โMove left, a little more to the left. Hey, thatโs right!โ
โThis courtyard wall must be firmly reinforced. Donโt skimp on the stone or materialsโitโs crucial to do it properly and solidly!โ
Early May brought warmth to the air, and within the่ familyโs lands, work was in full swing, bustling with energy. The sounds of chiseling stone and carrying timber echoed far beyond, carrying for miles around.
Beside the old่ family house, a new large mansion was being built, stretching out to twenty rooms.
Bricks, tiles, stones, woodโฆ huge heaps of materials were stacked. Two teams of workers handled the construction, making this site the liveliest spot during the day. Idle villagers often wandered over to watch the activity.
As noon approached and the sun rose high, heating the earth, Kang He carried a bucket of tea into the construction site, calling out to the builders to take a break and quench their thirst.
Under the great locust tree, villagers seeking shade saw Kang He and flattered him, โThis new house youโre building is spacious and grandโitโs almost as big as the village chiefโs mansion.โ
Kang He laughed, raised his bowl, and invited the onlooking villagers to drink as well.
Of course, there were always those with sour tongues who refused the tea and sneered, โKang He, your house may be large, and those outer walls are built several feet high. People canโt even climb up with ordinary ladders. Who exactly are you trying to keep out from the village?โ
The speaker was from the Deng family, a well-off household in the village. A few years ago, they had unexpectedly landed a profitable business, and over these years had accumulated some wealth, ranking among the villageโs more prominent families.
The newly rich often grew a bit proud and tried to flaunt their status in the village.
But when facing families with even more assets, they couldnโt help but envy. Though knowing they were still a step behind, their hearts refused to accept it.
They remembered how the่ family had once been poor. During disaster years, when their rice barrels were empty, the Dengs had even borrowed rice from the่ family. Now, the่ family was comfortably wealthy.
Actually, their business had started only about twenty years earlier than the Dengsโ, yet they somehow managed to build up a considerable estate.
In the village alone, the่ family owned nearly a hundred mu of farmland, worked by twenty tenant farmers.
Rough calculations suggested that just from land yields, they could earn over a hundred guan annually.
They didnโt rely solely on grain farming, but cultivated more profitable crops, like rapeseed.
Over ten mu of rapeseed fields blossomed vibrantly in spring, turning half the village golden. Once harvested, the seeds were pressed into hundreds of jin of oil.
Besides rapeseed, they kept beehives producing fragrant, sweet honey. Even city confectioners sourced honey from the่ family.
They also grew soybeansโboth yellow and greenโhaving whatever they needed.
What annoyed others was that everything they planted thrived. The่ familyโs second uncle was particularly skilled at managing the land, ensuring fertile soil and high yields.
Their livestock was notable, tooโchickens, ducks, geese, rabbitsโall raised in large coops.
Everyone within ten li knew to come to the่ family for poultry meat when holding banquets.
Beyond just meat for meals, people bought livestock directlyโcows, horses, mules, donkeys. No one knew where the mysterious Mou family got the knowledge to raise them so well.
These were just the rural assets. In the city, the่ family also ran shops with booming business, earning who knew how much each year.
If they werenโt making good money, could they afford to build such a mansion?
Plus, they employed five full-time workersโsuch a lifestyle naturally drew envy.
The Deng family man couldnโt figure it out. Aside from some occasional craftsmanship, their business ventures just didnโt work. Last year, they tried growing melons and vegetables to sell, but after a yearโs hard work barely broke evenโjust wasted effort.
Seeing the่ family prosper made him increasingly bitter.
Kang He wasnโt angered by Dengโs words. He smiled and said, โThese high walls are to keep out ill-intentioned people. Itโs not meant to keep out Deng brothers. Donโt take it personally.โ
Everyone laughed, but Deng felt mocked and didnโt dare retort.
Arguing would only make it seem like he was coveting othersโ property.
By noon, the่ family gathered at the old house to eat.
The hot weather made it uncomfortable, but the newly hired farmhand, Xiao Xiang, prepared a midday dish of fresh lettuce leaves tossed in home-pressed mountain pepper oil, light and fragrant, which everyone enjoyed.
Xiao Xiang normally helped with cooking, cleaning, and laundry, while another farmhand, Brother Chang, handled heavier work.
At the table,่ father ate a bowl of porridge and said, โThis house should be finished within a month or so. Five months of construction already, and itโs been noisy every day.โ
Chen Peifang teased him, โYou complain about noise? People elsewhere donโt even get to endure this much trouble.โ
่ father chuckled.
The new mansion was not only spacious but used high-quality stone and bricks for the outer wallsโcosting tens of guan alone.
When fully completed, the house would cost over two hundred guan. Such a sum, if taken to the city, was no small fortune.
Nowadays, everyone who met่ Shoulin held him in high regard.
Kang He and่ Jing stayed out of the coupleโs quarrel, sitting on either side of little Dafu at the center.
The boy had just turned five in February and was growing as tall as a seven- or eight-year-old in the village. Though lankier than before, he was no longer chubby but somewhat slender.
Kang He worried Dafu wasnโt gaining enough weight, so he scooped some minced meat and tofu stew into a bowl. Dafu took a round spoon and said, โThank you, Father.โ
He eagerly ate the fragrant tofu mixed with rice.
He wasnโt picky and ate even better than before, no longer needing anyoneโs help during meals.
Kang He and่ Jing seemed unaccustomed to having children around, as if they hadnโt fully experienced raising one.
But children grew fast, becoming more understanding and well-behaved.
They always found reasons to care for the boyโfeeding him during meals, bathing him at night.
Dafu didnโt talk much nor cause trouble. One day, overwhelmed, he buried his face in Chen Peifangโs arms and cried sadly.
โIโm not a little kid anymore. I can eat and bathe by myself. Father and Uncle still take care of me. Does that mean Iโm not smart? Am I really a stupid child?โ
Chen Peifang felt both angry and sad hearing this, comforting Dafu for a while before chiding Kang He.
The father had once seen Dafuโs uncommon good behavior and feared the boy might be slow-witted, even suggesting a visit to Doctor Zhu.
Now he spoke such words again, scolding Dafuโhow painful must that be to remember?
She said to Kang He, โYou two are still young. If you spent less time on business and had a few more children, you wouldnโt complain about our Dafu being too sensible.โ
Kang He was speechless, reluctant to bother Dafu.
โWhat are we doing this afternoon?โ Kang He asked, watching Dafu wipe his mouth.
Dafu replied, โFifteen will come to look for me. Weโre going to help Uncle Mou collect quail eggs. I told him this morning to save the eggs for the afternoon.โ
Fifteen was the son of Xu Yangโs family, named Xu Anyan, nicknamed Fifteen because he was born on the fifteenth day.
He was a bit younger than Dafu, but the two boys got along well.
่ Jing smiled, โDonโt break the eggs, then.โ
โWe wonโt. Uncle Mou taught me how to collect quail eggs properly, and Fifteen knows too.โ
Dafu then asked่ Jing, โLast time Fifteen came, he saw the newborn rabbits and really liked them. When he comes, can I give him a black baby rabbit?โ
่ Jing nodded, โYour Second Uncle always brings you snacks, so giving Fifteen a rabbit is only proper.โ
Dafu was happy, putting down his bowl and saying goodbye to the others before running to the door to wait for Fifteen.
Soon, Brother Yuan arrived with Fifteen at the house.
The two boys played happily, jumping and running while holding a small rabbit as they headed to the coop.
They could play there all day long.
Brother Yuan brought a lunchbox of sweet sticky rice lotus root, sharing a plate with Chen Peifang and the others and leaving some for the boys to snack on after playing.
โDafu hardly ate at lunch and was already pestering to come find him. Not to mention making him nap first,โ Chen Peifang said as she invited Brother Yuan inside.
Kang He asked a few questions about what Xu Yang had been up to lately, as he hadnโt been seen for two days.
Brother Yuan said Xu Yang had gone to the county office. The newly appointed county magistrate had summoned all village chiefs for some administrative matters.
่ Jing peeked into the coop and saw Dafu and Fifteen trailing after Mou Dalang like two little tails, each carrying a small basket carefully placing thumb-sized quail eggs inside.
The boys were fascinated, squeezing and inspecting the spotted eggs with great curiosity.
The family currently raised over a hundred quails, which were prolific layersโeach female quail laid nearly one egg per day.
With dozens of females, they could gather dozens of eggs daily.
Kang Heโs shop sold these eggs well, even better than chicken or duck eggs.
People liked their small, delicate size, and one quail egg fetched a copper coin. Wealthier families would buy twenty or fifty eggs at a time.
Last year, Kang He sold some marinated quail eggs at He Xiaoqiuโs shop and even produced some Songhua-style quail eggs, which were in short supply.
After a while, Kang He himself came in.
He watched the boys collecting quail eggs, then went to check on the livestock shed.
Mou Dalang said, โThese days we raise all the livestock ourselves. A few farmers came to look but didnโt buy. Maybe we should sell some at a lower price to the cityโs livestock market?โ
Kang He saw several strong animals, looking a bit like fools with their heads down, greedily eating fodder. They were the hungriest in the shed and gaining weight every day.
Selling them would be good since raising them long-term was costly. They had about twenty head of various livestock.
Young stock was hard to grow, so selling them would recover some money. The longer they kept them, the more expenses they incurred, leaving less profit.
But selling to the livestock market meant low prices.
For example, a strong donkey might only fetch twelve guan there, but people on the street would pay eighteen to twenty guan.
If Kang He sold directly, he wouldnโt get as high as twenty guan but could sell for fifteen or sixteen, giving buyers a good deal and himself more profit than selling to the market.
Because of this, many farmers came to their place to check prices and bought livestock without issue.
But business was never stable.
Kang He considered whether to sell or not, and่ Jing suddenly spoke, โIf you donโt want to sell to the city but donโt want them to be idle either, why not find work for these strong animals?โ
Kang He asked, โWe already lend the livestock to twenty tenant farmers. Besides that, when else can they work?โ
่ Jing said, โLend them to farmers who canโt afford or donโt own livestock but still need animals for work.โ
Mou Dalang nodded, โYou might not know, Brother Kang, but almost every five or ten days, someone comes to borrow livestock. Relatives on the left, relatives on the rightโitโs hard to refuse.
But once you open the door to lending, itโs hard to control. Borrow from this family but not that one, and people start gossiping. Soon, the whole village will be borrowing from us.โ
่ father knew this was troublesome. Whenever someone came asking to borrow livestock, if Mrs. Chen or Qiaoโer werenโt home, heโd pretend to be asleep or sneak out the back.
He was alone in handling village matters.
People outside said he was abusing his power, and gossip often reached his wife and Doctor Zhuโs ears.
Mou Dalang said, โIf the livestock is lent out for paid work, itโs better than lending for free. People wonโt dare to ask frivolously.
If they want to use the animals for work, they pay. We canโt refuse.โ
He wanted to discuss this with Kang He but had been busy all along.
Kang He realized he hadnโt known much about such household affairs, but it was indeed a village matter.
โYou should have told me earlier. Letโs do it! Set a schedule and price, and get things going.โ
In recent years, Mou Dalang had worked hard for the่ family. When Doctor Zhuโs apprentice got married last year, his household expenses grew, and่ family increased his wages by five hundred coins.
He worked for the่ family while Jiโer still lived in the village. There were plans to bring his father over to help with careโthings were looking good.
Mou Dalang happily agreed.
Kang He then praised่ Jing, โOur Jing brother is good at business, but you didnโt say a word.โ
่ Jing didnโt accept the compliment, thinking he wasnโt skilled in business. Recently, he helped an old man carrying heavy goods by fixing a wooden cart and gave him a ride partway.
The old man said if he had money, heโd buy livestock to work. But these animals were expensiveโbeyond what ordinary people could save for.
He sighed, saying that renting a few animals would be better.
Renting livestock in the county was complicated; local markets wouldnโt easily lend animals without raising prices or requiring a deposit.
่ Jing had just heard all this and decided to bring it up.
The next day, Kang He visited the city livestock market to check rental prices and details, making clear notes.
He then set rental prices for their own livestock.
By value, donkeys were cheapest, followed by mules (hybrids of horse and donkey), then cows, with horses being most expensive.
The่ family had only two stallions and two mares, the most ordinary breeds. Kang He had found them through connections, costing around twenty guan each.
Though Mou Dalang raised a colt, Kang He hadnโt yet dared to rent horses out; and rural farmers rarely rented horses anyway.
So only cows, mules, and donkeys were rented.
County rates were about ten copper coins a day for donkeys, with variations based on quality, plus or minus five coins.
Mules and cows rented for about fifty coins a day.
The usual rules applied.
For farm labor, cows were preferred; for transport or pulling carts, mules were chosen.
Prices varied based on need.
Kang He set their prices about ten coins lower than the cityโs.
Rental times ranged from morning to night, with a deposit of one guan.
This deposit ensured animals were returned on time and prevented mistreatment.
Within days, people came forward to rent livestock again.
Mou Dalang explained the new rules:่ family charged for rentals to earn money, so borrowers had to pay.
Some cursed, โ่ family really has money on their mindsโcharging for dung and now livestock rentals.โ
โOne wouldnโt have a mansion without money. People have to be ruthless in business or they canโt make money. I borrowed a donkey just to help cut grass for a bowl of grain, and่ family charges twenty coins a day!โ
But some reasoned, โYou canโt compare outsiders to family.่ family raises many animals, feeding and caring for them, so they canโt lend for free.โ
โIโm not coming empty-handed eitherโI always bring vegetables.โ
โ่ family doesnโt lack those. They have so much land, they grow everything.โ
โWang Huโer,่ family has helped you a lot by speaking for them. If you donโt go collect wages from them, arenโt you neglecting your job protecting่ family?โ
The conversation ended with ill feelings.
Still, over time, more people rented livestock from the่ family.
Those who criticized them in groups still quietly went to rent.
This gossip didnโt breed hatred; it made people aware of่ familyโs livestock rental business.
Their prices were more affordable than the cityโs, and nearbyโwasnโt that convenient?
The ‘Fan’ name doesn’t get proper translation
Who is fifteen? Iโm utterly confused by this chapter, thanks for the translation
Xu Yang’s child