Chapter 326: Homework
Editor: Atlas Studios
“There’s news about the calves you asked me to inquire about.” Butcher Qin took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and said, “I can’t find 700 calves for you at once, and only managed to find these.”
Mu Yangling opened it and realized that the townships along the pipeline from Xingyuan Prefecture to Jiangling Prefecture had been marked. They must have done the investigation when they went to seek out sales channels for the mutton.
“I can only find about 50-60% of that 700 that you want. Do you want it? If yes, we’ll bring them for you when we come back. I won’t earn much from you, just 500 copper coins per calf. How about that?”
Mu Yangling replied with a smile, “Thank you, Uncle Qin, but considering it’s not safe on the road, I reckon we should buy less for the first time. By the way, I want more than 700 this time. I’ll take as many as you manage to find.”
Seeing Butcher Qin raise his eyebrows in surprise, Mu Yangling explained, “My cattle farm has expanded again.”
Since the cattle farm was expanding and there was also sufficient labor, Mu Yangling naturally wanted to raise more oxen.
Oxen that were half a year old could already work in the fields. And at the age of one and a half, they could mate and give birth to calves. After some careful calculations, Mu Yangling realized that these oxen could be useful after raising them for one winter. By spring, they could start plowing the fields. After raising them for another year after that, some female cows would be old enough to mate.
This way, in two years, the cows in the cattle farm could be sold and supplied to the outside world. She believed that one day, every family of farmers here would have a plowing ox.
Armed with ambition, Mu Yangling went to collect sheep for them. This time, she only brought Bowen along with her. The two of them drove the mule cart around the various villages. As she had already collected sheep once last year, everyone was very familiar with Mu Yangling. Like before, they brought her to their own sheep pen for her to choose. Regardless of the size, it was two taels per sheep.
This time, Bowen was in charge of calculating the money and dealing with the villagers. Mu Yangling was only in charge of catching sheep and keeping an eye on them. She did not say more than ten sentences along the way.
At first, Bowen’s face was still a little red. Later, when he saw that the people he was dealing with all had their heads lowered and were listening to him respectfully, and his sister did not interrupt, he slowly calmed down.
Mu Yangling herded the flock of sheep to Butcher Qin and Butcher Hua and settled the bill on the spot.
After bringing Bowen back, Mu Yangling asked him, “How do you feel?”
“Farmers suffer too much.”
Mu Yangling was stunned, for she was asking how he felt about interacting with those farmers. However, she did not harp on this question and only continued to ask, “And then?”
“Sister, if we can really cultivate excellent seeds like you said and increase the production yield, this situation might be improved. Sister, I also want to go home and farm.”
Mu Yangling’s hand itched, but she resisted the urge to hit him. She only thought for a moment and said, “Bowen, do you think the farmers are suffering because of the low production of grains? This is only an objective reason. The country’s mechanism is incomplete. When the harvest is poor, the people will starve. And when the harvest is good, the people will suffer as well. Think about why this is so.”
“Alright, this is your homework for the winter. Write a thesis. I want to check it when you come home for the New Year.”
Bowen’s eyes widened, but since his sister had taught him to face difficulties head-on, he merely agreed with a pout. It seemed like he would have to stay up late again tonight.
“Since you’re going to write this thesis, you can’t just follow us. You have to interact with the people and experience their lives first-hand to know why they’re suffering. So tomorrow morning, eat the same porridge as them and cut the pasture using the scythe. Have a chat with them and ask them what their lives were like previously and how they became refugees. How they managed to escape here and what plans they have for the future. You have to ask people of varying ages, both male and female. Go.”
Bowen felt that this task was too difficult, but he still braced himself and returned to the house to write down the outline. He decided to look for children around his age tomorrow before looking for those three or four-year-old children…
Bowen also knew that in order to infiltrate the crowd, he had to become like them, so he spent the entire night digging out his oldest clothes. However, even so, those clothes appeared new in front of those children. After thinking for a while, he took the clothes outside and rubbed them against the stones. Hence, he appeared in front of everyone the next day wearing clothes that were extremely worn out.
Seeing Bowen like this, Xiuhong and Xiulan couldn’t help but open their mouths wide.
Even during the Mu family’s most difficult times, the Mu family’s precious son, Mu Bowen, had never worn such clothes.
Mu Bowen blushed and said shyly, “Cousin, others won’t be able to tell who I am now, right?”
Mu Bowen’s hair was a little disheveled. Coupled with his tattered clothes and some gray charcoal on his face, one could not tell what he looked like originally.
Knowing that he was going to practice among the refugees, Xiulan looked at him pitifully and asked her sister timidly, “Sister, do I have to go too?”
“You don’t have to go.” Frowning, Xiuhong said, “Go hang out with the children in our military camp today. Considering the newcomers are still too unruly, you’ll probably be bullied if you go.”
He was going to ask for information, so it didn’t matter where he went. Since that was the case, he naturally had to choose the simplest option, so he nodded and agreed.
Xiuhong went into the house and scooped some millet porridge for him. There were some side dishes on the table. She said, “Hurry up and eat. The workers are all here. You have to catch up to them.”
“Cousin, I have to go out and eat with them. You guys should eat this millet porridge.”
Xiuhong and Xiulan couldn’t help but be stunned. This millet porridge was Bowen’s special privilege, and there were also barley and yams inside. It was a dietary therapy prescription prescribed by Physician Pang. Millet wasn’t cheap, and barley rice was even more expensive. Furthermore, yams could only be bought in the pharmacy. Back then, her cousin had worked hard because Bowen’s food therapy cost a lot of money.
“If you’re not eating this, then what are you eating?” Xiuhong asked in a daze.
“I’m going out to eat corn porridge with them.”
“How will that do?” Xiuhong was secretly anxious. “Too much corn porridge causes one’s stomach to bloat up. How can you eat that when you suffer from indigestion?”
Smiling, Bowen said, “Physician Pang said that I’ve already recovered. Now, my stomach might even be stronger than yours. Alright, this is Sister’s arrangement. If I don’t eat the same food as them, how can I talk to them?”
Xiuhong immediately took out some porridge from the bowl and stuffed it to him. “Then eat some to fill your stomach first. Hurry up, or I won’t let you go out.”
Bowen could only eat half a bowl of millet porridge before he was released. He took a small bowl and jogged to the crowd to queue up. The granny who was scooping porridge for him was stunned when she saw his small bowl. After looking up at Mu Bowen, she poured him a full bowl. However, she muttered in her heart that this child was silly. Didn’t everyone carry a big bowl over when they came to get porridge?
Even the one-year-old one was tightly hugging a big bowl which was not much smaller than his head as he queued up, but this one was holding such a tiny bowl.