Chapter 181: Chapter 100: Preparing the Land, Buying a Cow

One day, she went with Qingmu to check on the newly reclaimed land. On the way, she asked him, “Brother, what do you think of Huai Zi’s cousin?”

Qingmu was stunned. ’My sister also noticed that Yu Qin has feelings for Huai Zi?’

He hesitated for a moment before saying, “It was my first time meeting her, so how would I know what she’s like? Why are you asking about her?”

Juhua asked suspiciously, “You… you were staring at her that day. I thought you’d taken a fancy to her.” She decided to be direct to make sure her brother understood what she was getting at, so they wouldn’t talk at cross-purposes.

Qingmu stopped in his tracks and looked at her, exasperated. “How could that be? I wasn’t…”

He wanted to say that he was staring at her because he noticed she had feelings for Huai Zi. But when he looked at his sister, he swallowed his words. Instead, he told Juhua, “Don’t make wild guesses. Huai Zi said his cousin is about to get married—his uncle is helping her find a husband.”

He decided to be definitive to stop Juhua from getting suspicious of Zhang Huai. Besides, Huai Zi had already said he had no feelings for his cousin.

’Oh no,’ Juhua thought. ’But Yu Qin likes Zhang Huai.’ Still, she couldn’t be bothered to meddle. As long as she knew Qingmu had no interest in Yu Qin, the dramatic love story she’d been dreading wouldn’t happen, and that was good enough.

When the two of them reached the edge of the field, Juhua’s heart filled with joy as she listened to Qingmu explain their plan: this patch for sweet potatoes, that one for corn, with some soybeans inter-planted in between.

Ever since the land was reclaimed, Zheng Changhe had practically been living in the fields. He gripped a rake, tirelessly turning the soil and carving out neat furrows. Every so often, he would use the rake to pull out stray grass roots that hadn’t been cleared and toss them aside.

Qingmu grabbed a hoe and joined Zheng Changhe in digging the furrows. “Go take a look at the ditch,” he said to Juhua. “It’s been dug a lot deeper. Later on, we can net some small fish to raise in there.”

Hearing this, Juhua quickly said, “We still have some loaches at home! I’ll bring them over. Loaches love burrowing in ditches, and they’ll be spawning in the spring. This ditch can become our special loach farm.”

Hearing the siblings’ plan, Zheng Changhe chimed in with a grin. “When I have a moment, I’ll dig the ditch a little wider. It’s right next to our land, after all. We can raise more fish and loaches that way.”

Juhua rushed home, brought back a small bucket of loaches, and released them into the water. Afterward, she squatted at the edge of the field, chatting idly while watching her father and Qingmu dig. She gazed at the still-barren silhouette of Little Qing Mountain, imagining that by the time it was dressed in its new spring foliage, this field would also be a sea of green.

* * *

That day at noon, Zhang Huai arrived, leading a small calf with a middle-aged man.

Qingmu was just returning from the fields. He was overjoyed at the sight of the calf and hurried to welcome them inside. He followed Huai Zi’s lead, addressing the man as “Third Uncle.” That’s how Juhua learned who he was.

Zhang Huai explained to Qingmu, “My uncle said both of his calves are heifers. He heard your family wanted to buy a cow, so he thought he’d sell this one and use the money to buy a stronger bull for himself.”

Zheng Changhe had returned right behind Qingmu. Before Qingmu could even reply, he said happily, “A heifer is perfect! I was hoping for a female—she’ll be able to give us calves in the future! Third Uncle, please, come have a seat. I’m sorry to have troubled you with the trip.”

The third uncle was a simple, honest man. He took a seat in the courtyard and said with a smile, “I heard from my sister that you were looking to buy, so I brought her over. If I sold her to a cattle trader, I’d definitely get the short end of the stick. Since we know each other, it’s easier to talk price. We can just settle on a fair number. It’s never straightforward with those traders.”

Zheng Changhe laughed. “That’s exactly right. The money is a small matter, but if you end up buying a sick cow, you just have to suffer the loss in silence. I grew up with Huai Zi’s father, so please, just give us a fair price. I know it’s not easy to raise a calf.”

Huai Zi’s third uncle chuckled. “This calf still needs another half-year of raising before she can work the fields. She’s not much use right now, so I can’t ask for a lot of silver. Just give me eight taels of silver!”

Zheng Changhe immediately protested, “That’s too low! A two-hundred-jin pig costs four taels of silver. For this calf to be only eight taels, you’d be taking a huge loss, wouldn’t you? Even if we have to raise her for half a year before she can work, she’ll give us many years of labor after that. I can’t let you lose out.”

Zhang Huai was also carrying a basket, which held eight little ducklings. He looked at Juhua gently and said, “These are from my grandmother’s. My mother said she doesn’t have a place to raise them, so she sent them for you. You can keep them by the river; it won’t be much trouble. They’ll be laying eggs in a few months.”

Juhua had already heard about this from He. Seeing that the ducklings had actually arrived, she didn’t stand on ceremony. She thanked him and took the basket, delighted by the sight of the fluffy little ducklings, their downy yellow feathers interspersed with black.

She found a reed mat and used it to create an enclosure next to the chicken pen. After putting the ducklings inside, she fed them some crushed corn and vegetable leaves. ’When these ducks get older, they won’t just eat plants,’ she thought. ’They also love things like snails and loaches.’

Qingmu helped her get the ducks settled. “We should ask Dad to weave another cage tonight,” he said. “We can’t keep the ducks and chickens together.” Juhua nodded.

Once they had finished with the ducks, the two of them came back out to look at the calf. They arrived to hear Zheng Changhe and Huai Zi’s third uncle arguing. However, they weren’t arguing for their own benefit, but for the other’s. Qingmu and Juhua couldn’t help but smile. It was certainly an odd way to conduct a business transaction.

Huai Zi, Qingmu, and Juhua didn’t interrupt, just listening to the argument with smiles on their faces.

Juhua saw that the little calf looked quite spirited. She wanted to reach out and touch its horns but was afraid it might get spooked.

Zhang Huai quickly reassured her, “Don’t be afraid. She’s a little heifer, and my uncle says she’s very gentle. See? Her nose is already pierced.”

Juhua stroked the fur on the calf’s back. Sure enough, the animal was placid and didn’t have the usual untamed wildness of a young calf.

She saw Qingmu bring over some hay to feed the calf and asked, “Brother, how are we going to handle grazing her from now on? There are only a few of us in the family. Who has the time to take her out in the morning and evening?”

Qingmu replied, “What’s so hard about it? Dad can lead her out when he goes to work in the morning and leave her at the foot of Little Qing Mountain. She can graze by herself while we do what we need to do. There’s no need for someone to watch her specifically.”(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep