It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Wu waved her hands after hearing this, "There are so many of us at home, there's no need to build a wall around the courtyard."

Bricks and stones are extremely expensive. It would cost several taels of silver to build a large courtyard.

Every penny of the family's money must be spent wisely, and Mrs. Wu doesn't want to waste this money in vain.

Song Zhi also understood that her grandmother was reluctant to spend money, so she used the safety of the three of them as an excuse, "Grandma, your yard is not well-protected. If a bad guy shows up, he can easily use your mud wall as leverage and climb over to my side."

"I'll take care of all the bricks and the labor. Don't worry about these trivial matters. It's also a good idea to ask the uncles to build a kang for your house. That way, in the winter, you can just stay on the kang and not be afraid of the severe cold!"

Song Zhi's words hit the nail on the head and shook Wu's originally firm heart.

Mrs. Wu was already worried about her three children living alone, and now after hearing the hidden dangers her granddaughter mentioned, even though she was reluctant to spend the money, she still gritted her teeth and agreed for the sake of the three children's peace of mind.

"You don't need to pay for this. Your family can still afford the money to buy bricks." Mrs. Wu made the decision.

Song Zhi did not argue with her grandmother. When the apricot jam was sold out, she would split the money she earned with her grandmother and the others.

After all, when it comes to making this food, except for the idea at the beginning, it is my uncle's family who helps most of the time.

She could never do so many things by herself.

"Should I go buy bricks tomorrow?" Song Youshan asked at the right time.

After considering it, Mrs. Wu said, "But there's no rush to build the wall. You guys aren't in a hurry to move in anyway. I think we should wait until after the busy farming season. At least give them a break before the busy season."

The whole family had no objection, so the matter was settled.

In the next few days, the task of delivering goods to the county town in the early morning was assigned to Song Ping, and Song Zhi helped grandma process the apricots in the morning.

After Song Ping returned from the county town, the brothers and sisters went to dig a hole to make compost.

Because the temperature is high now, the fertilizer decomposes very quickly.

And because the composting process releases a lot of heat, Song Zhi has to stir it with a stick from time to time to prevent the temperature from being too high and burning the fertilizer.

While Song Zhi was stirring, Song Youshan, who had nothing to do, came over out of curiosity.

I originally heard from Azhi that rotten leaves and fruit peels can be covered with humus to quickly produce fertilizer.

Song Youshan still didn't quite believe it.

How can we make fertilizer without manure, farmyard manure and two or three months?

But when he saw the dead branches and leaves stirred by his niece, he was very surprised at first.

What immediately came to his mind was surprise. When he was a teenager, he learned farming from his mother.

His father was not very good at farming, but he had no talent for hunting. Instead, he had a lot of experience in farming.

Perhaps because he was willing to endure hardships and put in the effort, the soil he turned over when sowing was deeper than others, and he never neglected field management, noting when to fertilize and when to weed.

A person who has a clear mind can be said to be a good farmer.

So when people saw the fertilizer being stirred by Song Zhi, they could tell at a glance whether the fertilizer was good or bad.

Song Youshan squatted down and carefully observed the mixture in the deep pit.

Those rotten leaves and fruit peels that were originally regarded as waste, after being covered with a layer of rotten soil and fermented for a few days and then stirred, actually gave off a slightly sour and sweet smell.

This is completely different from the fertilizer he used to make by fermenting farm manure.

He reached out and gently twisted the soil. The soil was loose and dark brown in color. An experienced farmer could tell at a glance that it was quite fertile.

With so much fertilizer to fertilize the fields, the crops will definitely grow well!

Song Youshan immediately stood up, changed his previous distrustful attitude, and said happily:

"I didn't expect this method could really produce fertilizer so quickly. Ah Zhi, what are you going to do next? Uncle is here to help you."

So there was one more person among the people going up the mountain to pick up dead branches and rotten leaves.

With the addition of a strong laborer, Song Zhi and the others could collect rotten soil, dead branches and leaves much faster.

Although Song Youshan had difficulty using one hand, carrying the bamboo basket back and forth was no problem for him.

With the concerted efforts of several people, the composting pond, which would have taken two days to complete, was completed in less than a day.

In Song Youshan's words, one day late means one day of delay. The summer harvest is approaching, and after harvesting the wheat, millet and beans have to be sown.

With so many fields, how can we fertilize them with just the little farm manure at home?

Looking at the three pits full of fertilizer, Song Youshan felt relieved. As for simple tasks such as covering the soil and chopping rotten leaves, he took care of them all by himself.

So from then on, Song Youshan would come to check on the composting of the fertilizer every day, and would take charge of tasks such as stirring and dissipating the heat.

Much more concerned than Song Zhike.

In the blink of an eye, it was the Grain in Ear season, and the wheat in the fields was ripening day by day.

Those who were doing jelly business in the village also stopped one after another and prepared to rush to harvest.

That evening, Song Zhi and her family sat together to discuss the next business arrangements.

"The apricots sent from Grandma Liu are almost finished. There are about 70 to 80 kilograms of apricots left tomorrow, and then it will be finished."

"We still have fifty cans of apricot jam at home. Grandma, tell the villagers who come to pick up the goods tomorrow morning that this is the last one and we won't make any more." Song Zhitong said to Wu.

"Then won't the apricots delivered tomorrow be made into jam?"

Song Zhi shook her head. "I'm going to dry all those apricots and keep them at home for us to eat. Xiao An and the others have worked so hard all day, so we should treat ourselves!"

When the children heard this, they all cheered excitedly.

These days I have been busy processing apricots and making apricot jam, and the children have also been running around, so I just let my granddaughter do it.

Seeing that she had persuaded her grandmother, Song Zhi called her eldest brother back to the house and brought out a wooden box.

Song Zhi opened the wooden box and saw strings of copper coins and scattered silver coins.

"Grandma, this is the income from selling apricot jam during this period. It's 20 strings of cash and 320 coins in total."

It was quite shocking to see so many copper coins at once.

Wu walked around the wooden box twice, grinning, "I didn't expect to earn twenty strings of cash in just half a month! I thought ten strings of cash, after deducting the initial investment, would be the best I could do!"

Song Zhi smiled and took out ten strings of money from the wooden box and placed them on the table. "This is for you, grandma."

"How can this be possible? If it weren't for your idea, how could we make so much money?"

Song Zhi said, "This apricot jam is just an ordinary food. Anyone can make it if they want. I'm already getting a good deal by getting half of the profits."

"Thanks to you, grandma and auntie, for helping me these days. Without you, the apricot jam business wouldn't be possible!"

Wu thought that if Ah Zhi hadn't provided a sales method, even if they knew how to make apricot jam, how could they sell it all and make so much money?

But seeing her granddaughter's firm attitude, she looked at her daughter-in-law's bright eyes again, and it would be a bit hypocritical to object at this time.

Thinking of this, Wu accepted the money and paid the eldest wife her wages before letting it go.