jdhmnovel Chapter 124 Discovering new skills
Chapter 124 Discovering new skills
Before and after Qingming, plant melons and beans.
The thunder fruit seedlings planted by the east wall of the backyard have grown thick and strong, and are spreading along the edge of the wall.
Lin Dajiang turned the land under the other two walls twice, preparing to plant various beans.
The fruits and vegetables in our house all depend on the land behind the yard.
For farmers, land is their foundation. With so many people in the family, they cannot just buy food.
He thought about discussing with Taohua to see if anyone wanted to sell land and buy two acres of land.
Whether you grow rice or wheat, there will always be a harvest.
Otherwise, we have to buy all the food, and no amount of silver would be enough.
Moreover, the north has suffered from drought and floods in the past two years, the grain harvest has failed, and the people have been displaced, and no one knows when it will end.
We still need to store some extra food at home.
At least save enough for the whole family to have enough food and water to eat for a day.
It’s best not to cause chaos, because at least you can stay alive if you do.
If you wait until chaos breaks out before buying food, you will become the one being taken advantage of.
Lin Dajiang was thinking about selling the land. He didn't know if it was good luck or something else, but after the Qingming Festival, the head of the village went knocking on every door.
The land that was confiscated from landlord Liu was sold by the county.
Landlord Liu bought all the land at low prices from several nearby villages, with Shanglin Village and Xialin Village accounting for the majority.
Among them, the Lin family sold more than ten acres of land at a low price.
The imperial court has issued an order that the land should be sold at a low price to nearby villagers with less land.
It really comes to whatever you want.
An acre of top-quality land costs five taels of silver, and an acre of medium and lower-quality land costs two taels and five cents. The head of the village asked Lin Dajiang to think carefully about how much he could buy.
Last year, every household in Shanglin Village earned a few taels of silver from selling fish. According to the selling price given by the head of the village, every household could buy one or two acres of land.
In the evening, Lin Dahai came to the door.
"Brother, do you want to buy land?"
Lin Dahai thinks that he is not as smart as his elder brother and younger brother. Since the younger brother is in town, he can only ask his elder brother.
If his eldest brother bought it, he would also buy two acres of inferior land.
"Buy it. What use can the one acre of land at home have?"
Lin Dajiang has already made up his mind. No matter whether it is high-quality or low-quality land, he will first buy four or five acres of land.
Now the court has shown mercy and the price of buying land has become cheaper. In the past, it would cost three or four taels of silver to buy an acre of inferior land, and seven or eight taels of silver per acre of better quality land.
After hearing the news, Lin Dahai went back and discussed with Wang Chunxiu and decided to buy two acres of inferior land.
But the money was not enough. I saved a total of 4 taels from selling fish, radishes and cabbages, and made some money from selling bamboo baskets, but I was still a few hundred coins short.
"Dahai, why don't we borrow from my brother and sister-in-law?" Wang Chunxiu asked hesitantly.
With carriages coming in and out and the family hanging around with wealthy businessmen, they must have a lot of money saved up at home.
"Brother, your family is in business, and we will not refuse to lend you a tael of silver."
Lin Dahai said nothing. He didn't want to borrow money from his elder brother.
The only money our family can earn is all thanks to the help of our eldest brother, but it hasn't been long and I have to ask him to borrow money again.
Big brother has money, so it belongs to big brother.
Lin Dahai said nothing as he and Lin Lichun were weaving straw mats and sorting cattails.
Wang Chunxiu felt like what she said was like farting and no one cared at all, so she was furious.
"Boss, why don't you say anything?"
"No borrowing!"
"Dahai, we are just borrowing money for an emergency, and we won't say we won't pay it back. How can you be so embarrassed to ask for even a tael of silver as brothers? If you ask, I will definitely lend it to you." Wang Chunxiu was anxious.
There is too little land at home, and after the beginning of spring, we will have to get married and have children, and we will have to feed several more mouths to feed.
If you take good care of the inferior land for a few years, it can be grown into superior land by the beginning of spring.
Why is the boss so stubborn and won't listen to anything?
Wang Chunxiu wanted to say something but was interrupted by Lin Dahai, "What's wrong with being brothers? Brothers should settle accounts clearly. Besides, we have separated the family. I am short of one tael of silver. Why don't you go to your eldest brother-in-law and borrow half a tael? We are all relatives. It doesn't make sense for me to ask my eldest brother for money alone."
Lin Dahai's words were like a slap in Wang Chunxiu's face, causing burning pain.
She knew she was in the wrong, so she went back to her room alone without saying anything.
Lin Dahai sighed and continued to work.
"Lichun, your father is useless. When you get married, you must be independent. Don't let your wife take everything to subsidize her family. Your own children are almost starving to death while other people's children are eating and growing fat."
"Dad, I understand."
Lin Lichun nodded. His younger sister Xiaoxue must have run away because she couldn't stand the dark days at home.
"In two months, when the weather gets hot, we'll weave a few straw mats and sell them in town. If we really can't raise enough money, we'll buy an acre of land first." Lin Dahai had made up his mind and would never ask his eldest brother for money no matter what.
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Wang passed by her son's study and saw through the wooden window that Xie Ci was sitting upright, holding a brush, concentrating on his work.
Thinking of the seven taels of silver that Ci'an gave her the day before, she couldn't help but wipe her eyes.
She was a weak woman, unable to carry anything, unable to lift anything, and had never touched water. After half a year, the meals she cooked were barely enough to fill her stomach.
I could earn at most three or four hundred coins a month from embroidering purses.
Wang stood there for a while and then left quietly.
Xie Ci'an in the study moved the book away, revealing a few pieces of rough paper covered with words.
In order to make money, he wants to try to write a picture book about a scholar's counterattack.
Being a young knight is good, but he cannot provide you with enough food and clothing.
My father was dismissed from office, but there was one thing he couldn't figure out.
Other officials were stripped of their posts, and their descendants were not allowed to hold official positions for three generations. However, the imperial edict to confiscate their property did not include this clause.
He now still hopes to earn enough money for the trip, pass the imperial examination and seek justice for his father.
"Ci'an, Xiaoman said she wants to pick dandelions and amaranth, do you want to go?"
Lin Jingzhe's roar was heard outside the yard.
Xie Ci'an put down his pen and folded the full page of rough paper in half and put it away.
He went out, put on his backpack, said something to Wang who was starching clothes, and went out.
"Let's go!" Lin Jingzhe pulled Xie Ci'an and ran up the mountain.
Xie Ci'an didn't see Lin Xiaoman, "Where's your sister Xiaoman?"
"We've been waiting up there for a long time. We found several places with water spinach and we can't pick them all. Xiaoman asked me to come and call you."
"Thank you!"
The weather is not hot, and the wild vegetables will not go bad if kept for two or three days. Lin Jingzhe said this just to take care of him.
The two hurried to the mountain. Wild vegetables grew wildly around the Qingming Festival, but many people also went out to pick wild vegetables.
Some people even fought over a bunch of wild vegetables, and they were afraid that if they went too late, Lin Xiaoman would not be able to withstand the attack.
Lin Jingzhe rushed to the place where the Amaranthus was found.
Only bare roots were left of the amaranth, and Lin Xiaoman was gone.
"Xiaoman!" Lin Jingzhe looked around anxiously. Where did this little girl go without saying anything?
"Are you sure it's here?" Xie Ci'an looked down at the rhizome of Amaranthus. The stem was still fresh at the point where it was pinched off, proving that someone had indeed picked Amaranthus here just now.
"Jingzhe, how much did you and Xiaoman pick before coming down to see me?"
Lin Jingzhe pointed to the spot on the right side of the stone and said, "Xiaoman and I will pick that piece and then I will go down the mountain."
Xie Ci'an frowned.
There are fewer Amaranth flowers on the right side of the stone, and more Amaranth flowers on the left side.
"According to our pace, it took almost a quarter of an hour from the time you came to find me to the time we arrived here. Xiaoman cannot pick so many water spinach by himself." Xie Ci'an's heart sank and he carefully observed the footprints around him.
Lin Jingzhe was so concerned that he asked, "Xiao Man, will Xiao Man meet any bad guys?"
"There are no messy footprints here. Maybe your sister walked away by herself."
The protagonist Lin Xiaoman, who was being missed by both of them, was sitting in a small cave not far away.
She couldn't control her hands from shaking.
Just now when her brother went down the mountain, she was squatting and picking Amaranthus alone. When she was tired of picking, she wished that the space could have a one-click collection function. Unexpectedly, her thought came true. When she went to pick Amaranthus again, all she saw were bare roots.
The picked amaranths were neatly placed in the living room.
Then, won’t it be possible to collect magnolia fruits with just one click in the future?
After the initial joy, Lin Xiaoman returned to reality. She couldn’t pick all these Amaranthus flowers by herself, and it would be difficult to explain later!
She decided to go all out and fled the scene, intending to play dumb.
As for the reason, she just made one up and said that a pheasant with colorful feathers flew over her head, and she was greedy for the pheasant meat, so she ran after the pheasant, but got lost while chasing.
In short, although the reason is lame, it is better than not knowing how to explain that she picked such a large piece of Amaranthus by herself.
Lin Jingzhe’s calling voice was getting closer and closer, so Lin Xiaoman had to come out of the short cave.
She walked down the mountain path, looking down at her feet.
When the wind blew, she suddenly saw a small patch of white leaves not far ahead.
After the wind died down, it disappeared again.
She walked quickly forward and found that there were more than a dozen weeds where the white flowers had just appeared.
There are tiny hairs on the leaves of the weeds, and the leaves are arranged neatly, like chicken feet.
It was such a small plant that she wouldn't have been able to find it if the wind hadn't blown it just now.
This is the chicken claw ginseng, also known as the white grass. The whole plant can be used as medicine to treat symptoms such as vomiting blood, hemorrhoids, and diarrhea. After drying, it can also be used as tea to make tea, which has the effect of health preservation.
To confirm, Lin Xiaoman squatted down and turned the leaves over. The fine hairs on the leaves were a bit prickly, so she carefully pulled the plant up.
Sure enough, I saw a small heel block.
The rhizome is short and forked, a bit like ginseng.
You should know that wild ginseng almost all grows in the Changbai Mountain area in the northeast. Lin'an Prefecture is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and ginseng cannot be dug in the mountains here.
This chicken claw ginseng has another alias, called southern ginseng.
Chicken claw ginseng is rich in starch and tastes sweet when chewed. Lin Xiaoman tears off the brown skin of the root, revealing the pink and white root inside, and chews it raw.
Not sure if I can sell it?
If you can't sell it, the chicken feet ginseng can be dried and used to make soup.
Add a few chicken feet ginseng roots when making soup. Long-term consumption can replenish qi and strengthen the spleen.
"Big brother!"
As Lin Jingzhe's voice got closer, Lin Xiaoman took the initiative to attack.
"It's Xiaoman's voice." Lin Jingzhe breathed a sigh of relief and ran towards the source of the sound regardless of whether Xie Ci'an heard it or not.
The two saw Lin Xiaoman squatting and digging grass on a slope.
"Xiao Man, what are you doing here?" Lin Jingzhe's tone was bad when he was angry, and he was a little aggressive. "You ran away without saying a word, and I thought you were kidnapped and made us look for you."
"Brother, I'm digging up the white grass. Look, the roots are edible."
When Lin Jingzhe heard that the roots were edible, he immediately put aside his reservations and moved closer to Lin Xiaoman.
"Brother, I just heard the pheasant's call, and I remembered the roasted pheasant you brought me before, so I'm a little greedy."
"Xiaoman, do you want to eat? I'll call Brother Erli to go up the mountain in a few days. There are no pheasants in this area, so we have to go inside." Lin Jingzhe said with a smile.
"Okay, let's dig up all these chicken claw ginsengs, and ask the town's clinic tomorrow if they will accept them." Lin Xiaoman asked the two to start working, and he stood up to look around to see if he could find more Herba Potentillae Sinensis.
Unfortunately, Herba Sophorae Flavescentis is as rare as ginseng.
After all, the area around Lin'an Prefecture is very similar to the Zhejiang and Fujian areas where she used to live, and the distribution of the herb is mainly in Sichuan, Yunnan and other places.
That's why she was so surprised when she saw the herb just now.
With the chicken claw ginseng, Lin Jingzhe seemed to have forgotten about the water spinach below.
Several people carefully dug up the chicken claw ginseng and went down the mountain.
Xie Ci'an gave all the chicken feet ginseng he dug to Lin Jingzhe. They could be sold for money, and they were discovered by Lin Xiaoman, so he couldn't keep them.
"Thank you, Ci'an."
Lin Xiaoman called out to Xie Ci'an who was approaching the gate, "Are you still writing your storybook?"
The young man who was originally at the gate suddenly appeared in front of Lin Xiaoman, with his finger on his lips, signaling her to stop talking.
After the three of them walked away, Xie Ci'an finally spoke up, "My mother doesn't know that I write storybooks."
"I'm sorry." Lin Xiaoman apologized, "Then will you still write?"
"Write."
Xie Ci'an's eyes were determined. Apart from the knowledge in his head, he knew nothing else.
The family has no land, so even if they buy land, he and his father will not work on the fields.
The old servant in the family is old. He has been a loyal servant of the Xie family all his life. It doesn't make sense for him to work hard for the last bit of his strength when he is old.
"Do you think anyone would read picture books about gods, ghosts, and solving crimes?"
"Coroner who solved the case?" Xie Ci'an looked at Lin Xiaoman suspiciously, "You know all this?"
"I remember everything the master told me."
Xie Ci'an still found it unbelievable.
In Shanglin Village, you don’t even see a constable on weekdays, but Lin Xiaoman actually knows a coroner.
Seeing that Xie Ci'an said nothing and was full of disbelief, Lin Xiaoman said half-truthfully: "From birth to the age of twelve, people said I was a moron. I must have had a special opportunity to recover. Perhaps the master is my opportunity."
Xie Ci'an doesn't believe in ghosts and gods, but Lin Xiaoman did cure Gu Changsheng's difficult and complicated illness.
How could a little farm girl who had been mentally retarded for twelve years do that?
Maybe it’s really like what Lin Xiaoman said, there is a special opportunity.
"You said you remember everything, so can you tell it?" Xie Ci'an asked.
"Of course, Lin Xiaoman adapted the story of A Chinese Ghost Story that she had read before. The fox demon became a flower demon, and the story is told in a leisurely manner..."
Lin Jingzhe was sitting on a rock, stunned by what he heard.
Curious but not daring to interrupt, the scholar met a woman who turned out to be a flower fairy, a little flower fairy who was repaying a favor.
Lin Xiaoman told most of the story and deliberately left the ending unsaid to create suspense.
Xie Ci'an asked: "Did the flower demon die later?"
"I forgot. I'll tell you when I remember."
Lin Jingzhe was itching to do so. "Xiaoman, you did it on purpose!"
Lin Xiaoman asked with a smile: "Do you think anyone would read it if it was written as a picture book?"