"Ten copper coins each, but if you want them all, I'll give you eight copper coins each!"
The vendor winked, took a duckling out of the cage and showed it to the vendor, saying, "Look how healthy my duckling is, you don't need to worry at all when you take it home..."
Before the vendor could finish speaking, the little duckling in his hand suddenly flapped its wings a few times and then lay limp and motionless in the vendor's hand.
Jiang Ling frowned, somewhat speechless, as she looked at the embarrassed vendor. The vendor quickly put the duckling behind his back and grabbed another quacking duckling with his other hand, saying, "Sister-in-law, look at this one, how lively it is."
Jiang Ling grinned and said, "I think your duckling is just so-so. How about I take all six copper coins?"
"This..." The vendor hesitated and scratched his head. Seeing this, Jiang Ling turned to leave, but the vendor said in a panic, "Oh, sister-in-law, don't go! Don't go! I'll give you six copper coins each!"
Jiang Ling stopped and turned to the vendor, asking, "Are these all female ducks?"
The vendor took out a duckling from the cage that looked a bit bigger than the others and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, except for this one which is a male duck, the others are all female ducks. If you find a second male duck after you raise it, just bring it to me and I'll immediately refund you one hundred copper coins!"
Listening to the vendor's words, Jiang Ling smiled awkwardly. It would take at least three to five months to raise the ducklings, and it was uncertain whether the vendor would even be here by then.
After buying the abacus, Jiang Ling carried a cage containing twenty ducklings to Uncle Lu's oxcart. The village women who had come with Jiang Ling had not yet returned. Uncle Lu looked at the ducklings in Jiang Ling's cage and asked curiously, "Jiang, why...why did you buy so many ducklings?"
"When ducks grow up, they can lay eggs, or they can be killed and cooked for meat. The main thing is that duck feathers are very warm, so you can add some when making winter clothes!" Jiang Ling explained patiently.
"Oh? There are so many benefits? Where did you buy these ducklings? I want to buy some too!" Uncle Lu asked, his eyes lighting up.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Lu, the vendor selling ducks only had these twenty ducklings, and I bought them all. I guess I'll have to come back next time! Oh, by the way, this is the abacus the old carpenter used!" Jiang Ling said, taking the abacus out of her basket.
Uncle Lu looked disappointed, but looking at the abacus in his hand, his mood improved considerably.
The village women returned to Uncle Lu's oxcart in twos and threes. They all looked surprised when they saw the ducklings. However, after Jiang Ling explained to them, they all looked disappointed.
The ducklings quacked incessantly the whole way home. As soon as they got home, the children curiously gathered around, looking at the ducklings in the cage. Jiang Wenxi asked, "Mom, are you planning to stew them for us?"
Jiang Ling smiled and gently tapped Jiang Wenxi's forehead, saying, "Little foodie! All you ever do is eat. These ducklings are for laying eggs and plucking feathers!"
"What? Plucking hair? Why are you plucking hair?" Jiang Yaojie asked Jiang Ling curiously.
"Of course, it's to make winter clothes for you. Oh, right, Yaojie, Suihe, and Wenxi, we need to start clearing land for farming starting tomorrow!" Jiang Ling suddenly remembered that she still had cotton seeds in her basket when she mentioned making winter clothes.
"Planting land? Big sister, the planting season is long over, and it's almost harvest time. What are you going to plant?" Jiang Zhishan asked curiously.
"Cotton? Why are you planting this, sister? You can't eat it or drink it." Jiang Zhishan frowned even more.
“Zhishan, have you thought about how we’re going to get through the winter? Cotton can keep us warm. Although we can add reeds to our winter clothes, the summer drought has killed almost all the reeds. How are we going to keep warm? Besides, I’ve heard that a hot and dry summer will inevitably lead to an extremely cold winter.”
"That might not be entirely accurate, but we should at least be prepared, just in case..."
Jiang Zhishan was speechless after hearing Jiang Ling's words. He frowned and looked at Jiang Ling with a strange gaze. He felt that his older sister was both unfamiliar and familiar.
"Hey kid, what are you looking at!" Jiang Ling teased, gently patting Jiang Zhishan's shoulder.
"Ah...no...no...nothing." Jiang Zhishan realized he had lost his composure and quickly shook his head to explain.
Jiang Ling smiled and went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. The lunch was particularly lavish. Jiang Ling specially made some crispy meatballs, stir-fried some wild mushrooms, and bought some eggs from the mall to make a big egg pancake.
Jiang Zhishan stared wide-eyed at the food on the table and asked in surprise, "Big sister, are you... are you not going to eat anything from now on?"
"Uncle, you're talking nonsense. We eat very well almost every day!" Jiang Wenxi said, wiping her drool as she looked at the fried meatballs on the table.
Jiang Zhishan was completely convinced. He really couldn't understand his older sister. Why had she become so outstanding after divorcing her husband? She was taking better care of the four children than before, at least she wasn't as pale and thin as before.
"Eat quickly, we still need to go clear the land after we finish eating! Zhishan, you can stay home and study!" Jiang Ling said before Jiang Zhishan could say anything.
"No way! I can't just come to my sister's house and eat and drink for free, or take her money. Count me in for this job!" Jiang Zhishan shook her head and interrupted.
“Why would a scholar like you do farm work? You just need to focus on your studies!” Jiang Ling said.
"No! Elder sister, please let me go with you. There are no scholars here!"
Seeing Jiang Zhishan's resolute attitude, Jiang Ling finally sighed helplessly and said, "Zhishan, farm work is very hard!"
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