The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 385 - 374: Survey of Public Sentiments

Chapter 385: Chapter 374: Survey of Public Sentiments

Yang Heshu gave a stiff nod and managed a smile as he said, "Assessing the livelihood of the people is also one of the tasks Mr. Zhuang has assigned to me as part of my studies."

Manbao and Bai Shanbao both nodded earnestly to show their understanding, then indicated that he could ask them anything, and they would certainly spare no detail in their answers.

Although things were going very smoothly—indeed, they had never gone this smoothly before—he still felt that something was a bit off. What should he do?

The only one who seemed normal was Bai Erlang.

Bored while listening to their conversation, he crawled over to his book chest and took out two packets of snacks. Opening them, he grabbed a piece for himself and then placed the rest in the middle for everyone to share.

Yang Heshu inquired about the previous year’s harvest. He had originally thought that the three children wouldn’t know, after all, it was something only adults were aware of, and even among the adults, most only had a vague impression. From what he had seen in other villages, the most people could say was something like "The best plot of land was slightly worse than last year, yielding two bags of rice, and the worst had nothing to harvest at all."

But Manbao and Bai Shanbao were different; they were actually able to give specific numbers. For example, during last year’s summer harvest, the plot with the highest wheat yield in Qili Village belonged to the Zhou Family, totaling two and a half stones, and the worst yielded just a bundle of wheat, not even enough to recoup the seeds sown.

The rice crop fared worse—the highest yield was from the village head’s plot, at two stones, while the worst also had nothing to harvest, the kind that no one bothered to gather from the field. But considering the hardships of the coming year, people still went to collect rice with husk, which could be milled into rice bran, at least.

Manbao even had data from the year before. The two searched through their book chest and showed Yang Heshu the average yield per acre they had calculated.

Of course, this was only the data Manbao had temporarily collected from Qili Village, which didn’t include that of Old Master Bai’s family.

But Bai Erlang had data from his family. Of course, he originally didn’t have it.

However, Bai Shanbao and Manbao had forced him to ask his father, and if his father didn’t know, to ask the family steward. Thus, he had come to know as well.

Of course, he wasn’t one to remember so many numbers; he just remembered the biggest one.

Because Manbao and Bai Shanbao had said that their goal for this year was to surpass that largest number.

Yang Heshu listened to them in a daze and only after a long while did he ask, "Aren’t you attending school? How do you have time to do such things?"

"When our teacher heard that we wanted to do this, he gave us time and even instructed us to ask more people, remember more numbers, and then calculate the average," they said.

Bai Shanbao nodded, "The average was calculated by our teacher because there were too many numbers, and Manbao always got it wrong."

"You got it wrong too," Manbao retorted.

Fearful that the two would start fighting again, Bai Erlang quickly intervened, extending his hand to separate them and said, "All right, stop arguing. Our arithmetic takes time; long numbers are naturally hard to calculate."

"It’s not hard at all; it’s just carelessness," Manbao insisted.

Bai Erlang didn’t want to bother with her anymore. Ever since Mr. Zhuang had calculated an average in front of them, Manbao and Bai Shanbao had learned how to do it, but Bai Erlang just couldn’t grasp it. Addition was fine, but averages were so difficult...

Yang Heshu looked down at those numbers and after memorizing them privately, he asked, "So, doesn’t this mean that the village is very short on grain?"

"Yes," Manbao replied with concern. "Many families can only eat watery porridge even during the busy farming season. There are almost some in the village who have started to consume mixtures of 70% bran and 30% flour. My father says that if we are not frugal with food, by the time winter wheat is harvested, we will also have to eat rice bran."

Looking at Manbao, Yang Heshu asked, "Your family can afford schooling; are things really still so hard for you?"

Manbao nodded, "Indeed, my family is very poor. However, we’re a little better off than my classmates. Their families took them home before the new year, and I don’t know when they can come back to school."

Bai Erlang interjected, "I miss them. They haven’t come to play with me for a long time now."

Bai Shanbao added, "They need to work in the fields, you know. It’s the busy farming season right now."

Yang Heshu was about to continue his inquiry when Bai Erlang asked, "It looks like our wheat planting is almost done. It should be finished in a couple of days. My father said it might get cold again soon, and the wheat needs to go through a cold snap to grow well, so when should we plant the beans?"

"I’m not sure; we’ll follow my father’s lead," Manbao replied. "Once my family starts planting, we’ll start too."

Although the three children had read two or three books on farming, they were still uncertain about the proper farming times, so they could only follow what the villagers planted.

Especially the Zhou Family—Manbao felt that following her father with matters of farming couldn’t be wrong.

"Then when should we plant fruit trees?" Bai Erlang was most concerned about this. "I remember someone saying it’s possible to plant trees at the same time as beans."

"I said that." Manbao raised her little hand confidently. "Logically, the timing should be the same because by then, it will have warmed up, the beans grow quickly, and fruit trees should also have an easier time surviving."

"But I want to plant fruit trees right after the wheat, isn’t it better to plant a day earlier so we can have fruits a day sooner?"

"They will freeze," Bai Shanbao explained. "Uncle said he’s only giving us forty fruit tree saplings, and if they freeze, we’ll have none left."

Bai Erlang immediately fell silent.

Seizing the opportunity, Yang Heshu interjected, "So, do you hope the imperial court will allocate disaster relief grain? Would it make life a bit easier for the villagers if they had the relief grain?"

"Of course," Manbao was the first to respond. "We’re hoping every day that the imperial court will allocate disaster relief grain."

Yang Heshu smiled and asked, "What do you think the criteria should be? Do you think your family needs to receive disaster relief grain?"

After some thought, Manbao said, "If my family has to eat bran, then yes, we should get it. I don’t like eating bran; it’s tasteless and not delicious."

Having eaten steamed buns mixed with bran at their classmates’ places, Bai Shanbao and Bai Erlang nodded in agreement, "Not delicious."

Yang Heshu looked at the two and asked with a smile, "So, do you think your families should also receive some?"

Bai Erlang replied, "My family doesn’t need to, we have money."

Bai Shanbao also said, "Even though we suffered from the disaster last year, we can still get by, so my family doesn’t need it either."

Manbao nodded, "Aside from their two families, every other household in our village could use some disaster relief grain."

Yang Heshu thought to himself that sixty-some households was not a small number.

Therefore, he asked, "But disaster relief grain can only go to the most needy. Who do you think are the most destitute families in your village?"

"It’s Fifth Aunt Zhou from the edge of the village. Her family is very poor. They started adding half bran to their meals right after the Chinese New Year. Then there’s Lai Tou from next door; his family is the poorest right now. And there’s Zhou Hu’s family. The last time I visited Erlang, he said their food was nearly gone. Now they’re saving the grain for Sister-in-law Hu and Sanshou. They’re eating balls made from wild vegetables mixed with rice bran, extremely unpalatable."

Seeing Manbao recount this as if listing treasured possessions, and from the previous conversation, Yang Heshu knew she was the one most familiar with Qili Village, so he asked her specifically, "Why are these three families the poorest?"

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