban emission reduction efforts, farmers have also joined the ranks of those banning burning.
After the fire was lit, Mr. Wu was notified.
The next day, Old Wu led his ox to work in the fields.
No wonder nothing can grow on this wasteland! There's only a thin layer of soil on the ground, and underneath that are rocks.
Large and small, mixed in the soil.
Every now and then, Old Wu would call Cheng Qingyan to help him carry stones. This went on until Cheng Qingyan began to suspect that the people who cleared the land had been lazy, or even that they were out of their minds!
Why would anyone choose to clear land in such a place! Suddenly, I feel a pang of regret for those five taels of silver!
Ye Lingyu was also picking up stones and grass roots in the field. She needed to clear these away, otherwise the land would be impossible to cultivate!
Meng Chuying initially just looked for wild fruits by the mountainside, but when she returned, she saw the person who had given her money before working in the fields.
The man complained as he worked, but unlike before, he wasn't always so menacing. She had secretly observed him; now he smiled a lot and didn't scare people anymore.
She stood not far away, looking at the large, charred field where the pretty woman was also busy.
She knew that older sister was the wife of the man who always liked to bully others.
I often saw her digging for wild vegetables in the mountains. I always thought I was miserable, but I never expected her to be even more miserable.
That fierce-looking person always bullies her! She has nothing to eat and has to go to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables almost every day.
Meng Chuying often saw her digging for wild vegetables, and sometimes she would also look for wild vegetables while looking for wild fruits.
It's awful to be hungry; that woman is so pitiful.
She felt very happy when she discovered that Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu were always coming and going together, and that Cheng Qingyan had stopped bullying Ye Lingyu and the villagers.
While I was happy, I also felt a little lonely because the older sister no longer went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables every day.
When I was running in the mountains, I rarely saw that older sister anymore.
Somehow, by the time Meng Chuying realized what was happening, she was already beside Ye Lingyu.
Without saying a word, she squatted down and helped Ye Lingyu pick up grass roots and pebbles.
Ye Lingyu looked at the little guy who had come to help without saying a word, and wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't.
She knew Meng Chuying; she often saw Meng Chuying when she was digging for wild vegetables on the mountain.
But when he realized she seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, he stopped trying to talk to her.
I couldn't help her, and I didn't know what to say to her, so I just pretended not to see it.
I never expected this child to come and help today. Has he become brave?
After Cheng Qingyan finished moving the stones, she saw someone next to Ye Lingyu. She wanted to see who was so kind as to come and help, so she ran over.
Unexpectedly, it was Meng Chuying. She was about to thank Meng Chuying when Meng Chuying ran off. Cheng Qingyan was left standing there, speechless and stunned.
"My dear wife, am I that scary? Or is there something on my face? Why did she run away as soon as she saw me?"
Ye Lingyu looked Cheng Qingyan up and down. His skin was fair and his face was clean, but his clothes were covered in dust.
"It's not scary. Maybe she had something to do and was in a hurry to leave."
Cheng Qingyan watched Meng Chuying's retreating figure as she ran away, saying, "I wanted to thank her for her help, but I didn't expect her to run so fast."
How many children in the village are not afraid of Cheng Qingyan?
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