in2ebook Chapter 195: Another Plan to Make Money
Chapter 195: Another Plan to Make Money
After Qingming Festival, it rains heavily.
After the spring rain, all kinds of wild vegetables on the mountains and in the fields sprouted green tips.
Whenever Lin Dajiang has free time, he clears the land behind the yard.
There is no other way. The land at the foot of the mountain is too big. It would be empty anyway. I might as well open up a few more plots and sow some vegetable seeds. Even if I can’t finish them all, I can still feed the chickens and ducks.
There are too many chickens and ducks at home, and we can’t afford to feed them with only grain.
"Hey......"
This was the fifth time Lin Xiaoman heard her father sigh today.
She now had to correct a fact.
The most stingy person in her family is not her mother, but Lin Kousou, who is desperately trying to reclaim land to grow vegetables and feed chickens and ducks to reduce food waste.
Even Zhou Paopi is more generous than him.
"Dad, are you tired?" Lin Xiaoman stood leisurely aside.
"Not tired, Xiaoman. I see you're quite free. How about..." Lin Dajiang tried to get Lin Xiaoman to join in.
"Dad, I'm not idle. I'm quite busy."
"Then why are you standing there like an idiot?"
"I'm looking at how stingy Dad is."
Lin Dajiang stopped turning the soil: "......"
After that, he sighed and said, "I'm just trying to save some food, Xiaoman."
"But vegetable seeds cost money to buy. Since you are going to use them to feed the chickens and ducks, why don't you go to the mountains to dig wild vegetables and plant them, and then just let the chickens and ducks out and let them eat on their own."
Lin Xiaoman was just joking, but he didn't expect Lin Dajiang to take it seriously.
"Xiao Man, why didn't I think of this? This is a good idea. Hey, I doubt you have been stupid for the past twelve years."
"what is that?"
"You were frozen by the immortal master, who made you stop thinking and absorb the essence of heaven and earth."
Lin Xiaoman smiled, saying that her father was not only stingy, but also a very imaginative stingy person.
There is absolutely no problem with the family's monthly income being able to feed the chickens and ducks. If other villagers have this concern, she can understand it, after all, they are not yet fully well fed and clothed.
Except for the busy farming days, most families in the village still eat two meals a day.
Only a few families would make some pancakes to eat at noon to fill their stomachs.
This is why, even though many people know that chickens and ducks can all be sold for money, they still don't dare to raise chickens and ducks.
The initial investment cost is too high and the later benefits are unknown.
No one dared to gamble.
But there was one thing she didn't quite understand. Since the villagers were so cautious, why could Lin Dahe easily cheat everyone out of their money?
It was not a small amount, the most was two or three taels, and the least was five or six hundred coins.
Didn’t they think that Lin Dahe would run away with the money?
Maybe the villagers trust scholars too much?
"Dad, can you raise earthworms?"
Lin Dajiang was stunned by Lin Xiaoman's sudden question, "You mean earthworms? Aren't they everywhere in the ground? Just dig them out with a hoe."
"But, if you dig a hoe, there will only be a few, right?"
"Yes, how do you raise earthworms? I've heard of raising chickens, ducks, pigs, and cows, but I've never heard of raising earthworms. Otherwise, why would Guyu order Goudan and the others to dig earthworms for her every day?"
Lin Xiaoman only knew that earthworms like shade, moisture and warmth, are hermaphrodites, have strong reproductive abilities and extremely strong vitality.
Earthworms are omnivores that feed primarily on decaying plant matter and animal feces.
Most importantly, it is a favorite food for poultry.
According to the current temperature, just covering the ground with a layer of rice straw will keep it warm.
There is a lot of chicken and duck manure at home, and there is still a lot left after composting.
Perhaps, she could try to breed earthworms, so that her father wouldn't have to worry about clearing wasteland and growing vegetables every day, nor would he have to worry about hundreds of chickens and ducks eating up all his food.
Last time she heard that her aunt wanted to send her cousin to study, she has not taken any action so far. It is probably because they did not have enough money after dividing the family and building a house last year.
If she could breed earthworms, she could save her uncles a lot of money!
"How do you know it won't work if you don't try!" Lin Xiaoman murmured to himself.
"That's right, you have a good brain. Tell me, how do you plan to raise earthworms? Leave the dirty work to your father." Lin Dajiang was very happy. He just asked not to waste food to feed chickens and ducks, and he would do anything.
"Earth dragons like humid places and don't like sunlight."
Lin Dajiang pointed to the north wall of the new house and said, "Our wall is high. The land to the north is blocked by the wall. I think that side is pretty good."
"Dad, is it not possible?" Although Lin Xiaoman wanted to breed earthworms, she hated soft worms the most. In her eyes, earthworms looked no different from soft worms, and were even a little more disgusting.
Whenever she thought of the piles of earthworms in her backyard, she felt numb all over before she even started raising them.
"If you keep it outside the yard, won't you have to find someone to dig it out next time? Isn't that another expense?"
Lin Dajiang thought about it and said, "Let's change the place."
Lin Dajiang and Lin Xiaoman hit it off at the idea of saving food.
He stopped clearing the land and went with Lin Xiaoman to look for a place to raise earth dragons.
After searching for a long time, I decided to raise it behind the chicken coop and duck coop.
However, Lin Xiaoman had never raised earthworms. In his previous life, when he grew flowers, he bought fermented sheep dung eggs, chicken manure, and bone meal online and used these organic fertilizers to improve soil caking.
Just try first.
"Xiao Man, now that we have chosen a place, how are we going to raise the baby?"
"How about loosening the soil first? Earthworms like shade and moisture, so sprinkle some water later." Lin Xiaoman listed everything he could think of like squeezing toothpaste, "Well, there is also chicken and duck manure or rabbit manure to cover the soil, and finally a thick layer of rice straw to keep it warm. These are all I can think of for now, let's try it first!"
Lin Dajiang had no doubt that the water, chicken and duck manure, and rice straw that Xiaoman mentioned were free of charge, so he decided to give it a try.
So without saying a word, he took a hoe and started loosening the soil.
"Xiaoman, haven't you found many earth dragons here?" Lin Dajiang was puzzled. How can he raise them if there are no earth dragons?
"Dad, how about digging up some more earth dragons and putting them here?"
"Okay, Xiaoman, let me do it. Guyu said you are not afraid of anything except the dark earth dragons."
Lin Xiaoman blushed. Guyu was such a big mouth, and now the whole family knew that she was afraid of earth dragons.
Lin Dajiang loosened the soil, and while he was digging earthworms somewhere else, Lin Xiaoman went to the front to shovel chicken manure.
"Go away, go away, the earth dragon is coming." Lin Dajiang shouted, asking Lin Xiaoman to go away early.
Lin Xiaoman subconsciously looked up and immediately looked away.
It's a pity it's too late, the densely packed earth dragons...
too disgusting!
"Haha, Xiaoman, I told you to go away but you still looked." Lin Dajiang laughed with glee.
Lin Dajiang placed the dug earthworms on the loosened soil, sprinkled another layer of soil on it, evenly sprinkled the chicken and duck manure brought by Lin Xiaoman on it, sprinkled a dozen spoonfuls of water, and covered it with a thick layer of rice straw.
Lin Dajiang thought it was easy, "Is it done?"
"That's right. Let's wait ten days or half a month to see. If there are more earth dragons in this area, it means it's effective."
"Yeah, that's the only way." Lin Dajiang didn't hold out much hope. After doing all this, he went to the backyard to open up some wasteland.
Lin Xiaoman couldn't do anything about him, and he didn't know whether his method of raising earthworms was useful.
In the next few days, Lin Dajiang did as Lin Xiaoman said and sprinkled a layer of water every five days, and ignored everything else.
-
Lin'an Mansion.
The provincial examination was held in April and was presided over by the prefect of Lin'an Prefecture.
It is now mid-March, and there is still more than half a month before the exam.
Originally, they thought that arriving at Lin'an Prefecture a month in advance was considered early, but when they asked, they found out that many candidates actually packed their bags and set off as soon as the county exam was over, and arrived at Lin'an Prefecture in early March, more than ten days earlier than them.
As a result, there were no rooms available in the inns closer to the Imperial Examination Hall.
The Gu family's residence in Lin'an Prefecture was only two streets away from the Imperial Examination Hall, and Gu Changsheng tried his best to invite his companions to live in his house.
The group couldn't find an inn, so they had to stay at Gu's house first.
The Gu family's house is really magnificent, with two tall and large stone lions at the door. When you step into the house, you will see a bluestone paved road straight ahead, with neatly trimmed low trees on both sides. The main hall is spacious and bright, and the furnishings in the house are elegant and exquisite.
The stone slabs on the ground were smooth and shiny, and Linda didn't know where to step. Instead, a group of teenagers looked around. They were not as reserved as Linda, but were mostly curious.
"There are several rooms in the backyard. I have asked the housekeeper to send people to clean them. There is no need to look for an inn."
"What should I do?" Lin Da felt like he was not in control of his own hands and feet. His family asked him to take all the money with him when he went out so that he could stay in a hotel.
Gu Changsheng knew Lin Da's concerns and persuaded him, "When we are away from home, Yaowen, Yaoguang and I are classmates, so we should help each other. Moreover, the prefectural exam is different from the county exam. The candidates who passed the county exam in Lin'an Prefecture are all talented and knowledgeable. We should not be distracted by trivial matters at this time, but should spend all our time studying. The five of us can discuss academic matters with each other when we live together, so don't worry about it, Uncle Lin."
When the provincial examination was mentioned, Linda's voice weakened, "Okay, then I'll trouble Master Gu."
When I arrived at the compartment, I was dumbfounded again.
Each room was larger than the room in the inn they stayed in in Jialin County.
"This is really..." Linda said to himself. He was really letting them take advantage of him. He was a little nervous. What should he do?
On the second day after they settled down, the five people who were going to take the provincial examination went to register, and then they stayed in the Gu family's house and studied peacefully.
Lin Jingzhe was infected by their tense atmosphere and spontaneously followed them in getting up early and going to bed late.
The tense and busy days passed in the blink of an eye, and half a decade was gone soon.
The spring planting in Shanglin Village was over, and the villagers who had been busy for more than half a month finally had a break. Lin Yougen anxiously found Lin Dazhuang and Wang Mazi, and called the villagers of Shanglin Village who had paid money to Lin Dahe.
"Everyone, tell me, as long as Lin Dahe doesn't come back, we won't see any trace of our money."
"I don't think Lin Dahe will come back. Unfortunately, I had to borrow the money from my brothers from my mother's side. Now Xialin Village has also heard about it, and my brothers are urging me to pay back the money."
"What should I do? My eldest daughter-in-law is going to give birth next month, and now the family has no money and nothing is prepared. Damn Lin Dahe, he has cheated us so hard!"
"Let's go find Old Lady Lin and ask her to take us to find Lin Dahe!"
"Let's go! Find Lin Dahe and get our money back!"
"Let's go, we must make Old Lady Lin hand over Lin Dahe today!"
"Yes, we won't leave until you hand over Lin Dahe! We'll live in Granny Lin's house!"
A group of people rushed towards the Lin family in a menacing manner.
Dongzhi saw a dark mass at the door, threw away the mud in his hand and ran inside, "Mom, mom, there are so many people."
Lin Lichun went out to collect eggs. Wang Chunxiu and Lin Dahai were cutting bamboo strips in the backyard. They ran out immediately, scared silly.
This... is all for my third brother, right?
There is still no news about my third brother. Maybe he really ran away with the money.
She hurriedly ran in and shouted, "Mom, mom, the villagers are here again!"
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lin slammed the door and stayed inside without going out.
Seeing this, Wang Chunxiu quickly locked Dongzhi into the room and said, "Hide inside and don't come out, understand?"
Then he hurried to the backyard and pulled Lin Dahai into the room and locked him in it.
The fence door of the Lin family's old house was kicked open by someone.
"Mrs. Lin, come out!"
"Come out quickly, we know you are at home!"
"Take us to find Lin Dahe!"
"Give us back our hard-earned money! Give us back our hard-earned money!"
It was noisy and everyone was shouting at Mrs. Lin's door.
Wang Chunxiu squatted under the window, hugging Dongzhi, not daring to breathe.
Lin Dahai looked anxious, fearing that the villagers might hurt his mother without careful consideration.
He also blamed Daha for leaving behind a mess and running away.
"Mrs. Lin, if you don't come out, we'll kick the door! Don't blame us for breaking it down then!"
"You're not coming out, are you?" Lin Yougen said fiercely, "Fellow villagers, break down the door!"
"I wonder who dares to break down my door!" When Mrs. Lin heard that the other party was going to break down the door, she was so scared that she roared inside the door.
"Mrs. Lin, please open the door! Lin Dajiang has done us a great disservice. If you hadn't spread the news in the village, we wouldn't have been deceived."
"That's right, hand Lin Dahe over quickly. If you don't hand him over, we will report to the police and have them arrest you all!"
"I think we should stop wasting time talking to her and report it to the police!"
Mrs. Lin was frightened out of her wits.
Where on earth did the third brother go? He hasn’t come back in more than two months.
Mrs. Lin was afraid that the people outside would report it to the police, so she opened the door quickly and said, "Don't report it to the police, don't report it to the police. I'm an old woman, and you won't get the money even if you report it to the police!"
"Tell me, where is Lin Dahe?"
Lin Yougen clenched his fist and asked angrily, "Did Lin Dahe run away with the money?"
Old Mrs. Lin sat on the ground, sobbing and crying, "I, an old woman, don't know either. When Dahe left, I also gave him five taels of silver. You ask me, but who should I ask?"
Seeing that Old Lady Lin still refused to reveal Lin Dahe's whereabouts, Wang Mazi pointed at her and said, "Mrs. Lin, who would believe you if you said you invested five taels of silver? I think you are Lin Dahe's accomplice!"
Lin Dazhuang threatened: "Mrs. Lin, I'm going to ask you one last time, where is Lin Dahe? If you don't tell me, we will report to the police today."
Mrs. Lin regretted so much that she wondered why she had shown off in front of her old sisters.
The key point is that she doesn’t know where the third brother has gone!
Old Mrs. Lin rolled and crawled to Lin Dahai's house and knocked on the door with all her strength, "Dahai, Dahai! I know you are in there, your mother is about to be forced to death, are you still pretending to be a turtle in there!"
Lin Dahai was in a dilemma. Hearing his mother screaming at the top of her lungs, he couldn't bear it anymore. He reached out to open the door, but Wang Chunxiu held his hand tightly and mouthed "Don't go."