Farming and reading family

Cao Geng thought Gao E had encountered some difficulties and wanted to sell the land, so he came out to ask her. It turned out that Gao E really wanted to sell it.

He also couldn't understand why she was selling her land when everyone else wanted to buy more land.

But since everything was fine, he felt relieved.

Although there was nothing major this year, the drought was very annoying.

If the drought continues like this, there will probably be trouble again.

The situation in Baotou Village is not so bad. The families have surplus food and grow drought-resistant crops, so they can still make ends meet. But the situation in other places may not be so certain.

Gao E was concerned about her own clam pond. Fortunately, the water level in the clam pond had not changed much and the clams were growing well.

She now has fifteen clam ponds, two of which are used to breed Hyriopsis cumingii seedlings, and the rest are used to cultivate pearls, one of which is used to cultivate pearls with nuclei.

The three franchised Huan Xi Zu restaurants are doing well. The one in Beijing has already opened three branches and is still doing well.

Mrs. Yan also opened a branch in Qinzhou City. When she picked up Yan Zheng during the New Year, she said she wanted to open another one, but Qinzhou City was not stable at the moment.

Tao Meiyu didn't open a branch, but bought a shop on the side and expanded the store a lot.

But no one came to her to join, and Gao E thought it was because she did not do a good job in promotion.

But given the current situation, we still won’t promote it.

"The accounts are done so beautifully this year." Gao E looked at the account book brought by Lu Er Niang.

"I hired a female accountant. She is meticulous in her work and has beautiful handwriting," said Lu Erniang with a smile.

"What's your name? If you do a good job, I can give you a raise."

"Yi Nanzhi."

Gao E looked at Lu Er Niang in surprise and laughed.

"What?" Lu Erniang was confused by the laughter.

"Give her a raise and prepare a New Year gift for her," Gao E said with a smile.

She didn't expect that Yi Nanzhi was so pragmatic. Instead of going to find Chen Ke, she found a job for herself.

Lu Erniang was suspicious: "Does the boss know her?"

"I studied at Qingtan Academy before." Gao E said simply.

"A girl goes to Qingtan Academy to study?" Lu Erniang was surprised.

"She is dressed as a man. Something happened at home. She just needs to work hard for you." Gao E didn't want to mention Yi Nanzhi.

As for Yi Nanzhi coming to her one day with his own ability, that is another story.

"Oh." Lu Erniang suddenly realized.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for summer harvest. The few crops scattered in the fields were not even as much as the seeds planted. It was obvious that the tenants and some people could not survive.

Cao Geng had submitted a memorial about the severe drought in He County two months ago, but there had been no response. He was so anxious that blisters formed on his mouth.

Xu Boyan only told him to stay calm, but how could he stay calm in the current situation?

Baotou Village is still a little better, but only a little.

Two of the streams flowing down from the mountain had dried up, and the water in the stream where the weaving workshop was located was not enough to support the normal papermaking of the workshop, so it had to stop for the time being.

The people in Batou Village also began to worry. The taxes were not low, and the grain harvest was not much. Even with the little money at home, they would not be able to survive for long.

Gao E had dug ditches to allow the water from the mountains to flow directly down, without being blocked in her mulberry forest, but there was still not much.

Lu Erniang was a little dissatisfied with this: "They dug those ponds, so why are they not allowing us to store water now?"

"Others don't have water, but I still need to store so much water. Others will be dissatisfied."

"Why do you suddenly care so much about whether others are satisfied or not?" Lu Er Niang didn't think Gao E was such a person.

"Making money depends on one's ability, but food is a matter of life and death. It's not like we can't survive." Gao E had to comfort Lu Er Niang.

As the boss, she always makes the people below worry about her.

"Then there will definitely be less silk this year." This is what Lu Er Niang was worried about.

"It doesn't matter, whatever you have is enough." Gao E didn't care.

As the two people were chatting, the noise from outside came in.

Gao E frowned and looked out. Was he here to cause trouble for her?

She lives in this place now, and if she hadn't run to her doorstep, she wouldn't have heard the noise.

Soon, Tian came running in: "Boss, the head of the village wants you to go out and mediate."

"I'll go out and stop the fight?" Gao E had no interest in trying to stop the fight. "What's going on?"

"The villagers almost fought over water." Tian said somewhat exaggeratedly.

The villagers have lived well in recent years and have experienced floods together, so there are very few quarrels.

Now that having water determines whether they can survive, the villagers began to quarrel.

After hearing what Tian said, Gao E had no choice but to leave.

Zheng Fengan was standing at the door of the Chen family. When he saw Gao E come out, the two families, who were arguing with each other, suddenly quieted down.

"Uncle Zheng, what's going on?" Gao E asked directly.

"They're fighting over the water that's been flowing out of your mulberry forest," Zheng Fengan said bluntly. "I mean you should replenish the water."

Everyone was silent.

Gao'e wants to store water, what can others say?

The two families, who were arguing fiercely, fell silent after hearing what Zheng Fengan said.

"Droughts are different from floods. No one knows when the drought will end." Gao E looked at the people in the village and suddenly found that no one in the village was wearing patched clothes.

Of course everyone knew this was the case, so they were panicked.

"Everyone should be prepared for a long-term battle. If we fight for water this time, what about next time? If we fight for water this year, what about next year?" Gao E asked.

"If everyone doesn't want to leave their hometown, they must work together when the time comes," Gao E reminded.

The villagers were silent, and none of them wanted to leave now.

They now have houses and land, and in the past two years, almost all families have added children to their families. It is a prosperous time.

"It seems that we won't get much this summer harvest. There's only so much water in the village now. We should all think about how to unite and produce more food. If every household competes with each other, no one will have enough to eat." Gao E sneered.

Zheng Fengan hesitated for a moment and asked, "How about we start the village collective again?"

The villagers all looked at Gao E.

This matter requires Gao E's approval. If Gao E doesn't approve, they have no rules.

"Uncle Zheng will discuss this with my eldest brother." Gao E didn't plan to do it for the time being. "Anyway, I've done it before. It's just a matter of seeing how to divide it."

Zheng Fengan heard Gao E say this and knew she didn't want to get involved: "Okay."

"Everyone should disperse, so as to save some energy and eat less food." Gao E said with a smile.

The villagers also laughed and immediately waved goodbye and dispersed.

Zheng Fengan really went to find Chen Qing. Chen Qing actually harvested more grain this year, and he didn't have to fetch water every day like others.

"Uncle Zheng also knows the situation in the village. Since we didn't pay taxes in the past two years, our family had some surplus food. Now I'm just worried." Chen Qing sat on the ground and knocked the dirt off his shoes.

"I'm afraid people will panic," Zheng Fengan sighed. "If things really get to the point where they can't make ends meet, we won't have the energy to make a fuss."

"So Uncle Zheng, calm him down first and take it slow." Chen Qing was not in a hurry.

Zheng Fengan knew that the Chen family had a good life: "Alas, it's only been two years since we've had a good life, and now the famine has come again. This is God's will to take away our people."