Chapter 116: New Grain

Chapter 116: New Grain

One horse-drawn carriage and one mule cart brought the whole family back to Xiaohe Village.

The house in Xiaohe Village had been expanded last year, so even with so many people returning at once, there was plenty of room, and then some.

Guozi knew the place well—he hopped off the cart and scrambled up the persimmon tree in no time.

Since he couldn't get lost in the village, Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan simply let the monkey go play by himself.

The Gu family had barely arrived when some villagers spotted them and headed to the fields to tell Gu Daniu.

Gu Daniu waved it off and didn't go back.

After all, everyone would be coming down to the fields to work soon anyway; no point running back.

Sure enough.

After a while, a group of people came walking along the path at the edge of the fields, wearing rolled-up pants and short jackets, carrying tools.

"Father, how about we catch a fish and cook it up when we head back?" Gu Chaoning asked tentatively.

As he walked forward, he could see fish surfacing in the rice paddies, and a few even jumping out.

Gu Wen gave a nod.

Behind them followed Zhen Xia and the others. Before they sold themselves into service, they had all been farmers themselves—especially Guan Qi and the others who had just arrived in early spring. Stepping on the field soil felt more like home to them than stepping on the stone slabs in the town residence.

First, they had to drain the water out of the paddies to get at the fish. They cut openings at both ends of the fields and set nets in the drainage ditches used when the fields were dried out.

As the water drained away, the fish would follow the current and get swept right into the nets.

It was already late in the day, and it took nearly an hour for the Gu family to drain all the water and scoop out the fish.

Paddy fish were in high demand, so there was no worry about selling them at night—after all, the fish had all been pre-ordered the moment the fry were put into the fields.

A portion was kept to dry into dried fish, and another portion was sent to their own shop in town.

The rest was picked up by dedicated carts—both from the town shop and from outside shops.

Other families in the village were also draining their paddies and harvesting their fish.

At this time of year, every household's fish had grown to full size, and the village was hopping.

Out along the edge of the fields, on the main road, some villagers had set up stalls selling tea, fruit, pastries, and other goods.

Others had spread out vegetables from their gardens, chickens, ducks, geese, eggs, duck eggs, handkerchiefs, and various everyday odds and ends.

Most of those who came to the village to buy fish were folks who ran eateries. When their buyers saw fresh vegetables and good-quality poultry and eggs, they would pick some of those up too on the way.

Dried paddy fish were also sold around this same time, alongside the fresh fish.

So besides the buyers from eateries, there were also many traveling traders and peddlers.

It was mostly these people who bought the odds and ends and everyday goods.

Chen Qing and Xu Xiaoqing were skilled, especially Xu Xiaoqing, who had developed his own sauce from assorted small fish. He sold out of it every year.

Village headman Gu Changhe was surrounded by a crowd of people. He had to keep an eye on all the fish sales in the village, and by the end of the day his voice was hoarse.

When he spotted the Gu family, he asked Gu Wen how Cui Ling was doing.

After all, Cui Ling had just built his house in Xiaohe Village and hadn't even gotten to enjoy it properly before the Gu family lured him away to open a shop in town.

During the autumn harvest season, everyone was extremely busy. It wasn't until he saw the Gu family that Gu Changhe realized he hadn't seen Cui Ling in a while.

"Brother Cui is doing well. Yesterday he kept telling us to send the fish over quickly once we collected them."

Gu Changhe heard this, was relieved that Cui Ling was doing well, and immediately turned back to his work.

With all the fish and rice coming in, Xiaohe Village was lively for nearly half a month.

It wasn't until everyone in the village had sold all their fish that things finally settled down a bit.

After the rice was threshed, the village's drying grounds and every household's courtyard were covered with grain.

The drying grounds were spacious and open to all villagers, but with so many people using them, no matter how long the grain took to dry, someone had to stay and keep an eye on it.

Although the Gu family had expanded once, they still had too much farmland, so they had to spread some of the grain out at the public grounds.

Fortunately, with so many people in the household this year, they could take turns watching the grain, so it wasn't so bad.

"Chaoning Ge, An Ge'er and I are going to take food to Grandfather. Are you coming?" Yin Hongxue stood by the window looking at Gu Chaoning in the study.

Gu Chaoning had spent the last three years at home with his books. His family had urged him several times, and once Gu Wen had nearly lost his temper over it.

But the two of them had sat down and talked things through calmly.

It was also that conversation that made the elders suddenly realize—when Gu Chaoning first began the imperial examinations, the family had originally thought it would be good enough if he could pass the county exam.

Now that the boy had passed the provincial exam, how could they suddenly become dissatisfied?

That night, Wang Xiuxiu and Gu Daniu talked lying in bed.

"This good life we have now—before, I wouldn't have dared to dream of it, not even in my wildest dreams."

Gu Daniu didn't speak, but he agreed silently.

Yes, this good life now—before, not only wouldn't he have dared to dream of it, he couldn't have even imagined it.

After that day, the family stopped pushing him.

He was only fifteen, after all, and had spent three years studying at home.

Gu Chaoning was thinking about the snow disaster that was coming. He didn't even hear Yin Hongxue's first words—it was only when Yin Hongxue repeated himself that he snapped out of it.

"I'll go." Gu Chaoning responded, setting the book down.

He kept thinking.

Over these three years, the rice-fish farming method and the bamboo tube waterwheel had increased yields and income for the village. Nearly every household had built brick houses with tiled roofs.

Brick houses were sturdier than mud-and-thatch ones. When the snow came, as long as people were careful to clear it off the roofs, the houses should hold up.

Everyone had extra cash now, so persuading them to stock up on grain should be easier.

With that thought, Gu Chaoning felt much more at ease.

Yin Hongxue had been secretly watching him the whole time. Seeing Gu Chaoning finally let his brow relax, he realized without realizing it that his own brow had been furrowed—and it too smoothed out.

Gu Muan held a bamboo tube in his hand, his eyes darting around looking for the fruit.

In the village, the fruit he was after was always elusive, able to slip into any nook or cranny.

Gu Muan found nothing and gave up looking.

The three of them chatted as they walked together to the grain-drying ground. At this hour, many villagers were bringing lunch to those watching over the grain there.

Gu Chaoning, Yin Hongxue, and Gu Muan were well-known figures in the village, and people greeted them every step of the way.

Some children even tagged along.

On the road, they bumped into Xu Xiaoshui, and Yin Hongxue waved at him cheerfully.

Xu Xiaoshui's life had improved somewhat than before. With the family no longer so poor, his parents weren't so stingy and could give him some food, so he had clearly grown taller over these three years.

Xu Xiaoshui was strong and hauled everything on his own, with Xu Guangzong trailing behind him.

Xu Guangzong had grown over the three years and wasn't so easy to fool anymore. Although he still worried about his reputation, he no longer helped Xu Xiaoshui with the work just to look good, like he did three years ago.

But to Xu Guangzong, Gu Chaoning and Yin Hongxue were still different in his eyes.

Xu Guangzong greeted them, sized things up, and took the very light bamboo tube filled with water.

After reaching the grain-drying ground, Xu Guangzong promptly handed the bamboo tube to his father.

Gu Daniu was positioned quite far from the Xu family and couldn't hear what was being said from where he was, but judging by the gestures, it seemed like Xu Xiaoshui was being scolded.

Yin Hongxue frowned, feeling irritated with the Xu family.

The weather held up, with clear skies for several days in a row.

After three days of drying, the Gu family's grain was dry, and on the fourth day, the whole family pitched in to store all the grain in the granary.

At this time, some villagers who didn't mind the hassle would push carts to take part of their rice to town to sell.

Others found it too much of a hassle to push the rice to town and instead waited in the village for the grain store in town to come pick it up.

Of course, waiting for the grain store in town to come pick it up meant earning less money than pushing it to town themselves.

The Gu family had two carts and had always pushed their rice to town to sell in past years.

This year, before they could head out, Gu Chaoning stopped them.

"Dad, let's not sell so much this year. We've got Zhimo and the other two now, and they're growing boys who eat a lot. If we run short, we'll have to buy more."

That was true. The family didn't desperately need the money from selling grain to buy winter supplies, so keeping it was fine.

Seeing he'd gotten through to Gu Wen, Gu Chaoning continued, "Anyway, grain won't go bad if kept for a year or two. If we don't finish it, when the new grain comes next year, we can still sell the leftover grain."

"You little rascal, selling old grain to eat new grain."

Gu Wen chided him.

Wang Xiuxiu next to them laughed, "New grain really is tastier. In previous years, after the harvest, we sold all the grain to the grain store and then bought last year's grain from the store to eat."

"Back then, I used to look forward to the autumn harvest because when the new grain came in, we'd always cook some up."

Chen Youyan also laughed, "Yes, I remember when I was a child, when we steamed new grain at home, it was sweet-smelling and tasty. I could eat a whole bowl of it plain."

Hearing the two of them chatting and laughing, Gu Daniu settled it.

"Then let's keep all the grain this year for ourselves."

They wouldn't sell not a single grain.

Some families in Xiaohe Village who liked to follow Gu Daniu and Gu Wen in pushing grain to town to sell saw that the Gu family hadn't made a move yet and came to ask.

"What? You're keeping it all?"

Gu Wen nodded, "Yes, we've got more mouths to feed this year, so we're keeping more."

Gu Chaoning chimed in, "Uncle Hei, you should also keep more grain. We work hard all year just to have enough to eat and keep warm. If we keep more grain, even if something unexpected happens, having surplus at home means we won't have to worry."

That made sense, and Gu Hei took the advice to heart.

When he got back, he also set aside more grain for his family.

The Gu family had always been the center of attention in the village, and when people saw they hadn't sold their grain this year, they all came by to ask.

Anyone who came, Gu Wen and the others would say the same thing. Everyone counted their money and, more or less, kept more grain than in previous years.

By the time the autumn harvest and the wheat harvest were all settled, another half month had passed.

The whole family, except for Gu Daniu and Wang Xiuxiu, headed back to town.

Gu Muan dashed next door as soon as he got home, Yin Hongxue retreated to his room to get ready to paint, Chen Youyan went to see Feng Qiuling, and Gu Wen went to Wang the carpenter's shop, leaving Gu Chaoning alone, and Cui Ling grabbed him.

She started talking about shop business.

"Part of the fish is raised in the pond in the backyard, and the rest has been made into salted fish and dried fish. I figure that, as in previous years, we'll need to buy river fish by the time winter sets in."

"We can buy more river fish. If the snow comes early in winter, we can freeze them for later."

Cui Ling had just mentioned it casually, never expecting that this year, before October was even over, the first snow would fall.