Chapter 166

The heavy rain has stopped, but the floodwaters haven’t receded. It’s impossible to work in the fields, but there’s plenty to do around the village.

Every household is sending people out to clean up the fallen branches, leaves, and dead grass from the roads.

At the same time, lime is being carefully spread everywhere.

The women and children are also busy, cleaning the chicken and rabbit coops, cutting grass to feed the rabbits, and draining the water from the vegetable gardens.

Life is even busier and more tiring than during the heavy rain.

There is also a lot for the Shuiqing family to do.

They have many livestock—cows, donkeys, sheep, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, and even pigs!

When the pigsty was built, they bought three pigs, and later on, they bought six more piglets.

When fertilizer is needed, the manure from these animals is very important.

But now, with three large pigs and six piglets, feeding them three times a day is a tiring job.

Shuiqing pondered, “Should we slaughter one to satisfy our craving?”

A couple of days ago, they still had pork to eat, but now there’s no excuse to bring out pork anymore.

One has to admit, after a few days without eating pork, you really start to miss it.

Braised pork, sweet and sour ribs, stewed intestines, white jade trotters, stir-fried kidneys… she loves all of them!

A whole pig couldn’t be consumed by her family in a short time, so why not sell the leftover pork?

When it comes to slaughtering pigs, butcher Hu is an expert. He immediately commented, “Your largest one weighs around 200 pounds. You can definitely slaughter it; keeping it any longer is just a waste of effort. But will the people in your village, who buy pork less than three times a year, be willing to buy it?”

Shanshui Village is close to Niutou Town, and since entering the city requires a fee while going to Niutou Town does not, most villagers buy their pork there.

Hu, who is the only one selling pork in Niutou Town, knows better than anyone about the villagers’ pork consumption habits.

Shuiqing hesitated, “Maybe they are exhausted from the flooding and need some nourishment? During busy farming times, everyone often buys meat to replenish their strength.”

The rain has stopped, and Aunt Zhang and Wang Guifen have visited twice. From their conversation, she learned about the situation during the heavy rain.

It can be said that it was even more exhausting than the busy farming season!

Thinking about how everyone buys meat during the busy farming season to replenish their strength, she realized that digging ditches and building dikes during the heavy rain was exhausting, but now the fields are still flooded!

Who knows what will happen to the crops, so who would be willing to spend money on meat to replenish their strength?

Shuiqing immediately gave up the idea.

Hu’s mother sighed.

Now that the floodwaters haven’t receded, there’s no way to sell the pork.

A whole pig, even if they had time to eat it, they couldn’t possibly eat it all by themselves.

Eating meat every meal, what kind of family would that be?

But these past few days, her daughter has had meat every lunch and dinner, and even the morning meals, though lighter, still have eggs.

Their group of people, instead of losing weight, has all gained a bit, with Zhaodi being the most noticeable. The little girl, who used to have sunken cheeks, now has much fuller cheeks and more smiles on her face after just seven or eight days.

Having meat, fish, and eggs during the flood—she wouldn’t have dared to dream of this in the past.

She told her daughter earnestly, “No rush, wait until the floodwaters recede to slaughter the pig. Then, keep some bones for soup, some offal and a few pounds of lean meat for a feast, and sell the rest. You could probably make one or two taels of silver after deducting the cost of the piglets.”

The children, who thought they could eat pork, were disappointed when they heard that it would all be sold. However, none of them complained since raising pigs is meant to make money.

Zhaodi, on the other hand, was very happy.

Her grandmother even thought of keeping some bones for soup, not to mention some lean meat and offal. Offal is still meat, after all.

Everyone in Auntie’s family is hardworking. They have many chickens, ducks, sheep, rabbits, and such a large number of fat pigs.

Not only do they have meat and eggs to eat, but they can also sell the surplus for money.

Moreover, everyone has their own duties, so the work is shared and not too tiring. But everyone eats together, so no one is tired and they eat well every day.

Thinking about her own family, Fan Zhaodi’s eyes darkened.

At home, Grandma is the most precious; she doesn’t do any work at all. Even the simplest task of fetching water for washing her face and feet has to be done for her.

After the family separated, she had to prepare it for Grandma every day. If she was late, or if the water was too hot or cold, she would be scolded.

Then, her four brothers, being boys who can carry on the family line and work in the fields, are very important. They don’t need to do any chores like cooking, washing, cleaning, tending the garden, gathering firewood, cutting grass, or feeding the chickens, ducks, and geese.

Her father is even more so.

Mother has to work in the fields and cook; she doesn’t have time for other chores.

Even if she is busy every day, what she can do alone is limited.

Our family eats less meat in a year than my aunt’s family does in a day, yet they are not poor and are even getting better off.

Maybe, eating won’t make you poor; only laziness will make you poor…

Fan Jin, with his dark eyes, looked at Shuiqing, who immediately understood and they went outside.

With no one around, Fan Jin whispered, “The rain has stopped, and there should be a lot of mushrooms on the mountain now. We can’t exchange them for grain, but we can exchange them for pork. What do you think?”

They can sell the mushrooms at the market; a pound of mushrooms can be traded for over ten pounds of pork, making it more cost-effective to keep them for later.

People in the village prefer pork over mushrooms, and exchanging it for pork would also help improve their health.

If the villagers’ health improves, it will benefit us in the long run, whether it’s dealing with floods or wars.

Shuiqing thought about this but realized that her parents were at home now.

She glanced at the house and asked softly, “What will we tell my parents?”

Previously, they could use the Bai family as a cover when exchanging rice, but now with the floods blocking the roads, it’s not feasible to exchange mushrooms for pork.

Fan Jin pondered for a moment before cautiously suggesting, “We could say that Ziqian’s parents love eating these mushrooms, and we can dry and store them for them. How about that?”

Shuiqing: … Why not? It’s a great idea!

No wonder they say three humble tailors can surpass Zhuge Liang; more people indeed bring more ideas!

When Shuiqing returned to the house, she announced that they would slaughter a pig the next day.

The younger ones opened their mouths in surprise, with more joy than shock.

Mother Hu quickly asked for the reason.

Shuiqing explained Fan Jin’s reasoning.

She also sighed: The Bai family is indeed useful; their name can be used for everything.

Upon hearing that it was for Bai Manshan and Li Huyu, Mother Hu immediately fell silent.

Others might not know, but she did. Ziqian’s parents had given her daughter a lot of silver, saying it was to repay Ziqian for saving their life, but it was indeed too much.

They are wealthy people who have tasted all kinds of delicacies. If her daughter sent them pork, they might not appreciate it, but if they love mushrooms, it’s worth storing and sending them more.

Bai Ziqian was moved beyond words!

Shuiqing looked at Fan Jiang and instructed, “Dajiang, go to the old village head’s house and tell him that we’ll be slaughtering a pig tomorrow. We’ll exchange four pounds of mushrooms for one pound of fatty meat and three pounds of mushrooms for one pound of lean meat. If anyone wants to exchange, they can come over.”

Previously, when exchanging rice, the market price was higher because rice bought from the market was cheaper and they could buy more, and only she and Fan Jin knew about it, so it didn’t matter.

But now, her father knows exactly how much a pig weighs!

There’s no way to make up for it, so they can’t follow the same exchange rate as with rice.

Times have changed, and business must be flexible.