Chapter 25: Seeders also existed in ancient times [VIP]
The sixteenth day.
Every laborer in the eastern suburbs quarry was given a piece of wolf meat.
Even though the roasted wolf meat tasted dry, fishy and bland, everyone was very satisfied, so few people slacked off in the next few days.
Especially the laborers headed by Yang Jizong, who have been working extra hard and conscientiously in carrying sand and quarrying stones recently, and have been whipped less and less severely than others.
However, the moon waxes and wanes, and people are subject to misfortunes and blessings from day to day.
When the elderly people left behind in Wanhe Township learned that all their relatives had died, some of them decided to die. Even though Grandma Goudan had repeatedly advised them against it, they went into the mountains to pick mulberry leaves that day and never came back.
Tian Baolai learned about this after he entered the village carrying a load on his shoulder. He searched the nearby mulberry forest, but only found two backpacks filled with mulberry branches and leaves. Grandpa Song and Grandpa Zhao were nowhere to be found.
After Chen Yao learned the news, she wanted to rush over to visit the remaining elderly people, but was stopped by Grandma Goudan who asked her cousin to take her there.
Grandma Goudan said that this was the path they chose for themselves and no one could change it, but those who are alive will always try to find a way to survive.
Chen Yao held back her tears as she took the half basket of mulberries. Her nose felt sore. At this moment, she had only one thought in mind, which was to lead everyone to make money as soon as possible so that everyone could reunite with their families.
Over the next two days, Chen Yao went into the city during the day to sell bean curd sheets and bean sprouts, and delivered goods to restaurants. In the afternoon, she came back and gathered with Yang Wenying and Tian Baozhu to discuss the selection and boiling of silk cocoons. She secretly gave them advice in preparation for the silk reeling process.
All things are difficult at the beginning. The most difficult part of silk reeling is finding the thread, that is, finding the end of the silk on the cocoon.
It was naturally difficult for the three of them to succeed at the beginning.
The damaged cocoons were also inferior ones that Chen Yao had deliberately picked out for the two to practice on. As for the good cocoons, they were put aside and would be tried again after the winter wheat was planted.
Today, Chen Yao planned to deliver bean sprouts to Zhiweilou and then come back to plant winter wheat, but she found that Manager Ren was standing at the back door to greet her in person.
After a little thought, Chen Yao guessed that her ingredients must be popular, so the restaurant wanted to increase the quantity with her.
"Manager Ren!" Chen Yao greeted him with a bow while carrying a basket on her back.
Manager Ren has been in high spirits recently. Seeing Chen Yao coming, he immediately ordered his helpers to take the food in her basket to the kitchen, and then invited Chen Yao to the private room in the building to talk.
Chen Yao saw that when Manager Ren closed the back door, he did not forget to look around. She suppressed her laughter and followed him into the private room.
"Madam Chen, please have some tea." Shopkeeper Ren had something hidden in his mind but was unwilling to speak first. He just waited for Chen Yao to get impatient and ask him first, so that he could take the initiative.
Chen Yao picked up the teacup, smelled it first, said it smelled good, then tasted it, said it was good tea, but she didn't mention anything about the transaction.
Shopkeeper Ren didn't expect that the young lady in front of him could be so patient, and he moved a few plates of cakes on the table in front of her, "Madam Shen, you haven't had breakfast yet, try these cakes, they are all made by the cake chef in my building."
Chen Yao saw that the flower cake looked like a rabbit, small and cute in shape, so she did not show any courtesy to the shopkeeper. She picked it up and tasted it, taking a bite of cake and a sip of tea, feeling very comfortable after eating it.
Shopkeeper Ren looked at her face and thought the cooking was about right. He waited until she spoke but she didn't say anything, so he said, "Madam Chen, my Zhiwei Restaurant has been open in Qingfeng Town for decades and has a great reputation. The chefs in the kitchen come here because of our reputation. I pay them twice as much as other restaurants."
Chen Yao put down the teacup, looked at the few uneaten cakes on the plate and praised: "The shopkeeper loves talents, no wonder the business is so prosperous. I can't finish the remaining cakes. Can I take them back for my family to try?"
"Why not? I'll ask the waiter to pack another one for you." Manager Ren stood up and gave instructions to the waiter outside, but when he turned around, he heard Chen Yao saying goodbye to him.
"Madam Shen is leaving now?" Shopkeeper Ren was quite shocked. According to his thinking, she would ask him if he had anything else to ask.
But Chen Yao said, “Well, I have to rush back home to farm.”
Seeing that Chen Yao had already stepped out of the private room, the shopkeeper Ren hurriedly stopped her and blurted out anxiously, "Madam Shen, why do you have to work so hard? Why don't you come to work in Zhiwei Tower? I will pay you 500 coins a month."
This is no small amount.
"Thank you for your kindness, Manager Ren, but my cooking skills are average and I'm afraid I'm not up to the task." Chen Yao took the pastries packed by the waiter, put on her own backpack, and bowed to Manager Ren to express her gratitude.
Manager Ren was anxious!
"Mrs. Shen, don't go yet. I actually have a big deal to discuss with you." Shopkeeper Ren extended his hand again to invite Shen Yao in.
"If you send me fifty pieces of dried bean curd sheets every day, I'll lower the price..."
Before Shopkeeper Ren could finish his words, Chen Yao interrupted him: "To be honest, Shopkeeper, if we were only making yuba for your restaurant, we could handle 50 pieces, but if there are other restaurants in Qingfeng Town that need it, we really can't split the time."
Shopkeeper Ren suddenly stood up and rushed to Chen Yao, questioning her while sizing her up: "Have other families found you?"
Chen Yao smiled shyly: "Yes, but don't worry, you are my first customer, I will definitely come to your house soon, but fifty sticks a day is too much, I can only send you forty sticks a day at most."
When Chen Yao said this, Shopkeeper Ren realized it with all his heart. Otherwise, who would leave the money lying around and push it away?
But he took advantage of Chen Yao's young age and sat back in the main seat, picked up the teacup and drank slowly: "You also said that I am your first customer, then my order is large, so should the price be reduced by one cent?"
Chen Yao stood up and bowed solemnly to Shopkeeper Ren. "Shopkeeper, you are my breadwinner. It's only right that I give you a small gift, but my family is desperately short of money. If I don't raise money quickly to redeem my relatives from the eastern suburbs, I'm afraid it won't be long before my family has to hold a funeral."
With his mouth half open, he put down the teacup and sighed. After thinking for a moment, he simply signed a yuba document with Shen Yao.
, carrying two portions of pastries in his hands and a large order of bean curd sheets in his arms, his steps were exceptionally light.
After telling him the good news, he returned home.
Huang Dongsheng squatted in front of the tofu stall, carefully opened the oil paper package, looked at the five rabbit cakes, and joy instantly spread across his face. His cousin was so nice to him.
"Brother Bai, you can try one too." Huang Dongsheng handed the oil-paper package over. Normally, thanks to him for helping to reserve a stall spot, otherwise his tofu stall would have no repeat customers.
However, they also became friends because they worked together to sell things and helped each other to get customers to buy their tofu and cabbage.
Huang Dongsheng collected the remaining three pieces and planned to give them to Liu Gongcha to try at noon when he was having lunch.
When Chen Yao returned to the village, she saw everyone busy in the courtyard of her home. She quickly put down her backpack and told everyone the good news.
"Forty pieces a day. My aunt and I can make them all in four hours." Yang Wenying is very familiar with making bean curd sheets, and she now admires Chen Yao even more.
Huang Xing hurriedly said, "Wenying, you still have to help Ayao with the silk reeling. We will take care of this work from now on."
"Mom, we haven't figured out the silk reeling thing yet, so you can help with the stocking at home." Just as Chen Yao finished speaking, she saw her uncle carrying back a large bundle of firewood from outside.
Huang Mei went forward to help her husband unload the firewood in the yard. Now the three families were using up their firewood quickly, so they were all preparing more firewood. Firewood was needed for business and especially for heating in winter.
"Ayao, have you soaked your wheat seeds in rice water and silkworm manure? We have to plant the seeds in the fields before dawn." Tanaka was taking out his machete and chopped the firewood neatly and stacked it under the eaves.
Huang Mei brought a bowl of warm water from the kitchen and handed it to his mouth: "Ayao is no better than you in knowing the situation. I saw that the wheat seeds were already soaked. Why do I need you to remind me?"
Tanaka Masahiro never argued with his wife, but today, while chopping wood, he muttered quietly, "I'm just worried that A-Yao might forget about other things. This piece of land is a very important matter."
Huang Mei took the empty bowl from his hand and laughed when she heard this, "Yes, yes, in your heart, farming comes first, and the three of us are ranked behind farming."
Chen Yao watched her uncle embarrassedly chopping wood, and hurriedly pulled everyone into the house for snacks.
Tanaka was preoccupied with farm work and insisted on sleeping in the firewood pile in the Shen family's kitchen at night. Huang Mei was so angry that she didn't speak to him the whole afternoon and asked Chen Yao and Yang Wenying not to give him a room.
He deserves the cold shoulder!
What my aunt said was all in anger, but Chen Yao couldn't really ignore my uncle, so she took an old quilt from her parents' room and covered him with it.
At midnight, the two of them left home carrying seeds and farm tools to sow in the fields.
Not long after the two left, the door of the main house opened from the inside. Huang Xing, wearing her outer clothes and without even lighting the oil lamp, stood at the door, watching her daughter L disappear in the distance in the thick fog.
"Auntie." Yang Wenying also stood outside her own door and asked Huang Xing softly, "Is Ayao gone?"
Huang Xing nodded, and afraid of waking up her husband in the room, she whispered, "Go back to your room and get some sleep. A Yao and the others will be back at dawn."
"Okay, Auntie, you should go to bed early. I will prepare breakfast."
On this side, Chen Yao and his uncle arrived at their own land and saw his aunt and cousins there too.
"Aunt, even though you have a sharp tongue, you are kind-hearted and still care about me and my uncle." Chen Yao put down the farm tools in her hands and walked forward to hug Huang Mei's arm.
Huang Mei raised her hand and poked Chen Yao's forehead, then glared at her husband who was grinning foolishly, "We are a family after all, let's get to work!"
When sowing in autumn, the seeds must be buried two inches thick in the soil, and the rows must be two inches apart. This way of sowing can prevent birds from pecking at the ground in winter, and the wheat seedlings that grow will not be sparse.
Tanaka Masashi and his son lifted up a three-legged plow and plowed the ground. One pulled from the front and the other supported from the back. Chen Yao poured the wheat seeds she brought into the plow box.
It was the first time for her to see such a primitive seed drill being used, so she had to follow her cousin and watch.
This three-legged plow can actually complete two tasks of digging furrows and sowing at the same time. Her cousin was walking behind it and shaking it, and the seeds were planted in the ground.
The only drawback is that the sowing efficiency is not as good as that of modern seed drills. It can only cultivate two ridges at a time and is quite labor-intensive.
So Chen Yao and her aunt and cousin took turns to plant the seeds. Not only did they get their fill of using the primitive seed drill, they also finished planting the two acres of land before dawn.
At this time, everyone's shoulders and hair were wet by the thick fog and dew spreading from Wufeng Mountain.
Chen Yao and her aunt's family used wooden sticks to scrape off the thick mud on the soles of their straw sandals beside the ridge of the field, and then carried the farm tools back home.
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