The daily farming life of the black-bellied young lady

Chapter 4 Forage Business
A sickle cost 1 cents, so Chu Ying had to look through some rusty iron tools at special prices.I rummaged around to find a smaller sickle with one or two holes. "Master, how many copper plates are these?"
"Half a dollar, it's rusted, and there's a hole in it, so I don't need much. There are some whetstones in the corner, you can take one home and grind it yourself." Chu Ying picked out a whetstone of suitable size.

"Master, this is half a coin." Chu Ying didn't look up when she saw the master, she only focused on knocking on the iron block, and put the money in the pottery bowl.

"Master, I put the money in the bowl." Chu Ying saw that the master blacksmith still left without chewing. Looking back, she saw that the price of the iron pot hanging on the wall was 4 taels. Only slightly larger prices.

Chu Ying went to the pottery shop in the west market. There were large and small pottery pots in it, and asked the shopkeeper what kind of pottery pots they used for cooking.Looking at the pottery pots, which are only [-] or [-] ren, I think that this era should be relatively early, and cooking has not yet appeared, because cooking requires high temperature, and iron pots are so expensive, people mainly use pottery.

I spent 15 renminbi to buy a small earthen pot, anyway, I can't use that big one by myself.I wanted to buy some food, but now I only have 2 coins left in my pocket, so I can only smell the smell of the bun shop and wait for Grandpa Li's ox cart at the gate of the city.

"This sickle is missing a hole, and it's rusted like this, how much money did it cost?" Brother Wang came over with an empty basket.

"60 copper coins." Brother Wang looked at Chu Ying incredulously, "Who bought it from? These 50 copper coins are enough, let's go and get the money back." Brother Wang took Chu Ying's hand and walked towards Dongshi . "Brother Wang, I forgot, it is indeed 50 copper coins."
Brother Wang looked back at this innocent but cautious child, "Brother Wang, don't be angry, I'm afraid I've said too much, you comfort me and say it's about the same."
"Am I this kind of person? Let's go, or I won't be able to go back." Brother Wang put the Chu Ying sickle and whetstone in his basket.

"Brother Wang, how many eggs are there? Do you have a lot of chickens in your house? How much does a chick cost?" Wang Er looked at Chu Ying asking one by one, and didn't find it annoying.

"Eggs cost 2 renminbi each, sometimes 3 renminbi, and the chickens are divided into male and female, 5 renminbi for the male and 6 renminbi for the female. Do you want to raise them? I will ask my mother to share a few."
"No, I still can't support myself, let's see later." Chu Ying was still saving money to pay the one tael of tax.

On the way back, Chu Ying squinted her tired head for a while, and it was getting dark at the entrance of the village. When she got home, Chu Ying hurriedly lit a fire. The stone fire was a bit big, and Chu Ying thought about building a stove again.

At the position near the wall, Chu Ying dug an oval hole with a stone ax and a wooden stick. Fortunately, the mud is easier to dig. She added water to the dug out mud, kneaded it for a long time, and built it on the side of the hole. Make a circular mud circle, and the other half of the unbuilt hole is just enough to plug firewood. Move the fire out of the stone pile and burn it slowly. After the mud dries, put clay pots on the mud circle.

Add some water to the earthen pot, cut the cattail root and cook it.He sharpened two more chopsticks, and picked up one impatiently, which slightly burned his tongue.The taste is similar to that of potatoes, and it is much better cooked than raw.

After eating enough, Chu Ying took out the remaining penny, counted for a long time, and kicked her feet happily.After the excitement was over, Chu Ying added more firewood to the fire, and went to sleep contentedly. She had to mow the grass tomorrow, and her arms were a little sore today.

Chu Ying got up and rode on the grass while there was still some dew, so she went to the lake to collect a basket of cattails.Although I am tired of eating, it is not bad to fill my stomach without money.

"The God of Plague went to pick grass again. Is it true that you don't need whole grains to become a fairy?" The woman who was washing clothes by the lake whispered, but Chu Ying didn't pay attention, after all, her mouth was on other people's faces.

"What is becoming a fairy? She has nothing to eat, so she picks up grass roots to eat. This girl is also very poor. She lives alone without her parents."
"What a pity. It's obviously my fate. I've beaten my father and my mother. It's better to stay away from her." Fortunately, the reeds and cattails came from the depths of the lake, otherwise Chu Ying would have picked up a sickle to attack them. Roar.

With the sickle, the process is much faster, and it is indeed better after grinding. A few holes are not a problem. The main reason is that the price is right. I can only use this kind of sickle now. When I have money, I will buy a sterling silver sickle. , studded with precious stones, thinking of this, Chu Ying worked even harder.

Looking at every quiet movement in the lake, if I could cross it earlier, I might be able to catch a few big fish and frogs, and now the frogs are digging holes in autumn.

The basket was full, and Chu Ying went to check the fishing gear again. Fortunately, there were two crucian carp the size of a palm.Chu Ying used grass to impale the gills of the two fish and stuffed them under the cattails.I dug a few more earthworms and put them away.

The fish would go bad if not cooked, but eating two Chu Ying at a time felt that it was too extravagant, so he knocked on the door of Wang's house, thinking of borrowing some salt.

"Hey, what fish were caught there? Erdan has gone to the field, so don't come and look for him." Aunt Wang was feeding the chickens with chopped vegetables in her hand.

"Aunt Wang, I'm not here to find Brother Wang, I'm here to borrow some salt."
Aunt Wang looked at the two little fish and felt it was funny. "Just these two broken fish, do you still want to pickle them? The fish are still good as fish, but they are so small that they can't be done well. Come in." Although I haven't talked with Aunt Wang a few times, I think she is a A good man with a knife mouth and a bean curd heart.

"A small handful is enough, and it's useless to take too much." Chu Ying looked at the half-person-high stove built by Mrs. Wang's family. There were two stoves on it, one for cooking and the other for cooking.

"Okay, Aunt Wang, I will come to ask you how to make fish when I catch a big fish. I'd like to show respect to you." Aunt Wang carefully opened the salt jar, took only a small amount with her hand, and slowly put it in the Cherry palm.

"Let's talk about it when you catch it. Save it." Aunt Wang picked up the lid of the pot, and the tangy smell of meat made Chu Ying lose the strength to leave.Aunt Wang put all kinds of vegetables that Chu Ying didn't know very well and continued to stew.

Chu Ying gritted her teeth, and secretly made up her mind to eat meat every now and then when she had money.After Chu Ying went back, she marinated one small fish with the pinch of salt and hung it on the beam, washed the other fish and put it in a clay pot. Pour it into the soup, it's really tiring after mowing the grass and going to the city this day.

After eating and drinking enough, the sky was getting dark, Chu Ying dug a layer of soil on the sleeping place, spread some hot charcoal ash on it, and then covered it with soil and grass, and slept a lot warmer.

The wind outside seemed to be a little bit stronger, Chu Ying shrank her body into a ball, she was so excited to pick more cattail ears, she didn't know when winter would come, if she still wore these single clothes when winter came, she would freeze to death in a few days dog.

There is no night life in the village at night. Firstly, working during the day is already very tiring, and secondly, there is no money to waste candles and firewood, so dark circles are the monopoly of urbanites.

(End of this chapter)