Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

"Uncle, once the new house is built, we will hire a long-term worker. Then we will ask him to pick up and drop off Xiaowen. You will have to work hard for a while." Xiao Lan said to Zhang Qingfeng.

"It's not that hard. My nephew's education is a big deal. I'll take care of it."

In this way, Xiaowen’s schooling was settled.

The weather was getting warmer day by day, and Xiaolan's house had taken shape. As the construction went on, Xiaolan wanted to turn the simple house into a manor, and this idea was unanimously supported by her family.

Tofu and soy products were developed by other skilled craftsmen, so the price was cut in half, but Xiaolan's family still made a lot of money from this price, so the workshop remained open.

Spring plowing is about to begin. In addition to the six acres of land that Xiaolan's family obtained from the separation, they also bought another thirty acres of land in Guihuali.

After dinner in the evening, the family discussed what crops to plant on these lands.

"My family runs a tofu workshop, why don't we just plant beans?" Sheng Xuan added, "We don't have fertilizer this year, so we can only plant beans. If we plant other crops, I'm afraid they won't grow."

The whole family nodded in agreement. In this era, fertilizers were generally human feces and urine, and livestock and poultry manure. Xiaolan's family had just been allocated less than half a year, and they didn't raise poultry or livestock at home, so they had no choice but to plant.

"With so much land, can we handle it? The child's grandfather and her second uncle can look after the construction of the manor, and the child's father can free up his hands, but I still have to cook for the workers every day." Zhang said.

"Mom and Dad, why don't we hire a few temporary workers to help with the farming, and you can keep an eye on it then," Xiao Lan suggested.

Sheng Xuan nodded. It was the only way. Everyone in the family had a lot of things to do, and it was really hard to do everything.

The next day, Sheng Xuan went to buy seeds and plows. The hired laborers were all good at farming, and they harnessed the Zhang family's horses to plow the fields. Planting soybeans was easy, and it took only five days to plant them. The old Sheng family also had a lot of land, a full 24 acres. When Xiao Lan brought lunch to Sheng Xuan and the laborers at noon, she looked at their fields from a distance and saw that Grandpa Sheng and the second and fourth sons were busy working in the fields, but the eldest son and his family were not there.

Zhang and Xiaoting planned to take some time to plant some melons and vegetables in the manor. As the saying goes, melons and vegetables are half a year's food, so she would plant more this year. As the family has more people, there is more food to eat. After the manor is built, if the family hires farmhands, there will be even more food to eat.

Both of them started planting vegetables after preparing lunch for the workers. They planted some leeks, beans, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, and peppers.

"Look, you've all become thin and tired since the beginning of spring. Mom, I'm going to the town tomorrow to buy some spare ribs to nourish us." Xiao Lan said.

Zhang was very pleased to hear Xiao Lan's words. Her daughter was very caring. "We don't need to supplement them. If we need to supplement them, we will only supplement them for your children."

As the weather got hotter, Xiaolan's manor was finally built. This was a happy thing, but her family could not be happy at all.

It has been more than a month without a single drop of rain. The elderly in the village gathered at the entrance of the village and lamented, "God is not giving us a way to survive. If it continues like this, the crops in the fields will die of drought."

"Do you think there will be a plague?"

"It is said that after a great disaster there will be a great epidemic. Now I am just hoping that God will send some rain. Not to mention the epidemic, the drought could kill people."

Xiao Lan was also worried. The beans in her field had begun to form pods. Although soybeans are a drought- and barren-resistant crop, if the drought continued, the yield would be greatly reduced or even zero harvest.

Soon, the water in the stream was reduced to a puddle, because the villagers had to carry buckets of water to irrigate the crops every day. At this time, Xiaolan's family was glad that they were planting beans. If they were planting wheat, sorghum, or rice, they would have to fight for water every day.

"I heard from the guys at Tianxianglou that many people in the town have moved away with their families, and people in our village are also planning to flee the famine. The crops in the fields will be harvested in two months, so what should we do with the crops after everyone leaves?" Sheng Xuan was also very upset.

Due to the bad harvest in that year, the sales of tofu dropped sharply. Xiaolan's workshop only kept two people. These two people made tofu together with Zhang Qingfeng and Fu every day, which was more than enough to supply Zhaodong's restaurant and hotel.

"Anyway, I will definitely not leave. Our family has worked so hard to earn this business, and we still have the crops in the fields. What will happen to the crops if I leave now?" Zhang said.

Zhang didn't believe that God would not rain for a long time and force people into a desperate situation. This idea was shared by most people in the village. Besides, the crops had not been harvested yet. Even if they fled the famine, they would starve to death without food. It would be better to stay and harvest the crops first.

"Dad, Mom, let's move to our new home. It's big there, and we can dig some cellars and find more places to store food, meat and vegetables. We also need to dig a deep well at home." Xiao Lan said. "We also need to smoke the herbal medicine bags we bought before, and drink some Tusu wine every day."

Zhang hugged Xiao Lan to her chest, kissed her hair, and said in a hoarse voice, "My daughter, don't grow up so fast. These things are what your parents should worry about."

Xiao Lan is only eleven years old this year, but she knows so much. This family business is earned by her. Now that the year is not good, she starts to worry about family affairs again. Zhang is distressed. Time can not only make people grow old, but also make a child mature precociously.

Xiao Lan patted Zhang's back and comforted her for a while. When she calmed down, she said, "Mom, don't worry. We will get through this safely. We won't go anywhere. We will just stay at home."

The shared well in the village is no longer producing water. People who go there late in the morning will not be able to draw water. It is unknown how long this drought will last. Water is needed every day, so it is necessary to dig a deep well.

Digging a deep well is a technical job. Xiaolan's family can't do this business, so they need to hire someone to dig it. If you want to say what business is the most popular now, it should be well digging. The weather is so dry, many families need to dig wells, and they have to rely on connections to get a place. Xiaolan's family is familiar with the shopkeeper Xu, so they asked him to help hire someone. The next day, the well digger came to Xiaolan's house with his apprentice.

It took a full month to dig this well. It was a deep well. If it was too shallow, no water would come out. It cost thirty taels of silver, and Xiao Lan was also responsible for the three meals a day of the master and apprentice who dug the well. But Xiao Lan felt it was worth it. At least the family didn't have to go out to get water, and they could also use it to irrigate the vegetable fields.

After digging the well, the family moved to a new house. The year was not good, and Xiaolan's family did not want to be high-profile. The family moved in with the sound of a string of firecrackers.

The original yard was occupied by Zhang Qingfeng and Fu, who needed to take care of the tofu workshop.

After the manor was built, Zhang Shanfeng and Zhang Fengnian went back. On the day of moving, Zhang Fengnian brought Xin and several children from the family over.