The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 178 - 167: Rushing Headlong

Chapter 178: Chapter 167: Rushing Headlong

The Zhou Family discovered that the banging sounds coming from Zhou Dayuan’s house were even louder tonight. Even from a distance, they could hear Ms. Zhang scolding the children and the cries of Goudan and others.

Junior Ms. Qian was threading yam beans with the children when she heard the increasing noise from over there. She couldn’t help but frown, "What’s gotten into Eldest Aunt Zhang tonight, she’s so fiery."

It was nearly dark by now, and usually at this time, everyone would have finished their evening meal and be preparing to go to bed.

Ms. He snorted with a laugh and said, "What else could it be? It must be because our Fourth Uncle got a good lot. You weren’t here today, so you didn’t see it. When Fourth Uncle pulled out his bamboo stick, her face went green right then. Even Daliang’s family didn’t mind, but she got worked up, even though it had nothing to do with them."

Junior Ms. Qian just hummed, placing the threaded yam beans aside, "Let’s just ignore her."

At least they had something real, didn’t they? Her incessant complaints would only end up frustrating her in the end.

The Zhou Family had been particularly busy this year, with no time to bother with such trivial matters.

All the rocks had been cleared from the homestead plot, and all the roots had been dug out. Tomorrow, they would begin digging the foundation.

This year the village also had to clear forty mu of wasteland for cultivation, so they were very busy.

They were so busy that they couldn’t even pay attention to the digging of yams. In the end, it was Manbao who called over some friends to dig up all the mature yams and also picked all the yam beans from the vines.

Although the yams were a bit small, there were still quite a few. Zhou Silang rubbed his hands together and excitedly ran to ask his mother, "Mom, are my debts almost paid off?"

Ms. Qian lifted her eyelids and glanced at him, "Hmm, almost, but you haven’t paid your two taels for the house construction."

Zhou Silang’s excitement deflated, and he drooped his head and said "Oh," before running back to find Manbao, "How are we selling these yams?"

"Let’s sell them fresh," Manbao said, "Selling dried to the medicinal shops is too wasteful."

Zhou Silang also felt it was a loss, so he rolled up his sleeves and said, "I’ll go and sell them myself. Manbao, you have to speak well of me in front of mom and dad."

Zhou Wulang was not pleased, "I’ll sell them along with the ginger. Why do you need to go?"

"What do you know? I have a few friends who I can sell to faster. And we need to keep more for seeds this year. Next year, we should choose a better plot of fertile land to plant them on. We’ll definitely reap more. What if our county cannot consume so many yams next year? Wouldn’t we have to transport them elsewhere?"

Manbao’s spirits lifted, and she immediately said, "Right, we should sell them outside. I also want to talk to dad about keeping more seeds this year and choosing some plots that are richer and more aerated for planting next year."

Zhou Wulang scratched his head and asked, "Then, will we still get a share?"

"No," Manbao said, "That’s not Silang’s own field, it’s the family’s field."

Manbao knew that only the crops grown on one’s own cleared land belonged to them.

Zhou Wulang immediately looked at Zhou Silang and asked, "Silang, what do you plan to do with your piece of wasteland?"

The individual field that Zhou Silang was allotted did not need to be considered; it belonged to the whole family. Unless the family was divided, the actual control would not fall into Zhou Silang’s hands.

What truly belonged to Zhou Silang was just the plot they had cleared together with united effort.

Zhou Silang rolled his eyes and said, "I think growing ginger is better than yams."

Zhou Wulang agreed, "I think so too."

Then both of them looked at Manbao.

Manbao nodded solemnly, "Then we will keep more ginger seeds this year."

Ginger was in demand and had a long shelf-life. Buried in sandy soil, it could be preserved for five to six months without any issues, and it could also be dried and sold to medicinal shops. In any case, they all thought it wouldn’t make a loss.

They also shared this idea with Old Zhou, who thought about it while smoking, "Yams and ginger seem profitable, but those are things we can’t eat much of ourselves. If one day people from outside stop buying, we’ll be left holding the bag. So, we should still grow more grains. I think the household should devote two mu of land to yams and another two mu to ginger."

Old Zhou said, "I won’t interfere with the two pieces of wasteland Fourth and Xi have cleared. You can do as you please."

He also stated, "Any one of you who opens up wasteland can plant whatever your heart desires. However, I’m putting this out there, if you’re going to work on wasteland, you must finish the household chores first."

With those words, he implied they were free to clear the land, which excited the Zhou brothers.

Zhou Sanlang was particularly moved. Among the adult brothers, he was the least talented and earned the least. His expertise was in farming.

But the harvest from farming went to the collective, not as private savings.

Unlike the first and second rooms, which had extra income, Sanlang’s private money mostly came from working at Old Master Bai’s place. It was only last year and this year, because he had to cook for the laborers, that he earned something extra. Otherwise, he might not have been able to produce the two taels for the contribution last time.

So when Old Zhou spoke, he thought about clearing a piece of wasteland for himself to plant some ginger. Perhaps it would earn him a bit more next year.

Ms. He thought the same.

However, they would still have to get the seeds from Manbao.

Therefore, as soon as the meeting ended, Zhou Sanlang went to Manbao to discuss it with her.

Manbao agreed without any problem, "Sure, Third Brother, how big a plot do you want to clear, and how many seeds do you need?"

Zhou Sanlang thought about it. Too much and he wouldn’t be able to manage, considering there was so much land to till at home. So he said, "Just about the same size as Silang’s, seven or eight points should do. Planting it all with ginger will yield quite a bit."

Manbao said it was no problem, and even patted her little chest, promising, "Then go and choose your land quick, Third Brother. Once you’ve chosen, I’ll help you clear it."

Zhou Sanlang laughed, patting her little head, "You don’t need to trouble yourself with that."

Since Zhou Silang’s individual field needed tilling, the Zhou household would have to provide at least one laborer, and Old Zhou assigned the task to Silang, since it was, after all, his own land.

Then, besides Five and Sixth, the other brothers all needed to stay home to build the house.

So in the end, Zhou Silang still couldn’t take over the yam business completely, but he still went to town with Zhou Wulang and managed to sell a small portion of the family’s yams.

The rest were mostly kept for seeds, while Zhou Wulang sold the remainder piecemeal.

However, in the county town, not many truly knew about yams, much less ate them, so it was somewhat difficult to sell compared to ginger.

But as long as they found the right group of customers, the travels of the merchant brothers, Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang, went smoothly. Every day, they brought back five to six hundred wen in earnings from the county town.

Seeing this, Zhou Sanlang felt even more determined to clear the land.

Even Zhou Dalang was tempted and discussed opening a plot of land with Junior Ms. Qian.

Junior Ms. Qian then said, "Didn’t Sanlang mention he wanted to clear land? If you do it too, are all the household chores going to fall on Two’s shoulders?"

Although Junior Ms. Qian was also tempted, "Dad won’t agree. Four is already three years old, and I think Sanlang’s wife is expecting again. If our responsibilities spread too thin, won’t it be a waste?"

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