Chapter 9: Chapter 8 Dad, You’re Going to Have a Grandson Chapter 9: Chapter 8 Dad, You’re Going to Have a Grandson Time quietly passed, and Yang Family Village welcomed the harvest season.
This year was still blessed with favorable winds and rain, and every household in Yang Family Village had a good harvest, with a joyful atmosphere lingering throughout the village.
“Dad, this year’s harvest is good, look at this rice!” Yang Mingcheng, holding a handful of plump rice grains, came before Yang Zhenshan as if presenting a treasure.
The family fields were tended by Yang Mingcheng and Yang Mingzhi, and the abundant harvest was their doing.
“Good!” Yang Zhenshan’s mouth curled slightly into a smile, as he nodded in approval.
For farmers, grain is everything.
Even though Yang Zhenshan now had some silver, he still felt joy over the abundant harvest.
“This year, we are not selling our grain, we’re storing it all!” Yang Zhenshan declared.
“Storing it all?” Yang Mingcheng asked in surprise.
Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, “Yes, store it all. When you have grain in your hands, you have peace in your heart. From now on, we’ll eat rice every day!”
He certainly didn’t want to eat cornbread or drink coarse grain porridge; he just wanted to eat the clean white rice.
“Great!” Yang Mingcheng grinned broadly, as he too wanted to eat rice at every meal. Who would want to eat chaff and swallow vegetables when there was rice?
The Yang family had twenty acres of land, half of which was planted with rice and the other ten acres were dry fields planted with wheat and corn.
The harvest continued for more than ten days, and the Yang family’s granary was brimming with grain, so much that it could not all be stored.
Of course, this was also because the Yang family’s granary was relatively small. In previous years, the Yang family would sell some grain after the harvest, but this year Yang Zhenshan did not wish to sell it, so naturally, the granary could not hold it all.
It wasn’t a big issue if it couldn’t fit, as the autumn tax was due soon, and the excess grain could be used to pay the tax.
While the Yang family seemed to have a rich harvest, in reality, Yang Zhenshan calculated that, even in a good year, the family’s situation was just sufficient to be warm and fed.
That would be under the circumstance of having no illnesses or disasters for a year; if any calamity struck, even achieving warmth and fullness would be a challenge.
The main issue was the low grain yield per acre. The highest-yielding corn only produced around four to five hundred jin per acre, while the yield for wheat was less than two hundred jin per acre.
In a world without chemical fertilizers or high-yielding grain varieties, it was not easy for ordinary folks to have a full meal.
Fortunately, Yang Zhenshan had some silver, so there wasn’t too much to worry about.
After paying the autumn tax, the temperature kept dropping, and the households in Yang Family Village got busy preparing for winter.
Many villagers went to the mountains and forests to dig for wild vegetables and chop firewood, making the mountains behind Yang Family Village lively for a time.
Yang Zhenshan wasn’t idle either; he found time to go to the county town to buy more than a dozen spearheads and made more than a dozen wooden short spears.
Short spears are suitable for throwing and their power is even greater than that of ordinary bows and crossbows.
For Yang Zhenshan, the short spear was more useful than the bow and arrow.
Yang Zhenshan did not handle the family affairs; with two sons and their wives to manage things, there was no need for him to worry.
Every day, he would wander into the mountains, but not deep into the forest, just around the periphery of Changqing Mountain.
Collecting bird eggs, catching wild rabbits, trapping pheasants; although he didn’t catch any large game, it nonetheless provided the family with more meat.
Besides these, Yang Zhenshan also had an unexpected find.
A thirty-year-old wild ginseng.
There were quite a few medicinal herbs in the mountains, but most were common and Yang Zhenshan couldn’t be bothered to pick them. Today, he stumbled upon a ginseng, and upon digging it out, he discovered it was thirty years old, which delighted him greatly.
A thirty-year-old wild ginseng, with wrinkled bark, thick as a cauldron, with an extremely long head, and a beautifully spiritual body, Yang Zhenshan carefully wrapped it in a cloth bag and hurried home.
Such an old ginseng was not cheap; it could sell for at least a hundred taels or more. Although it wasn’t considered a heavenly or earthly treasure, it was certainly a rare find.
Furthermore, old ginseng has the effects of greatly nourishing the Primordial Qi, replenishing the spleen, benefiting the lungs, producing body fluids, and calming the mind and improving intellect. If his past self had such a ginseng, his chronic injuries could have been largely healed.
For martial artists, old ginseng was indeed a rare medicine, as consuming it could enhance strength and replenish deficits.
However, now that Yang Zhenshan had Spiritual Spring Water, he didn’t need the old ginseng.
Thus, Yang Zhenshan had already planned to sell this ginseng.
When he returned home, Yang Zhenshan discovered that his eldest daughter and son-in-law had returned to their maternal home.
“Dad!”
Upon seeing Yang Zhenshan, Yang Yunyan was filled with happiness.
“Why have you come back? Is everything at home settled?” Yang Zhenshan asked in surprise.
With winter approaching, every household was preparing winter supplies, and the Jiang family was no exception.
Moreover, the Jiang family had to go hunting in the mountains before heavy snow sealed off the paths, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to hunt in the mountains for at least four months once the snow came.
“Dad, I’m pregnant!”
“Pregnant with what?” Yang Zhenshan didn’t catch on for a moment.
“Dad, you’re going to have a grandchild!” Jiang He came over and took the backpack off Yang Zhenshan, which contained seven or eight short spears.
Yang Zhenshan stood there in a daze.
So, I’m going to be a grandfather.
To be a grandfather, to be a grandfather~~
He had become accustomed to being a grandfather during this time, but this would be the first time being a grandfather to a grandchild.
What a new life experience!
This should be a happy occasion, but Yang Zhenshan couldn’t bring himself to smile.
“How many months along?” Yang Zhenshan asked.
“Almost three months now,” Yang Yunyan said with a curved smile in her eyes.
Yang Zhenshan didn’t know what to say and turned to shout to his eldest daughter-in-law, Ms. Wang: “Make a good meal at noon to nourish Yunyan!”
“I know, Dad. I bought three jin of beef this morning, and it’s already stewing!” Ms. Wang said happily from the kitchen.
“Beef! Where did the beef come from?” Yang Zhenshan was surprised.
Cattle are not to be slaughtered casually. Farm households’ cattle are registered with the government office, and indiscriminate slaughtering of draft cattle is a serious crime. Even if there is a legitimate reason to slaughter cattle, the tendons and hides still have to be turned over to the government office.
Therefore, even in the county town, beef is an extremely rare sight.
“Just a few days ago, Ming Shan’s cattle broke their legs. They were slaughtered early this morning, and thinking Dad might enjoy it, I bought three jin of beef!” Ms. Wang came out of the kitchen, speaking cautiously.
She didn’t buy it because she thought Yang Zhenshan liked it; she wanted to try it herself.
Having grown up, she had never tasted beef. Her family was poor before, so she never thought about it, but now that her family’s circumstances were better, she wanted to taste the flavor of beef.
Yang Zhenshan, of course, wouldn’t care about her little thoughts. In his eyes, these were not a big deal.
It’s just wanting to eat beef, isn’t it?
Just eat it then.
He himself wanted to eat it too.
Yang Zhenshan went back inside the house, took out a tael of silver, and handed it to Ms. Wang, saying: “Go buy more. Later, take some back for Yunyan to eat, and keep the rest for eating over the winter.”
Rare opportunities to eat beef shouldn’t be missed, so Yang Zhenshan naturally wanted to buy more to enjoy slowly later.
After all, with the cold weather now, there was no worry of it spoiling.
“Okay, I’ll go right away!” Ms. Wang took the silver, her face breaking into a beaming smile.
Jiang He and Yang Yunyan looked at Yang Zhenshan with astonishment in their eyes.
They were very aware of what kind of life the Yang family used to lead, and Yang Zhenshan’s current generosity was something they were not accustomed to.
However, after thinking about the two wild boars from before, the couple let it go.
They didn’t know that Yang Zhenshan’s confidence came from the old mountain ginseng hidden on him; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so extravagant.
The price of beef was much more expensive than pork; if he didn’t have enough confidence, he would at most just try a little, definitely not buy a tael’s worth of beef at once.
Ms. Wang put down her work and hurried off to buy the beef.
“Come in and sit down!”
Yang Zhenshan called out.
“Dad, I made two sets of clothes for you!” Yang Yunyan brought over a bundle, which contained two cotton clothes, “Try them on!”
This is a loving daughter indeed, even thinking of making cotton clothes for her dad.
Yang Zhenshan tried them on, and they fit just right.
“Where did you get the cotton?” Yang Zhenshan asked.
“Dad Jiang gave it to me,” Yang Yunyan said with a relaxed face.
Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly. He had asked because neither the Jiang family nor the Yang family had divided their households, and all household materials had to be distributed by Jiang Cheng and Ms. Wang from the Jiang family. If Jiang Cheng and Ms. Wang did not provide cotton, the young couple Jiang He and Yang Yunyan would not have cotton for making clothes.
Yang Zhenshan did not refuse his eldest daughter’s filial piety and happily accepted the cotton clothes.
“In a while, I’ll give you some fabric and cotton so that you can make a set for your paternal grandfather and grandmother,” Yang Zhenshan put away the cotton clothes and said.
His original wife had died of illness, but his original wife’s parents were still alive.
When his original wife was alive, she would make clothes for her parents every year. Now, it was up to his eldest daughter.
The reason Yang Zhenshan wanted his eldest daughter to make clothes for her maternal grandparents was that they had taken good care of the Yang family in the past. Even though his original wife had passed away, he could not sever this courtesy and relationship.
Additionally, her maternal grandfather was a Scholar, and although it’s said that scholars are poor while successful candidates are wealthy, being a Scholar is still an honor. Plus, her uncle Lu Zhaoqi was working as a clerk in the county government office, and these connections might come in handy later on.
“Mm,” Yang Yunyan nodded, but her eyes began to redden.
She was probably reminded of her mother.
Yang Zhenshan couldn’t say much more and turned to walk into the bedroom, found a wooden chest, and stored the old mountain ginseng inside.