Chapter 10
The Chen family had two mule carts. One was a flatbed cart used for hauling goods, and the other had a wooden cover on top, similar to those in TV dramas.
The last time I went back to Wangjia Village, I took this same cart. Today, Uncle Chen didn't come, so Xiao Liu, who was in charge of shopping, was driving. Wang Ying, Chen Qingyun, and Aunt Tian were riding in the cart. I forgot to mention that Xiao Liu is Aunt Tian's son.
The mule cart swayed and rattled along the dirt road, and because there was no shock absorption, the people riding it felt itchy.
Chen Qingyun, however, did not feel uncomfortable. She excitedly peered out the car window, as she had never been to the estate before.
"Girl, come and sit down quickly, be careful not to fall." Mother Tian, holding onto the carriage, advised with a pale face.
"It's okay, it's okay, you won't fall."
Wang Ying also looked out, and all she could see was green—the mountains were green, the water was green, and the seedlings in the fields were green too. At first glance, it was fine, but after looking at it for a while, her eyes started to feel blurry.
It is currently the season for seedlings to grow. Local people usually plant millet, sorghum, and soybeans in the wheat fields after harvesting wheat in May. However, two harvests a year is quite taxing on the land, and the same plot of land needs to be left to rest for half a year every one or two years.
People in this dynasty had learned to use human and animal excrement as fertilizer, but excrement was limited, and only a few lands could be fertilized. Most people still relied on the soil's fertility and the heavens for their livelihood.
"Qingyun, do you know what's growing in this field?"
Chen Qingyun shook her head. "Sister-in-law, do you know?"
"Look at that darker-colored field, that's where millet is planted, and the lighter-colored one next to it is sorghum. Those round-leaved ones are beans." Rice is not commonly grown in the arid climate of North China.
Wow, how did you tell the difference?
Wang Ying had studied this in his previous life, though he couldn't say it. "I used to farm a lot back home, so I can tell the difference at a glance."
Madam Tian glanced at Wang Ying, wondering what her mistress was thinking, letting this village boy take charge of the household. The way he acted like he owned the place made her angry; she feared Liu Zi wouldn't get any benefits from the purchasing work in the future.
The carriage in front suddenly passed a large pothole, which jolted the three of them up instantly. Wang Ying and Chen Qingyun were fine, but Granny Tian was not paying attention and fell face-first to the ground.
The two men quickly helped her up, and she cursed as she lifted the carriage curtain, "You little rascal, how can you drive like that? You're going to shake your old mother to death!"
Liu Zi didn't dare to talk back after being scolded, so he had to slow down. It was almost noon before the group arrived at the village.
They hadn't given any prior notice, and no one came to greet them upon entering the village. This village was called Chenjiazhuang, and it was similar to Wangjiazhai, with about a hundred households.
The surrounding fields all belong to the Chen family. Because the fourth master of the Chen family passed the imperial examination, these fields were exempt from land tax, but the poll tax on the estate still had to be paid by the family.
Last year, the price for a male tenant was 23 coins. Don't think that 20 coins isn't much; if a household had five or six male tenants, it would cost over 100 coins. For tenant farmers who relied on the land for their livelihood, this was a huge expense.
The mule cart stopped in front of the village head's house, and through the low fence, one could see the mud-brick house inside.
An old woman was sitting in the courtyard, chopping grass to feed the ducks. When she saw the mule cart, she was taken aback at first, but then she immediately got up and went out to greet it.
"Has the master arrived?"
Liu Zi pulled on the rope, "Whoa~ The Second Miss and the Eldest Young Master's husband are here."
Upon hearing this, the old woman prostrated herself on the ground, ready to kowtow.
Seeing this, Wang Ying quickly jumped off the car and helped the woman up. "No, old lady, get up quickly." This old woman was the mother of Chen Xi, the head of the village. If you were to count by seniority, you would have to call her Grandma.
The old lady stood up, her cloudy eyes secretly scrutinizing Wang Ying and Chen Qingyun. "You've come all this way, Second Miss and Young Master, haven't you eaten yet? I'll have the children go and call someone to make you both some food."
Wang Ying was indeed a bit hungry. She had almost digested what she ate in the morning, so she didn't refuse.
"Keep it simple."
The old woman nodded happily, "I'll send the children to call them back right away. Daya, Huzi, hurry to the fields and call your grandparents back!"
"Hey!" Two four- or five-year-old children ran out of the house, their straw sandals clattering as they ran towards the fields.
"Come inside and rest. I'll get you some water."
"Thank you for your trouble, old man."
The thatched hut was low and somewhat dark inside, but it was very clean. There were three main rooms in total: the middle one served as the kitchen and main hall, while the left and right sides were their bedrooms.
The kitchen was blackened by smoke, and the bedroom was very simple, containing only a bed and a few chests. Many straw ropes hung on the walls, probably made during the off-season. The windows were closed during the day for ventilation, and there was no strange smell in the room.
It was Chen Qingyun's first time in the countryside, and she looked around and found everything new and interesting. Wang Ying pulled her to sit on the wooden bed.
He discovered a problem: in the cold winters of North China, where temperatures are below zero, a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) would be warmer, but the people in both Wangjiazhai and Chenjiazhuang were using wooden beds.
Wealthy families mostly use braziers for warmth in winter, while poor people can only stay in bed covered with quilts. Could it be that the heated kang (a traditional heated bed) has not been introduced from the north?
While she was thinking, Granny Chen brought in two bowls of water. "Miss, sir, please have some water."
Chen Qingyun took the ceramic bowl and had just brought it to her lips when she was almost vomiting from a sour smell. "What is this smell?"
The old woman was startled and quickly said, "Is the water not good to drink? How about I have Xizi pick some fruit for you to eat later?"
Wang Ying quickly reassured her, "It's alright, Yun'er might just not be used to the water at the manor."
Actually, the earthenware bowls are rough, and food residue inevitably accumulates on them. In the hot summer, the residue ferments and develops a sour smell.
People in the countryside were used to it and didn't find it strange, but Chen Qingyun was used to porcelain and couldn't stand the smell.
Wang Ying gently patted Qingyun's arm, "Just bear with it, it's like this in the whole village."
After a while, hurried footsteps came from the courtyard. The head of the village, Chen Xi, and his wife, Yang, returned, along with their three sons and eldest daughter-in-law.
"The master is here. Why didn't you send someone to tell us? We didn't prepare anything at home." Chen Xi walked in with a smile on his face. He wasn't very tall, and his skin was tanned dark and shiny from working in the fields all year round. He was wearing a coarse cloth shirt and looked honest and simple.
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyun stood up. "Chen Zhuangtou."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xi immediately tried to kneel down and kowtow, but Wang Ying reached out to stop him, saying, "There's no need for such a grand gesture. In terms of seniority, I should call you my cousin."
"No, no, I wouldn't dare." He had never met Wang Ying before and didn't know how to address her.
Mother Tian cleared her throat and said, "This is our family's newlywed young master."
"Young master."
Wang Ying nodded, "The head of the estate need not be so formal."
"Yes," Chen Xi agreed verbally, but his body remained tense, because he didn't know what kind of personality Wang Ying had and was afraid of offending his master.
Standing at the door, Chen Xiniangzi whispered, "The master hasn't eaten yet. I'll go kill the chicken first."
"No, there's no need for that."
Chen Xi quickly replied, "It's no trouble at all. They're all young chickens from back then. They'll be tender in a quarter of an hour."
That's not what Wang Ying meant. Farmers don't raise chickens easily; they rely on the eggs to supplement their income. She felt bad that she would eat them. But then a mournful crowing of a chicken rang out outside, and she swallowed her words.
"Da Shun, go and get that piece of cured meat from the warehouse. We'll stew it together later. Second brother, go to Lizhuang and buy half a jin of wine."
"No need for alcohol, none of the three of us drink."
Chen Xi saw that the three of them really couldn't drink alcohol, so he gave up.
"Why didn't the eldest young master come along? The last time I saw him was at the master's funeral. Three years have passed in the blink of an eye." News travels slowly in the manor, and he didn't know that Chen Qingyan was seriously ill.
Wang Ying casually made up a lie, "Qingyan caught a cold, let's come together next time."
"Young master, you must take care of yourself. When you leave later, take some earthworms with you. Wash them clean, soak them in water, and drink the water. It's very effective for treating colds."
Wang Ying nodded. "Please sit down and talk, Chief Zhuang. We're not here for anything important. We just wanted to see how the crops are doing. We've been busy at home these past few years, and my mother-in-law's health has been poor, so she hasn't been able to come. Now that I'm in charge, I should make a personal trip to see her."
Chen Xi sat on a small wooden stool, rubbing his pants. "Young Master, you only need to send someone to inform us. We should go and pay our respects to you. It would be too much trouble for you to make such a long trip."
When the topic of the fields came up, his expression relaxed a little, and he began to introduce them to Wang Ying: "Our village currently has 27.06 mu of fertile land and 10.07 mu of lower-grade land."
"So much!" Wang Ying had always thought it was only two hundred mu, but since one qing (a unit of land measurement) is ten mu, it adds up to more than three hundred mu!
"Yes, these fields are all on the register, and they are exempt from land tax every year. There are also many families in the village who have cultivated additional wasteland, which is not on the register. They have to pay the land tax themselves, and we don't collect grain from these fields."
This is similar to the private plots of later generations. Most of the land that farmers cultivated themselves was used for planting beans, which had a very low yield. After deducting land taxes, there was not much left over, so charging rent would be excessive.
Wang Ying nodded knowingly, "What are they planting in the fertile fields?"
"Wheat and millet."
"Only these two types?"
Chen Xidao said, "Wheat can be sown in autumn and harvested the following spring. Millet yields a little more than sorghum, so everyone prefers to grow millet." Another reason is that millet is soft and sticky when cooked, which can be eaten by the elderly and children, while sorghum can only be used to make porridge.
After finishing with Ueda, he brought up Shimoda, saying, "Shimoda grows more beans. The distinction between fertile land and Shimoda is not fixed. Some land loses its fertility and yields after being cultivated for a long time, so it will be classified as Shimoda. After a year or two of nurturing, it will become fertile land again."
Wang Ying nodded knowingly. The natural laws that ordinary people have figured out over thousands of years are far more solid than those in books.
"This year's spring wheat harvest is slightly worse than in previous years because there was little snow in winter and drought in spring. However, our village has more fertile fields, so the harvest is better than other villages."
Wang Ying hesitated, wanting to speak but then stopped. His Changfeng No. 3 was perfectly suited to this climate, but unfortunately, now was not the time to bring it out.
"The wheat hasn't dried yet. In a few days, the grain merchants from town will come. After I sell the grain, I'll send the money to my employer."
Freshly harvested wheat cannot be eaten directly; it needs to be threshed and dried before being bagged and stored. In ancient times, without advanced machinery, people mostly used flails (wooden farm implements) to thresh the wheat.
After chatting for a while, the food in the pot was ready. Farmers don't know how to cook anything fancy, so they stewed chicken with cabbage and radish together, which made a hearty dish.
Yang carried a large bowl full of meat to the table, and also brought out the ash flour that the family usually couldn't bear to eat, kneaded it into dough and made it into pancakes. Finally, she stir-fried three chickens with lard. This meal was even more sumptuous than their New Year's Eve dinner.
"Young master, please take your seat, Miss."
"Where is everyone else? There's so much food, let's invite everyone over to eat together."
"There's still food in the pot, so the wife and kids can eat outside."
Besides Mother Tian, only the head of the village and his three sons sat at the lower end of the table with them. Seeing that the two had started eating, Chen Xi dared to pick up some food, only choosing radishes and cabbages to eat. They tasted much better than usual after being dipped in oil.
Chen Qingyun took a few bites and then put down her chopsticks. She was still disgusted by the spoiled ceramic bowl, so much so that she had no appetite for anything else.
Wang Ying wasn't picky about food; dishes cooked in a big pot were the most fragrant. His grandmother used to cook chicken for him like this, and the taste was almost the same.
As they were eating, the sound of a child crying and a woman cursing in a low voice suddenly came from outside, "Is this a reincarnation of a starving ghost? Can't you wait until the guests leave before you eat?"
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