Chapter 109: Suggestion
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling hid the rabbits in the pile of firewood and carried it back. Madam Ma-Liu was bringing Xiuhong to tidy up the private plot of land behind the house used for planting vegetables. Madam Ma-Liu planned to tidy it up first and sow the vegetable seeds when the weather turned warmer.
After placing the firewood in the kitchen, Mu Yangling secretly placed the two rabbits at the door. She waved at Xiuhong who was standing at the back of the house.
Xiuhong glanced at her grandmother before sneaking back. “Cousin, what’s the matter?”
“I’ve hunted two rabbits. Bring them with you when you bring Xiulan to pick up firewood later. When you come back, say that you picked them up in the mountains.”
Xiuhong’s mouth fell open. “You can even pick up rabbits?”
“Why not? Just say that while you were picking up firewood, two rabbits rushed over as they were fighting each other. You waved the firewood in your hand and hit one, but the other rabbit hit a tree and fainted. Also, say that there were many rabbits in the forest, but unfortunately, you didn’t dare to go in.”
Xiuhong blinked and nodded. “I’ll remember everything, Cousin.”
“Then hurry up and go. I’ll go work with your grandmother.”
“Cousin, Young Master Fan is here.” Xiuhong was about to leave when she saw Fan Zijin riding his horse over.
Mu Yangling straightened her back and looked over. Waving at Xiuhong, she said, “Go quickly. Just pick up some firewood at the foot of the mountain.”
After Xiuhong jogged away, Mu Yangling stood by the roadside and waited for Fan Zijin to come over.
Fan Zijin looked down at Mu Yangling and asked with a smile, “How is it? Are you satisfied with the land given to your family?”
Mu Yangling replied with an insincere smile, “I’m very satisfied. Where’s Qi Haoran? Why isn’t he here?”
“He’s busy training and building houses with the soldiers all day long. He doesn’t even have time to do his homework.” The teacher that their cousin had hired for them had already lost his temper several times. If not for the fact that their cousin had paid him a lot of tuition, he would have quit long ago.
Mu Yangling was silent for a moment before asking, “Is he unable to distinguish between good and bad land?”
Fan Zijin burst out laughing. “Never mind him. Even for me, I’ve only learnt a little about the topic in the past two days. Why? Can you distinguish?”
“I’m no expert either, but I know that you’ve got to have moisture to farm. There can’t be too much or too little. If there’s too much, it’ll result in water logging. If there’s too little, there’ll be drought.”
“Even a three-year-old knows that.”
“That three-year-old must not know that the river will rise in spring this year. Perhaps it will flood the land near the river. When summer comes, there might even be drought.”
Putting away the smile on his face, Fan Zijin jumped off the horse. He walked to Mu Yangling and asked solemnly, “Is it your guess again?”
Mu Yangling looked at him persistently. “Even if there’s no drought this summer, it’s beneficial for everyone to repair the water conservancy facilities.”
“You make it sound so nice. Don’t we need people for that? Now, everyone has to build houses, build camps, and train. Even if we give Haoran three heads and six arms, he won’t be able to do it.” Fan Zijin was a little frustrated. While he didn’t want Haoran to be too tired, he did feel that what Mu Yangling said made sense, so he was momentarily conflicted.
Mu Yangling was also a little discouraged. “But I’m really worried that if the harvest next year isn’t good, there might not be enough rations. I’m afraid that so many commoners will have no food and clothing. All of us are under General Qi’s charge. Do you think the Imperial Court will open up a warehouse to provide disaster relief?”
Fan Zijin’s expression darkened as he pondered seriously.
Seeing that his expression was not good, Mu Yangling sighed and said, “Forget it. What’s important now is when the farming tools will arrive. There are so many weeds in the field. We have to remove them. Otherwise, how are we going to plant in spring?”
Fan Zijin coughed lightly and asked, “How do you plan to plant it?”
Mu Yangling glared at him. “How else? I only have two hands. There are only two and a half people in my family who can work. I’m one, my great-aunt is another, and Xiuhong is considered half. I’ve never farmed before, so I don’t know how much I can plant. However, I’ll first plant wheat on the 20 plus acres of high-grade land on both sides, then serve the medium-grade land in the military field in the south. Even if it’s rough farming, we’ve got to plant 40 acres of that.”
Mu Yangling looked at him sadly. “You guys chose great plots for me.”
Fan Zijin coughed uncomfortably and said, “This land was chosen by Haoran. He felt that the land in the east is connected to the river and forms a large area, so it must be an excellent choice. Furthermore, you’re used to hunting in the south. There’s enough land there, so he drew a circle there for you.”
Mu Yangling snorted. “Thank him for me.”
Fan Zijin lowered his head and smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring him the message.”
When Madam Ma-Liu returned from the fields and saw Fan Zijin’s back view, she rebuked, “Why didn’t you invite Young Master Fan into the house?”
“I’m afraid that our brick bed will collapse again.” Seeing Madam Ma-Liu looking at him reproachfully, Mu Yangling hurriedly smiled and said, “No, isn’t there nothing to entertain guests at home? It’s not good to let him in.”
Only then did Madam Ma-Liu remain silent.
“Great-aunt, I’ll go to the fields with you later. Let’s get rid of the weeds in the high-grade fields first.”
“How can we get rid of the weeds without a hoe?” Madam Ma-Liu asked worriedly.
“Set a fire. The ashes from burning it can even be used as fertilizer.”
“How can we?” Madam Ma-Liu waved her hand and said, “What if the fire spreads to the forest accidentally? No, no, definitely not.”
Mu Yangling patted her chest and said, “Don’t worry, Great-aunt. I have a way to make sure it doesn’t spread to the forest. Not only that, but it won’t even spread anywhere near someone else’s field. In a while, we’ll go and pluck the grass at the edge. We can’t burn the weeds there. If we put some distance between them, the fire won’t spread.”
“Won’t the wind blow over?”
“Therefore, we have to choose a windless morning to do it. Just wait and see. I’ll burn a little at a time and let it slowly spread it over. Once it expands, I’ll put it out. It definitely won’t go out of control.” Although Mu Yangling had never set a fire before, she had undergone fire-fighting training and had abundant theoretical knowledge. She decided to test it out tomorrow morning.
Seeing how confident she was, Madam Ma-Liu slowly believed her. “Then let me know when you start the fire. I have to be prepared.”
Mu Yangling nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t dare to set the fire alone.”
“If we can burn it with fire, it will be much easier. We just have to plow the soil and fertilize it later.” Madam Ma-Liu pondered and said, “How about this? If there’s wind tomorrow, go to West Mountain Village. If not, go the day after tomorrow and find more farming tools as soon as possible. We can’t wait for the higher-ups to assign us the farming before we start working. Otherwise, we definitely won’t be able to do much.”
Mu Yangling agreed.
At noon, the three little ones returned with three bundles of firewood. Xiuhong and Xiulan each carried a rabbit. As soon as they entered, they shouted, “Grandma, Grandma! Look at what we brought back!”
When Madam Ma-Liu came out and saw the rabbits, she was stunned. “Where did you get this?”
Xiuhong regurgitated Mu Yangling’s excuse, gesturing with her hands vividly. Not to mention Madam Ma-Liu, if Mu Yangling didn’t know what was going on in advance, she would have believed her.
Madam Ma-Liu was all smiles. “Alright, alright. However, you can only go to the foot of the mountain in the future. You can’t enter the mountain, understand?”
Xiuhong nodded with a smile before turning around to give Mu Yangling a smug look.