In fact, it is not surprising that these people in the countryside use reeds to make straw sandals, sleeping mats, windproof curtains, and even winter clothes.

Because resources are scarce here. After all things reach the hands of farmers, they can generally be turned into treasures.

However, if you want to turn an ordinary thing into a beautiful and practical work of art, it takes a long time to explore.

As a person with such a little golden finger, Chen Xuanxuan had already found a second-hand book with pictures and texts on the Qiongheihei app two months ago.

This second-hand book looks very thick.

The content inside is all about the development and production process of Chinese folk handicrafts.

Some of the things in this book are about how to use bamboo to make various utensils.

Another part is about how to use reed to make beautiful and practical things.

Various pillows, mats, curtains, brooms, winter clothes, baskets, handbags...

In short, Chen Xuanxuan has learned to make 11 products with reed from this book.

After Chen Xuanxuan learned it, she was always thinking about how to make use of the idle labor at home in winter and the reeds in the swamp.

Winter clothes, pillows, and mats made with reed cotton are actually quite popular.

Especially popular among the poor families in the town and the county.

Just the baked reed fluff costs five cents per pound. But it can be used to make several clothes.

A pair of straw sandals costs one cent for two pairs.

And the reed mats and reed curtains used to block the wind cost five cents per bed.

Throughout the winter, Gu Yanzhang took people outside every day to sell those things used for the winter, and time unknowingly came to the twenty-seventh day of the lunar year.

That night, Chen Xuanxuan was a little extravagant and lit an oil lamp at home.

The wick could never be made of cotton thread or cloth strips. What she used was the reed root soaked in oil.

Under Gu Yanzhang's expectant gaze, Chen Xuanxuan poured out all the money he had earned recently.

Hearing the sound of copper plates hitting copper plates, Gu Yanzhang squinted his eyes happily.

The sound was so beautiful. It

made people want to hear it again.

Seeing that there were a lot of copper plates and some silver coins on the kang, Gu Yanzhang excitedly urged, "Wife, count now and see how much money we have earned this winter." After hearing this,

Chen Xuanxuan assigned him a task. "How can I count all this money by myself?"

"Help me, use these reeds to string these copper plates together. 20 in a string, you shouldn't make a mistake."

Gu Yanzhang smiled and nodded, "I still have to figure out such a simple math problem."

After doing so many business trips outside, he already knew simple calculations very well.

Moreover, under the urging of his wife, he now even knows the 99 multiplication table by heart.

Not to mention, this 99 multiplication table is really useful. Sometimes it's more useful than those abacus beads.

Under the light of the oil lamp that kept making waves, Chen Xuanxuan and Gu Yanzhang began to count the money.

Chen Xuanxuan felt that it took her nearly a quarter of an hour to sort out these accounts.

"Boss, you are really good!"

"This winter, not only did we not spend much money, but we even made a lot of money!"

"Your cousin's family has been eating and living in our house every day for the past few months. In total, they only earned one or two taels of silver. With their help, our family sold three taels of silver per dollar, plus the five thousand one hundred copper plates here..."

When Gu Yanzhang heard this number, he began to count on his fingers, "According to this calculation, we have earned seven taels of silver this winter?"

Chen Xuanxuan listened and nodded heavily.

"Of course. I saw the business opportunity here, so I asked you to call your brothers down from the mountain!"

"I asked you to call your brothers over. First, to ask them to help us. Second, they can have a good time here and recuperate. This is a win-win situation. We are both happy."

Seeing Gu Yanzhang nod in agreement, Chen Xuanxuan smiled and said to him, "Boss, tomorrow you will come forward in person and return the five taels of silver to my parents' home?"

Hearing this, although Gu Yanzhang was puzzled, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go there tomorrow."

The swampland upstream of Xiaoyue River is really vast.

There, some places are very dangerous, and some places have shallow water.

Those shallow places have actually been marked out by government officials. Moreover, they are all labeled with government labels.

If you want to open up wasteland and grow crops in that place, you must get the approval of the government.

Otherwise, after you spend a lot of time and effort to open up the wasteland, the money will be immediately collected by the people above.

In this way, the greedy people will not only work for the government in vain, they will also be punished and pay an extra ransom.

Therefore, if you want to grow crops on that piece of land, you must have a strong relationship with the government.

In addition, the person who rents this land must also have good relations with some surrounding villages.

In other words, they must prevent the people in the surrounding villages from doing anything small in private.

Gu Yanzhang also realized that only his wife's family dared to take over the marshland.

However, his wife's family didn't seem to be very interested in the marshland of Xiaoyue River. They thought it was too time-consuming and laborious to grow crops here. Otherwise,

if his wife ran to her family all day long and said that they could make a lot of money after planting glutinous rice on that land, her mother would definitely not be willing to give in.

Thinking of how his wife's family seemed to have spent a lot of money to rent those lands, Gu Yanzhang looked at the silver and copper plates in his hand reluctantly.

The money here adds up to more than 5 taels.

He has to bring some things over tomorrow. On the third and fourth days of the New Year, he has to take his wife to her parents' home to stay for two days.

Thinking of these trivial matters, after Gu Yanzhang collected all the money, he went to bed quietly and prepared to sleep.

In order to make more money during this period, he has been running around in various towns and even in the county every day. He

has been tired for a long time.