stingy landlady

Chapter 21 Preparing to Plant Vegetables

“Dad, eldest sister, second sister, let’s do the math. We’re planting spinach, lettuce, and bok choy in the garden now. These grow fast and taste good. The first batch of vegetables will be ready in about ten days, and we can sell them together with bean sprouts. We’re sure to get a good price. Even if we hire people to help with our small plot of land, we’ll need someone to keep an eye on it. During the busy farming season, we can sell more boxed lunches and earn more money. Having more people to work is more beneficial than harmful.” Guizhi shared her thoughts.

Er Ya thought Gui Zhi made sense; her own mother, raising four girls, wasn't skilled enough to work in the fields. "Dad, Third Sister is right! During busy farming seasons, asking for help from anyone costs a lot of money, and you can't always find someone. I heard that landlords have tons of servants; they can do any kind of work. Ah! How much money do they make?"

Er Ya turned to look at Gui Zhi, puzzled. Gui Zhi smiled. Then she looked at Daya, who shook her head. Then she looked at Da Zhu, who was driving the cart without turning back.

"How would we peasants know how much money others make? Let's just honestly farm and earn the money we're supposed to earn! Stop thinking about those unrealistic things!"

“But Sanya is right, we can’t do anything without people. As the old saying goes, more people means more work. Let’s go to the slave trader later and ask around. If the price is right, we’ll go back and persuade your mother to buy it tomorrow.” Dazhu nodded.

The girls were a little excited.

"After we sell the boxed lunches, we need to buy vegetable seeds. We didn't divide the farm tools when we separated the family, so we also need to buy hoes, pickaxes, and a sickle. Oh! And a shovel. You can't do any kind of work without these things! If I forget when we go to buy them, please remind me." Dazhu said whatever came to mind.

In the afternoon, Guizhi's family sold their boxed lunches, bought vegetable seeds and farm tools, spending three hundred coins. Ignoring the cost, they excitedly drove their oxcart towards the slave trader.

The slave trader, seeing Dazhu with several girls, happily came forward to greet them. "Brother, who are these girls...?"

“These are all my daughters! I brought them here to choose a few people. Are all the people here of low social status? None of them were kidnapped, right? I wouldn’t dare take kidnapped people, they’d go to jail!” Everyone fell silent; Dazhu was honest and would say anything.

"No, no, absolutely not. We have all the paperwork, they're all of lowly status. Brother, these young ladies of yours are beautiful! They're clearly blessed people." The slave trader was secretly relieved that he hadn't said much; at first, he thought the man was there to sell girls.

"Give me a price," Dazhu asked.

"Let's go in and take a look! A little maid like this, around ten years old, costs three taels of silver. The older, prettier ones cost five taels of silver." Da Ya and the others thought that these people were all skin and bones, and they couldn't tell which one was pretty or not.

“These can’t do farm work! We need the kind that can work in the fields,” Dazhu said directly.

"Yes, yes, yes. Don't worry! Brother, you know the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. How many people with land would sell themselves? Those who know how to farm, step forward and let me see!" The slave trader's surname was Zhang, and she was known as Zhang the Broker.

Zhang the matchmaker pointed to the men who had stepped forward, "These are strong laborers. If you take them back and raise them, one of them can be worth two! Each of them is worth eight taels of silver." Guizhi and the others felt that this human trafficker was extorting money on the spot.

"Is there anyone who can read?" Guizhi asked.

"I know a few words!" An old man stood up shakily.

Okay! Choosing the right people is a bit difficult!

"Is it a family?" Guizhi asked again.

"There are a few," said Zhang the matchmaker, knowing that choosing a person also depended on first impressions.

"This is a couple and their two little girls." A young couple was seen holding one child in their arms and leading a four- or five-year-old girl by the hand.

"These are two sisters and a brother, and their mother." A woman in her thirties was with three children; the two girls were older, and the youngest son had just learned to walk.

They're all pitiful people. Guizhi sighed inwardly.

“This is a family of five: a husband and wife, a son and a daughter, and their father,” Zhang the matchmaker said with a hint of disdain.

"Hmm?" Everyone looked over. The group was dressed in tattered clothes, barely enough to cover their bodies. The couple and their children were also quite young, the boy around ten years old and the girl around six or seven. They all looked warily at Zhang Ya Po and Da Zhu and the others. The old man lay on a tattered mat on the ground, covered with his children's and grandchildren's ragged clothes, coughing occasionally; he was probably sick.

"Is she sick? What kind of sickness?" Guizhi asked.

Granny Zhang noticed the little girl had quite a few questions, but she answered seriously, "Who knows what illness she has! She eats a lot, but she's neither dead nor alive! The whole family insists on selling together! They're eating and drinking my food for free!"

"How much would a family like this cost?" Er Ya was nudged from behind by Gui Zhi.

"This strong laborer will cost eight taels, his wife will cost at least six taels, the two children will cost ten taels, and the old man will give three taels, totaling twenty-seven taels of silver. Only twenty-seven taels for five people, that's a great deal!" Zhang the matchmaker quickly tried to sell.

"Father! Let's go back and discuss it with Mother first, and then come back to see her tomorrow." Guizhi tugged at Dazhu's sleeve, wanting to walk out.

“Actually, if you really want to buy these people, the price is negotiable!” said Zhang the matchmaker.

"I'll go back and tell my wife, so I don't get scolded after buying someone!" Dazhu didn't mince words and led the girls back.

“Alright! Brother, you’d better hurry! If you find someone you like, you have to take them with you, otherwise you’ll regret it if someone else buys them!” said Zhang the matchmaker.

Seeing that the men didn't respond and were heading to get on the oxcart, Zhang the matchmaker said again, "Brother, you must go back and discuss it with your wife. You must come to my place tomorrow!"

"Okay! I've made up my mind, I'll come back tomorrow!" Dazhu replied as he turned the oxcart around.

"Father! They—" Daya was about to speak when Guizhi stopped her and shook her head.

"We'll talk about it when we get back!" Da Zhu said without turning his head.

Once they were out of town, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Big sister, you can talk now." Guizhi looked at the empty road and pulled Daya.

"Say what? Say what?" Daya was confused.

"Big sister, what were you trying to say just now?" Guizhi laughed, and Erya realized what she meant and laughed too.

"Ah? Ah! You two, you're making fun of me!" Daya started tickling her two younger sisters in the car. The three sisters laughed and joked for a while, and the atmosphere finally became less dull.

"I just feel that no one should be classified as an undesirable person. Those people are so pitiful!" Daya sighed.

"Yeah! Before, people thought we were starving but still made us do so much work every day. At least we were still alive! But those people, you just can't talk about them!" Er Ya sighed.

Guizhi felt she would be letting her two older sisters down if she didn't say something: "Yeah! There's no harm without comparison! Now I realize how good Grandpa and Grandma were to us! They didn't sell us girls for money, they still fed and sheltered us." She couldn't help but laugh as she finished speaking.

Dazhu laughed along, "As long as we farmers have food to eat, who would be willing to sell their children?"

"Father, eldest sister, second sister, let's all tell each other which one you've chosen?" Guizhi asked, looking at everyone's opinions.

"I was so focused on how pitiful they were!" Daya was so overwhelmed that she forgot to choose people.

"Dad, what's your opinion?"

"I'm at a loss too! How about we buy a few strong laborers? Sanya, you have so many ideas, which one have you got your eye on?"

"Sanya, do you think that family is nice? But that old man is sick! He can't do anything!" Erya remembered Guizhi nudging her.

“Dad, that family seems quite united. Let’s ask again tomorrow. It would be great if they could read! It would be even better if they could help with bookkeeping and household management! We can hire people to do the labor, but if we buy several people, we’ll need someone to cook for them. They can’t do much during the off-season, so it’s not necessary for now. Our business is scattered, and what we need now is someone to manage things on the east side. If we raise chickens, pigs, or grow vegetables, we need someone to live there and watch over them. We also need someone to watch over our dozen acres of land when we’re planting. I think one family would be perfect. Someone can cook, do laundry, and do housework; someone can run errands; and someone can work in the fields. But we still need to ask around and negotiate the price.” Guizhi’s words made everyone nod repeatedly.

None of them had ever bought from anyone, so they had no experience. They just assumed someone could spout some profound truths and that it was right.

"Hehe! Dad, Third Sister! It's good, but don't forget about Mom's opinion!" Er Ya deliberately stirred things up again.

"Hmph! Go and persuade your mother, just like you guys did to persuade your father!" Dazhu said, pretending to be serious.

As they talked, they headed towards the house on the east side of the village. Since the ground froze, few people in the village had ventured outside; they all stayed indoors to hibernate. It was too cold. Now that the weather is gradually warming up, some people are going out to check if the river has thawed. With more people walking on the roads, the snow in areas directly exposed to the sun has melted.

Occasionally, they would encounter villagers passing by, exchange greetings, and then go their separate ways. Upon arriving at their destination, they unloaded their farm tools and stored them in the barn. Dazhu picked up a hoe: "I'll go try digging a couple of furrows in the garden."

When they arrived at the vegetable garden, they slowly started digging in a spot where there was no snow. "Okay, I'll drive the oxcart home. After Sanya herds the cattle, I'll come over and dig the ground so we can plant vegetables."

Just do it!

Dazhu drove the oxcart back, unloaded it, and let Li Shi carry it into the house slowly by herself. He then drove the ox to the east side of the village.

The three Gui sisters had already selected and soaked the soybeans, watered the plants, lit a fire in the stove, and filled the large pot with water.

Guizhi led the oxen to graze, while Dazhu led Daya and Erya to slowly dig the ground, preparing to plant vegetables.

The old man strolled over; the gate wasn't locked. He came in and closed the gate behind him.

"Oh! Everyone's busy in the garden! That explains why the gate wasn't locked!"

"Dad!" "Grandpa!" Dazhu greeted his two eldest daughters!

“This job isn’t for a young girl. She has no strength at all! Here, give it to me!” The old man took the pickaxe from Er Ya and started digging the ground with a heavy thud.

"Dazhu! How long will it take you to finish digging like this! You can't keep doing this on your ten-plus acres of land. I'll have someone order a plow for you later, and also a cowhide. Using an ox to plow and harrow the land is much faster and better!"

“Dad, you’re right! How come I didn’t think of that! I was just thinking that since I just bought a pickaxe, and the vegetable garden is small, I could finish digging it up in a few days!” Dazhu scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Are you planning to plant vegetables now?" the old man asked.

"Yes, Dad, I'm planning to plant more vegetables now and be among the first to go to town to sell them and make some money." Dazhu said, then whispered to his father, "Dad, when you go back, tell my second brother and fourth brother to plant some vegetables in our garden too, and then we can take them to sell together. Those restaurants and eateries are really short of vegetables right now. Let's be among the first to go, and then we can plant other things later."

"Alright! I'll dig with you for a while. Daya, you don't have the energy, so you don't need to dig. Go get a shovel, break up the clods of soil, and flatten it. Then Erya can sow the vegetable seeds first, planting a little bit at a time." The old man instructed Daya while digging the ground.

"Just make big ridges to plant vegetables, and scatter the seeds. When they sprout, you can thin them out and replant seedlings as you go." The old man, with his wealth of experience, still gave his son, who had just moved out and was living independently, some earnest advice.

"I understand. Thank you, Dad!"

"Don't thank me! I'm your father, if I don't teach you, who will?"

In the evening, the group watered the ridges where they had sown the vegetable seeds. The cowherd returned home, having finished his work.

After dinner, Dazhu went to carpenter Xu to order ox-drawn plows and rakes. Carpenter Xu readily agreed to make them as soon as possible, saying he would have his son go to the blacksmith the next day to make the plowshare, and it should be ready in about two days.