Spring scenery in the fields

"I can do it." Shen Yuanshan moved the bucket to the side. "When my eldest brother was not at home, we thought we couldn't always ask Aunt Lan to mend our clothes, so we learned needlework ourselves."

"I can sew the stitches more densely so that the surface won't show through, but sister-in-law, I don't know how to make clothes."

"That's fine. I'll go learn from Aunt Lan. I'm a beginner, so please don't look down on me."

He smiled and said, "We don't mind. As long as it's made by my sister-in-law, we like it."

Ji Wenhe laughed and looked at Shen Rongshan who was coming up from the mountain: "I'll go to Aunt Lan's house later."

"Well, have you taken the medicine?"

"Drinked."

After drinking the medicine, she became more determined to use food supplements to nourish her body because it was so unpalatable.

She carried a basket filled with thread for making looms and a few pieces of cut cloth.

"Aunt Lan, Xiaoya, are you home?"

"I'm here, sister-in-law." Shen Suya came out of the bedroom and stood at the door with a smile on her face, "Sister-in-law, come in quickly, mother went to the fields to check."

Ji Wenhe turned his head and looked in the direction of the fields, while pushing open the door: "Aunt Lan is in the vegetable field."

Their land is very large.

"Xiaoya, your vegetable garden is more than three mu in size, right? It has several mu in total."

"Three acres of land, six acres of vegetable land, and the rest are paddy fields." Shen Suya turned around and went back into the house, "Sister-in-law, come in and sit down."

"I remember Brother Shen said that in the village, three parts of dry land and seven parts of paddy fields are sold together, and my paddy fields only have seven parts."

Their family has three acres of land, and they should get nine-tenths of it as dry land.

"Sister-in-law, there is a difference between selling and buying. Our family has always had three acres of land and has never sold it. It has been passed down from generation to generation."

"I went to the village head and he said that the dry land and paddy fields are for sale together. If you don't want the dry land and only want the paddy fields, the price will be several dozen coins higher."

Shen Suya pursed her lips and spoke in a low voice.

"Dad said that the village chief made more money by selling the land like this. I don't understand."

Ji Wenhe put down the basket: "So the prices of dry land and paddy fields were different in the past. Dry land was cheap, and paddy fields were expensive."

"One mu of paddy field sold for two taels of silver, and then he divided the dry land into paddy fields and combined them into one mu, so he made money."

She thought for a moment and nodded: "It seems to be like that. Anyway, Dad said that the head of the village made a lot of money."

"Tsk, you have a really flexible mind."

"Who's smart?" Lan Qiuhua came back from the fields and heard them chatting in the house, so she took up the conversation.

Ji Wenhe smiled and said, "We are talking about land. My family only has 70% paddy fields. We can't harvest much from growing crops. We have to buy a few more acres of paddy fields."

"I heard from Xiaoya that in the past, dry land and paddy fields were sold together. The price of dry land was cheap, and the price of paddy fields was high. I said that the head of the village was smart and he could think of such a way to make money."

It is said that he could not become the head of a village, but he is not smart enough and cannot have good relations with the government.

"Since he became the head of the village, this is how we sell land in our village. However, few villagers buy land, so they don't care how he sells it."

Ji Wenhe understood that every family in the village had several acres of land, so they didn't need to buy any and didn't care what the head of the village decided.

Lan Qiuhua glanced at the red thread in the basket and said, "You brought back a lot this time. You can tie it quickly when you are skilled. Next time, bring back something more complicated and we will give it to you. It will be more profitable than this."

After saying that, he got up and went out, went to the bedroom and took out the red thread.

"I bought a lot from the market, and now I have some free time, so I am making lace at home."

"Aunt Lan, I came here today to ask you to embroider a few more for me and see how the finished product looks."

Ji Wenhe took out the cut pieces of cloth from the basket.

"I bought a few pieces of fabric in different colors, and after I finished them, I asked Yuanshan and the others to take them out to see if anyone would ask about them."

Make a few kitten heads of different colors to test the waters first.

Lan Qiuhua picked up the piece of cloth with a smile: "Okay, have you bought the hairpin?"

"No, I asked Brother Shen to cut some bamboo and use bamboo hairpins instead. The hairpins sold at the stalls cost at least two cents."

Two cents to buy a hairpin, plus the cost of labor and fabric are included. In the end, I don't make any profit at all, I even lose money.

It is more cost-effective to cut wood or bamboo and make hairpins yourself.

Lan Qiuhua took out the needle and thread: "Your fabric is a bit dark, so you need to use a bright color for the thread."

In her hand was a piece of dark blue cloth.

Ji Wenhe nodded: "The eyes are also made in different colors, but the filling inside, I still can't think of what to use instead of cotton."

There is no straw at home, and we have to wait until the rice is harvested, which will take several months.

Some people outside the village had some, but they were left outdoors and exposed to the rain, so they had a moldy smell, and she didn't know how to deal with it.

"If you ask me, you might as well just use bamboo leaves. They are rolled into a ball, so they won't become brittle that easily."

Shen Suya echoed: "Sister-in-law, cotton will definitely not work. I think mother is right. Just use bamboo leaves. They are not in pieces and won't break so easily."

"Besides, it's covered with a layer of cloth. When you wear it on your head, who would want to pinch it all the time?"

Ji Wenhe rolled up the bamboo leaves and said, "There is nothing else to replace it at the moment. I want to use bamboo leaves. When I have straw at home, I will change it to something else."

"Don't worry about it. Just use bamboo leaves." Lan Qiuhua put the embroidered eyes aside and picked up another one. "Let Yuanshan and the others sell them. If they sell well, we can think about the next step."

That’s right, we don’t know how the sales are going yet, so there’s no point in thinking too much.

"Aunt Lan, can you make a menstrual belt? I bought some cloth. We don't have any at home. My mother used to make them."

She nodded: "Yes, bring it to me this afternoon and I'll teach you. It's simple and you'll be able to learn it once you see it."

"In two days. I washed the cloth today. Oh, and I want to ask you to teach me how to make clothes. I want to make two sets of clothes for each of the three brothers."

"Then doesn't sister-in-law do it herself?" Shen Suya asked.

"I'll make one. Aunt Lan gave me three sets of clothes last time. I'll wear them at home and make a new cotton-padded jacket for winter."

Each person in their family has only one cotton jacket, and they can't take it off and wash it when it gets dirty, so they have to wear it for the whole winter.

"Okay, when you want to make clothes, ask them to come over and take measurements." Lan Qiuhua raised her head curiously, "Wen He, I'm not saying anything to you, but I feel like you don't know how to do many things."

Ji Wenhe smiled bitterly: "Aunt Lan doesn't know that I am a girl and I am not welcome at home. I get up before dawn to work, cook, and wash clothes."

"I have never touched a needle and thread. I spend all day weeding and digging wild vegetables in the fields. Look at my hands."

She spread out her palms.

"Look at your hands, they are not as rough as mine. Look at how thick the calluses are on the palms of my hands, they are all left from farm work."

Shen Suya stretched out her palm. Compared with the two, her hand was not too delicate: "Sister-in-law, you must have lived a hard life for a long time."

Her tone was distressed.