Chapter 236 – Pigs Indeed

Chapter 236 - Pigs Indeed

The old woman replied, "Cheng An brought it over early this morning. It's a roe deer leg. He said it was from the family that sent the books to you before."

"Books?" Fan Feiniang looked at her husband.

"More meat?" Zeng Sanlang himself was surprised. However, upon remembering that the people of Da Xing Village could enter the mountains and assist the government office in transporting people, he understood. "Prepare it then."

When the old woman left, seeing his wife still waiting for an answer, he entered the study and said, "Yes, they sent books. The sender is the person from Da Xing Village you mentioned earlier."

He explained about the potato cultivation in Da Xing Village and briefly mentioned the state academy examination. "This village has only a few dozen households, but many came for the exam, and quite a few passed. It's not easy for commoners to produce scholars, and the Emperor would be pleased."

There was no need to elaborate on what the Emperor would be pleased with. Although Fan Feiniang was a woman of the inner chambers, she was well-informed about the court and the current situation. This was a compulsory course for women of noble families. Even though no one from the Zeng clan had entered officialdom for decades, her understanding of these matters was on par with others.

Zeng Sanlang, on the other hand, thought of Sang Luo's background as he spoke. "Right, Shen Lie's wife can be considered half a fellow villager of yours. She's from the Dongjun Sang clan. She taught the method of cultivating potatoes, and now the potato tubers distributed to the surrounding counties were exchanged from farmers in Da Xing Village and its neighboring areas who learned the method from her."

"Did you hear about the Dongjun Sang clan being skilled in agriculture and sericulture when you were a maiden?"

Fan Feiniang shook her head. "I knew of the Sang clan, but I've only visited Dongjun a few times without any direct contact. From what I hear, the Sang clan seems generous."

In those times, whether it was the aristocratic families or the commoners, whoever held something valuable would grasp it tightly, wishing to pass it down from generation to generation.

"Indeed, he's generous," Zeng Sanlang recalled the day they went to Daxing Village and smiled. "When Chu Qichang mentioned the method of growing yams, he said it was from the Shen family. When I asked, I inquired about Shen Lie. He was quite honest and didn't take credit for it. He admitted that it was his wife Sang who taught others."

"This couple, one with an upright mind and integrity, the other kind-hearted. I'm quite pleased to have sent them this book."

Fan understood now. The Shen couple had won her husband's admiration with their character. Moreover, they were upright and honest... Fan smiled. With the Zheng family's antics, the credit for the yams, and a few other matters combined, she understood why her husband had given away a book.

"What book did you send? I remember you didn't bring many scrolls with you."

Before becoming the governor of Shexiu, Zeng Sanlang had served under Prince Qi for several years, participating in battles across various regions. Naturally, it was always she who oversaw the packing of his belongings before he left home.

Zeng Sanlang casually pointed at the desk. "Those scrolls there."

Fan flipped through them briefly, her phoenix eyes widening slightly. "You just gave away Grandfather's books like that?"

"Do you think Grandfather will care?"

Thinking of her father-in-law's temperament, Fan Feiniang chuckled and playfully teased, "I'm afraid Father-in-law would be furious for three, four, or even five months if he found out."

Sanlang's lips curled upon hearing this. "Three, five, or even seven years of resentment wouldn't be bad either."

Fan Feiniang struggled to suppress her laughter.

...

Outside the Governor's residence, Gan and the others were queued up, selecting their poultry.

As it turned out, Sang Luo had been too optimistic. It was impossible to buy all chickens, ducks, and geese. Her plan to trade for a goose with someone was unlikely to come to fruition.

The number of poultry that could safely make the long journey was limited, and some had been distributed to the various counties early this morning. As a result, each household could now only purchase one bird.

Without a second thought, Shen Ning and Shen Jin opted for the geese. Once Shen Ning made her choice, the other families in the manor quickly followed suit. Firstly, they already had their fair share of chickens and ducks. Secondly, whatever Shen Ning picked was surely instructed by Sang Luo; thus, they couldn't go wrong by emulating her.

Each household had a goose, much like the Xu family. Wei Lingzhen held three household registrations in her hands. She inquired about Shen Ning's reason for choosing a goose. Upon learning that they were kept on the mountain to fend off weasels, she passed Wei Qinghe's registration directly to Shen Ning. "Two are sufficient for my family. You can use this to purchase another one."

Pigs were as unpopular as oxen. While it was feasible for households in the county town to raise chickens and ducks, there was simply no space for pigs. Moreover, the villagers couldn't afford to buy piglets.

Adhering to his sister-in-law's instruction to buy whatever was available, Shen Ning, after consulting the official, promptly purchased a pig without hesitation. He even bought one for Shen Jin as well: "If you don't want to raise it, this one will count as ours."

Jin Chen chuckled. "Yes, yes, we want to raise them!"

Wei Lingzhen looked at the pigs and felt somewhat overwhelmed.

Raising chickens and ducks was manageable; she had learned these skills over the years living in the mountains. But when it came to pigs, Wei Lingzhen was completely inexperienced. Not just her, even the elderly lady of the house hadn't endured such labor for over ten or twenty years.

She held the household register, staring at the piglets for a long while, realizing that this task was beyond her capabilities. She turned to see Shen Ning with a gleam in her eyes, helping Jin Chen select the pigs. Approaching them, she asked, "An Ning, is your family also buying pigs?"

Shen Ning nodded. "Yes, my eldest sister said to buy as many as we can."

Alright then.

Wei Lingzhen handed over the household register. "Three of them, do you want them? If so, I'll transfer their registration to your family."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Shen Ning eagerly agreed.

Indeed, she and Jin Chen were like true siblings.

Wei Lingzhen chuckled and passed the household registration. Then, she asked Shen Ning, "Did you bring enough money?"

"Enough, enough, thank you, Auntie."

With the Xu family's registration in hand, she happily went to purchase piglets.

The swineherd, who was in charge of the piglets, looked at her and Shen Jin. When he heard that they wanted five piglets, he gaped at Shen Ning in surprise. "How many?"

"Five." She raised the registration paper. "I'm also buying for my neighbor."

"The neighbor entrusted such a young lady like you to buy pigs?" And she was buying for five households. What trusting neighbors they were.

The swineherd didn't believe a word of it.

Shen Ning pointed at Wei Lingzhen. "There, that's my aunt. I'm just here to pick out the pigs."

Then, she pointed into the distance. "See over there? The one leading an ox to buy wheat seeds, that's my brother, my neighbor's uncle, and my neighbor's grandfather!"

Swineherd: Impressed.

"Alright then, go ahead and choose."

Shen Ning led Shen Jin around the pen where a group of squealing piglets were kept, not minding the stench. She was meticulous in her selection and, after making her choices, instructed Shen Jin to keep an eye on the five selected pigs. From afar, she fetched Mother Chen to give her approval.

This time, the swineherd was truly convinced that they were indeed a group of uncles, aunts, and grandparents.

Mother Chen had experience in raising pigs. Out of the ones Shen Ning picked, she approved of four, while one appeared weaker. She pointed to another and suggested Shen Ning swap it.

Once the selection was done, she discreetly asked, "Did your eldest sister-in-law ask you to buy so many?"

Shen Ning nodded with certainty. "Eldest Sister-in-law said to buy as many as possible!"

"Alright, listening to your sister-in-law is the right thing to do."

...

Daxing Village experienced a bountiful harvest.

There was one ox, eight piglets, and nine geese. No household was left without wheat seeds, ensuring that everyone went home with something. As they walked back, they attracted numerous envious gazes along the way.

With a smile that curved her eyes into crescents, Shen Ning looked at their geese and pigs with immense satisfaction. Listening to the adults discussing how they would rotate caring for the cows in the village's old barn, she felt a sense of belonging that made it seem as if her family had become prosperous.

Yes, this cow would be theirs too.

After hiding in the mountains for years and consuming plenty of wild boar meat, Shen Ning, in this moment, felt as if her family had truly become a well-off one.

They had cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, and pigs—what more could they ask for?

She was overjoyed.

...

When they returned to Daxing Village, the Lin family's registration had already been processed. Thanks to Chen Dashan's recommendation, Lord Xing had indeed shown favoritism. Their registration was not far away, located approximately five miles from Xizhou City. They were grouped together with a few other families who had also returned with the governor's wife's convoy.

Upon seeing Shen Lie and his siblings come home, Sanluo was stunned to see Shen Lie carrying two piglets in cages, while Shopkeeper Xu, Chen Youtian, and Village Head Zhou each helped carry another.

"Are these all pigs?"

Shen Ning: ...

"Sister-in-law, you said we could buy anything we wanted," she continued, pointing at a small black and white pig. "This one is for Little Jin."

Everyone, including Shen Lie and Manager Xu, laughed. The young girl had been so determined in the city that Shen Lie's money had run out, forcing him to borrow some from her.

So she did have her limits after all.

To avoid the smell affecting Sangluo, the pigs were placed outside the house, further away.

Sangluo looked at the group of grunting pigs trying to push their way out of the cages and nodded. "They're quite good buys. How did you manage to get so many?"

Realizing her question, she added, "With Aunt Xu's household registration?"

Jianning smiled and nodded. "Yes, Aunt Xu also gave us a spot for the geese's registration."

Sangluo guessed as much and thanked Manager Xu.

Manager Xu waved it off with a smile. "No need to thank me. Nobody in our family knows how to raise them anyway."

Not staying any longer, she delivered the goods and returned home with Chen Youtian and the others.

San Luo's gaze fell once more upon the group of piglets.

Pigs were indeed valuable creatures.

"First, send all five to our old sheep pen. Little Jin's piglet should be kept there too." She instructed Shen Ning and Shen Jin, "The goose should be reared separately behind the house for a few days. Once it's lively and healthy, then it can be placed with the chickens and ducks."

...

Lunch was a simple and light affair. Just before their afternoon nap, Zhao Si arrived with the blueprint that San Luo had drawn.

He had witnessed the master adding five more piglets to his herd, and couldn't help but marvel at the expense.

"Madam, since this area for chickens and ducks is being prepared with pits for trees and coops, won't you cultivate vegetables on the unused land?"

Having finished the sheep pen, the Zhao brothers moved on to the chicken and duck area. They had now learned to follow diagrams, but were perplexed by today's task. The fence seemed identical, even finer than that of the sheep pen, and the fruit trees could be vaguely discerned, but there was no indication of a vegetable plot on the drawing.

Farmers, once they had worked a piece of land, found it uncomfortable to leave it idle. Zhao Si suggested, "If you're worried about the chickens damaging the vegetables, you could build an inner fence. That wouldn't stop the chickens from wandering in the outer ring."

Sanluo laughed and replied, "Uncle Zhao Si, we have plenty of land. Leave this area untouched for now; you can start on other plots. In the next few days, I'll ask Shen Lie to search the mountains for grapevines to transplant or propagate. Once the fence and coop are built, we'll enclose a small section for the chickens. When the grapes have taken root, we'll let them roam freely. After some time, the chickens will naturally till the soil, making it fertile within a few months. Then, when the coop and fence are moved, they can till another plot, and we can cultivate vegetables on this land later."

The combined area of the fields and hillsides was over seventy acres. It would be a struggle to cultivate all that land by hand alone, let alone attend to other farm tasks. It made more sense to harness the chickens' natural inclination to dig, thus loosening the soil while fertilizing it.

"Ah, I see!" Zhao Si's eyes sparkled with excitement as he listened.

Chickens could also serve as laborers.

"That's great! That's great!"

He inquired further about the location of the mulberry field, confirming that it would be situated between the sheep pen and the chicken coop. Satisfied, he carefully folded the blueprint and returned to the mountains to continue his work.

When Jin returned home and delivered a promissory note, he overheard their conversation and his eyes gleamed too. "Sister-in-law, can we do the same with our chickens and land?"

The three brothers were still young, and managing their thirty acres of farmland was already a challenge. They had originally abandoned plans to cultivate the ten acres of hillside, using it only for firewood. Now, they realized there was another way to utilize it.

"It's possible. If you want quick results, you don't need to enclose a large area. Clear some shrubs and create a plot measuring roughly ten feet by ten feet to start. Let the chickens work on that while you tend to your fields. Once they've loosened the soil, you can use it, which is much easier than doing it yourself. The land will be sufficient for growing vegetables, raising ducks and chickens, and even sheep. As you expand, you can even sell your produce in the city."

Speaking of feeding the poultry, Sangluo paused, remembering something, especially considering the five new pigs they now had.

Five pigs' manure – while compost was valuable, pig waste had another purpose. It didn't interfere with its use as fertilizer and was actually beneficial for raising chickens.

Suddenly, she asked Jin, "Are you afraid of insects, Little Jin?"

The change in topic caught Jin off guard. "No, why would I be? Don't I catch insects every day to feed the chickens and ducks?"

Not only did he feed their family's fowl, but he also accompanied his younger siblings, Yin and Tie, to catch insects for their eldest sister's chickens and ducks.

San Luo explained, "I'm talking about a lot of them."

She didn't dare go into detail, as she was afraid herself. Jin Ning wasn't much braver than she was.

Jin shook his head. "No, Eldest Sister, do you need me to do something? It's fine, just tell me what needs doing."

He thought she might want him to clean the outhouse – a particularly dirty and bug-infested task. He knew his eldest sister was very particular about cleanliness and had an aversion to snakes and insects. As for An Ning, she was actually afraid too. Over the years, Big Brother and Xiao An had taken on all the dirty and laborious chores, never letting Eldest Sister or An Ning get involved.

Seeing that Jin wasn't scared at all, San Luo smiled and waved him over. "Little Jin, come here. Eldest Sister will teach you a trick. It'll save a lot of vegetables and bran when raising chickens, and they'll grow big and strong quickly, laying plenty of eggs."

Her words sounded too good to be true.

"However," she continued, "as a trade-off, you could also supply the chickens from my household. Would that be agreeable to you?"