Chapter 13 Sowing the Seeds of Hope
Chen Yao quickly stepped forward to check, and saw dozens of plump white silkworms in the winnowing basket, gnawing along the edges of the mulberry leaves, making a rustling sound. Some were even holding their heads high and starting to spin silk to make cocoons.
Yang Wenying had heard of silkworms, but had never seen such soft and plump insects in person, so she was scared.
"Grandma, did you rely on raising silkworms and reeling silk to make up for the rent in the past?" Chen Yao stepped forward and held the winnowing basket for her.
Grandma Goudan reached out to touch the edge of the winnowing basket and nodded slowly. "There are mostly mulberry and mulberry trees on the hills near our village. Before the war, we relied on silkworm rearing for a living. The cocoons could be used as rent. But after the new emperor ascended the throne, the stewards ordered that we only accept grain, not cocoons."
The land in the village was not suitable for growing crops, and the yield per mu was not even enough to feed the family for a year. Unable to pay the rent, the children were taken to the eastern suburbs quarry, leaving these useless old people to guard the empty room.
"You are all good children. If you don't mind, take these silkworms away. If you leave them with me, I can't continue to take care of them." When Grandma Goudan said this, her face revealed a reluctance that she herself could not even detect.
Yang Wenying quietly tugged at Chen Yao's sleeve and shook her head at her. The meaning was obvious: don't raise these disgusting silkworms.
"By the way, I have a lot of dried mulberries at home. You can take them all!" Grandma Goudan turned around and went back to the house again.
Huang Dongsheng is brave and is not afraid of these fat silkworms at all.
But he was very curious, so he reached out to catch one and see how they could spit out so much silk thread.
Before he could touch the silkworms, Chen Yao slapped him and said, "Don't touch them."
"Cousin, you don't really want to raise one, do you? We don't have the time to raise one. Besides, we don't even know if there are any mulberry trees on the hills near our village."
Huang Dongsheng's ideas rarely coincided with hers, and Yang Wenying quickly agreed, advising her not to raise silkworms. Even though she knew that silk reeling from silk cocoons could be used to make gorgeous clothes, they didn't have the extra energy to do that now.
"Good children, are you still there?" Grandma Goudan came out leaning on a wooden stick and carrying a sack in her hand. She didn't hear any noise in the yard and asked.
Chen Yao asked her cousin to take the dustpan and went forward to support Goudan's grandmother: "Yes, we are here."
Grandma Goudan handed the sack to Chen Yao, who took it and opened it to see that the dried mulberries inside were clean and large.
"During famine, when there's no food at home, every household will store these to fill their stomachs. Don't be disgusted, take some too."
"Grandma, what are you doing?" Chen Yao was holding the sack and felt that it weighed a thousand pounds.
She gave silkworms and mulberries, but she had nothing to eat and nothing to worry about. It seemed that she did not intend to live long in this world.
"I'm old, and you're still young. I can rest assured if I leave these things to you." Grandma Goudan started pushing Chen Yao out, "It should be getting dark soon. You should go back and don't let your family worry."
Chen Yao refused to budge no matter how she pushed him: "Grandma, if you trust me, why don't you let the old people in the village continue to raise silkworms, and I'll collect the cocoons. When they are sold, I'll give you money or grain. Is that okay with you?"
"Children, I know you have a kind heart, but no one will want these cocoons. How much money and food can your family have to support us old people? Don't do meaningless things." Grandma Goudan pushed the three children out.
Chen Yao placed the sack at Goudan's grandmother's feet and asked Huang Dongsheng to return the winnowing basket. "Let me tell you the truth. My family wants to earn money to redeem our relatives from the quarry early."
When Grandma Goudan heard this, her cloudy eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.
Seeing that she had listened, Chen Yao continued, "But you can't make much just by selling tofu. Today, you brought out these silkworms, and I wanted to try it out. If I reel them into silk and sell it to the embroidery shop, wouldn't I be able to make more money?"
Grandma Goudan's hands holding the winnowing basket were shaking constantly, and Chen Yao helped her steady them.
"Child, what you said is true. It would cost a lot of money to redeem the person. Is there really anyone who wants this cocoon now?"
"How do you know if you don't try? It's just a matter of spending some manpower. What if it works?" Chen Yao sowed the seeds of hope.
Goudan's grandmother swallowed hard before finding her voice again: "For the sake of my children and grandchildren, I'm willing to give it a try, good boy. I'll tell others what you mean, but I can't guarantee they'll agree."
When Chen Yao and his group left Wanhe Township, the sun had already set into the mountain stream. Although the burden on their shoulders was very light, their mood became increasingly heavy.
"Ayao, you let them raise silkworms, not because you really want to collect the cocoons and reel silk to sell, but because you want them to have something to do so they can survive, right?"
Yang Wenying looked back at the desolate village covered with weeds and unconsciously quickened her pace.
Huang Dongsheng also looked at his cousin with an expression that said, "Is that what she said?"
Chen Yao was amused by their imagination. She handed the burden on her shoulders to Yang Wenying and looked at the towering mountains around her: "Of course not, I really want to raise silkworms."
"ah!"
Yang Wenying and Huang Dongsheng exclaimed in unison.
Chen Yao simply told the two of them her thoughts as they walked.
Although the Daduo Dynasty was only established in its early days, the aristocratic families had been around for thousands of years and had been running the business for generations. How could they be short of food and clothing? The purpose of stockpiling grain was simply to prevent another war.
Wanhe Township is not suitable for growing crops, but it can develop other agricultural and sideline industries.
"Cousin, what are agricultural and sideline industries?" Huang Dongsheng was as if he was listening to a foreign language. He was a little curious. Why did his cousin talk to him about the emperor?
What do these things have to do with the tenant farmers? The emperor doesn't care about the tenant farmers.
Chen Yao patted Huang Dongsheng on the shoulder and said, "Cousin, our only loss is that we haven't been educated."
Huang Dongsheng scratched his head. "Cousin, what does this have to do with studying? Zhao Xiaofu in the village did go to school, but he was a slave and even worse than us."
Village Chief Zhao's family were servants of a powerful clan, and the villagers secretly called the village chief a lackey.
"If you are well-educated and sensible, you will know how to adapt to local conditions. If the land is not suitable for growing crops, you should plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms. The manager here only collects grain and not silk cocoons. What will happen to this piece of land?"
After Chen Yao finished speaking, Yang Wenying put down the burden on her shoulders in shock, "How do you know so much?"
Yang Wenying looked Chen Yao up and down, and her intuition told her that the confident woman in front of her was not the Chen Yao she knew.
But she didn't dare tell anyone.
Huang Dongsheng was confused and still didn't understand.
"Forget it. You won't understand even if I tell you now. You'll see when the time comes, and then you'll know whether what I said is true or not." Chen Yao broke off a piece of dogtail grass by the roadside, held it in her mouth, and walked in front of the crowd.
Huang Dongsheng glanced at Yang Wenying and saw that she was still standing there stupidly. He took up the burden for her and said, "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and follow your cousin. If you get lost, we won't come back to look for you."
Yang Wenying came to her senses and looked at Chen Yao who was walking in front. She felt a little scared. If she really was not Chen Yao, would it be okay for her to follow her back?
Woo-wah——Gu-ga——
Suddenly, a strange cry was heard in the mountains.
Yang Wenying ran forward and caught up with Chen Yao and Huang Dongsheng.
When she heard Chen Yao and Huang Dongsheng say that they would not go to the drying yard tomorrow morning but would go to the wasteland to plant soybean seeds, she immediately threw away the absurd idea in her mind.
How could she not be Chen Yao?
Chen Yao loved to tend to the fields in the past, isn’t it the same now?
Yang Wenying comforted herself in her heart that Chen Yao was just a little smarter than ordinary people, and was not possessed by a demon.
When it was completely dark, the three children had just stepped onto the bridge when they saw Huang Xing and Miao from the village entrance rushing towards them with torches in their hands.
"Mom!" Huang Dongsheng and Shen Yao shouted together and quickened their pace.
Huang Xing pulled Chen Yao, and Miao pulled Huang Dongsheng, both looking him up and down: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."
Yang Wenying felt sad when she saw this. If her mother were still alive, she would probably care about her like this.
"Wenying is tired, go home quickly. Auntie has boiled some hot water for you and left some food for you. Let's go home!" Huang Xing held a child in each hand.
Chen Yao looked at Yang Wenying in the light of the torch and saw that her eyes were red. She did not make fun of her, but instead took the opportunity to act coquettishly with Huang Xing.
"Mom, you are so kind to us."
After Huang Dongsheng put the burden at his uncle's house, he took the counting rope from home and went back with his mother.
The main house of the Shen family.
As Chen Yao ate her bean porridge, she glanced at the oil lamp that was lit nearby. "Mom, are you out today?"
This oil lamp is lit with rush, which was not available a few days ago.
Huang Xing sat by her husband's bed. The couple watched their children eat. They didn't expect their daughter to be so attentive.
"Yes, mother originally wanted to help your aunt till the soil, but she wouldn't let me. So I just dug up some rushes from her field and dried them to teach you to read."
After Chen Yao finished eating, she put down the bowl and chopsticks in her hands, and signaled Yang Wenying to eat first and not to clean up.
"Dad, Mom, why don't you ask us how our trip to the eastern suburbs went today?" Chen Yao moved a stool closer to the bed.
Shen Qingshan held his wife's hand and looked at his daughter: "Dad said that from now on, you will be the one making the decisions at home. If you don't want to talk about anything, Dad and Mom will never ask about it."
"Dad, Mom, I really feel so lucky now." Chen Yao did not hide what happened today.
Not only did he talk about the East Suburb Quarry, but he also told him about the situation in Wanhe Township.
"Ayao, Dad knows you are a good child, but the path you want to take is difficult. You can't do it alone." Shen Qingshan's brows were full of worry, fearing that something might happen to his daughter in the future.
They were just small tenant farmers, and the powerful and wealthy could crush them as easily as crushing an ant.
"Dad, if you can understand me, I am not alone. Don't worry, I won't act rashly." Chen Yao assured him.
Huang Xing didn't understand what her daughter and husband were saying, but when she saw Yang Wenying finish eating and clean up the dishes, and then bring in the sandbox, she urged her daughter to learn to read.
"Not tired?"
Yang Wenying shook her head, and Chen Yao had no choice but to accept her fate and learn calligraphy from her to please her parents.
"By the way, A'yao, bring me the rope that I tested for A'zong today. I'll try it with coarse cloth first." Neither she nor Miao had seen the picture of gloves that her daughter drew for them, so she wanted to practice with coarse cloth first, so that she could put it over the rabbit fur to keep warmer.
A Zong?
Chen Yao and Yang Wenying looked at each other, and couldn't help laughing out loud at just one glance.
Huang Xing didn't know what the two children were laughing at, but she couldn't help laughing when she heard their cheerful giggles.
"Aunt, my brother's name is Zi'an, and everyone in the family calls him Zi'an." Yang Wenying said, trying not to laugh.
I'm afraid my brother won't be used to the name A Zong.
Huang Xing took the rope from her daughter and glared at her quietly, as if to say, why didn't you tell your mother such an important thing?
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