Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Chapter 582: Lively before leaving

Zhou Guo said: "It is possible, but we haven't even reached 3.5 stone this year, so how can we reach 5 stone? Even if we do, we don't know how many years it will take."

Now we have fertilizer, and with enough fertilizer we might be able to reach four stone.

Zhou Dacang stroked his chin and said, "If you can buy some land, even if you buy less land than others, you might actually become a bigger landlord than others. One acre of land can produce as much grain as two acres of land."

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Really?"

He slammed the table and said ambitiously, "So, when the situation in the mountains stabilizes, I decided to go outside and take a look."

Li immediately said, "Where are you going? In this chaotic time, it's enough to have pine mushrooms every year. You can't go out any more. If you are like your father and your uncle, if you are arrested, where can we find you? I have been eating and sleeping poorly at home every time you go out in the past two years. I am so worried. Please don't make me worry anymore. Let me sleep well for a few days, please?"

Zhou Guo nodded, "Okay, okay, I'm not going out now."

There is no sincerity in the nod.

Li was helpless. The child had grown up and could not be tied down anymore. She couldn't just tie the child to her back wherever she went like she did when the child was little, right?

Zhou Dacang still didn't quite believe that the yield of his own land could be that high. "If I had the chance, I would really like to see what it's like to harvest more than three shi of rice from one acre of land."

Zhou Gu said: "The meals you have eaten these days are them."

Zhou Dacang had never paid attention to this.

Zhou Mai scooped a bowl of rice.

Zhou Da Cang looked at it carefully and said, "It does look longer than ordinary rice grains. Is it because they are bigger than usual that the yield is higher?"

Zhou Guo said: "Not only that, there are more grains on the ears, which are longer and bigger than ordinary rice grains. With good management and good weather, it's not bad."

Zhou Dacang nodded excitedly. Although he no longer farmed, the joy he felt for the crops growing well was no less than anyone else in his family. After all, he was also a farmer, a mud-legged peasant.

As they were talking, someone shouted outside, and soon the curtain was lifted, and a group of people came in.

Wang Fugui, Zhou Cheng, Zhou Sanyuan... followed by their wives, children, and even a few elderly people.

"I thought you guys were all at home at this time, and sure enough, I got blocked as soon as I got here."

Everyone in the family except the old man stood up to make room.

Zhou Xing and Zhou Guo went into the house to get food. Dried meat, cakes, candied fruit, peanuts and melon seeds were all placed on plates on the table.

Li brought Zhou Gu and others to make tea for everyone.

Everyone said, "No need to pour it, no need to pour it, stop busying yourself and sit down. Everyone has food to eat during the New Year. We just come to your house to visit and chat."

Li smiled and said, "It's New Year's Day. You come to our house, you can't go without food. Wait, I'll pour a cup of tea for each of you, and I'll come after I'm done."

"Hey, stop emptying your teacup. Or bring me a bowl. Otherwise, I'll drink it all in one gulp. I'll have to drink more than ten cups to quench my thirst. How long will it take to empty it?"

Everyone looked at this small teacup and thought it was too small. Such a small cup could not quench their thirst. A bowl was more practical.

Wang Fugui laughed and said, "You guys are not so lucky. You use such a good thing but still complain that it is too small. I don't mind. At most, I can pour a few more cups."

He added, "I'll pour it myself so as not to trouble the host."

Everyone laughed.

Zhou Guo couldn't stop laughing. This teacup was fine for the old man to slowly sip tea, but if he really wanted to use it to quench his thirst, it would definitely not be enough.

Li said readily, "Okay, if you want bowls, I'll get them for you."

To be honest, she could never use such a small teacup, which could only hold a sip of tea.

Zhou Guo and Zhou Gu also followed behind.

Wang Fugui said to Zhou Dacang, "In the past few months since you came back, we knew you wanted to rest and recuperate, so we didn't bother you. Are you feeling better now?"

Zhou Dacang smiled and said, "Thank you all for your concern. I am completely fine now. I will have to return to the camp as soon as the New Year is over."

Zhou Cheng's father said, "Since you are in such a hurry to leave, why don't we have a meal together before we go? After all, you haven't been back for two years. Call the head of the village and the people from the other villages to come together and have a meal."

Several other elders also agreed, "Yes, we should get together. If you leave, we don't know when you will be able to come back."

Zhou Dacang didn't want to mobilize such a large force, but then he thought, he really hadn't seen these people for two years, and he didn't know how long it would take him to come back.

If Zhou Guo follows his idea, she might spend half a year out of town, and someone would have to take care of the family. He said, "Okay, uncle, I'll go and ask for help tomorrow. Everyone can come to our house the day after tomorrow. We'll set up a few tables in the yard and have a simple meal. No need to make a big fuss."

Seeing that he agreed, the old man was very happy and waved his hand and said, "No, we don't need you. We agreed on it early in the morning. There is no need for the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is a good day."

The Zhou family was confused, "Will it be too late tomorrow?"

Zhou Cheng looked at Zhou Dacang a little embarrassedly and said, "We just came from Laolizheng and his family. The old men had dinner and then left."

Zhou Dacang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. These old guys really couldn't sit still and were taking care of things that were affecting him.

But when he thought that these people were of his father's generation and that several families had helped the village in the past, he felt relieved. He decided to just have a meal. He had originally planned to visit the old village head and others.

After all, the room was too small for a group of people to squeeze into.

Zhou Guo and Zhou Xing cleaned up two more rooms, one for the women and one for the children, making a total of three rooms.

Now it's spacious and you can sit wherever you want.

Li took the women to Zhou Guo and Zhou Xing's room, Zhou Mai and others took the children to Zhou Su's room, and the men and the elderly crowded in the main room, chatting, drinking tea and playing cards. Zhou Guo taught everyone to play leaf playing cards that year, and in recent years everyone would get together to play a few rounds when they had nothing to do.

From leaves in the beginning to wooden boards, bamboo strips, and paper pieces later, there are many varieties and people of all ages can play with them.

The women are not doing needlework today. They have been doing it for a year and it is finally time for them to have some free time, so of course they have to be lazy.

The women looked around the room, the rows of bookshelves on the wall, the piles of books on them, the two large desks side by side under the window, filled with study items, and laughed, "This is obviously where Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi live. They've read so many books, no wonder they look so different, they don't look like country boys at all."

Everyone nodded.

Li smiled and said, "You are wrong. This room is where our two girls live. The two boys' rooms are in the west wing."