Quick Transmigration: The Love Rescue Plan

The next morning, Dong Ping got up very early. She was going to be busy all day.

Dong Ping first washed the pork bones, blanched them, and then threw them all into the largest pot in the house. She brought them to a boil over high heat, and then slowly simmered them over low heat.

Next, they began to deal with the most difficult part: the pig offal.

When the rooster crowed for the third time, Dong Ping temporarily stopped rubbing the pig offal. She first rubbed her hands lightly with wood ash, and then washed them again with soapberry.

Dong Ping then went to the field to pick a few green vegetables, scooped out flour from the earthenware jar, and began to knead and mix the dough, preparing to make noodles with bone broth this morning.

After Dong Ping finished cooking the vegetable noodles, Guo's parents also came out.

Dong Ping quickly helped Guo's father sit down so they could have a meal together.

"Dad, there's something I'd like to discuss with you." After finishing her noodles, Dong Ping didn't rush to clear the dishes, but looked at Mr. and Mrs. Guo with utmost sincerity and said.

“Ping’er, you are a child with your own opinions. Tell me what’s wrong,” Mr. Guo nodded.

“Our family has ten acres of land, but now…” Dong Ping paused for a moment, looked at Guo’s father and said, “Father, you are still recovering from your illness and need to recuperate. My mother and I can only be considered half a labor force each. We can’t manage these ten acres of land on our own.”

“I think it’s a shame to leave this extra land lying fallow. Even if Father recovers and my husband returns in the future, it would be too much work for the four of us to manage ten acres of land. Perhaps…”

Dong Ping didn't finish her sentence, but instead left the decision to Guo's father. After all, he was the head of the family.

"You want to sell the land?" Mr. Guo frowned.

"No, that's not what I meant." Upon seeing Guo's father's reaction, Dong Ping knew that selling the land was definitely not going to work.

However, perhaps Guo's father could accept the rental arrangement, so Dong Ping said, "I want to keep one mu of land at home to grow some vegetables, and we will rent the remaining nine mu to people in the village who need it."

“We can use grain to offset the rent, so the land won’t be left uncultivated and we won’t have to go out to buy grain,” Dong Ping suggested cautiously. “Besides, the land has been rented out, and the land deed is still in our hands, so it’s easy to take it back if we want. What do you think, Father?”

"Rent? I've never heard of that before. If it can be done, it's feasible. It's a waste of the fertile land to leave it lying fallow, Father..."

"Father, you're not feeling well, let me go instead." Dong Ping quickly shook her head, stopping Guo's father.

After thinking for a moment, Guo's father finally nodded.

Seeing that Guo's father had agreed, Dong Ping quickly tidied up the bowls and chopsticks and put them in the wooden basin. She added some well water to the pork bone soup and continued to simmer it over a low flame. Then she returned to the bamboo stool in the yard and sat down to continue cleaning the pig offal.

All day today, Dong Ping was only responsible for cleaning pig offal and cooking lunch. She spent most of the day squatting in a chair, and when she got up, her back was sore and painful.

Dong Ping raised her hand and massaged herself a couple of times, then let out a long sigh.

The pork bone soup was still simmering on the stove. Dong Ping added some well water to the pot before going out to pick vegetables in the field.

Dinner was still light: boiled cabbage in broth and stir-fried greens with shredded pork.

Dong Ping filled a ceramic pot with winter melon and pork bone soup and carried it to the main room. After setting out the food, she went to call Guo's parents to have their meal.

During the day, all the able-bodied men in the village went to work in the fields, so Dong Ping planned to find someone to discuss renting land during dinner time.

Although Dong Ping didn't know much about the village, she still had Yingying as a helpful asset.

Although Yingying couldn't offer any real help, she could still provide this much information.

With Yingying around, Dong Ping naturally knew which families in the village had a large number of people, but not enough farmland.

Dong Ping filled the milky white winter melon soup into earthenware pots one by one in the kitchen, then put them in a vegetable basket before heading out.

The small village where Dong Ping is now is not Guojia Village. Guojia can be said to be outsiders in this small village. This small village only has about ten households, and most of them are surnamed Wang. Across a large lotus pond, there is a large village of outsiders called Chenjia Village. Therefore, this is Wangjia'ao of Chenjia Village.

Since there are only about ten households in Wangjia'ao, Dong Ping plans to visit them one by one tonight.

The first families to be visited were Wang Laoshi and Zhong Yougui, who had enough labor to rent land from the Guo family.

The Wang family, needless to say, is a prominent local family in Wangjia'ao, while the Zhong family, like the Guo family, are outsiders.

The Guo family moved here from the city because they had fallen on hard times, while Zhong Yougui's family chose to settle in Wangjia'ao after his father retired from his official post in Beijing.

After visiting Wang Laoshi and Zhong Yougui, Dong Ping took the empty basket and returned to the Guo family first. She then filled several large jars with winter melon and pork bone soup and continued to visit several other households.

After all, it's a small village with only about a dozen households coming and going, so it's always good to maintain good relationships.

In addition, pork bones are expensive and plentiful. Even if the soup in such a large pot is used as broth, it would take the three people in the family many days to make it.

Furthermore, since the offal and chicken feet haven't even been cooked yet, they'll spoil and we won't be able to finish them if we don't share them with others.

When Dong Ping returned, it was already dark. She placed the bamboo basket she was carrying on the stone table in the courtyard before lighting an oil lamp and going into the kitchen.

Now, the remaining pork bone soup was put into an earthenware pot and placed next to the stove. Then, all the bones were taken out, a bowl of rice, a little winter melon, and two large bones were placed in the earthenware bowl. Only then did I take the bowl to the southeast corner of the yard to deliver the food to Big Yellow.

"Big Yellow, you'll have bones to eat these next few days, so watch the house well." Dong Ping said with a smile as she watched Big Yellow playing with the bones.

Then Dong Ping put the remaining bones into a bamboo basket and hung it on the top to dry. She then put the remaining minced meat and winter melon into a large dish, tidied up the stove, and finally carried the dish and oil lamp back to the main room to prepare for dinner.

"What are your plans for the next step?" Yingying, dressed in a peach-pink outfit, stood on the wooden table, watching Dong Ping eat.

How did you plan to deal with the droughts, floods, famines, and plagues of those years?

What you're doing now doesn't seem to be of much use. How can you possibly grow grain on just one acre of land?

"You don't understand." Dong Ping rolled her eyes and didn't explain anything.

Although it's only one acre of land, there's still the grain that needs to be paid for rent!

Even if Dong Ping, Guo's mother, and Guo's father all pitched in, they might not be able to manage all ten mu of land. Besides, there were only three people in the family, and the grain they could deliver from nine mu of land was more than enough.

If even the wheat gleaners in ancient poems could fill their stomachs with the wheat grains that had fallen to the ground, then relying on rented grain would be even more sufficient.

And while it is true that it is necessary to prepare food reserves to cope with famine, it is not necessary to store too much.

First, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." How can this small family of elderly, weak, women, and children possibly protect it?

Secondly, with so much grain stored up, there's no guarantee that Guo's mother won't soften her heart and go to help the neighbors. And then… it's not that Dong Ping is trying to be malicious, but as the old saying goes: "A small favor is appreciated, a large favor breeds resentment." Human hearts are unpredictable!

Third, how do we explain storing so much grain without any reason?