Chapter 183: Omen
Editor: Atlas Studios
Night soil was a smelly thing to the people in the city, but to the farmers, it was a good thing.
The people who poured the night soil had income from two sources. They poured the night soil for the people in the city at a fee of 1.5 copper coins per barrel. No matter how filled the buckets were, the number of barrels were charged at this rate. And when they sold it to the farmers, they also charged them 1.5 copper coins per barrel. However, that was when they were bought in small quantities. If they wanted a large quantity, the price could be lowered further. For example, the last time, when Great-aunt went to buy it, she lowered the price to 1.2 copper coins. This time, the Sun family could lower the price to one copper coin or even lower.
When she pulled the buckets to collect it, Mu Yangling deeply felt that it had not been easy for everyone, especially for her. She would probably still be able to smell the stench after three days.
Mu Yangling went back with a pale face. Great-aunt knew that young ladies liked to be clean, so she said, “When your brother is a little older, I’ll bring him there. You’re a girl, so you can’t always do such things.”
“Do you think my younger brother can move these buckets with his scrawny arms and legs?” Mu Yangling planned to pick some grapefruit leaves to take a shower to remove the filth. “But don’t worry. If the matter of raising rabbits can be stabilized, our family might not have to buy night soil next year. Rabbit dung is also a good thing. Look, it hasn’t been long, but I’ve already cleared out a large pile outside. If we can raise rabbits on this scale until next spring, not only will our family have base fertilizer, but we might even be able to leave a lot to nourish the land.”
Counting with her fingers, Great-aunt said, “Young Master Fan’s trade caravan has been traveling south for seven to eight days, right? I wonder where it has gone? Can the things you guys made really be sold?”
Mu Yangling was half-confident. The rest would depend on Fan Zijin’s ability. She did not know how to do business, so how could she control it?
Now, all she could do was manage these few pieces of land and strive for a bountiful harvest.
Mu Yangling carried the iron plow and went to the wheat field with her great-aunt to fertilize and plow the 72 acres of wheat fields. By the time they finished with that, it would be time to fertilize the rice fields.
This was much simpler. She just had to drain some water and spread the mixed fertilizer into the field. When rain fell, it would most likely be fine.
Mu Yangling and Madam Ma-Liu finished it in a day.
Then, it was time to fertilize and weed the cornfields. There were only two steps. Once they fertilized the corn at the roots, they just had to use the iron plow and remove the weeds. The fertilizer would be covered with moist soil, allowing the corn to better absorb it. Although it was more tiring than fertilizing wheat, it was much simpler because it was only 28 acres. Mu Yangling and her great-aunt worked hard for six days to finish it.
It was already mid-April. When Great-aunt went to the wheat field to see how the wheat was growing, she realized that it seemed to have rained twice since the wheat was planted. Moreover, it had not rained for a month. In the past, it would have rained at least twice between mid-March and the end of the month, right?
Madam Ma-Liu looked up at the bright sun in the sky worriedly, feeling even more ominous.
It was obvious that Madam Ma-Liu was not the only one who was worried. The people who were used to farming more or less began to worry. Seeing that it had been more than ten days since the land had been fertilized and there was still no sign of rain, Liu Daqian personally came to look for Madam Ma-Liu and said, “Sister, bring Ah Ling and start watering the land tomorrow.”
Hesitating, Madam Ma-Liu said, “Let’s wait a little longer. Once our family starts doing this, I’m afraid everyone will start fighting for the water.”
“We can’t wait anymore. Didn’t you see that the river water has gone down? Tonight, our Liu family will start fetching water to water it, and your family can go tomorrow. So you won’t be the ones taking the lead. My Liu family will be the one who starts this.”
Madam Ma-Liu immediately stopped talking.
Liu Daqian stood up and said, “It’s settled then. Sleep well tonight.”
Madam Ma-Liu quickly stopped him and took out half a rabbit from the kitchen and stuffed it into his hand. “Take it back and give it to the children as a snack. I’ll go into the city to buy a few more wooden buckets later. Don’t worry, no one in Chenggu Garrison will dare to bully the Mu family.”
Nodding, Liu Daqian said, “Although Rocky is capable, he’s not at home after all. If you have any difficulties, get someone to call us. West Village isn’t far from here. Our Liu family has many people in this area.”
“Got it. Hurry up and go back.”
After Madam Ma-Liu sent him off, she turned around and went into the house to get the copper coins she had saved for the past two days. She entered the city and bought two pairs of wooden buckets.
Mu Yangling knew nothing about this. She was still looking at her rabbits in the pastoral area. The wild rabbits had already become much more docile by now. This was because the net had been pulled over these 60 acres of land, and there were ditches dug outside. Not worried that the rabbits would escape or dig holes, Xiuhong would let them out every night and come over early the next morning to chase the rabbits back into the sheds.
As rabbits moved at night, they slept most of the time during the day. This way, Xiuhong had more time freed up since she did not have to prepare a lot of pasture. She only had to patrol to check where the pasture had been gnawed by the rabbits and sprinkle some seeds. Then, she would pull out the rabbits that were sleeping in the hole they dug last night and drag them back into the sheds. Now, she was very familiar with this job, even more skilled than Mu Yangling.
Now, more than ten rabbits in the shed were already pregnant. They should be able to give birth soon. This was good news for Mu Yangling and Xiuhong, because this meant that the next generation of young rabbits would be guaranteed.
When the sky darkened, Mu Yangling and Xiuhong released the rabbits. Seeing that they had excitedly run into the pasture and disappeared, Xiuhong clapped her hands and said, “Cousin, let’s go back.”
Mu Yangling nodded and crossed the ditch with Xiuhong on the wooden plank she had set up. After removing the wooden plank, she stood up and left.
“Cousin, why hasn’t anyone come to steal our rabbits? Previously, I was so worried that I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t expect that we wouldn’t lose a single rabbit.”
“Everyone knows that this rabbit was raised for Little General and Young Master Fan. The 5th Division’s camp is there. Who would be so bold as to steal this?”
Actually, this was also because Mu Yangling had been sleeping at home feeling reassured. Seeing that the Mu family was not worried about losing the rabbits at all, they did not dare to steal it. They were afraid that someone was lying in ambush in the pasture and would be caught by the Little General the moment they tried to steal it.
When the cousins returned home, Shu Wanniang had already prepared food and was waiting. Xiulan was taking care of Bosi and Kejia, and Bowen was doing his homework under the light. Mu Yangling looked around and asked, “Where’s Great-aunt?”
“Your great-aunt is in the room. Hurry up and call her over to eat.” Shu Wanniang brought out all the dishes and said, “Your great-aunt still has something to say to you guys later. Hurry up and eat.”
After eating, Great-aunt gathered the entire family over and said, “We’ll start watering the wheat tomorrow. Xiuhong and Xiulan, go and water the high-grade land and medium-grade land first. Ah Ling, no one is allowed to stay up late tonight. We have to wake up early tomorrow morning.”