The quacking ducklings were brought to Lightning Mother's doorstep by Jiang Ling. Lightning Mother smiled as soon as she saw the ducklings and asked Jiang Ling, "These ducklings are a bit bigger than the previous ones!"
"Yes, I was worried that the ducklings wouldn't be big enough when it got cold, so I picked out some of the bigger ones for you. Lightning Mom, you don't think I took it upon myself to do this, do you?" Jiang Ling answered without hiding anything.
"Oh, what are you saying? You must have bought a bigger one specifically for the sake of the bigger one! Besides, a bigger one is easier to raise, otherwise it's just a waste of money if it dies!" Lightning Girl teased, squinting her eyes.
Then Jiang Ling placed the cotton seeds from the basket into Lightning Mother's hand and counted them, saying, "Lightning Mother, these are cotton seeds. You should hurry up and plant them. They should be ready to harvest in about fifty or sixty days!"
Upon hearing this, Lightning Girl carefully placed the seeds in her bosom as if they were a precious treasure, nodding repeatedly and saying, "Aunt Jiang, don't worry, I'll ask my husband to plant these cotton seeds tomorrow."
Jiang Ling nodded without saying anything more and walked towards her new house.
On the way, they happened to pass by their own fields. Jiang Ling had recently been doing business with Jiang Yaojie, and Jiang Wenxi had been sent to the martial arts school. The fields at home were mainly managed by Jiang Suihe and Jiang Zhishan.
The cotton price is rising quite well, which is also thanks to Jiang Ling herself buying some modern fertilizer from time to time and throwing it on the field when no one is around.
"Ms. Jiang, the crops in your field look to be growing quite well!" The village chief said as he slowly walked over from the other side, puffing on his pipe.
Jiang Ling looked at her cotton field. The cotton was now in the budding stage, with flower buds about 3 millimeters in size appearing in the leaf axils at the top of the cotton plants. In a while, it would be the boll-forming stage, at which time the flower buds would gradually change direction, and the cotton would be harvested in the final boll-opening stage.
Thinking of this, Jiang Lingxin felt a little relieved. According to her calculations, as long as nothing unexpected happened, she and her children would be able to wear winter clothes with down and cotton before the cold winter arrived.
“Village chief, why don’t you consider encouraging the villagers to plant some cotton? The cotton may not be ripe by winter, but we can still harvest some!” Jiang Ling suggested.
“Hmm…that is indeed a good idea! Okay, tonight I will have everyone go to the ancestral hall so I can talk about this!” The village chief nodded and said.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the village chief, Jiang Ling headed towards her new house. With the addition of new laborers, the speed of making adobe bricks had obviously increased. One of the men stopped working and asked, "Jiang, who do you plan to install the roof beams for your house?"
In ancient times, the roof beams of houses were of great importance. Some people even said, "If there are beams on the roof, there will be plenty of grain in the house; if there are no beams on the roof, livestock will not thrive." Moreover, there were strict requirements for the beams in ancient times. They had to be round and straight, and could not be crooked. Only such beams could be used as the main beam.
The raising of the ridge beam must be done on an auspicious day. Then, the carpenter bows to the ridge beam and says:
"This beam is extraordinary. It stands firmly on the roof, adorned with a bright red star and resplendent gold. May the whole family be blessed with good fortune, prosperity, and longevity. May the elderly enjoy long life, their lives as long as the mountains; may the young be filled with joy, their talents flourishing. May officials be promoted, soaring like roc birds; may scholars achieve great success, rising straight to the top. May all your wishes come true, and may you enjoy great fortune and prosperity."
After the carpenter recited the poem for the beam, he had to follow the rules to exorcise the evil spirits. He needed to ask the owner for a cup of clean water, drink it, spray it onto the beam, and then say:
"Looking to one side, heaven and earth were created, the day was auspicious and the time was right, the emperor's descendants built a magnificent hall, lived in peace and comfort, the evil spirits retreated and the malevolent spirits hid away. This place will be forever blessed with good fortune."
Just as Jiang Ling was struggling to decide who should be in charge of raising the roof beam, Zhao Erleng's wife said, "Sister-in-law, I think the village chief is the most suitable person for this job!"
"The village chief is the best carpenter in our village, and his family is harmonious, happy, and his children and grandchildren are filial. I think it would be excellent to use such a person as the person to raise the roof beam!"
Zhao Erleng's wife's words reminded Jiang Ling, who nodded in agreement. After exchanging a few words with Zhao Erleng's wife, she walked toward her field, hoping to try her luck and see if the village chief was still there.
Sure enough, the village chief was squatting beside her field, studying Jiang Ling's cotton.
In ancient times, especially for farmers who relied on the weather for their livelihood, their first priority when working was food. Cotton, a material for keeping warm that was only available to the upper class, was not even on their radar.
So Jiang Ling was the first person in Lujia Village to grow cotton. The village chief had lived for over fifty years and had never seen cotton in a wheat field before. He was too embarrassed to look at it much when Jiang Ling was around, but now that no one was around, the village chief carefully examined the tender green buds in front of him.
He was very curious: could this greenish thing really grow into white cotton?
Before he could figure out the problem, Jiang Ling had already slowly walked up behind the village chief. She tried to lower her voice and whispered, "Village chief, what are you looking at?"
The village chief was still startled. He coughed a few times and forced a seemingly normal expression as he asked Jiang Ling, "Jiang, what's wrong?"
"Um..." Jiang Ling felt a little awkward saying this and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Her eyes darted around before she got straight to the point: "Village chief, we need you to officiate at the raising of the roof beam for our new house. Can you agree to do that?"
"Raising the roof beam? Jiang, are you... are you sure you want me to?" The village chief seemed a little surprised when he heard this. He stared at Jiang Ling with his slightly cloudy eyes.
“Yes, village chief, you have the best carpentry skills in our village. You can definitely choose the best roof beam for our family. Moreover, your family is known for its harmony, happiness, and filial piety. You are definitely the best candidate!” Jiang Ling repeated Zhao Erleng’s wife’s words.
The village chief was very surprised to hear this. He probably never expected Jiang Ling to say such a thing. He raised his pipe, took a deep drag, and said to Jiang Ling, "Alright, Jiang, since you think so highly of this old man, I will definitely do this well!"
After hearing this, Jiang Ling took out one tael of silver that she had just prepared and said to the village chief, "This is the money for the beam. I will give you the celebratory money on the day the beam is raised!"
"No, no! This is too much silver! It's not easy for you to raise a child alone, Jiang. You should keep this money. There are plenty of wood in the forest, and it won't take too much time to make this!" The village chief said, putting the silver back into Jiang Ling's hand.
Jiang Ling stubbornly shook her head, stuffed the silver back into the purse, and said to the village chief, "Village chief, don't refuse! You can keep the money!"
Before the village chief could say anything more, Jiang Ling turned and ran away, thinking all the while that the village chief was a really good person, never accepting money for his work.
However, what Jiang Ling didn't know was that, watching Jiang Ling's disappearing figure, the village chief helplessly stuffed the silver into his pocket and sighed, "Outsiders are always outsiders, they're always so distant!"
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