The lucky girl in the village has a good way of making money.

Chapter 3 Picking Cotton
The Li family planted eight acres of corn, and the whole family worked from dawn to dusk for five or six days before they all took it back home. They also took advantage of the high sun at noon to do other work, threshing grain, and worked hard for more than half a month. Finally, all the corn is dried and put into the warehouse, and I can finally take a breath.

No, within a few days, the cotton harvest started again.

In an agricultural society, men farmed and women weaved. In addition to food rations, cotton cultivation was naturally indispensable.

One acre of cotton can produce about 80 kilograms of seed cotton, which can be processed into about 40 kilograms of lint cotton. The market price of one kilogram of lint cotton is 60 cents. The yield from one acre is worth two cents and four cents, which is higher than the income from paddy fields. When cotton is woven into cloth, ten pounds of lint cotton can be used to weave one piece of cloth, and one piece of cloth can be used for one ounce of silver. In this way, the income from one acre of cotton can earn four ounces of silver.

Everyone knows that cotton fields are highly profitable, and they all wish they could use all the dry land to grow cotton.

But in addition to cotton, cloth also needs a loom to weave, and looms are expensive. A loom costs more than ten ounces of silver. Because Mr. Yuan can weave, but his sister-in-law, Mrs. Zhang, cannot, Li When my father and his eldest brother separated, he shared his mother's loom, so he lost less money.

Over the years, four daughters-in-law have come in one after another. Only Mrs. Huang and Mrs. Jiang can weave. This old loom has been replaced with a new one. Old Yuan and her two daughters-in-law take turns weaving every month. Without stopping the machine, it would only take a month to weave one piece of cloth.

In addition, as the family's population grew, they needed to eat a lot of food. Therefore, the Li family only used three acres of dry land to grow cotton.

Although it is only three acres, cotton harvesting is a delicate job that requires skill and carefulness. Old Yuan was worried that his children and grandchildren would not be able to harvest carefully, so every year he went to the three acres of cotton fields himself, along with his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. They helped.

The men, who are the main force in harvesting buds and soon the autumn rice harvest, can continue to rest.

Before dawn, Lao Yuan went out with his daughter-in-law and granddaughters.

The Li family's dry fields are all at the east end of the village, which is relatively remote. They were cultivated by Father Li and his sons for several years after the family was divided.

At that time, the imperial court vigorously encouraged farmers to reclaim wasteland for self-cultivation. The land they reclaimed became their own, they could obtain land deeds, and they did not have to pay taxes for the first three years.

So Father Li and his son angrily opened 16 acres of dry land. Together with the 6 acres of dry land obtained by dividing the family, there were a total of 22 acres of dry land.

In addition to the eight acres of corn that have been harvested, there are now three acres of cotton, seven acres of sweet potatoes, two acres of peanuts, and two acres of beans.

Of course, in addition to the 20 acres of dry land, the Li family also has ten acres of paddy fields in the south of the village. They are all planted with rice. The rice ears are already golden and will be harvested in the near future.

First, after walking through his own peanut field, Mr. Yuan had to stop and take a look.

Pomegranate followed her footsteps and stopped, but her eyes were looking through the bright sky, along the Qiu Tian towards the Qinghe River not far away.

This clear river flows from the east to the north of the village, flowing under the stone bridge at the entrance of the village, winding all the way, and it is said that it will eventually merge into the Luo River outside Luoshui City.

Luoshui City.

Shiliu sighed quietly. She had never entered the city in the twelve years since she came here, even though the city was only about forty miles away from her.

The farthest place she went was her mother-in-law's natal home, Huanghuagou, which is more than ten miles away from Xiahe Village.

But one day, she will definitely be able to enter the city.

Shiliu looked away from a distance and glanced at the village opposite, which was Shanghe Village. It was a bigger village than their Xiahe Village, and the people in the village all had the surname Fan, and they all belonged to the same clan. The school opened, and there were countless talented people, including countless children. All the men in the village were literate and could write. They were a serious farming and reading people. They were one of the best in eight villages within ten miles. I heard that their reputation was very famous in the city. Everyone knows it.

Old Yuan in front had already moved forward. Shiliu looked away and quickly raised her heels.

Walking along the field ridges and walking across the stone bridge over the Xishui River, we arrived at the opposite side of the Xishui River. This Xishui River flows from south to east and finally merges into the Qing River. Both sides of the river bank are lined with terraces of paddy fields. Looking up, Go, golden.

After walking forward for more than two quarters of an hour, we finally arrived at the Li family's cotton field.

This is not the first time to pick cotton. Needless to say, Old Yuan has picked cotton one ridge after another, just like last year.

As the main force in picking cotton, the old Yuan family, the Song family, the Huang family, the Jiang family, and the second wife's eldest granddaughter Li Xiangli, who is fifteen years old, each carry two cotton bags on their waists, one large and one small, and they use them when picking cotton. By the way, I packed the good and bad cotton separately.

As for pomegranates, she, her fifth cousin Li Guiyuan, her sixth cousin Li Qingzao, and her seventh cousin Li Dongzao only carried a cotton bag around their waists. They mainly followed behind to pick cotton. Some of them fell off or the cotton bolls were missing. Pick something clean, cotton is rare and cannot be wasted at all. It must be picked clean, so it is necessary to go through it again.

Suddenly, there were several figures in the cotton field, bending down and getting busy.

When Lao Yuan was young, she was the fastest in picking cotton. She could pick fifty or sixty kilograms of cotton in one day. But now that she is older, she cannot move as fast. However, she is experienced in picking cotton. Even if her age affects her speed, she can still pick cotton. It is also the most beautiful one among the several daughters-in-law.

She and her eldest sister Li Xiangli were responsible for picking two rows of pomegranates. There were not many who followed behind, and they still had time to help their seventh cousin Li Qingzao next to them.

Pomegranate has been picking cotton in the fields since she was six years old. Now she has mastered the skill of picking cotton. All the cotton bolls she has picked will not be white at all. I believe that in less than two years, when she waits for her As the main force in picking cotton, he will definitely be as powerful as her.

Ahem, stop it, I'm off track.

How could her ideal be to pick cotton well in the future?

And she doesn't know how to weave, so she won't have many opportunities to pick cotton in the future.

The Li family only has one loom, and only three people know how to weave. The three aunts and the fourth aunt are so busy teaching the weaving skills that they have no time to teach their own daughters, so how can they be willing to teach others?
Although her mother didn't know how to weave, her eldest sister Li Xiangli was taught by her mother personally. As the eldest granddaughter, she was brought into the family weaving room by her mother at the age of six. Now she can weave well. .

As for what she wants to do in the future——

Speaking of this, I have to say that she is already 12 years old this year, and she will start talking about kissing in two or three years at most. Although her parents love her and will definitely say good things to her, they hope that she will live well, but she It wasn't what she wanted to think about with her toes.

The worry of being young and being a daughter is that you have no say in the family. Without the right to speak, how can you make decisions about your own marriage?
Pomegranate thought, now that she is older, maybe she can slowly try to do something?

Unknowingly, the sun was getting higher and sweat was dripping down. Seeing that an acre of cotton was almost harvested, Old Yuan gently tapped his sore waist and spoke. , go home, eat.

Carry this acre of seed cotton back so that people at home can dry it first in the afternoon.

　One drop (two) = ten coins, one coin = one hundred coins
　　
　
(End of this chapter)