Sister Han is good at farming

"Qingqing, you want to weave mats with sorghum stalks?"

Mr. Ruan asked Ruan Qingqing while holding a sorghum stalk in one hand and a pipe in the other.

"Yes! Grandpa, you are good at weaving bamboo products, so you should be able to use sorghum stalks as well, right?"

Mr. Ruan was silent for a while, "Let me try!"

They tried for a long time, but there were always problems in the process of splitting the sorghum stalks into strips. Either they broke easily or the strips could not be formed.

"Qingqing, are you sure this sorghum stalk can really be used to weave mats?"

Mr. Ruan was quite skeptical.

"Grandpa, are we missing a step?"

Ruan Qingqing asked embarrassedly.

Mr. Ruan puffed on his cigarette, frowning as he thought carefully.

"Dad, I think the sorghum stalks are too dry and brittle. They can't be split into strips at all." Ruan Wanjin said bluntly.

Mr. Ruan paused while smoking and asked, "What did you just say?"

"I said the sorghum stalks were too dry and too brittle to be split into strips."

Ruan Wanjin repeated.

"Yes, dry! The sorghum stalks are too dry. If it is really possible, they should be soaked in water before cooking."

Mr. Ruan stopped smoking, stood up quickly, took out a dozen sorghum stalks, split each into half, and then soaked them in water.

Ruan Qingqing stood aside and asked, "Grandpa, if the sorghum stalks are soaked thoroughly, will they be easy to split into strips?"

"That should be the case. Let's give it a try first."

When the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, Wang came to urge Ruan Qingqing to go home and sleep. Ruan Qingqing was still thinking about weaving mats, and was somewhat reluctant to go back like this.

At this time, Mr. Ruan walked to the large water tank in the yard, pinched the sorghum stalks that were soaked in the tank and broke, and nodded, "It's soaked through, let's try again."

Seeing this, Ruan Qingqing hurriedly said to Wang: "Mom, you go back to sleep first! I will stay with grandpa and grandma for a while."

"You! Come back early. It's cold at night. Don't catch a cold." After giving some instructions, Wang had no choice but to go home.

This time, the sorghum stalks became very obedient in Mr. Ruan's hands. He first broke the sorghum stalks into pieces one-tenth of an inch wide, then scraped the pulp inside and flattened it into smooth and shiny strips.

"Is it done, Grandpa?" Seeing that Grandpa Ruan's hands were still working, Ruan Qingqing hurried forward to ask.

"It works. My previous idea was right! The toughness of this bamboo strip is good. It should be possible to weave it into a mat. But if you want the mat to be useful, you still have to sprinkle water on it during the weaving process. The weaving environment cannot be too dry."

"Grandpa, using the red and white sorghum stalks, can we weave sorghum mats of different colors and patterns?"

Ruan Qingqing asked excitedly.

"It should be possible, but it will take time to figure it out."

"Okay, Grandpa, you rest first. I'll come again tomorrow." After getting the promise, Ruan Qingqing went back to sleep with peace of mind.

In the following days, during the day, Nguyen Thanh Thanh and Nguyen Want Tie stayed in the old house with Mr. Nguyen and others to discuss the matters of weaving sorghum mats, and at night they dug the cellar. After the cellar was cleaned up, Nguyen Want Tie began to move food like a hamster, grinding the sorghum and corn at home into powder, pounding the rice into rice, and carrying it back home bit by bit, and putting it in the covered jar in the cellar.

The days slipped by as everyone was busy and orderly, and spring arrived.

There was still no rain in early spring, and the water level in the reservoir dropped significantly again.

The family had woven more than 30 sorghum mats, and Ruan Qingqing, Ruan Wantie and Mr. Ruan went to the town to sell them. After working for several days, they only sold two, one of which was bought by Carpenter Yan when he met them in the town as a favor.

This made Ruan Qingqing very discouraged.

"There is a severe drought in Lulin Prefecture right now, and no one is spending much money. Even if we want to sell it to outsiders, it is difficult for us to exchange what we have with outsiders, and we can't sell it either."

Carpenter Yan's words rang in her ears. Ruan Qingqing kicked the pebbles at her feet along the way while thinking about the sales of the woven mats.

"Qingqing, if it really doesn't work, just go ask your second uncle for help." Old Master Ruan said while smoking, squinting his eyes.

Ruan Qingqing shook her head. "It may not be possible to find my second uncle this time. If we sell it in the county, I'm afraid we won't get a good price. If we sell it too cheaply, it won't be worth it for us. If we sell it too expensively, no one will buy it. Because of the drought, there are few merchants coming from other places at this time."

"Daya, these old mats won't be thrown into our hands, right?" Ruan Wantie was so worried that bubbles were about to form on the corners of his mouth.

"Dad, don't worry, I'll think of a solution."

Ruan Qingqing comforted.

"How about we go find the county magistrate and ask him to help us find a solution?"

Ruan Wantie waved his hands when he heard this, "Daya, let's not do that! The master is already very busy, let's not trouble him with such a small matter."

Ruan Qingqing held a different view. "Dad, if we continue like this, we will probably only be able to grow sorghum this year. It's hard to say whether the sorghum can be harvested, but the sorghum stalks should be harvested. We need to open up sales channels for sorghum mats and turn the sorghum stalks in the fields into money. Otherwise, after the drought, everyone will still be poor and hungry."

"But it doesn't seem appropriate to go to the county magistrate without any evidence." Old Master Ruan also disagreed.

"Let me think about it."

This thought delayed the process because the wheat in the field needed top dressing and watering.

It just so happened that Zhou Zheng was also concerned about the growth of everyone's wheat, so he went to the countryside in person to check on everyone's topdressing and watering.

Ruan Qingqing took the opportunity to tell Zhou Zheng about the difficulties she was facing and the speculation that everyone could only grow sorghum in May and June.

"So you want to use me to boost the sales of sorghum mats? So that every household can benefit from it?"

Zhou Zheng asked.

"Well, although sorghum is a drought-resistant crop, if we continue like this, there may not be enough water to irrigate the sorghum. And the sorghum harvest will most likely be empty. If we don't grow anything, we won't feel at ease."

Zhou Zheng nodded in understanding. "If we can make full use of the sorghum stalks, it would be a good way to increase income. Okay! I'll leave this to you."

Ten days later, Zhou Zheng came to pick up the goods.

"I want all the sorghum mats you have made. Just give them to the people below. Here are sixty taels of silver. This is the highest price I can give you for now." Zhou Zheng sighed.

Ruan Qingqing thought for a long time, "Sir, when will the emperor celebrate his birthday?"

Zhou Zheng asked with a vigilant look on his face, "Why are you asking this?"

"I would like to ask the old people in Qingshui County who are good at weaving to weave a sorghum mat with good wishes on it and give it to the emperor as a birthday gift. What do you think, sir?

Zhou Zheng touched the sorghum mat in his arms again, as if thinking about something.

"You want to use this opportunity to promote our Qingshui County's kaoliang mat?"

Ruan Qingqing nodded, "That's right! Despite such a severe drought, we haven't seen any tragic situation of people being displaced or starving to death. This is the result of the emperor's kindness and his ability to use people wisely! We also want the emperor to hear the people of Qingshui County praising his fair governance, and want him to truly feel our heartfelt gratitude!"