With 300 ducks at home, Yang Cui and her children are even busier. The ducklings are still small, but there are a lot of them. Yang Cui and her three children alone cannot meet such a large demand. Moreover, Yang Cui plans to expand the breeding in a while. 300 ducks are really not enough. She also needs to raise pigs. Everything needs to be prepared in advance.
Yang Cui approached Village Chief An.
Yang Cui now has the Star Gazing Tower behind her, so the An Village Chief's family doesn't dare to neglect her. They were quite welcoming when Yang Cui arrived.
"Xiao Cui, what brings you here today?"
"Uncle Village Chief, I have something I'd like to ask you for help with."
"Don't worry about the trouble. Just tell me if there's anything I can do to help."
"I'd like to buy some earthworms. Could you ask Xiao Lei and Xiao Jun to help me dig some earthworms every day? Of course, I won't let my nephews help for free. One penny per pound, what do you think?"
"Are you serious?" Village Chief An was surprised.
Yang Cui nodded and smiled, "Uncle, do I look like the kind of person who would make fun of you?"
"So, how much do you need?"
"Uncle, I won't lie to you. I need about 60 catties a day right now, but I'm planning to ask your sons Xiaojun and Xiaolei, as well as the children of my three cousins, to help me. If possible, each of you can send me about 15 catties a day. In a couple of months, when the ducks have grown up, I estimate that this amount won't be enough, and then we can send more."
"Earthworms can be used to feed ducks?" Village Chief An was surprised again.
"Yes! I read in a book before that earthworms can be used to feed chickens and ducks, and that chickens and ducks that grow up eating earthworms lay larger eggs."
Are you serious?
"That's what the book says, and I've tried it these past few days. The ducklings ate the earthworms and ate them very happily. However, it's best to boil the earthworms in boiling water for a few minutes before feeding them to the ducklings."
"I see. I'll try it tomorrow. It's good to read more books; you'll know more than us."
The original owner was the ex-wife of the current third-ranking scholar, so no one doubted that Yang Cui was literate.
Village Chief An smiled and said, "Xiao Cui, thank you for giving us such a good opportunity to make money. If you need anything in the future, just let us know."
In the countryside, digging for earthworms is easy. The children in that family, no longer allowed to go out in the wild, are made to dig for earthworms, earning over ten coins a day. Later, when the demand increases, the adults can also dig, adding up to a considerable sum each month.
“Speaking of which, there is indeed something. I plan to enroll Qiuqiu in a private school in December. He is my adopted son, and I need to get him a new household registration. I will have to trouble you with this matter, Uncle.”
In this era, school registration is in December every year. An Jia decided to send An Xiaohu to school, and Yang Cui decided to send Yuan Qiu to school so that he could have a companion with An Xiaohu. However, Yuan Qiu's household registration is still in Yuanjialing, and he needs a household registration certificate to attend school.
In those days, getting a new household registration was much easier than it is now. You just had to pay the government a small fee and have the village chief make a trip, and there was basically no problem. The government didn't care whether the child was found, stolen, or abducted.
"Are you planning to send that child to school?"
Village Chief An was even more surprised this time. Yuan Qiu was just an adopted child, yet Yang Cui was willing to send him to school. Everyone knew that school was expensive.
It seems Yang Cui has really struck it rich.
"Xiao Cui, are you... really going to send him to school?"
Yang Cui nodded: "Yes, this child is very smart. I also know a few words. I have been teaching him at home recently. He remembers them after being taught once or twice. I was thinking of sending him to learn a few words so that even if he doesn't pass the imperial examinations, he can still make a living in the future."
After Yang Cui said this, Village Chief An knew that Yang Cui would definitely be able to find good jobs for her adopted son in the future. Didn't An Xiaohe and An Xiaojiang just leave the countryside and go to the city? Their monthly wages are enough to support a whole family.
Even the village chief envied the little boy, Yuan Qiu.
After leaving Village Chief An's house, Yang Cui went to her uncles' houses to talk about buying earthworms. They were also shocked that Yang Cui was feeding ducks with earthworms, but after Yang Cui said it was effective, they decided to do the same. Of course, they were also very grateful to Yang Cui for eating meat and letting them drink soup.
That afternoon, the families brought the earthworms. Looking at the densely packed earthworms, I almost had trypophobia.
The total weighed 62 jin. Yang Cui weighed the earthworms, counted the money, and immediately poured them into a large earthenware jar. The water in the jar was already boiling. She would cook the earthworms for a few minutes before feeding them to the ducklings, which would be healthier and safer.
After several uncles and the village chief left with the money, Chen Sumei and her son arrived. They looked even thinner than before.
Upon seeing Yang Cui, Chen Sumei clutched her faded, patched clothes, as if she wanted to say something, but seemed a little embarrassed to speak.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Yang Cui asked.
Seeing that his mother remained silent for a long time, Wang Xicai mustered up his courage and said to Yang Cui, "Sister Yang, I...we can also dig for earthworms. Do you still buy them?"
After saying "cow," Wang Xicai's stomach rumbled at an inopportune moment.
"If you don't want to accept it, that's okay, I...we..."
"I'll take it, but I don't need much right now. Can I exchange it for grain?"
Every day, dozens or even hundreds of copper coins had to be given out, but Yang Cui didn't have that many. She thought of exchanging them for grain, since Chen Sumei's family was probably also short of food.
"Yes, yes!" Chen Sumei and her son cried tears of joy. "How many earthworms do you want?"
“I gave them earthworms for one coin per pound, and I can exchange them for an equivalent amount of grain.”
"Then can we have sorghum rice?" Chen Sumei asked tentatively.
Sorghum is the cheapest grain, costing eighty coins per bushel, which is eight coins per pound. Given Chen Sumei's current situation, they cannot afford to eat any better.
"Can."
Wang Dachun gambled away his entire family's fortune, and now they are all crammed into a dilapidated temple, eating nothing but wild vegetable porridge every day. The children are all so thin they are barely recognizable as human. If things continue like this, they will probably starve to death. Fortunately, Yang Cui has now given them a chance to earn a living.
Chen Sumei was so excited that she kept thanking them, almost kneeling down to kowtow.
After the mother and son left, many more people came to inquire whether Yang Cui was still buying earthworms. Yang Cui refused, saying that she would start buying them again when the scale of her business expanded.
The villagers could only leave regretfully, but since the seller refused to accept the goods, they couldn't force them to buy them. However, there was one person who insisted on selling them to them.
The next afternoon, after Yang Cui weighed the earthworms, an old woman came.
"Xiao Cui, I have some earthworms here too, you can take them as well."
Yang Cui looked up at her and smiled, "And you are?"
“I am your Grandma Qian. Your mother used to have to call me Aunt Qian the Third! Good child, collect the earthworms here too. I weighed them at home. They weighed six jin and eight liang in total. You can just say seven jin. Anyway, you’ve made quite a bit of money. Consider it a small loss as a way of showing respect to your grandma.”
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