Chapter 52 - Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Big Gourd_l (1/2)

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Big Gourd_l

Translator: 549690339

On the third day of November, the dark clouds were heavy, and thick snowflakes fluttered down early in the morning.

Flakes of snow fluttered down from the sky, quickly covering the earth with a layer of white.

Jiang Sanlang and his two brothers, their father Old Man Jiang, and two nephews, gathered around a bonfire in the new tiled house, warming themselves and talking.

“Yesterday, the village chief notified everyone that the Imperial Court demanded grain. For every acre of high-grade land, they demanded two pints, and for each acre of low-grade land, one pint. Fortunately, we didn’t sell our grain, or else… This time, they don’t want silver, but only grain. It seems the price of grain will indeed rise this winter.”

Old Man Jiang sighed, “With all these changes, who knows how many people will freeze or starve to death.

Jiang Sanlang nodded, thinking that if it weren’t for his daughter finding golden ears for them to cultivate, the Jiang family would probably have a hard time. They might not starve to death, but they would inevitably go hungry.

Now, looking at his brothers, not only had they built large tiled houses at the same time, but their family members were also dressed in thick cotton clothes and wore cotton shoes with thick soles.

The granary was filled with hundreds of pounds of wheat and rice, there was plentiful beans and other cereals, needless to say, they also had a reasonable amount of surplus money.

Living all these years, Jiang Sanlang had never felt as comfortable and relaxed as this winter.

“After the requisition of grain, they might also requisition soldiers.” Old Man Jiang’s gaze swept over his sons, “If they do, our family would definitely be drafted.’

“No problem, we have money. If necessary, we can just buy a substitute soldier.” Jiang Sanlang shrugged it off.

Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang nodded, “We don’t need to worry about this.”

From the last batch of golden ears, Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang each made twenty taels of silver. After deducting the cost of building the house, they still had one or two taels left.

It was a pity that golden ears did not grow in winter, otherwise, they could fill the newly built bamboo shed with mulberry wood.

However, winter had its advantages too. At least they could take a break and relax after a year’s hard work. For instance, going hunting.

They had decided not to fish anymore because Sanlang said there was no bait to catch fish.

But the three brothers could go hunting for hares and wild chickens in the snow. They might even catch some roe deer or wild boars.

“After the snow stops, we brothers can go hunting hares and wild chickens.”

Jiang Sanlang stirred the fire to make it burn more vigorously, “Take some wheat and yellow corn, we can also catch some owls.” That would be delightful.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dalang laughed, “Right, we can catch owls right at our door. Just scatter some yellow corn and cover it with a basket.

At present, only their three families had built houses on South Mountain. They had bought the surrounding lower-grade land, so the area was very open. As long as they scattered corn grain outside the courtyard, there would be no shortage of birds to catch.

“Good idea, good idea.” Jiang Cheng and Jiang Quan were thrilled at the idea of catching birds, readily agreeing with their hands raised.

They had been assigned by the adults to stay in the new tiled house to look after it, and each day was quite dull and lonely.

Now, hearing that they could go outside to catch birds, they were keenly interested.

Hehe, they could roast the birds they caught directly. If they also smeared some honey, the taste would be exquisite.

The old house in Dongchen Village belonging to the Jiang family.

Now there were only women and children living in the old house. Jiang Liu and her elder daughter-in-law were sitting on the warm kang-bed sewing clothes with her two granddaughters.

The New Year was approaching, so they had to make a new cotton coat for each family member to wear when visiting relatives.

“Matchmaker Yang from West Village told me today that her niece, who is twenty years old this year, wants to be Erlang’s second wife.”

Jiang Liu twisted the needle and thread in her hand and muttered, “But Erlang is absolutely unwilling, ahh, that stubborn boy, he makes me so furious.”

Zhou: “I guess Erlang is afraid that marrying too soon will negatively impact his two children, that’s why he’s not willing to.”

“We would be there to supervise, what could go wrong?”

Jiang Liu sighed, “Seeing him so lonely every day, with no one to take care of him, makes me feel uncomfortable.’