The first to know the news was Lijia Village, followed by Zhoujia Village. Zhou Laoer went to Zhoujia Village to spread the news, and Xuemei went back with him, bringing back the dried ferns, day lilies, etc. that she had dried at home.
Xuemei followed her mother in drying whatever she wanted. The rented house had a big vegetable garden, so she planted a lot of spinach and radishes and dried a lot of vegetables.
After Zhulan weighed the goods for her eldest daughter's family, she calculated the money. Her eldest daughter had nothing to do at home, so she dried a lot of things. She brought five pounds of fungus and mushrooms, one pound less of monkey head, and two pounds of dried spinach, which looked large but not very heavy. There were two pounds of day lily, eight pounds more of fern, two pounds of dried dandelions, and thirty pounds more of dried radish.
When it came down to it, it was six hundred and fifty coins, more than half a tael of silver, a considerable income. If Xuemei hadn't remembered her child, she would have sold it all so that her mother could subsidize her in the future. She wanted to sell everything at home.
The next morning, the door of Zhulan's house was not open, and those who knew the news came to guard it early.
Zhou Laoer was good at math and helped with the accounting. Li's family also sold a lot. They had originally picked more of them to have as vegetables in the winter so as to save some food, but now they were all exchanged for silver. Although they were all mushrooms, black fungus, and dried radishes, the quantity was large and they sold for more than six cents.
There are many boys in Lijia Village, and every household has a lot of dried radishes. There are no high-priced ones, but every household has a lot of low-priced ones, especially dried radishes.
Zheng Yang did not dislike it and accepted all the gifts. He took them back to eat or sent them to the barracks as a favor.
We stopped harvesting after two days in a row because these dried vegetables took up too much space, and the quantity for two days was a lot. We couldn't use the water route to prevent moisture, so we could only use the land route, and we had to build a shed to avoid snow and water. There were too many and we couldn't handle it all.
If the Zheng family had not been useful and had money, most merchants would not have done such a losing business. The travel expenses were too expensive, and the losses would be even greater if they took the water route and were affected by tides.
Moreover, people in the south can eat green vegetables in winter. People in the south don’t care about dried vegetables. They think eating green vegetables is much better. Dried vegetables are only popular in the north, northwest, border and other places.
When Zheng Yang left, Zhulan took out half of the monkey head and dried dandelions and gave them to Zheng Yang. As for how the talk with Mr. Lu went, Zheng Yang's good mood showed that it must have been a success.
Zheng Yang left again in a hurry just a few days after he came back, in order to return to the northwest before the New Year.
As for Jiang Sheng's mother's illness, Zhulan didn't even need to ask. From Jiang Sheng's stiff face, she knew that it was very likely that he was pretending. The old couple of the Jiang family felt unwilling to have raised her for so long without getting any benefits, but they also regretted what they had done. The two thoughts were alternating, which was a bit too much. As long as her daughter was not bullied, she didn't bother to care.
Half a month after Zheng Yang left, it snowed for the second time this year. It seemed as if there was a leak in the sky and it snowed without end.
Zhulan looked at the boy from Li's family helping to clear the snow outside and said worriedly, "Although it's not a heavy snowfall, it has been snowing for two days and one night. The snow is up to my waist. When will this snow stop?"
Sun was worried, "Good years are only a few years old. If there is a snowstorm this year, life will be hard again."
During the winter snowstorms, houses collapsed and there was no place to live. People were not afraid if they had plenty of surplus food at home, but they were afraid if they ran out of food and had little firewood. Many people died every time there was a snowstorm.
Moreover, there will be wild animals coming down the mountain, and we are just afraid of the hungry wolves!
Zhulan was thinking about Xuemei, "I don't know what happened to the old house. Jiang Sheng is the only person in the house who can do anything. It's hard for him to even go up to the roof and sweep the snow."
Sun comforted her, "Your old house is solid and won't collapse. Besides, Jiang Sheng is also a capable man. With Zhou's help, nothing will happen to him."
Zhulan is no stranger to various disasters in modern times, but modern mechanization, high rescue efficiency, and complete medical facilities are available. This was not the case in ancient times. Only when there were refugees would they take it seriously. Moreover, local rescue relied on the yamen runners of the county government. Dream on. Who will care about you
The disaster is serious. We have to report it to the capital city one by one. The funds allocated for disaster relief are embezzled at every level. We are lucky enough to have enough money left to set up a porridge stall. Don't expect anything else.
Zhulan doesn't want a snowstorm to happen. In ancient times, no matter what kind of disaster it was, there would be a lot of deaths, and the largest proportion of deaths were among the elderly, women and children.
The heavy snow fell for another day before it stopped. That night, Zhulan heard the howling of wolves. Lijia Village was close to the mountains, and the heavy snow blocked the mountains and there was no food, so the large wild animals came down the mountains to look for food.
Zhulan and Zhou Shuren lit candles and stood in the yard in their clothes. The dog at home kept barking, and the sound of wolves howling outside was particularly close. They were entering the village.
Zhulan's family was not afraid because the courtyard wall was high and the snow outside the wall had been cleared. The snow that was half a person's height was gone, so there was no point to step on and they were not afraid of the wolves jumping up.
After a while, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er came over with torches, followed by Li and Zhao behind Zhou Lao Da, both holding their children, while Mingyun held Mingteng and Yushuang. Li sent the children into the house and came out with a worried look on her face, worried about her parents' home. But no one dared to open the door and go out at this time, as who knew how many wolves would come down.
Zhulan held Zhou Shuren's hand tightly, she was scared. These wolves were not domesticated in the zoo. The ancient wolves were extremely wild and really ate people.
Zhou Shuren was still able to hold on, but his heart was heavy. No matter how many men there were in Lijia Village, there would always be places that were overlooked. If they really rushed into the yard and broke the window, there would definitely be casualties. In a snowy day, if someone was injured and the road to the county was blocked, infection and fever would also be fatal.
Now all the doors in the village are closed, and shouts and wolf howls can be vaguely heard.
Zhu Lan said worriedly, "There are many men in Lijia Village. Will the wolves go to Zhoujia Village?"
A quarter of an hour’s journey wasn’t far. Zhoujia Village wasn’t like Lijia Village, which had high walls. Some houses didn’t have walls but only wooden fences.
Zhulan thanked again and said that a new wall was built for her family last year. The wall is not low and is safer.
Zhou Shuren could hear the wolf's screams and was a little unsure. Wolves are very smart animals. "There's no point worrying now. We'll know tomorrow morning."
Yang Dayong squatted and smoked a cigarette. "Animals have the most accurate intuition. It's only been a few days since the snow closed the mountain, and the wolves are already coming down the mountain to look for food. It looks like there will be a snowstorm this year."
The current situation cannot be considered a snowstorm. In his memory, the real big snowstorm occurred when he was a child, and many people died.
Zhou Shuren said: "Zheng Yang is really lucky. According to the distance he traveled, he should have passed the capital by now. At least he is not stuck on the road."
Zhulan hummed.
Zhou Shuren saw that he didn't divert his attention and said to the eldest and second eldest Zhou, "You two hold the dog and watch the first half of the night. Chang Lian, Chang Zhirongchuan and the other two will watch the second half. The others can go back to the main house to rest. It's safer for the whole family to stay together."
Zhulan and Zhou Shuren stayed awake all night. When it was daybreak, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er took the four dogs out to check.
Zhulan and Zhou Shuren waited for news, and they came back soon.