Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 17 Tools
The woman and boy who had come to freeload were chased away, and Beijiwu led his horse into the yard.

The local people are simple and honest. Horses left outside are not necessarily stolen, but there is a high chance they will die mysteriously.

Arctic Wu's ideas didn't quite match the facts. In reality, the locals were quite afraid of him and didn't dare to approach the area.

Let alone near the courtyard, people would walk faster even if they were just near this secluded path.

"Where should I tie the horse?" Beijiwu looked at his simple yard and finally chose his triangular cart to tie the horse.

Simply tether them and they'll stay put; as long as they have food and a place to sleep, they won't wander off.

The grapes weren't tied to the trellis because it wasn't stable; Beijiwu didn't want the horse to knock down his trellis, nor did he want the horse to nibble on the grapes and gourds.

Li Bing walked over and said, "Brother, the wheat should be almost ready by tomorrow night."

Beijiwu walked to the shade under the grape trellis and sat down, taking off his clothes that were dirty all day and handing them to Li Bing.

"Take it and wash it."

"it is good."

Li Bing smiled and took the clothes, then saw that Bei Jiwu had taken off his pants and handed them over as well, leaving him only in shorts to protect against mosquitoes.

"Brother, take this off too, I'll wash it for you." Li Bing offered to have Beijiwu take off all his clothes.

Beijiwu said directly, "Keep one for mosquito protection. I have a spare one, which I'll take off when I go to sleep."

Li Bing agreed, "Okay, I'll go wash now."

Since it was definitely not advisable to wash clothes by the water at night, Li Bing put the clothes in a wooden basin and began scooping water to wash them.

Zhang Xiulan and Zhang Xianglan were responsible for feeding the horses and giving them water, respectively.

Not long after, Li Hong called someone in to bring in the food, and brought up a bowl of white fish soup for Bei Jiwu.

Arctic Warrior was puzzled, "Didn't we eat the fish this morning?"

Li Hong explained, "The bones can also be used to make soup."

This kind of thing is normal to Li Hong and others; a bone can be eaten for a very long time.

When even dogs won't give it a second glance, that's when it's truly time to throw it into the field.

As Beijiwu drank his rice porridge, he remembered the mutton knife-cut noodles he had for lunch that day.

"I'll cultivate a few more acres of land this fall, and our family will become a wealthy household!"

Arctic Wu wants to live a good life, he wants to eat noodles and meat, he doesn't want to eat this bland bird food all day long.

Zhang Xianglan said happily, "I'll have your babies! I'll have lots of them!"

Zhang Xianglan's understanding was that large households simply meant large numbers of people.

Li Hong said unhappily, "If anyone's going to give birth, it'll be me. I'm too old."

Li Bing followed closely, saying, "My sister gave birth first, then I gave birth. You two are young, so there's no rush."

Zhang Xiulan retorted, "I'm not young anymore!"

Looking at the four girls who were about to give birth, Beijiwu said directly, "Listen to my arrangements. Let's eat first, and talk about it after we've eaten our fill."

The girls then obediently began to eat.

Nothing is more important than eating.

The food was divided up, and everyone could eat as much as they wanted, unlike at home where you had to rush to eat, otherwise someone else would eat your portion.

It wasn't just the parents and brothers in the family; even between Li Bing and Li Hong, it was a cruel reality that if one person ate more, the other would eat less.

After finishing his meal, Beijiwu started talking about something important.

"Wheat is harvested in June and autumn plowing is done in July. There is still a lot of land, about four or five hundred mu, between the rocks in the west of the village and the mountain. I have to take it over as soon as possible."

"If we start planting this year, we can plant some forage grass next year, and in two years we can plant crops."

Li Hong nodded and said, "We also helped. My uncle's family worked themselves to death to cultivate an acre of land, but it was later stolen. My uncle's family kowtowed to people and begged them to return it, but they were beaten to death. Since then, our family has not dared to cultivate wasteland and has only farmed our own land."

Beijiwu frowned. "It's alright. I cleared two acres of land last year and planted millet this spring. No one has come to bother me."

As Beijiwu spoke, he remembered the village chief.

“The Kitada boys are always causing me trouble. I’ll find a chance to teach them a lesson when I have some free time.”

Beijiwu looked at the four girls and said, "You all stay home and do your jobs well. If anyone comes looking for trouble, wait until I get back."

All four girls nodded in agreement.

Fist is far more effective than reason.

After eating and drinking their fill and locking the door, the Beijiwu family closed the door and went to sleep.

Eighteen-year-old Li Hong was still so thin. Bei Jiwu held the girl he had bought and fell asleep the next day without realizing it. The girls got up early to cook, feed the horses, fetch water, and then brought dry clothes for Bei Jiwu to change into.

"The sickle is sharpened." After finishing her meal at Beijiwu, Li Hong brought out the sickle and added, "Let's return the sack to them too. If they don't want it, we can take it back."

Li Hong actually wanted the burlap sack for storing millet.

Burlap sacks, baskets, mats, straw hats, flints... every stitch and thread had to be carefully calculated.

Even a pile of feces counts.

The more items you have, the less money you have to spend at home.

Beijiwu packed up his sickle and sack, then led his horse away from home.

The four girls stood at the door watching Beijiwu leave from the dirt road, and then they all went inside to start working.

The busy farming season, which has lasted for half a month, will not end for several more days. The four girls, having eaten and drunk their fill, will also contribute their strength to the family.

Aunt Zhang didn't come over because she had to work at home today, and she would do tailoring when she had some free time.

Beijiwu rode his horse to the Wen family's house, where children were already waiting at the door.

"Brother, my dad told me to wait for you. Come in with me."

The Wen family child led Beijiwu inside and had him tie the horse to the stable.

When they arrived at the front yard, they saw Master Wen and his son and wife standing in the yard looking at a new farm tool.

Wen Zhaohu said to Beiji Wuwen, "You've arrived. I bought a large sickle for harvesting wheat from the county a while ago, but I don't know how to use it. Do you know how to use it?"

Beijiwu walked over and took a look. It was a long-handled scythe with a new bamboo woven bag added to it.

The bag is like an upright winnowing basket, but it is made of a much lighter material and has gaps in the middle.

It also resembles a bicycle basket that opens to the front, or a fishing net with a sickle attached.

“I know how to use it.” Beijiwu said simply, “I think it’s called a wheat scythe. You can cut down a patch of wheat and weeds by swinging it horizontally a couple of times. The cut wheat can be dumped to the side, reducing the number of times you have to bend over.”

Wen Zhaohu said happily, "It's good that you know how to use it. The other day, I and the villagers tried it, but it's not as easy to use as a sickle. It takes too much effort."

Long-handled tools do require a lot of effort, and if you don't hold them firmly, you can easily injure yourself or the tools.

Without even looking at the tools, Beijiwu said directly to Wen Caizhu, "Tools are tools, and people are people. Let's get this straight from the start: if you deduct my wages because I work too fast."

Beijiwu pointed at the thing on the ground and said, "This thing can cut wheat and it can also cut people."

Wen Zhaohu hurriedly said, "Of course, of course, don't worry. My family has always valued gentleness and humility. My family emphasizes kindness. Being kind to others is being kind to yourself."

Beiji Wucai didn't care whether the other family was good or bad; he just wanted to make sure his own money wasn't less.

Only after confirming that the wage per acre would not be less did Beijiwu agree to use this big machine for work.

In the wheat field, the Wen family watched Beijiwu work.

With a single swing of his long-handled scythe, Beijiwu cut down and squeezed the wheat, covering an area 1.5 to 30 centimeters in length and width, into a wheat bag.

The wheat from the two nets was dumped into the wheat field behind them.

After a few minutes, Beijiwu got the hang of it and used the inertia of the long-handled weapon and the muscle power of his abdomen to make the long-handled sickle spin.

He skillfully wielded both hands and arms, switching between forcefully cutting the wheat and using the reduced inertia to tilt it.

To the others, it looked like Beiji Wu was strolling leisurely in the fields, cutting grass and harvesting wheat with ease, wielding a sickle with great skill!

The wealthy man, Wen, looked with a smile at the top-quality cattle and horses in the field.

"We can harvest twelve acres of land in one day!"

Wen the rich man looked at his wife and said, "You take Qiuyue and the others back. You can find a few women to do the rest."

Madam Wen was also happy to relax a bit, taking her daughter-in-law and daughter back home to cook, no longer needing to stay here exposed to the wind and sun, and showing her face in public.

Last year, Arctic Martial Arts wouldn't have earned this kind of money; he could have just eaten his fill and wouldn't have needed to work so hard.

But this year there are four more mouths to feed, so for the sake of happiness in the lower body and the development of physical and mental health, I can only work a little longer.

Wen, the wealthy man, sat in his chair watching Beijiwu work. At first, he was happy and cheerful, but after watching for more than an hour, his face gradually became worried.

“This kid owns more than ten acres of land. With his strength and temper, he can hold onto any land that has been cleared. Even if he has twenty acres next year, it will be enough for his family to eat.”

"He's the same as last year. Even if I beg him to work next year, he won't show me any pity because of his stubbornness."

Wen, the wealthy man, looked at the sweltering heat nearing noon and the villagers still working in the distance.

"It would be great if it rained, otherwise those troublemakers' land would be ruined and they would have to work for me."

The wealthy man, Wen, now desperately hopes that after he finishes harvesting and storing his wheat, three days of torrential rain will fall immediately, destroying everyone else's wheat.

(End of this chapter)