stingy landlady

Chapter 24 Preparing to Catch Piglets

Guizhi took her two children to herd cattle, and made a point of checking on the two mu of land that had been allocated to their family. It was a large, contiguous plot of land belonging to many families.

In early spring, a few blades of grass were just sprouting in the fields. The cows were let out to graze leisurely. The corn stubble hadn't been removed yet, and the withered soybean stalks stood upright in the ground. Occasionally, an old man would come to the field to check if the snow had melted completely. It wasn't time to plow the fields yet.

It was the two children's first time herding cattle in an unfamiliar place. The boy, Zhou Xing, was particularly wary; he knew a little about Guizhi, the young lady and mistress. The younger sister, Zhou Qiong, was timid and clung tightly to her brother's sleeve, following him closely, never leaving his side.

Guizhi ignored their little antics and focused on her own garden, which was separated from hers by only a narrow path. This path was also a common route used by villagers to access their fields. Because it was shady, the snow on the path hadn't completely melted yet.

The land was bordered by a main road to the east, which should lead to other villages. Guizhi only knew that the main road to the west led to the town, and she had asked the adults in her family where the main road to the north led, but she didn't care about that.

Looking into the distance, mountains are everywhere; no wonder they say it's surrounded by mountains on three sides! There's still snow on the mountains, visible patches of white. The forests haven't even started to turn green yet; the leaves have long since fallen. Each tree stands bare on the mountainside, guarding its territory.

Guizhi thought to herself that she hadn't really taken a good look at the place where she lived. She had always been busy with her parents and sisters, just trying to make ends meet.

Now, the anxiety of not having enough to eat or wear is gone. Life is still busy, and money is always tight, but perhaps it's because her mood has changed. Guizhi feels that the snow-covered mountains, the barren land, and the houses of varying heights in the village also possess a breathtaking beauty.

Guizhi was enjoying the beautiful scenery, feeling quite happy. The two children behind her gradually relaxed and stopped being nervous. They also started looking around with interest.

"Dad!" The little girl suddenly saw Zhou Mingzhi's figure in the vegetable garden and couldn't help but call out. "Brother, look, Dad is working over there!" Zhou Qiong said, pulling Zhou Xing along.

Zhou Xing also saw it, but he didn't say anything, not wanting to disturb the young lady's thinking.

When his younger sister spoke up, Zhou Xing replied, "It's Father who's working." He then looked at Guizhi, puzzled, and said, "Is Master working with us too?" It sounded like he was asking Guizhi, but also like he was talking to himself.

Their former mistress never did any work herself; she always ordered the servants and maids to do it.

Guizhi looked at the two of them and said, "Our family are farmers, so we all have to do farm work! My mother only gave birth to four of us sisters, no boys, so we bought your family to help with the work. Aren't you two afraid of getting tired?"

Zhou Xing was delighted that the young lady had responded to him. He quickly said, "Miss, I know you are all good people. You even treated my grandfather and got him medicine. Miss, I'm not afraid of being tired. I'm a boy, I'm strong. I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

Guizhi smiled; the boy's eagerness to show his loyalty was quite endearing.

Seeing that her brother and mistress could talk to each other, the little girl, being quite clever, whispered, "Miss is so kind! She even bought us cloth to make new clothes and blankets, so we won't be cold anymore. The buns Miss bought are delicious! Miss is such a good person! I'll listen to Miss too."

Guizhi was somewhat surprised to see the six-year-old girl say so much. Then she understood; children who have experienced hardship are often precocious. As the saying goes, "Children from poor families mature early," and that's probably true.

Guizhi gained two little followers with just a few words, which she found quite interesting.

"What can you do? I need to see what you can do to help me," Guizhi asked the two children.

Zhou Xing thought for a moment, "I remember the broker was looking for someone who could read, and I've learned to read. Hmm, I'm strong, I can help the broker herd cattle. I'm still young, I'll learn skills well and follow the broker."

He's still a child, but he remembers that Guizhi asked if anyone could read, and he even offered to help Guizhi herd cattle, which shows he's quite thoughtful.

“Miss, I’m still young and not very strong. I’ll learn as much as I can. My mother said she’ll teach me embroidery in the future, and once I learn, I can make beautiful clothes for you.” Zhou Qiong thought for a while before saying this.

With more people in the vegetable garden, the work gets done faster. This time, Da Ya and Er Ya didn't need to come to the garden to pat the soil, sow seeds, and water the plants; a few grown men finished the job.

Dazhu said to the old man, "Dad, have Xiao Zhou go to the old house early tomorrow to help dig the ground. The plow and harrow probably won't be ready until the day after tomorrow! You can do what I do with my vegetable garden, digging and planting at the same time, and the vegetables will sprout first or later."

When Guizhi returned from herding the cattle with her two children, Dazhu and Zhou Mingzhi had already pushed the oxcart back to their hometown. In the old man's words, it wasn't tiring for several people to push the cart; although oxen are livestock, they still need to rest.

Only Zhou Chang was resting on the kang (a heated brick bed) inside. Yang Liu was washing the newly bought dishes and utensils at the stove.

Guizhi asked the two children if they wanted to go with her to the old house to familiarize themselves with it. The two children wanted to go, but Yangliu stopped them, saying, "Miss, I've boiled some water. Let the two children bathe first, and we can go tomorrow! Is that alright?"

Guizhi knew women were meticulous; she was probably worried that Li Shi would find the two children dirty if she saw them. It would be better if they were clean before going out!

Guizhi said, "Aunt Zhou, when Uncle Zhou comes back, lock the gate and cook for yourselves. Take a hot bath and get some rest!"

After thinking for a moment, he added, "You can decide on the fabric; it can be used for both bedding and clothing. It will just be a lot of work for you."

"Thank you, Miss. I'm not tired at all! You have done a great favor for my family!" Yang Liu hurriedly wiped her hands and was about to kneel down.

“Aunt Zhou, we don’t kneel down! I’m such a little kid, how can I accept such a big gesture!” Guizhi smiled and helped Yangliu up.

"Then I'll go back to the old house. I'll leave this place to you. Take good care of Grandpa Zhou! Be alert at night and watch out for his fever. If he has a fever, wipe his body with warm water, just be careful not to let the old man catch a cold."

Guizhi repeatedly reminded him to decoct and administer the medicine on time, and then slowly drove the ox home.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they ran into Zhou Mingzhi carrying half a bag of grain on his back and a bucket in his hand, which contained sauerkraut and a bowl of lard.

"Miss is back!" Zhou Mingzhi prepared to put down his things and bow to Guizhi.

Guizhi waved her hand with a smile: "Uncle Zhou, go back quickly! Aunt Zhou is still waiting for the rice to be cooked!"

"Miss, I'll go tie the cow up!"

"No need for you, I'm used to doing it myself. You should go back now!" Guizhi said, leading the ox into the cowshed. She then went to tie the ox up and feed it water and salt.

After finishing her work, Guizhi was about to go inside when she suddenly remembered something and turned to go to the old house.

"Grandpa! Grandma! Have you eaten?" Guizhi called out to the two elderly people first.

"Sanya! You haven't eaten yet! It's still early!" The old man was leaning against the kang cabinet, smoking and resting.

"Oh! I didn't see Second Aunt and Taozhi cooking. I thought you had already finished eating!" Guizhi explained.

The old lady sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and greeted Guizhi: "Sanya! It's been a long time since you've come. You're always so busy!"

"Hehe! It's just been a long time, and you miss your milk, haven't you? Come and see your milk!" Guizhi sat on the edge of the kang and took the old lady's hand.

"Oh my! My Sanya's mouth is all sweet today!" The old lady was delighted, and then continued, "The well in our house has dried up; it wasn't dug very deep. Your second uncle's well is deeper, and there's water in it. Your fourth aunt and her husband have gone to that house to cook. Once it's done, your grandfather and I will eat there to avoid the trouble of carrying things back and forth."

Guizhi was a little surprised; she hadn't paid attention to these issues when she was younger. But then she remembered those novels online, which often mentioned droughts, lack of rain, and disasters. Could it be? The wells are dry? Is there some kind of disaster? Does this mean we have to flee famine after transmigrating?

"Grandpa, Grandma, is it because there's no water in the well? Is it due to drought? Could there be some kind of disaster?" Guizhi was a little scared, and she blurted out whatever came to mind.

“This child! What nonsense are you talking about? Did you watch a play and get this out of your head? The well in our old house wasn’t dug that deep back then, it was a bit shallow, and it would dry up almost every spring. Now that we have experience with this, when your father and his brothers were building their houses, they specifically asked someone to check it out and made sure to dig it deeper.” The old lady explained to Guizhi slowly and methodically.

"You're still so young, yet you're always worrying about this and that. That won't do! You'll be destined to be a worrywart when you get married!"

Guizhi felt reassured when she heard that it wasn't a famine.

"Grandma, I'm just destined to worry, what am I going to do? Grandma, when are you going to catch the piglets?" Guizhi asked.

"Look at you! I just told you not to worry, and you're worrying again!" the old lady scolded lightly. "How did you know I was going to catch piglets? I just received news today that Jiang the Cripple's family in Nangang Village had twelve piglets born during the New Year. Two of them froze to death because of the cold, so there are ten left. They said they're ready to wean, and they told me to go catch them!"

The old lady raised pigs every year, and when she slaughtered them, she would contact families with sows so that she could catch piglets to raise in the spring.

"Grandma, when are you going? How many are you planning to catch?" Guizhi asked.

“I don’t have time for the next two days. Your grandpa said to hurry up and plant the vegetable garden. After we finish planting, we’ll go and catch a couple of pigs. There’s nothing to feed more than that.” The old lady thought for a moment and then said, “Could it be that your mother also wants to raise pigs and asked you to come and ask? I heard from your grandpa that there’s a pretty big pigsty over there.”

"Grandma, it wasn't my mother who told me to ask. I remembered it when I saw the pigsty today. Grandma, I'll tell my parents when I get back later." Guizhi said, intending to go back and ask first.

"Sanya, go back inside and ask. If they're going to arrest them, let me know. It'll save us trouble if we both arrest them in one day." The old lady gestured for Guizhi to go back.

"Grandma, could you help me inquire again? My family has grown, and we need more people to work, so I'm thinking of buying ten or twenty more pigs to raise. Selling them later will be a good source of income," Guizhi said.

The old lady sighed: "Kids like you, just saying whatever comes to mind! Who doesn't know that raising more pigs makes more money? Where would you get so much grain to feed them? Wouldn't those who raise sows make even more money by raising all the piglets themselves? Alright, go back and ask your parents, discuss how many to catch, and we can go together."

Guizhi was helpless; no one took what a little kid said seriously!

Guizhi said goodbye, "Grandpa, Grandma! I'm going back to my room now! I'll secretly bring you some delicious food when my dad buys it for me!"

"Forget it! You should keep it for yourselves! It'll help you grow taller! Go back now!" The old lady waved her hand.

When Guizhi returned home, her family had already prepared a meal and were waiting for her to come back so they could eat together.

"Dad, Mom! I just came back from Grandma's. She said that after finishing the vegetable garden, she'll go catch piglets. If our family wants to catch some, we should catch them all together."

“Her father, let’s catch one too. We can slaughter a pig and have meat to eat during the New Year!” Li agreed.

“Okay! I’ll go with Dad!” Dazhu agreed.

"Father, Mother! How many should we catch? Males and females?" Guizhi asked.

“Whether they’re male or female, just catch both! Didn’t your grandma catch both?” Li said matter-of-factly.

"Dad, Mom! Let's catch ten or twenty! The more we raise, the more we earn!" Guizhi deliberately repeated what she had told her grandmother.

“This child! He thinks it’s so easy! What are we going to feed them? Where do we have a place to raise them? If we rely on buying grain to feed the pigs, we’ll go bankrupt!” Li retorted.

"Sanya, raising pigs isn't something you can do overnight. We don't have the resources right now. If we raise too many, we'll need to build pens, buy grain, and gather wild vegetables—it's not something you can just do on a whim!" Dazhu thought his daughter's idea was good, but not very realistic. He could reason with her slowly.

"Dad, Mom! I know! Grandma said there are ten piglets in that litter! Grandma and the others will catch two, and we'll catch the remaining eight! We have a lot of people in our family now, so we'll keep the sows to have more piglets, keep one boar, and castrate the others so they'll grow bigger and faster. Then we can sell them for money." Guizhi thought eight piglets were too few.

"Father and Mother, there are leftovers from the boxed lunches that can be used to feed the pigs. Let's go to the restaurant and ask about the leftover swill, and bring it back to feed the pigs too. That will save a lot of grain!" Guizhi tried her best to buy a few more piglets.

The first thing was that my parents agreed to take eight piglets. They were to keep them for breeding, so that we wouldn't have to worry about piglets later when we had sows.

Li and Dazhu exchanged a glance, and Li rolled her eyes at Dazhu.

"It's all your father's fault for spoiling you. You do whatever you want! I don't care anymore. Catch as many as you want. Anyway, someone will feed them, so I don't have to." Li thought that raising a few was acceptable.

Wild vegetables will be available soon, and as for the leftovers Guizhi mentioned, the restaurant's swill, and buying a little less coarse grains, that should be about right.

Seeing that Li Shi wasn't really angry, Da Zhu smiled and said, "Mother of my child! All the girls in our family are good! They all want to help us earn money! As long as the idea isn't too outrageous, let's give it a try! What if we can earn money and have meat to eat? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Dazhu looked around at his family and said, "As long as we all think and work together, things will definitely get better!"

“Dad, I saw Mom boiled some beans earlier, and when I asked her, she said she was going to make soybean paste. I’ve been forgetting about it lately, so let’s boil some beans tomorrow and make a jar of soybean paste.” Li Shi remembered that she was going to make soybean paste.

Before the family split up, she didn't have to worry about anything. She did whatever the old lady told her to do. But now that she was in charge, she felt like she had a lot to do and was always busy forgetting things.

"Oh! By the way, Da Ya, remember to pick out a couple of bolts of fabric in a couple of days, something light and thin. It's getting warmer, we should all change our clothes and shoes. In this heat, people will laugh at us for wearing such thick cotton-padded coats and trousers. Besides, our old clothes are fine for working at home, but they're just too embarrassing to wear out!"

Li then remembered that she didn't have any fabric to make clothes for the changing seasons.

Daya agreed, "Okay! What color does Mother want?"

Li replied, "Whatever color Mother wants, Mother isn't going anywhere. You kids are always running around outside, so buy whatever color you like. Try to pick something that's dirt-resistant and sturdy. You're always around the stove, so why don't you make a few more aprons to avoid getting your new clothes dirty?"

The girls were overjoyed! They were going to have new clothes to wear again! They hadn't worn any for several years, but less than a year after they separated from the family, they could finally wear new clothes again.

Siya said, "Wear red!" Her winter clothes were red, and everyone praised her for looking beautiful whenever she went out in them.

Er Ya said, "Our winter clothes are already red, let's change the color. How about green?"

Daya said, "The yellow one looks pretty good too! What do you think, Third Sister?"

Guizhi was also happy, and her mother had changed; she was now willing to spend money.

"Big sister, second sister, let's go to the fabric shop and take another look. We can choose different colors then!" Guizhi said with a smile. There's no rule that we have to choose the same color.

"Go to sleep! You've had a long day, and we still have work to do tomorrow!" Li said, seeing that Dazhu was already sleepy, while the children were excited.