Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Zhang Xixi thought that the method of making fertilizer was very simple, but the manure needed was difficult to collect, so it was impossible and not cost-effective to make organic fertilizer in large quantities.

It would be better to teach the villagers for free, do them some favors, and increase her own voice. That way, she would definitely get everyone's support for whatever she does in the village in the future, saving her a lot of trouble!

Zhang Xixi told Zhou Dashan and the others about the materials and methods for making fertilizer, and also said that if they didn't understand, they could ask Zhang Wenhong and Zhou Yujie for help and guidance.

When Zhou Dashan and the others heard that the materials were readily available here and wouldn't require much effort, they were very happy and thanked Zhang Xixi repeatedly.

"Could you tell me where I can find these pasture seeds, sister-in-law?"

Zhang Xixi said without batting an eye, "I bought these pasture seeds from someone else. I still have some left at home. If anyone wants some, I can share them with you. It is said that these pasture seeds can be harvested several times at once, and livestock that eat them grow faster."

"Sister-in-law, how many seeds are needed for one acre of land?"

"We'll need about four pounds of seeds!"

Zhou Dashan thought he would plant two acres first to try it out. Anyway, the wasteland was just lying there, so he might as well plant grass as fodder.

After returning home, he asked his wife to buy some chickens and ducks to raise. They could sell them when they grew up and earn some money to help his eldest grandson with his tuition. So even if they couldn't raise the chickens, they wouldn't lose money.

Several families had the same idea as Zhou Dashan, and ordered two kilograms of pasture seeds from Zhang Xixi. This year, the wasteland couldn't grow any crops, so it was better to plant grass to raise more chickens and ducks to lay eggs, and then sell them to exchange for grain.

Finally, they even helped Zhang Xixi cut some hay and took it back, along with some seeds, so that they could start making money sooner by planting it.

Back home, Zhang Xixi left the hay behind and went to the storage room to take out the hay seeds she had bought from the system and distributed them to Zhou Dashan and the others, completing their first transaction with a simple exchange of money for goods.

After the villagers left, she focused on taking care of the livestock at home. Not long after, Chen also came to Zhang Xixi's house after hearing the news.

As soon as Chen entered the door, she said, "Daughter, I heard that your pasture grass can also nourish the soil!"

“It can nourish the land!” Zhang Xixi replied.

Chen rolled her eyes at Zhang Xixi and pretended to be angry, saying, "Why didn't you say so earlier? You were keeping it from us!"

Zhang Xixi quickly explained, "Mom, Second Brother knows about this. He's thinking of spreading the fertilizer on the ground before planting pasture grass once it's ready."

Chen waved her hand, "You know your second brother is easygoing, he's probably already forgotten about it, but that's not important. I came to ask if you want to go to town tomorrow, it's market day here."

"Go, I need to buy some things!" Zhang Xixi thought that since it was a large market, there must be a lot of things for sale. She could go and see what an ancient market was like.

"Then we'll go together tomorrow. Your car doesn't need to rush."

"good!"

After speaking with her daughter, Mrs. Chen rushed back home. She needed to pick up her grandson and supervise her daughter-in-law's cooking.

Since settling down here, the cooking duties have been assigned to the two daughters-in-law, one for each day. However, Zhou is rather careless; she washes vegetables haphazardly and sometimes accidentally puts insects in the pot to cook.

Xiao Chen is indeed meticulous, but she's too frugal. Every day she makes wild vegetable porridge with sweet potatoes, and she's reluctant to add any meat. It would be better if her two daughters-in-law combined their efforts.

Thinking to herself, Chen sped up her pace. What a worrisome life!

The next day, many villagers went to the market. Some carried wild vegetables and bamboo shoots, while others carried several wild animals. Several families shared a ride.

Zhang Dacheng drove his mule cart, with a few pheasants hanging outside. Inside sat Chen and her daughter, along with Da Wang and her daughter-in-law, and Zhou Dahai's eldest daughter-in-law. They chatted idly all the way to town.

After entering the town gate, everyone agreed to wait at the entrance at noon and then parted ways. Zhang Dacheng found a place to look after livestock, paid two coins, and left his mule and cart there.

There were indeed many people in town today. Zhang Dacheng and his group came to the West Market, found an open space, put the pheasants on the ground, and started selling them.

Zhang Xixi then went to look at the other stalls. All she saw were wild vegetables, game, eggs, bean sprouts, tofu, meat, and even chicks and ducklings. There were no grains for sale, not even sweet potatoes or taro.

It seemed she still had to go to the grain store. Zhang Xixi walked around and came back with two pieces of tofu.

When Chen saw her return, she asked, "Daughter, do you sell chicks?"

"some."

Chen immediately told Zhang Dacheng to stay and watch over things, then pulled Zhang Xixi toward the chicks for sale, saying as they walked that they should pick out the chicks early, otherwise the good ones would be taken by someone else.

When Zhang Xixi and Chen Shi each returned with a cage, Zhang Dacheng had already sold all the pheasants for sixty coins each. He saw Chen Shi take the chicken cage and hand her the money.

Finally, Zhang Dacheng felt he didn't have anything else to buy, so he carried the chicken coop back to where he had left the mules. Zhang Xixi and Chen went to the grain shop, as they didn't have much fine grain left at home and needed to buy some.

Chen and Zhang Xixi visited several grain shops and found that grain prices had risen. Each type of grain had increased by about five coins, and rice had even risen to thirty coins per catty.

"Daughter, should we still buy this grain?" Chen asked worriedly.

"We're going to buy it, let's go to the same store we used to go!"

After leaving this grain shop, Zhang Xixi and Chen headed towards the grain shop they used to frequent, only to unexpectedly run into an acquaintance.

Ma Youqing came out carrying a bag of grain. When he saw Zhang Xixi and the others, he went up to greet them, "Sisters, you've come to buy grain too!"

"Yes! I don't know why grain prices are so high!"

Ma Youqing stepped forward and said softly, "I heard that there is a big flood in the south, and many places are flooded. Grain cannot be transported here, and our land cannot grow any crops. So all the grain shops have raised their grain prices. You'd better buy more grain now and stock up, because the price of grain should rise further later."

Zhang Xixi and Chen Shi exchanged a glance, their mood immediately turning heavy.

"Everything you said is true!"

"Of course, I've heard that there are already refugees from the south in the county town!"

"Thank you to the Maya people for bringing us this news."

"Little sister, I'm going back now!"

Zhang Xixi and Chen Shi walked into the grain shop with solemn expressions, each bought two bags of old rice, and carried them home.

Back at the mule cart, Chen told Zhang Dacheng the news. Zhang Dacheng felt they still needed to buy some more grain, so he took Zhang Xixi back and bought four bags of old rice, thinking that the old rice could be cooked together with sweet potatoes, which would taste good.

When Da Wang and the others returned, they also told them the news. They planned to go home and tell their husbands before making any further plans.