Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 29 Minor Disaster Year

"How come there's an extra cow? Who bought it?"

Aunt Beigong was overjoyed to see the ox lying on the cart.

Aunt Beitian looked at Beitian Biao and asked, "Boss, who bought this cow?"

Kitada Biao explained, "It was bought by Master Wu for just two taels of silver. He was almost dead, but he came back to life after the purchase!"

The older women found the incident strange, but not entirely unusual; it was a rare and fortunate occurrence.

The group of people looked at the iron pot and the cotton quilt again, and all showed envious expressions.

Compared to salt and grain, the most eye-catching item is definitely the ox, followed by the cotton quilt and the iron pot.

All three of these are military supplies. During wartime, the imperial court would send cotton quilts and iron pots to the border regions, and these supplies would also be given priority when rewarding the army to prevent anyone from embezzling money.

The cattle were some wounded or sick cattle left behind when transporting grain to the border troops. The border areas could not produce their own grain, so all the grain was transported from the interior to the border. There were no waterways here, so the cattle had to travel over mountains and valleys to transport the grain. It was normal for the cattle to die from exhaustion.

Some cows look like they've been worked to death, but after you buy them, they inexplicably recover.

Therefore, cattle that are not in serious condition are usually cared for at home for a while before being sold, unless they are absolutely necessary.

Beijiwu and the others divided the salt. After the other two families took containers and poured out most of the salt, the remaining bags and salt went to Beijiwu.

Seeing that Beijiwu couldn't carry all that stuff, Kitada Biao offered, "Put it in the car, I'll take it to you."

"it is good."

Beijiwu picked up a hoe, sickle, iron pot, the remaining grain, salt, and cotton quilt, along with a few packets of cabbage seeds and a beautiful dress worn by a prostitute.

This time I've spent all the money, whether it came from legitimate or illegitimate sources. From now on, I'll have to be an honest and upright person.

At the end of the ditch-filled woods in front of their house, Xianglan and Xidan were sitting and talking at the door. When they saw Beijiwu return, they ran over happily.

"elder brother!"

"father!"

Beijiwu walked towards the courtyard.

Xianglan quickly shouted, "Sister! Brother-in-law is back!"

The way people address each other at home is a mess, but Beijiwu doesn't correct it; as long as you know who someone is, that's enough.

Li Hong, Zhang Xiulan, and Gao Conglian came out together. When they saw Beijiwu coming in with some things, the three of them quickly went to help.

Beijiwu went out again to move the rest of the things down.

After Huang Niu stood up from the car, Bei Tianbiao said with a smile, "Master Wu, I'm going back now."

Beijiwu nodded and said, "Okay, you and your father and brothers should discuss it. After the rice harvest, you can discuss how to clear land along the road. This year, we can clear more land so that if anyone is too busy next year, we can help each other out."

Land is very important to farmers, and reclaiming wasteland is a major undertaking that spans two generations.

"Okay! Thank you, Master Wu!"

Kitada Biao knew that the hardest part of land reclamation was not reclamation itself, but how to protect the fruits of his labor.

With a powerful figure like Beiji Wu leading the way, the unfortunate situation of newly arrived powerful figures seizing the well-cultivated land can be resolved.

After Kitada Biao drove the oxcart back, Xiao Xianglan looked up at the ox and then at Beiji Wu.

"Brother-in-law, whose cow is this?"

“It’s my family’s,” Beijiwu said with a smile. “I bought this cow. I’ll take good care of it, and we’ll rely on it for work next year.”

Beijiwu led the cow into the house. This cow was very intelligent; it knew to follow him into the yard after being patted on the head.

Li Hong looked at Beiji Wu excitedly, "Brother! Is it really our cow?" "I bought it, of course it's mine." Beiji Wu felt that this woman was a bit arrogant, forgetting that she herself had bought it.

Li Hong was so happy that she didn't notice the difference at all. She exclaimed excitedly, "Brother, you're really capable! I'll go outside and cut some grass to feed the cow. What kind of grass will it eat?"

Beijiwu said, "Feed it some buckwheat and hay, and that will be enough to pay off your father's ten acres of grain. There's room in the cowshed, so go and tidy it up now and let the cow live in the east room."

Li Hong then thought of the ten mu of wheat her family had just handed over, and felt a pang of heartache.

"I'll go pack it right away, you rest, brother."

Beijiwu sat to one side to rest, while Li Hong, Li Bing, and Xiulan went to tidy up the room that was used as a warehouse and granary. Gao Conglian and Xidan were also busy, while Xianglan brought water to Beijiwu and wiped his back.

Beijiwu took off his clothes, looked at the distant sun, and said, "It's really hot today. What did you have for lunch?"

Xianglan rubbed Beijiwu's body with water on her hands, saying energetically, "I ate steamed buns and porridge for lunch, and also cooked a big pot of wild vegetables."

Beijiwu was in a very good mood and felt perfectly at ease letting a little girl of about ten years old wipe his back and hands, take off his shoes and wash his feet.

"See the cast iron pot I bought? I'll use this for cooking from now on; it makes more rice in one pot!"

Xianglan asked, "If you eat so much, what will you do for the New Year?"

After doing some calculations, Arctic Martial Arts School discovered that there really wasn't enough food.

We can hold out until the Lunar New Year, but whether we can hold out until next year's harvest is another matter.

"It's alright. We'll be done after the millet harvest in a few days. I bought some more grain today. I'll go up the mountain to get some meat after the autumn harvest. We can eat it in the mountains or the water; we won't go hungry."

Xianglan happily rubbed Beijiwu's back, "Brother, you're really amazing!"

Beijiwu said, "Once we have a pot, we can cook soup, make flatbread, steam buns, and steamed bread. We can save the stone pot for heating the kang (a traditional heated bed) in winter."

"Okay!" Xianglan reached out and dipped her hand in water, continuing to wipe Beijiwu's back and arms.

Looking at the little girl who had improved her spirits after a few days of rest, Beijiwu said, "Have you been eating well these past few days? You look much more energetic and your complexion is better."

Xianglan smiled and said, "I'm full! I have food to eat every day here, and the work isn't hard. I'll stay here for the rest of my life!"

"You're clinging to me now." Beijiwu said with a smile, "Alright, if you behave well, you can stay here. I have endless work to do, and I'll provide you with three meals a day!"

"Brother, you're so kind!" Xianglan was overjoyed.

In this era where people go hungry every day and struggle to survive on a single meal, there's simply no time to think about anything else.

I don't have time to think about things like personality, dignity, integrity, or the rewards of my efforts.

People who are hungry every day are always busy trying to find a meal. Having a place that provides food and keeps them warm is already a blessing.

Even after the war ended, uprisings and rebellions were commonplace in various places, especially in border areas and mountainous regions, which were always the hardest hit areas.

Last year's grain production was low, and this year's production is also low. Xiulan and Xianglan may not starve to death if they don't come to beg for food, but they will definitely suffer from hunger and cold.

Of the thirty households in Beitian Village, more than one-tenth—the Li, Zhang, and Ai families—are on the verge of not surviving.

In this situation, selling one's wife and daughters is very common.

Sure enough, after learning that Beijiwu had bought cattle and an iron pot, another family came over with their wife and daughter.

Sitting in the courtyard, Beijiwu was really annoyed, and his face looked very bad.

Mu Chuanliang certainly saw Beijiwu's frightening expression, but he still took a rope, put it around his wife's neck, and led her in.

"Grandpa! I really can't go on living like this. Please, Grandpa, have mercy and buy these two women. You can beat or kill them as you please. I only want seven taels of silver!"

The man knelt down and kowtowed.

(End of this chapter)