Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

"We'd better hurry home; otherwise, we'll probably be carried off by a weasel if we stay outside!"

Zhang Xixi thought for a moment and then said, "Also, don't put the ducks in the field after the rice has headed out, because although ducks don't eat the rice leaves, they do eat the rice ears."

Chen looked at Little Chen and said, "Have you remembered everything your little sister said? You're quite meticulous, so you'll be in charge of the ducks from now on!"

“Mother, I will take good care of the ducks,” Chen replied quickly.

Zhang Xixi explained the precautions for raising ducks in rice paddies to Xiao Chenshi in detail again.

If these ducks are raised well, they might become a way for the Zhang family to get rich, so it's important to do a good job from the start.

In the following days, there wasn't much to do at home, so Zhang Xixi continued to harvest hay until the Zhang family released the ducks into the rice paddies before she could rest.

Because the sweet potatoes in her field were ready to be harvested, Zhang Xixi had Zhou Fu set off early in the morning with all the farm tools in the house.

Sun Xiuxiu was weeding at home. Since spraying the growth nutrient solution, the vegetables in the field have changed every day, but there are also many weeds, which are growing very lushly.

The advantage is that vegetables with short growth cycles, such as cabbage and garlic sprouts, are already ready to eat, and tomatoes have already started bearing fruit.

I can't wait to have scrambled eggs with tomatoes in a few days!

The day before, Zhou Fu told Wang Daniu and the others that they would be harvesting sweet potatoes today. Although Wang Daniu and the others couldn't believe that the sweet potatoes had grown so big, they all went to the sweet potato field.

Wang Daniu and the others looked at the sweet potato vines in the sweet potato field with doubt in their eyes. Although the sweet potato vines were growing very lushly, there might only be a tiny bit of sweet potato underneath!

Zhang Xixi noticed their suspicion, smiled, and said nothing more. Pointing to one end of the sweet potato field, she said, "Wang Daniu, dig a little deeper from this side, but don't damage the sweet potatoes."

Wang Daniu dug down with some skepticism, but to his surprise, he dug out several sweet potatoes bigger than his fist with just one stroke of his hoe. He was stunned!

This doesn't make sense!

How did this sweet potato grow so big in just one month!

The villagers secretly laughed when they saw the surprised looks on Wang Daniu and the others!

Their surprised expressions are exactly the same as theirs back then, hehe!

Zhou Yugui joked, "Brother Da Niu, our Third Aunt's land is blessed by the gods, so it's no wonder the sweet potatoes are growing so fast!"

Zhou Yuping and the others chimed in, "Yeah, that's not surprising!"

"The land in our village is blessed by the gods, so anything can happen."

"..."

Seeing that their talk was getting more and more outrageous, Zhang Xixi quickly stopped them, "You guys, hurry up and dig up some sweet potatoes!"

Wang Daniu and the others looked at Zhang Xixi in surprise and doubt, "Boss, is this, is this true?"

Zhang Xixi waved her hand, "Don't listen to their nonsense. These sweet potatoes grew so fast because they were watered with the solution I prepared."

Wang Daniu thought for a moment, "It's the one we were asked to water after we planted the sweet potatoes last time."

Zhang Xixi nodded, "Once you've dug up the sweet potatoes, transport them to my yard. Put the sweet potato vines in a shady place, and we'll deal with them after the sweet potatoes are dug up."

Zhang Xixi told them to keep busy, and then strode towards the Zhang family home.

Zhang Dacheng and Zhang Wenhong happened to be at home.

"Father, Second Brother, I need your help!"

Zhang Dacheng said cheerfully, "What is it? Just say it, no need to be so polite!"

Zhang Xixi chuckled, "Dad, I'd like to ask you to help me dig a few cellars in the yard. We have so many sweet potatoes, and we really don't have anywhere to store them."

"Let's go then!" Zhang Dacheng said, picking up his tools.

When Zhang Dacheng arrived at Zhang Xixi's house, he looked around and found that he could dig a cellar in the backyard, but no matter how big the cellar was dug, it could only hold 100,000 jin of sweet potatoes.

Zhang Xixi thought she would dig up one first, and put the rest of the sweet potatoes in the empty room. She would go to the city in the next day or two to see if there were any people buying grain.

At this time, the manager of Jinxiufang in Lingzhou Prefecture was inquiring about grain everywhere and had arranged for people to collect grain in the counties below, because the northwest was about to run out of food and the south was flooded and could not buy grain. The head of the family asked the managers in various places to find ways to collect grain and transport it to the northwest.

If there is no more food, the soldiers in the Northwest will have to go to the battlefield hungry. If they can't get any food either, the Duanmu family and the soldiers in the Northwest will have no way to survive. This is a matter of life and death!

At Zhang Xixi's house, Zhang Dacheng, Zhang Wenhong, and the other two worked non-stop to dig a cellar. They dug for almost the entire morning but only managed to dig out a small part. This was too slow!

After lunch, Zhang Xixi asked Wang Daniu to bring three people to dig. With their efforts, they finally dug a simple pit after dark. The soil was too hard and difficult to dig.

The sweet potatoes we dug today have filled the yard, weighing tens of thousands of kilograms. We should slow down until we find a buyer!

Zhang Xixi made Wang Daniu and the other three stay for a meal before letting them go back. Before they left, she said to Wang Daniu, "Tomorrow, you arrange for seven or eight people to dig sweet potatoes, and the rest of you to go clear land. You guys should come and dig cellars."

"Yes, boss!"

The next day, the school was closed, so Zhang Xixi and Zhang Wenbo went to the county town together.

The two arrived in the county town around noon, and found an inn to stay in, as they estimated it would take two or three days to find a grain buyer.

"Big brother, who should we ask for information?" Zhang Xixi asked after finishing her meal.

News traveled so slowly in ancient times, I really don't know how it was done!

Zhang Wenbo thought for a moment and said, "Let's ask the waiter, or if that doesn't work, we can ask the local beggars."

After saying that, Zhang Wenbo called the waiter over and handed him a piece of silver. "Waiter, I want to ask you something!"

The waiter squeezed the silver in his palm; it probably weighed about three qian (a unit of weight). His smile grew even brighter.

"What would you like to ask, sir?"

Zhang Wenbo said softly, "I'd like to ask if there are any big bosses here who buy grain."

"There really is. A few days ago, someone came from the prefectural city and spread the word that he wanted to buy a large amount of grain."

Upon hearing this news, Zhang Xixi, who was standing nearby, hurriedly asked, "Where is that person staying?"

The waiter glanced at Zhang Xixi before replying, "What a coincidence, he's staying here, but he went out early this morning."

Zhang Wenbo slipped another piece of silver into the hand. "Brother, if that person comes back, could you please let us know, or tell us which room he's staying in?"

The waiter gripped the silver tightly and chuckled, "The manager forbids us from revealing customer information, but you two don't seem like bad people. If I tell you, don't tell anyone it was me!"

Zhang Xixi and Zhang Wenbo quickly said, "Thank you so much. Don't worry, we will keep our mouths shut."