Chapter 19
Chapter 19
As the whole summer passed, Xiao Huang had grown from a calf into a mature cow, and he looked very important standing next to Ji Yuan.
It’s the same as before, no one is allowed to feed him except Ji Yuan.
Not only that, the two cows from Mr. An's family were obviously in a better relationship with Ji Yuan. They looked stronger than before, and their fur was very smooth.
All the wealthy people in An were very satisfied with Jiyuan's work.
Life in the era stabilized.
I dig herbs and recite lessons early in the morning, and read books, practice calligraphy and herd cattle during the day.
Cook and practice calligraphy in the evening.
Although Aunt Ji and Uncle Ji San were a little rebellious, they were able to suppress it.
They have been worried recently about Ji Li going to the county town to be an apprentice accountant.
I gave gifts several times, but they didn't give in.
It was early in the morning again, and Ji Li was still complaining, "When I sent Ji Yuan over before, I said everything was fine, why can't I do it?"
How could Uncle Ji and Aunt Ji say that they were deceiving Ji Yuan?
It's like the carrot in front of the donkey. Ji Yuan can see it but can't eat it. As long as he doesn't have to go to school, it's fine.
Besides, if you are sent to the county town as an apprentice, who knows whether you will be an accountant or a handyman.
But they didn't dare say this, for fear of being known by outsiders and causing trouble. Ji Yuan didn't talk much about it before, and outsiders even praised them for taking care of their brother's children.
Now, after those incidents, the villagers were talking about it. The village chief was very dissatisfied and said that the people of Anji Village have always been simple and honest. If the reputation of Anji Village was ruined because of such things, and the county magistrate investigated, they would suffer the consequences.
I can't tell the truth, so I can only fool Ji Li, which makes Ji Li very unhappy.
He told his peers in the village that he would be able to go to the county town to work soon, but there was no result yet.
It's already July and autumn is coming, but there is still no news.
In fact, Aunt Ji and Uncle Ji were also anxious because they had given away a lot of money, but they didn't know whether others would accept any interest from them.
Ji Yuan pretended not to hear.
His connection with this family is now limited to superficial aspects.
He had been in this world for half a year and understood the local customs and traditional clan concepts, which would not allow him and Uncle Ji to completely break off relations.
Confucianism also has the concept of a family-based dynasty, and the "Doctrine of the Mean" also says, "A benevolent person is a human being, and the most important thing is to love one's relatives."
Benevolence means loving others, and you should love your loved ones.
Guided by Confucianism, if scholars in ancient times could not handle family relationships well and could not live in harmony, they would definitely be criticized and scolded, which would affect their official careers.
Aunt Ji and Uncle Ji might not be able to explain this, but they also knew that they had to remain calm.
And since he wanted to read, he naturally wouldn't talk much.
They do their own thing and read their own things.
It's best not to interfere with each other.
After leaving Uncle San's house, Xiao Huang was obviously happy. The eleven-month-old ox already weighed nearly seven hundred kilograms and was wagging its tail.
This time, Ji Yuan did not go to dig herbs, but went directly to An Da Hu's house.
Feeding the cows is quite simple these days, as the weather in July is just the right time for lush green grass.
But after summer, in autumn and winter, cows can only eat hay.
Mr. An and his daughter-in-law are preparing feed for winter storage. They have many livestock and their cow is pregnant, so they have to prepare early.
The reason why he was called Jiyuan was because he was really good at raising cattle, and both heads of cattle in An's family were well taken care of.
They calculated together how much hay was needed and prepared it in advance.
When Ji Yuan entered An Dahu's house and saw that he had two more sheep, he knew that his family would definitely be busy.
Preparing hay for so many animals requires both manpower and resources.
Ji Yuan once thought of something: when he was a child, his grandparents also stored cattle and sheep feed.
Not only hay, but also stored green fodder.
If cattle and sheep could eat silage in winter, the nutrition would definitely be better, especially for pregnant cows.
Today's Jiyuan expressed his idea and added: "We just need to dig a cellar to store it, and we need to collect the straw quickly. The cattle and sheep will have a better winter after eating it and will not be prone to getting sick."
An Dahu was usually stingy, but he was definitely very hardworking. He didn't think digging a cellar was a hassle, so he just asked again, "You mean, pregnant cows will have a higher survival rate if they eat silage?"
One of the cows is now pregnant and will give birth around the end of this year or the beginning of this year, so she will have to spend the winter.
If the birth happens to take place in winter, it will be even more troublesome because we have to find a way to supplement the nutrition for the cow.
"Yes, we also need some baking soda to mix the ingredients." Ji Yuan said carefully, and An Da's daughter-in-law and An Dahai beside him were also listening attentively.
After that, Ji Yuan explained what baking soda is and it is not difficult to find a similar substitute.
Just after he finished speaking, he realized that this word was a later transliteration.
Calves and cows born in winter need to be kept warm and well-nourished. If they are injured or sick, at best it will affect next year’s spring ploughing, at worst they may die directly.
This is a strong bull in its prime. If it were to die, even Mr. An would cry out in grief.
"Then dig the cellar according to your method." Mr. An made the decision. The thin old man in his forties or fifties looked at Ji Yuan and pretended not to understand what Ji Yuan meant.
Ji Yuan was not fooled by him, and said with a smile: "Uncle An, I have given you such a good method, how about you give me 30% of your business?"
Business?
What business?
Mr. An looked at Ji Yuan in confusion. He originally thought that Ji Yuan would use this method to ask for some money.
After all, it does cost money to educate children. He feels painful every time he buys paper and pens for his three grandchildren.
Alas, it would be fine if my grandson and Ji Yuan were as good at studying, but unfortunately they are not very good at it.
Ji Yuan stated the ultimate goal.
"There are many cattle farmers in Anji Village, and they may need silage in the winter. I heard that the cows in the neighboring village where you bred are pregnant, and they will definitely need nutrition. If they insist on paying with silver, you can't refuse."
"The autumn harvest is coming soon. Every household has straw. We can collect it and make it into silage. It will be useful in the winter when households are short of silage."
From the beginning, Ji Yuan knew that studying cost money.
The money he earns from digging herbs every day is only enough to buy paper, and he doesn't even have a complete book.
This is still studying in the village, it will only cost more in the future.
Just look at Mr. Huang who passed the examination to become a scholar and you will know how difficult life is.
The few cents from Uncle Ji San and his family were not enough, so Ji Yuan had been looking for other ways out.
As the autumn harvest was approaching, Ji Yuan started to think about harvesting straw.
Make silage!
Winter sale!
But he is just an eight-year-old kid and really can't do this.
But An Dahu's family is okay, as he has many members and is also a scheming person.
Sure enough, Mr. An, who loved money the most, lit up his eyes.
What a good idea!
He thinks it's feasible!
Mrs. An, however, was not in the mood.
All the money she earned was public money, which meant she had more work to do.
But it would be nice if we could take good care of the livestock.
An Dahai was already rubbing his hands in anticipation: "Master, there is an open space behind our house. We can dig a cellar in advance and store the food as Ji Yuan said after the autumn harvest!"
An Da Hu didn't want to respond. Anyway, he already knew how to store it and could do it by himself without Ji Yuan.
But at the end, Ji Yuan still smiled and said, "Yes, you can call me when you dig. I know the best way to dig. After all, if the hiding is ruined, it will be a waste of time."
Good boy, he's waiting here.
An Dahu really wanted to earn this money. To him, it was a matter of joint efforts by his family. Why not pay back the money with his own efforts?
"My family paid for all the losses in manpower and material resources," An Da Hu said directly, "I'll give you 20% at most."
"Twenty percent is twenty percent." Ji Yuan stood up and thanked him, "Then it's a deal!"
Mr. An's eyes widened. Why did he feel that Xiao Jiyuan only thought 20%? !
You agreed too quickly!
Ji Yuan still smiled and called Dahai to recite the lessons together. He recited while cutting grass.
Uncle An was right, he really just wanted 20%.
No matter how good the idea is, someone has to do it.
With his current small body, he has no strength and no tools.
Even if you dig the cellar with your bare hands for two years, you still can't get anything out.
It takes seven or eight strong laborers to work together.
In addition to strength, you also need raw materials.
Either many people cut the grass together, or someone pays to collect the straw.
If you don't handle it properly, the silage might end up in your hands, and you will lose all your money.
Not to mention the subsequent sales, bookkeeping, and finding connections to sell products, which are all work.
Now Uncle An's family will take care of everything.
He could make money as long as he went over and gave some pointers on how to store things, and it was not his business if he lost money.
A highly profitable business.
For him, endorsement is more important.
The An family also did what they said. The next day, Uncle An took his sons and nephews to dig a cellar. He was also careful. He planned to dig a small one first, and then cut grass for storage, trying the method that Ji Yuan mentioned.
But since he said he would share it with Ji Yuan, he would not go back on his word.
So in addition to memorizing, Ji Yuan had to do more things, such as watching Mr. An and his men dig silage cellars and cutting grass.
The first silage pit is two meters deep. All the grass is chopped with a guillotine and spread evenly inside, layer by layer.
The moisture content of the grass is high now, so there is no need to add water. When the moisture content of the grass decreases in autumn, you still need to water it to replenish it. The best moisture content is 75%.
As time went by, Uncle An became convinced of Ji Yuan. Although he still felt bad about giving money to Ji Yuan, he also knew that little Ji Yuan was indeed capable.
But this is not enough. If the silage is not added with fermentation agent, the nutritional content will be affected.
Jiyuan also mixed lactic acid bacteria with sauerkraut and other ingredients, mixed it with water and poured it into the silage pit to ensure that the silage feed could be fermented.
Uncle An and Madam An have both been raising livestock for a long time. They know that livestock will do better if they eat some distiller's grains, so they naturally would not object to this practice. They even secretly wondered why they hadn't thought of it.
The feed must be spread in the silo quickly, from harvesting to putting it in and compacting it, which should not exceed three days.
Every thirty centimeters, oxen were used to pull large stones over the surface to ensure that it was compact.
When it is half a meter above the ground, seal the cellar directly.
Uncle An's family are used to doing things. Ji Yuan knows that there is a reason why this family has become a wealthy family.
Now that the first one is done, the rest will be easier.
However, due to the busy farming season and the need to store green grass, his family did not set foot on the land the entire autumn.
Even a stingy old man like Uncle An had his family kill a few chickens to provide nutrition for everyone.
When stewing chicken soup, I left a bowl specifically for Ji Yuan.
Ji Yuan drank the chicken soup happily, and then heard Madam An say that the September exam was coming soon.
The September exam is coming.
It was approaching October.
The day for the county school entrance exam is getting closer.
In the past few months, An Dahai and An Xiaohe's grades have fluctuated, taking turns to be second or third.
Only Ji Yuan is firmly in first place, so he is definitely qualified to take the examination for the county school.
This was never what Ji Yuan was worried about.
But the quota for the county school is 20 from 300.
It is definitely not an easy task to rank among the top 20 students in the whole county.
Not to mention how long he had been learning, and his handwriting.
Although he has made great progress, he is still far behind the students who have been practicing calligraphy since childhood, not to mention that he is reluctant to use more paper.
Ji Yuan savored the taste of the chicken soup, stirring the fodder while reciting the article silently.
It would be great if I could get admitted to the county school.
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