Jiang Yuwei smiled and nodded:
"Since I'm going to buy one, I naturally want to choose a good one. I want to buy a ewe to raise."
The old woman gestured with her chin towards the sheep standing on her head and said:
“Those five are ewes. Forget about the two that are pregnant; you probably won’t be able to take care of them. The sheep will suffer too if you buy them. Just pick one from the remaining three.”
Jiang Yuwei shook her head and said:
“No, I want a pregnant ewe. I’ve raised sheep before, so taking care of a ewe won’t be a problem.”
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, she stepped forward and carefully examined the two pregnant ewes. She noticed one of them was white, robust, and large, with a larger belly. She immediately took a liking to this one and pointed at it, asking:
"Auntie, how much do you sell this sheep for?"
The old woman looked at the sheep that Jiang Yuwei had chosen and frowned slightly, saying:
"This is my family's first sheep, and it's a pregnant ewe. It's about to give birth, so it should be worth at least one tael of silver."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei pointed to her own oxcart and said:
“Auntie, to be honest, I only spent one tael of silver to buy this cow. Now you’re asking me for one tael of silver for this sheep, which is indeed a bit expensive. How about this, since your sheep is pregnant, I’ll offer sixty copper coins, is that alright?”
Hearing this, the old woman knew that Jiang Yuwei was not easily fooled, so she coughed a few times and said:
"Sixty copper coins is too little. I've raised these sheep so well. If you take them back, you can have more sheep as soon as they have offspring. Sixty won't do, no, at least seventy!"
Jiang Yuwei looked at the sheep and pondered for a moment before saying:
"Okay, then seventy is the deal."
As he spoke, he took out his money bag, counted out seventy copper coins, and stuffed them into the old woman's hand. The old woman took the money with a happy face, counted it again herself, and then put the money into her purse with peace of mind. She then led the sheep to Jiang Yuwei.
Jiang Yuwei smiled as she herded the sheep onto the car. Actually, she raised sheep mainly because she was craving goat milk. She had never drunk any milk since she came here. If she had the chance to come across a cow for sale in the future, she would buy a cow to take home and drink milk.
Seeing Jiang Yuwei's delighted expression, Ning Huaizhi also smiled and said:
"Wan'er, you'd better go and cut more grass now. Your mother has caught another sheep for you to raise."
Wan'er clapped her hands and said:
"Okay, let's raise the lambs. Wan'er will definitely raise them to be plump and healthy!"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and patted Ning Wan's head. Then, seeing the ewe lying on the cart, she worried that Ning Wan might be frightened and jump off the cart on the way. So, she put her arm around the ewe's neck and urged Ning Huaizhi to go home quickly.
After the three arrived home, Jiang Yuwei led the sheep to the sheep pen in the backyard. The sheep's belly was indeed very big now, and Jiang Yuwei was not sure when it would give birth. For the next few days, she would not let it go out to eat on its own. She thought that she and Ning Wan could cut grass to feed it. Anyway, the three acres of paper mulberry land that her family had just bought still had a lot of leaves. Picking them every day to feed the chickens, ducks and geese at home would not be a problem.
With that thought in mind, Jiang Yuwei carried her basket and led Ning Wan to the back mountain to cut grass and pick mulberry leaves. The two of them picked two large baskets full of leaves, enough to last until the next morning.
After arriving home, Jiang Yuwei instructed Ning Wan to feed the poultry in the backyard. She then washed the wild vegetables she had brought back from the village head's house that day and made them into wild vegetable dumplings. She also stir-fried a vegetarian dish and reheated the leftover meat dishes from yesterday before serving them on the table.
The family of three was eating when they heard someone outside the courtyard calling out:
"Huaizhi, Yuwei, I've brought the bricks and tiles for you!"
Jiang Yuwei was truly surprised that the village head had brought the bricks and tiles back so quickly. She hurriedly got up to greet him, welcoming him into the courtyard. Then, she led everyone to the backyard to drag the bricks and tiles before speaking to them:
"Folks, have you had dinner yet? If not, please eat at my house!"
Everyone waved their hands and said:
"No, no, we need to go home early. Our wives are waiting for us at home."
The village head then said to Jiang Yuwei:
"Alright, Yuwei, stop bothering yourself. We're here today to deliver bricks and tiles. I've already gathered everyone. They all rushed to come and do the work when they heard it was for your house. I checked, and tomorrow is a good day to break ground, so we don't need to delay. I'll have them come over first thing tomorrow morning, okay?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and nodded, saying:
"I will follow the village head's arrangements. Thank you so much for today. Here is the money for the bricks and tiles. Please keep it safe."
Jiang Yuwei took out one tael of silver from her purse and handed it to the village head. Upon seeing this, the village head quickly waved his hand and said:
"We don't need that much."
Jiang Yuwei forcefully shoved the object into Li Zheng's hand and pushed him out the door, laughing:
"Hurry back, Aunt Ning is still waiting for you at home."
After seeing everyone off, Jiang Yuwei went back to the courtyard to eat. She was completely unaware that a sneaky dark figure was peeking into her yard.
After finishing their meal, the family of three locked the gate and went back inside to sleep.
Jiang Yuwei realized that she hadn't gone to her space to till the land and harvest crops in a long time, so she went into her space and saw that the beans she had planted before had grown a lot. She quickly harvested them and put them in the thatched hut.
She went to check on the small gastrodia elata she had planted earlier. It had grown quite large. Jiang Yuwei didn't plan to dig it up and sell it. She thought she could just keep it in her space and raise it. That way, she could dig it up and exchange it for money when she needed it urgently in the future.
Of course, Jiang Yuwei was more concerned about how the century-old ginseng was growing. So she went to the spot where the ginseng was planted and observed it carefully. She saw that the ginseng was several times larger than when it was planted. Jiang Yuwei calculated that it might be ready to be dug up and used in a few more days, but she did not dare to dig it up rashly. She thought it would be better if it grew bigger, which would be safer.
Jiang Yuwei was really worried looking at the soybeans scattered all over the floor. Her family definitely couldn't finish them all right now, so she thought she might as well dry them and keep them to make tofu. However, Jiang Yuwei also thought that tofu could only be made and sold on the same day, and the market was only open every seven days. If she made the tofu and then went to the market to sell it, it would definitely be too late.
Jiang Yuwei pondered for a moment and suddenly remembered that she had made gray tofu in her previous life, which was very delicious. Why not grind all the soybeans into tofu, then make gray tofu and take it to the market to sell? That way, she could sell it for a higher price than regular tofu.
Having made up her mind, Jiang Yuwei took a bath in the spiritual spring water and came out. Unexpectedly, as soon as she came out, she heard a noise in the backyard. Jiang Yuwei thought that it was probably the ram that was making noise.
But upon closer listening, it sounded like human footsteps. Jiang Yuwei immediately became alert. Without daring to light a candle, she quickly put on her clothes in the dark and went to Ning Huaizhi's room to quietly wake him up.
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