Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Of course, we want beans too. However, the price of beans is not comparable to that of wheat. We have to pay according to the price of beans."

The woman was delighted. "Of course, of course. To be honest, I'm ready."

Zhou Guo checked the beans and found they were all soybeans of good quality, obviously they had been carefully selected. He nodded and put them on the weighing scale.

This is the first year, and the village is far away, so not every household has bought fertilizer.

After all, there are still some people who want to wait and see.

Despite this, after one round, the two ox carts were so full that they could no longer hold any more. There was no place for the two of them to sit, but there were still seven or eight houses in the village that they had not visited.

The old man looked at the two heavy cars and estimated that they weighed about 12 or 13 stone. He looked at the people waiting in anticipation and said, "Let's come back tomorrow. If we put more on, the car will fall apart."

Zhou Guo nodded, tied the ropes tightly, and said, "We can't load any more. One or two dan can still be loaded. Seven or eight families probably have at least eight or nine dan. Our oxen will die of exhaustion, and the ox cart will be crushed and can't be loaded anymore."

I had no choice but to explain to the families, "Uncles and aunts, the two ox carts we brought are really full, so we have to come back tomorrow. I'm really sorry to have delayed you all. Let's go back to work in the fields."

Upon hearing what happened, several families said, "It's okay, it didn't take long. It's already noon now, so let's eat at home. It's busy farming season and we can eat dry food and meat."

They were all invited home for dinner, and every family had meat.

Zhou Guo said with a smile: "No, no, we brought it, you just need to prepare your own. The aunts eat really well, and every family has meat to eat during the autumn harvest."

Everybody was smiling. Naturally they were happy about the good harvest. They had harvested so much extra grain this year, so they deserved a meal of meat. It was a busy farming season, and how could they work fast if they didn't eat well?

The two men said goodbye to several families and walked back with the ox cart.

Before he could leave the village, he was stopped by someone.

Before Zhou Guo could say anything, the other party asked, "Are you the young master of the Zhou family?"

Zhou Guo didn't answer, "What's the matter?"

"Can your fertilizer really be replaced by food? And you can ship it to us without us having to pay for it?"

Zhou Guo said: "Of course, you saw so many people in the village buying fertilizer. Didn't you see the fertilizer trucks coming into the village?"

He patted the grain bag on the ox cart and said, "These two carts of grain are not all wheat. There is also 10% beans in them, all kinds of beans. The fertilizer used can be replaced by 70% grain and 30% beans."

"It's actually true. Will you still sell this fat next year?"

Zhou Guo said: "Of course, if you want to buy fertilizer next year, you can come with the villagers."

After saying goodbye to these people, the two men continued to move forward, pulling the ox cart.

The old man smiled and said, "After the autumn harvest, the reputation of your fertilizer farm will be completely spread. Next year, every household in the surrounding villages will come to buy fertilizer. The farm is small, and there won't be enough manpower, right?"

Zhou Guo said: "That's enough. Let's ferment more during the slack season so that we can use it directly during the busy season."

At this point he sighed, "Even if I scrape off the dead branches and leaves on the nearby mountains, the urine is not enough. There are not so many rotten vegetable leaves. Otherwise, I would like to improve the compost pile. Then the compost will take shorter days to ferment and have greater fertility. Dead branches, rotten leaves, hay and cow dung alone are not enough."

As he was talking he fell silent and lowered his head in thought.

The old man didn't hear clearly, and didn't ask. He took out a piece of cake and ate it in three or two bites. As he ate, he felt bored. It was too sweet and not as substantial as a piece of meat.

He looked at the little disciple in front of him with her head lowered, shook his head, and decided not to disturb her. He didn't know what she was thinking.

Zhou Guo thought about it for a while but couldn't come up with any idea. For now, the village still had enough raw materials for making compost.

It is enough to supply several nearby villages. After all, there are only so many households in each village, and each family does not have much land, so the quantity required is not large, so there is no need to worry about this for the time being.

As soon as I stopped, I felt hungry. When I looked back, I saw the old man just burped.

Zhou Guo: "...Master, are you full?"

The old man waved his hand, "No, these sweet and greasy things won't fill me up. I want to eat meat."

Zhou Guo: "...but you're already burping."

The old man glared at me, "What's wrong with burping? I just drank enough water. Let's find a place to stop and eat something before we go. You are not a good enough host. You know to cut grass for the ox that pulls the cart, but how can you not feed a big person like me?"

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Okay, okay, let's go to the front. There is a big tree there. It's cool and shady under the tree."

It was a time when the sun was very strong and both of them were sweating profusely.

Zhou Guo took down two food boxes, which were filled with prepared dishes, including braised beef, cold-mixed black fungus, poached chicken, cold-mixed cucumber, a cloth bag of steamed buns, and two plates of pastries.

She spread out the food, took two cups, poured tea from the bamboo tube into each cup, handed a pair of chopsticks to the old man, and said, "Master, eat."

The old man nodded, took the steamed bun and first picked up a piece of braised beef and ate it, then nodded repeatedly and ate one piece after another.

Zhou Guo was also hungry, so he took a bite of the steamed bun and picked up a piece of chicken. The boiled chicken made from the small free-range chickens he raised at home was fragrant and tender.

Although it is hot this day, dishes with oil will still get cold, and they will not taste good when they are cold.

It is better to bring out cold dishes. Although the oil will be cold, at least it is not as much as stir-fried dishes, and the taste is better.

This is what Zhou Xing said when she brought them food.

But Zhou Guo now felt that it was not necessary to be so particular when traveling outside. No matter whether it was hot or cold, as long as there was something to eat, it was good enough. If one was hungry, he would eat a piece of raw meat in front of him, let alone oil.

The two of them buried their heads in eating and finished the whole bag of steamed buns. Even the last bit of soup from the dishes was consumed by the two of them with their steamed buns.

Zhou Guo drank two cups of tea, put the plates and chopsticks into the lunch box, lay back and wanted to sleep.

The old man was picking his teeth.

Zhou Guo heard him spit from time to time, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind. He immediately sat up and asked, "Master, you have escorted in so many places. Do you know where the feces and filth produced by the people in the prefecture and county towns every day go?"

The old man paused while picking his teeth and said with a spit, "Why are you asking this? Are you going to collect it?"

Zhou Guo said, "Yes, you are right. Next year, every household in the surrounding villages will definitely need fertilizer. I don't have enough raw materials. The villagers will definitely want what they produce. I have to find a way to get the raw materials. I also want to change the method of making fertilizer."