Chapter 72 New Hope for the Village
After the corn harvest, everyone in Huachidu Village was keeping an eye on Gu Xixi's movements.
Her family had 32 acres of land, but they only planted 20 acres of winter wheat.
The rest of the land is still empty, what does she want to do?
The only crop planted locally in autumn is winter wheat. Could it be that Gu Xixi plans to plant vegetables in the spring?
The families that had been burned by the fire briefly made a fortune by selling water spinach. After discussing privately, they found Qin Dasao, who was good friends with Gu Xixi, hoping that Gu Xixi would take them with her when she grew vegetables.
But Mrs. Qin kept her mouth shut. She knew nothing about anything and just kept saying "let's wait and see" with a smile, and would never promise anything.
On the other side, Uncle Gu’s family was even more anxious.
They were originally the only vegetable farmers in the village. What would happen if everyone else started growing vegetables next year?
But Gu Xixi's twelve acres of land were just empty, and the deadline for autumn sowing had passed but there was still no movement.
On the day of Frost's Descent, Chen Dafu and eight other hired workers are about to complete their final work of the season - digging yam.
There were more than 20 rows of yam, which looked like not much. I thought it was just like the common sweet potato, with several fruits growing under one vine. But when I dug carefully along the vine, I found that yam could grow so long!
Everyone opened their eyes and rushed to see how to dig yams.
A few elderly people have some knowledge.
Someone said, "When I was a child, there was a famine and my mother went up the mountain to dig this up, but the largest one was only about a foot long, about the thickness of a woman's finger. This is the first time I've seen something this thick and long."
"After roasting, peeling and eating, it is sticky and soft, a bit like sweet yam, but not as sweet, but with a different aroma. Later I heard that this thing is also a medicinal ingredient."
Others said, "Yam can nourish the body. If you sell it in a medicine store, the longer it is, the better the price it can fetch if it is intact and not cut off."
A young man in the back exclaimed, “Isn’t that the same as ginseng?”
Gu Xixi laughed and said, "How can they be the same? Yams are much cheaper than ginseng."
Although she said so, everyone only remembered the sentence "the higher the price it can be sold for".
Someone took advantage of Gu Xixi's interruption and asked half-jokingly, "Xixi, why do the same things grow so much and so big when they are in your hands? Why don't you tell us this trick?"
Everyone laughed and agreed, praising Gu Xixi to the highest heavens, as if they had completely forgotten their previous contempt.
Even Uncle Gu and Uncle Gu, who were hiding behind the crowd, pricked up their ears.
However, after waiting and waiting, I only heard Gu Xixi say, "This is not something that can be explained in just a few words. Let me go back and think about it."
"It's a rare opportunity that both the summer and autumn harvests are good this year, and the rat infestation has been driven away. This winter, everyone can have a good rest. It won't be too late to talk about farm matters in the new year."
Some people believed what Gu Xixi said and smiled.
Some people are skeptical.
There are also a few people who think that Gu Xixi said these as excuses and she definitely does not want to tell everyone the secret recipe.
Gu Xixi knew all of this very well, but she didn't care what others thought and only cared about the results.
Originally, she had no feelings for this village.
But the time she was trapped, it was the villagers who searched the mountain and rescued her.
When the rat infestation hit, the whole village cooperated and got through the most difficult time together.
Now, Gu Xixi has completely gotten rid of the crisis of not having enough food.
She has long wanted to take the overall agricultural productivity of Huachidu Village to a higher level.
The next morning, Mu Nanzhao set off in a donkey cart filled with corn and yams.
Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao sat side by side in the front. "We'll sell 300 kilograms of corn today. We'll only keep a little bit of yam for ourselves, and sell the rest while they're still fresh."
She looked at the clear blue sky and breathed a sigh of relief. "From now on, we don't have to be so stingy with money anymore. Let's buy an animal first, so we don't have to borrow Lao Qian's donkey anymore."
Mu Nanzhao glanced at her but didn't respond, a hint of smile flashing across his eyes.
When we were almost at the entrance of the village, we heard a woman yelling, "Your father and I have raised you for so many years. If you run away, we have raised you for nothing."
The voice was so familiar that Gu Xixi looked up.
I saw Gu Qingye tied up with a hemp rope, and Gu Laosan and Liu were pulling her forward.
Gu Qingye cried and struggled, "That man is a leper. You only care about my brother and don't care about my life or death!"
Liu scolded, "With your brother in such a bad condition now, how will your father and I support ourselves in our old age? How will your brother find a wife?"
"Why are you so hard-hearted, girl? Are you determined to make our family extinct?"
Gu Lao San said with a straight face, "The betrothal gifts have been received, so you should stop thinking about other things and just wait for your wedding next month!"
Gu Qingye was sad and angry, sobbing and shouting, "I won't marry! I won't marry even if I die!"
The donkey cart met the family of three beside a big locust tree.
Gu Laosan and Liu both turned away with cold faces, pretending not to know him.
Gu Qingye raised his head and stared at Gu Xixi.
Her eyes were twisted with jealousy and hatred, but when her gaze swept over Mu Nanzhao, she was filled with deep fascination.
However, Mu Nanzhao didn't even look at her, and the donkey cart drove past.
After leaving the village, Gu Xixi said, "She may feel that it was my fault that she got married."
Mu Nanzhao glanced sideways, "Then you still want to save her?"
Gu Xixi said, "I didn't save her. A few days ago, my master and I went to that man's house. His sister is only eleven years old. She is so young and kind and gentle. She married Gu Tiezhu, that lunatic, and she has a mother-in-law like Liu."
At this point, Gu Xixi couldn't help but sigh, "If she really married me, she would probably be tortured to death soon."
"What did she do wrong?"
Only after Gu Xixi finished her own autumn harvest did she have time to take care of Gu Qingye's marriage.
The family we are getting engaged to is in Shitou Village.
Gu Xixi had met this girl before, so she couldn't help but feel sympathy for her, so she asked Village Chief Zhao to act as a matchmaker this time.
The old doctor treated the leprosy patient on the condition that if the treatment was effective, the family would take the initiative to break off the engagement with Gu Laosan's family and would never use their daughter as an exchange partner again.
The old doctor said that the patient was still in the initial stage and there was a great chance of a cure.
His parents were overjoyed when they heard this, and immediately agreed to Gu Xixi's conditions and signed their names and put their fingerprints on them.
When Gu Xixi and the old doctor left his house that day, the little girl chased them out alone, knelt down without saying a word, and kowtowed three times loudly.
When Gu Xixi went to help her up, she saw tears all over her face.
…
Mu Nanzhao paused and asked, "This girl is fine, but your cousin, aren't you afraid that you will become a snake farmer?"
"The Farmer and the Snake?" Gu Xixi smiled.
"I never took her into my arms, let alone just keep the knife hanging over her at all times."
"If the snake moves, cut it off at seven inches."
She looked at Mu Nanzhao, feeling helpless, even though keeping the snake might be useful.
When the time comes, we have to kill those who need to be killed.
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