CHAPTER 49: 49 WANTS TO RAISE PIGS

Zhao Yanli also laughed, "Then I don’t need to find Cai Xia, right?"

"Yeah, the village chief said to find a few people to build the pigsty. They should all have adobe bricks at home."

"That’s fine then. Yuanyuan, have you raised pigs before?"

"I have. My family raises two pigs every year.

Xiao Li, I’ll go to your house tonight to order the little pigs. I want to raise three." Not eating the grain ourselves, and sheep can eat less, so we might as well raise a few more pigs.

"Sure, I’ll pick the best two for you. Let me tell you, I feed these little pigs myself. I know which ones are good."

"Thanks, pick three for me. I plan to raise three. I’m the only one eating at home, with two acres of corn, two acres of sorghum, and one acre of sweet potatoes. Raising three pigs shouldn’t be a problem."

"But you don’t have any grain to feed them now, do you?"

"I’ll ask around to buy some corn. The little pigs don’t eat much now."

"How much corn do you need to buy?"

"But when it comes time to sell the pigs, I can sell them for a lot of money."

Zhao Yanli nodded, it was true. "Yuanyuan, buying grain costs quite a bit."

"It’s okay. I haven’t paid back the money the village chief lent me yet; it should be enough to buy grain. Besides, when there are plenty of wild vegetables, we won’t need that much grain."

The two continued working as they chatted, not letting the conversation delay their tasks.

Su Yuanyuan thought that if she raised pigs, she could use the sheep milk collected in her space. Besides, she planned to go to the county in the next few days to see if there was anything that could catch small fish. That way, she could make fish bone powder.

Even cooking it with pig feed at that time would work.

Thinking of this, she asked, "Xiao Li, do you know if there’s any tool around here that can catch small fish?"

"We all weave our own traps, or go to the river to catch fish. What are you planning to do?"

"I want to buy little fish, any amount will do. I think feeding them to pigs will make them grow faster."

"Feeding fish to pigs? Can they eat that?"

"They should be able to. We’ll never know until we try.

And, you have a lot of friends. If they catch anything, I’ll take it." They can be dried, crushed, and fed to chickens too.

"Okay. I understand. It can be exchanged for money; they’ll definitely be willing."

At noon, the Zhao family didn’t return home. Zhao Xiaojing went back to make meals and brought them to the field.

Su Yuanyuan had no choice; her food was private, so it’s better to go home.

In these times, unless you are family, no one would feed outsiders. So Zhao Yanli didn’t invite Su Yuanyuan, but she did feel sorry for her.

After returning home, she led the sheep back, boiled water, and prepared food. After eating her fill, she didn’t rest and went straight to the field. There really was a lot to do.

The whole afternoon, she got a lot done. Because tomorrow, they would be collecting adobe bricks, so she needed to work extra today.

She worked until she couldn’t see anymore and then went home.

Tomorrow, she would get up at four in the morning and work for a while. In the future, she could only work during mornings and evenings. At least for these three days, she needed to be at home, though there was no need to do much; the wasteland in front of the house could be tidied up these days.

Not yet home, she heard the sheep bleating; indeed, it was too late, already past eight. Quickly, she led the sheep home, gave them water, and hurried to Zhao Tian’s house.

The Zhao family had just finished eating. Zhao Yanli had already told her family that Su Yuanyuan would come to choose the little pigs.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhao Tian were honest people, and even if they were swindlers, they wouldn’t doubt a child’s words.

When Su Yuanyuan arrived at Zhao’s house, Zhao Yanli ran out with a smile. "Yuanyuan, I’ll take you to choose the little pigs."

"Xiao Li, there’s no rush. My pigsty will take a few days to finish. There’s no place to keep them right now. I was just going to talk to Uncle and Aunt and leave a deposit."

Mr. and Mrs. Zhao Tian also came out, and Su Yuanyuan politely greeted them, "Uncle, Aunt, here’s ten yuan as the deposit for the three pigs I’m buying. When I come for the pigs, I’ll settle everything."

Zhao Tian accepted the money, "Okay, I understand. Come the day after tomorrow to pick them, and I’ll deliver them to you."

After saying some words of thanks, Su Yuanyuan returned home.

Back home, she shut the door and entered her space directly. She was too tired today. Originally, she wanted to manage without relying on the Spiritual Spring Water.

But today, she had a change of heart. Given the conditions she had, why make herself suffer? How silly!

So, she drank a glass of Spiritual Spring Water, took a hot bath, and enjoyed a nice bowl of wontons.

The next day at four, before dawn, she took her hoe and went to the fields. Today, many families hadn’t finished their work, probably around noon or evening.

However, she’d stop working at eight and wait at home, just in case someone delivered something in the morning. Besides, the wasteland in front of the house also needed weeding.

The four hours flew by without a break, but she was pleased with the results. Only a few plots remained, and she could finish hoeing tomorrow morning.

Upon returning home, she quickly fed the sheep, tidied up a bit, ate a pancake, rested ten minutes, and then went to weed.

By noon, no one had yet delivered the adobe bricks. After having lunch and resting on the kang, she heard a voice,

"Is anyone home?"

"Yes, I’m home." Su Yuanyuan responded while walking out.

As she stepped out, she saw four carts had arrived. She recognized them as belonging to the Wu family in the village. The man was Wu Liansheng, accompanied by his three sons, each pushing a cart full of adobe bricks outside her yard.

"Uncle, I plan to build the pigsty here." She led the way.

The father and sons followed her into the yard, "Uncle, I’d like to build a big pigsty here."

Wu Liansheng put the cart down and walked in a circle, "This place is good. How many pigs do you plan to raise?"

"Uncle, I want to raise three pigs."

"Three? Girl, it’s just you; three pigs will be too much work."

Su Yuanyuan felt the kindness in Wu Liansheng’s words, "Uncle, it’s actually not much. I used to raise two pigs at home; adding one more won’t be too much for me."

Wu Liansheng nodded, "Go find me a sturdy branch."

Su Yuanyuan saw him marking the ground, outlining the pigsty’s position.

"Girl, a lot of soil needs to be dug here. Are you planning to haul it away?" In fact, Wu Liansheng wanted to suggest Su Yuanyuan make adobe bricks, but seeing her thin and small stature, he swallowed the words.

"Uncle, I intend to make adobe bricks myself. They might come in handy later.

Besides, I want to build a chicken coop next to the pigsty; is that okay?"

"For the chicken coop, just fence it with branches and build a simple shelter."

Su Yuanyuan had no objections; her grandmother’s chicken coop was like that before.

"Uncle, do you think the branches from the woodshed would work?"

Wu Liansheng followed her to the woodshed, inwardly admiring the girl for being quite capable.