The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 381 - 370: Rare

Chapter 381: Chapter 370: Rare

Ms.Qian also heard the child’s cry and reached for the money box.

Old Zhou was about to go to sleep when he saw his old wife take out the money box, and he became a bit anxious, "What are you doing?"

Ms.Qian pondered, "I’m thinking about having Third buy some pig’s trotters tomorrow to stew for Third’s wife to help with her lactation. I overheard Manbao mention last time that crucian carp might also promote lactation."

Old Zhou immediately said, "Haven’t we constantly been feeding her eggs? Boiling eggs for her three times a day, which daughter-in-law could possibly eat as well as she does? If she doesn’t have milk, then she doesn’t have it. You better not be wasteful with money."

Ms.Qian gave him a sideways glare and said, "You’re just stingy, are you trying to make your daughter-in-law fall ill too? Why did I get sick before? It was because your Zhou family wouldn’t feed me, and every time I had a child, I had to tough it out..."

Old Zhou’s voice dropped by eight degrees as he said in a lower tone, "Wasn’t it because we didn’t have money at that time?"

"We didn’t have money then, but we do have money now, don’t we?"

Old Zhou grumbled twice in defense, "I’m just worried about not being fair. Won’t the other daughters-in-law have opinions?"

"Who would have opinions?"

Old Zhou coughed lightly and said, "Mrs. Four is about to give birth too, won’t she need to buy some as well?"

"If she also doesn’t have milk, then we buy. We can’t let the child just cry," Ms.Qian said, "Only when people are well-fed can they live healthily. It’s true for adults and even more so for children."

Her children survived because when they were small, as long as she had a bite to eat, she would never shortchange them.

Hearing this, Old Zhou didn’t say another word.

Ms.Qian took out a string of coins from the box but did not separate them.

Old Zhou watched, pained, and simply lay down on the bed, turning his back so as not to see.

Ms.Qian shot a glance at his back, cursed silently, "Old miser," and placed the money aside before lying down herself.

When Manbao got up the following day to go to Mr. Zhuang’s small courtyard to practice writing, she saw her mother handing Zhou Sanlang a string of coins, telling him to buy some pig’s legs to stew.

"No need to buy a lot, just a few pieces will do, for your wife to eat. And buy a catty of meat for the family too."

Zhou Sanlang agreed.

"Keep the change. From now on, buy some pig trotters for your wife every day. Let her eat them for a few days and see. If the milk is still insufficient, I’ll go find someone."

Zhou Sanlang scratched his head and said, "Mother, I was actually thinking of buying crucian carp. Didn’t Manbao mention last time that crucian carp could also induce lactation?"

"Then alternate between them. If you run short of money, come back to me," she said.

Zhou Sanlang then said naively, "Mother, we have money too."

Last year, the ginger crop from his barren plot sold for a fair amount. After giving away the mandatory sixty percent and a bit to Four or Five for helping sell it, there was still quite a bit left.

It was the first time Zhou Sanlang had made so much money. Of course, all the money was in his wife Ms.He’s hands.

Ms.Qian glared at him and said, "If you have money, why don’t you think of buying more things for your wife to eat?"

Zhou Sanlang shrugged his shoulders and said, "I, I thought eating eggs would be enough..."

Ms.Qian, hands on hips, was ready to scold him when Ms.He quickly intervened, "Mother, we didn’t know. Mainly because despite eating so many eggs daily, the milk still won’t come..."

In fact, her current diet was even better than when she had given birth to Four. Although it seemed like a sword named natural disaster hung over her head, it was the time of spring plowing and she had recently given birth, so of course the family wouldn’t let her eat porridge. She had to eat dry food, either noodles, pancake, or steamed bread.

What’s more, they raised more chickens at home last year, so there were plenty of eggs, especially since spring had arrived. The hens were laying even more eggs.

So there were plenty of eggs.

Her diet now was even better than Manbao’s. With four meals a day, every meal included eggs. Even the village chief’s daughter-in-law probably wouldn’t dare eat so well.

So deep down, she shared the same thoughts as Old Zhou. With such a good diet and so many eggs consumed, if she still didn’t have milk, she probably just didn’t have enough this time.

It wasn’t until last night when Manbao suggested buying a sheep that the couple discussed getting a crucian carp instead.

However, fish weren’t always available at the big markets, and they might need to go to the county town to find them.

Actually, if it wasn’t for the lack of time and the inability to ensure that they could definitely catch crucian carp, it might be faster to try and catch them themselves in the river.

Manbao yawned as she drifted past them, grabbed a pancake in the kitchen, and with her steamed egg, she sat down and said, "Sister-in-law, I won’t be coming back for lunch or dinner."

"Understood."

The Bai Family had been sending the meals for the workers to the fields these past two days, and Manbao’s meals were delivered with them.

Junior Ms.Qian lowered her head to look at Manbao and noticed that the once plump and fair Manbao had not only lost weight but had also darkened a bit.

She became worried, "Manbao, if it’s too tiring working in the fields, don’t do it. If it really can’t be helped, have Fifth Brother go. You mustn’t work yourself sick."

Ms.Feng nodded emphatically, "If the young mistress falls ill, it can be very hard to recover."

Ms.Qian said, "That was in the past. Manbao is in good health now. She is a reincarnated fairy. It’s just that Heaven Master hadn’t thought of Manbao before, which is why she had so many calamities."

Junior Ms.Qian nodded, believing without a doubt.

Ms.Feng hesitated for a moment, feeling something wasn’t quite right.

Manbao, looking up and unable to resist asking Keke, "Am I really not a reincarnated fairy?"

Keke: "...No."

Manbao then lowered her head and continued to eat without saying anything.

They still had to plant wheat today. Bai Shanbao learned for the first time just how exhausting spring planting could be. He sat directly on the ridges alongside Manbao, watching the hired workers labor.

By the time Bai Erlang finished sowing the seeds in this area, he too plopped down and sat dumbly alongside them, staring ahead. He was still confused, "Why do we have to join them in planting? Can’t we just hire more people? Or at least wait for the villagers to finish their own, we’re not in a hurry."

What Bai Shanbao was curious about was, "With so few people, why do we need to plant so much land?"

Manbao: "To earn money, of course."

"But people in the city have fields too, everyone has land, the grains they grow should be enough for their own consumption, so who would buy our grains?" Bai Shanbao had been learning about taxes from Mr. Zhuang, who had mentioned individual fields.

That’s why Bai Shanbao knew that every adult had their own individual field.

Manbao was equally puzzled and after some thought, said, "I don’t know, but every time we go to the county town, there seem to be people buying rice and flour in the grain shops."

She had a nagging feeling that something was off and pointed to the workers tilling the land, "If everyone has a field, why don’t they have one?"

She said, "I think my dad mentioned that a lot of people don’t have land."

Bai Shanbao pondered, "But they don’t look like they could afford to buy grains. Are we growing grains just to sell to them?"

Manbao: "Yeah, we pay money to hire them to grow grains, and when it’s harvested, we sell it to them to make money..."

She too felt something was amiss.

Bai Erlang looked from one to the other and finally drooped his head, saying, "There are plenty of landless people, and many wealthy people need to buy grains too. What’s so strange about that?"