Jiang Yuwei pushed persistently for a full fifteen minutes before a lamb finally emerged. She quickly increased the speed and pressure of her hands, and soon half of the lamb's body came out. It was a black and white lamb, so it seemed that the lamb's father must be a black goat.
Jiang Yuwei first placed the lamb on the quilt and cleaned its amniotic sac. Then she held the lamb and handed it to the mother sheep so that the mother sheep could lick its wool. Afterward, Jiang Yuwei saw that the mother sheep's belly was starting to move again, so she quickly continued to massage the mother sheep using the same method as before.
This time, the lamb was quickly revealed, but only its feet were showing; its head was still inside. Jiang Yuwei had no choice but to cooperate with the mother sheep's contractions, pulling the lamb's legs to help it out.
It took quite a while for the second lamb to be born. When Jiang Yuwei saw that the mother lamb was too weak to continue giving birth, she quickly brought water and leaves for the mother lamb to eat and drink to replenish her strength. The two lambs that were just born were already suckling on their own.
Seeing that there seemed to be a lamb inside the sheep's belly, Jiang Yuwei went over and massaged its belly again. After massaging for a while, the lamb was successfully born. Jiang Yuwei laid out a blanket for the mother sheep and the lamb and let them nurse peacefully.
Seeing that the mother goat had plenty of milk, Jiang Yuwei thought that after the lambs finished drinking, she would collect some goat milk, cook it, and give it to Ning Wan to try.
After finishing her work, Jiang Yuwei was drenched in sweat and her clothes were stained with blood. So she went inside to change her clothes and took a bath in the spiritual spring before coming out to cook dinner.
Seeing that the ewe had given birth, Ning Wan forgot about helping Jiang Yuwei start the fire and ran to the backyard to lie down by the sheep pen, watching the lamb nurse intently. Jiang Yuwei saw that there was enough leftover food from lunch, so she started a fire herself to reheat the food, made some cold dishes, and cooked a bowl of eight-treasure porridge before serving it to everyone and calling them to come and eat.
After the villagers finished eating and left, Jiang Yuwei went to the backyard to milk a pot of goat milk. She then went back to the front yard, boiled it in a pot, let it cool, added honey, and served it to Ning Wan and Ning Huaizhi.
Ning Wan's eyes lit up after just one sip:
"It's so sweet and fragrant! It's so delicious! Mom, have some too!"
Jiang Yuwei smiled, took the bowl, and tasted a bite, saying:
"Mmm, it really tastes good. Wan'er, finish your drink quickly so you can go to sleep. There will be more goat milk tomorrow!"
Ning Huaizhi looked at his own goat milk and then at Ning Wan's goat milk, frowning as he said:
"Yuwei, what about yours? Why don't you have any?"
Jiang Yuwei said with a smile:
"It's too late, I don't want to drink anymore. I'll go get some more tomorrow morning."
Jiang Yuwei was actually worried that the lambs wouldn't have enough milk to drink right after they were born, so she didn't dare to squeeze out too much. She squeezed out two bowls, one for Ning Huaizhi and one for Ning Wan, and she could drink it herself the next day.
Ning Huaizhi naturally saw through Jiang Yuwei's thoughts, so he directly handed the bowl in his hand to Jiang Yuwei and said firmly:
"I'll only drink if you finish it, and I won't drink if you don't!"
Jiang Yuwei had no choice but to take the bowl, drink half of it, and then hand it to Ning Huaizhi. Seeing that Jiang Yuwei had drunk it, Ning Huaizhi was satisfied and drank the rest of the goat milk in the bowl.
Seven days later
Jiang Yuwei looked at the two large basins of tofu that had been dried and was very satisfied. Today she was going to take Ning Daya to the market. Whether she could make good use of this girl would depend on her performance today.
When Jiang Yuwei had loaded all the things onto the oxcart, she turned back to Ning Huaizhi, who was guarding the door, and smiled:
"You should come to the market with me today. The food is ready. I'll have Aunt Zhou come over at noon to heat it up for the villagers."
Ning Huaizhi nodded happily and said:
"Okay, I'll do whatever my wife says!"
Jiang Yuwei helped Ning Huaizhi into the car and placed his wheelchair inside. After thinking for a moment, she decided to bring Ning Wan, who was standing to the side with bright eyes staring at her, along as well. She was worried about leaving the child at home and risking her getting hurt.
Ning Qiu and Ning Daya also arrived. Upon seeing Jiang Yuwei, Ning Daya lowered her head and whispered:
"Sister Yuwei, thank you for taking me to the market."
Jiang Yuwei nodded and said:
"You can't be so shy at the market. I can give you ten copper coins for a day at the market. Let's see how you perform today. If you're not suitable, you don't need to come again. But if you do well, I'll give you a raise in the future."
Ning Daya's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and she raised her head, nodding firmly at Jiang Yuwei.
"I understand, sis. Don't worry, I'll do my best!"
Jiang Yuwei helped the two into the car, and Ning Huaizhi drove off towards the town.
When they arrived at the stalls in town, Ning Daya immediately jumped off the vehicle and began unloading things with great enthusiasm. Jiang Yuwei, seeing that she was strong and hardworking, smiled and nodded.
"Da Ya, you'll be in charge of selling pickled fruit today. It'll cost 15 coins a bowl. We have some regular customers who love it. We didn't bring much this time, so can you handle the hawking and packaging by yourself today?"
Ning Daya nodded hurriedly and said:
"Okay, sis, leave it to me."
Jiang Yuwei then said to Ning Huaizhi:
"You and Ning Wan are in charge of selling the gray tofu. I'll cut it up and let Wan'er give it to the customers to try. The gray tofu is about the same size, so we'll sell it for twenty coins a piece."
Ning Wan took the tasting sample from Jiang Yuwei and began to attract customers.
Jiang Yuwei put Ning Qiu in charge of selling spicy crayfish, while Jiang Yuwei busied herself setting up a stove to roast chili peppers and making pounded chili and preserved egg. Looking at her long stall, Jiang Yuwei thought that if she made money from papermaking in the future, she would definitely open a food court. Right now, she should pay more attention to the people around her, select a few capable people and train them well so that they can be used in the future.
Seeing that the chili peppers were almost cooked, Jiang Yuwei took them out and put them in a mortar and pestle with preserved eggs, then mashed them together. Jiang Yuwei planned to sell a bowl of this mashed chili pepper and preserved egg dish for thirty coins.
Soon, the customers who bought crayfish were attracted by Jiang Yuwei's pounded pepper and preserved egg dish, because the taste was really tempting, and they had never seen a black egg before. They were all curious and looked at it from the side. As usual, Jiang Yuwei offered the first bowl as a free tasting for the customers to try.
Everyone who tried it loved it and eagerly bought more. Jiang Yuwei soon felt overwhelmed. Usually, the food she sold was made at home and brought to sell. This time, the pounded pepper and preserved egg dish required roasting the peppers before pounding them together with the preserved egg, so the preparation time was longer.
Just as Jiang Yuwei was busy and flustered, Ning Daya came over and took the mortar and pestle from her to help her pound the chili peppers and preserved eggs. Only then did Jiang Yuwei realize that Ning Daya had already sold out all the pickled snacks she had brought. She was secretly pleased, thinking that Daya was a promising talent.
Just as Jiang Yuwei was busy roasting peppers, she saw a familiar figure rush out from the crowd. Even though the face was swollen like a pig's head and covered in bruises, Jiang Yuwei recognized the person at a glance.
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