Chapter 122

After dinner, as night fell but it wasn’t too late, Fan Jin went to the old village chief’s house and explained everything in detail. He also conveyed Shuiqing’s suggestions.

The village chief’s eldest son, Li Wen, anxiously said, “Dad, Jin’s right. If these rabbits get out, other villages will start raising them, and how can we still sell them at a good price?”

“Everywhere would have them, and even the prefecture city couldn’t consume that many,” the eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Guifen, added worriedly.

The second son, Li Wu, angrily remarked, “Sun Jinhua is too outrageous! Our own villagers haven’t even started raising them, and she already thinks about sending them out. If everyone did that, sending a few here and there, our village would never become prosperous.”

The third son, Li Gang, agreed, “We absolutely can’t let them get out! Dad, you need to intervene and make the villagers promise. The longer we delay the spread, the better off our village will be.”

If the entire village prospered, life would be better, and everyone united wouldn’t be bullied by outsiders. When problems arose, they could handle them more effectively.

The village chief understood the reasoning and turned to Fan Jin, affirming, “Your wife is wise, and her suggestions are very sound. Eldest daughter-in-law, go to Changlin’s room and fetch paper, ink, and a brush.”

Wang Guifen hurriedly ran to her son’s room. Li Changlin was studying at the academy in the prefecture city, returning home every ten days. His room was mostly empty, but it still had paper and ink.

She placed the paper and brush in front of Fan Jin, and the village chief continued, “I’ll dictate, and you write, Jin.”

The general idea was that anyone who wanted to exchange rabbits could only raise them themselves and couldn’t take them out of Shanshui Village. Any rabbits taken out of Shanshui Village, whether sold or given away, had to be dead. Violating this rule would be considered as a voluntary move out of the village.

Those who disagreed could opt not to exchange, but those who did would have to agree to the above rules, sign, and put their thumbprints in front of the whole village, with no room for reneging.

They cooperatively wrote it all down.

The village chief then said, “Eldest and second sons, gather the whole village tomorrow.”

Li Wen and Li Wu loudly responded affirmatively.

Fan Jin breathed a sigh of relief. With the village chief’s support, things would be much easier. The villagers weren’t afraid of the law as long as they didn’t break it, but they respected village rules, especially those agreed upon by everyone. Violating them would mean having no place in the village.

In the dark, Fan Jin returned home and told Shuiqing about the village chief’s approach, and they both felt relieved.

In the following days, everyone was busy preparing for the New Year. This year was much more lively than before!

Firstly, everyone was wealthier. Picking wild rice stems, gathering mushrooms, and earning money from odd jobs had improved most families’ lives considerably.

Secondly, after helping Fan Jin and Shuiqing build their house, many villagers began building their own homes during the winter off-season. Some larger families had already moved into their new houses.

For instance, Aunt Zhang’s family, though they hadn’t moved into their new house yet and it wasn’t finished, had been delayed by making charcoal—a money-making venture. With money, they ate better, and eating well improved their mood. So even without moving houses, they were full of energy and worked enthusiastically every day.

With stored grain at home, the year-end was no longer a difficult time. Every household paid special attention to the New Year.

Shuiqing’s family was no exception.

The rice wine business couldn’t stop, as it was their primary source of visible income. Yan Qiu and Xing Hui continued to be responsible for brewing the wine, while Fan Jin and Fan He delivered the rice wine to the prefecture city daily.

The list of items they brought back gradually shifted from daily necessities to New Year preparations: red paper, window decorations, new shoes, fabric, pastries, candies…

Ling Ran was still in charge of feeding the livestock.

Fan Jiang and Bai Ziqian switched from chopping wood to digging up winter bamboo shoots. Winter bamboo shoots, with their sweet and fresh taste, are delicious whether stir-fried or stewed with old hens. Moreover, these shoots are wrapped in a thick layer of husk, making them very durable and able to be stored for a long time without spoiling. In the winter, when there are fewer varieties of vegetables, winter bamboo shoots are a rare and tasty fresh option. The two dug up basket after basket, keeping enough for their own use and planning to send plenty to their uncle.

Shuiqing started with making cured meat and sausages. Her mother had previously given her a large basket, and she initially thought that salted meat was unhealthy and decided to eat only a little. But when she used it to stir-fry garlic and green peppers, it turned out to be incredibly tasty—forget about unhealthy; this was the healthiest ingredient! After all, this was additive-free food. Compared to additives, a little more salt didn’t make it unhealthy. After all, their ancestors had been eating it for hundreds of years without any problems.

So, not only was cured meat put on the agenda, but sausages were also made. Sausage and green onion claypot rice, stir-fried cabbage with sausage, stir-fried garlic sprouts with sausage, and sausage fried rice were all planned dishes!

After finishing the cured meat and sausages, they started making rice cakes and glutinous rice cakes. Although it was possible to cheat with items from the store, there was a unique charm in making them by hand. Of course, Shuiqing didn’t do the work herself—it was done by a group of children. Handmade food always tasted especially good.

As the days passed and it got closer to the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the days became even busier with cleaning, washing bed linens, grinding tofu, killing chickens and ducks, steaming buns, and making dumplings and buns. Shanshui Village had only one stone mill, and people queued from morning till night to grind grain and beans. Shuiqing’s family didn’t need to squeeze in; they had already bought a new stone mill and placed it in their yard for their own use. Fan Jin even bought a donkey, which could carry people and goods and could also be used to turn the mill when it was free.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, after returning from the county, Fan Jin first delivered New Year’s gifts to Fan’s mother: winter bamboo shoots, soybean flour, and glutinous rice flour, along with homemade tofu. Fan’s mother grinned at the sight of the tofu and was pleased with the glutinous rice flour, as it was a fine grain. However, she frowned at the sight of the soybean flour and winter bamboo shoots. She thought winter bamboo shoots were worthless since they were abundant on the bamboo hills, and she believed they were greasy and caused heartburn if eaten too much. As for soybean flour, she could grind it herself at the stone mill queue.

Sun Jinhua flipped through the items with two fingers and finally commented coolly, “Soybean flour is good for sticking to dumplings. But this soybean flour needs to be paired with sugar to taste good. How can you just send soybean flour and glutinous rice flour without sugar?”

Fan Jin pursed his lips and said nothing.

After returning home, he rode the donkey and delivered the same three items to his father-in-law and mother-in-law in Niutou Town, except with noticeably more winter bamboo shoots and less tofu due to its fragility. Mother Hu was delighted with the winter bamboo shoots and kept saying how much they all loved eating them. She praised the soybean flour and glutinous rice flour, noting that both needed to be ground finely, which was time-consuming and tiring, and she appreciated Fan Jin’s thoughtful effort. Even though the tofu was slightly crumbled, she was thrilled and said it would be perfect for making tofu balls, saving both time and effort.

Fan Jin listened quietly, smiling gently and elegantly.