Goldfield
Chapter 69: Expanding Resources

The little glutinous dumpling did not plan to notice him, but when it felt a hint of his sadness, it proudly opened its mouth, [You actually do not believe me, this sacred stone! Let me tell you, my strength has increased tremendously lately. I can turn into a physical form. As long as I, this heavenly stone, help him clear his meridians and circulate his vital energy every day, he will definitely be able to walk within half a month. But, he did suffer a serious injury, so he might walk with a limp.]

Yu Xiaocao was truly relieved now. He excitedly hugged the little golden kitten and kissed it a few times, then said, [You can transform into physical form? Doesn't that mean your strength has increased by quite a lot? Nicely done, Small Ketan Dumplings. You are truly my lucky star! Thank you very much!]

The little holy stone felt a little embarrassed and awkwardly exclaimed, [Go, go! I want to be a girl in the future. Basic lesbian.].

“Ha-ha..” Seeing the little kitten being shy, Yu Xiaocao could not help but laugh.

“Bungsu's sister, what's up?” Xiaolian, who was beside him, was startled to wake up. He rubbed his eyes and asked with sleepy eyes.

“No... None!” Xiaocao quickly put away the colorful stone and stuffed the little golden kitten into his blanket. He pretended like he had just woken up and said, “I dream and woke up laughing ..”

“What kind of beautiful dreams make you so happy?” Xiaolian flipped over and lay on the bed facing him.

Yu Xiaocao hurriedly closed his eyes as if he was very sleepy and replied, “I don't remember ..”

She was afraid that Xiaolian would keep asking, so she deliberately slowed her breathing and pretended to sleep. He didn't know when, but he ended up falling asleep as he pretended…

After they sent out five taels, they didn't have much money left in the house. They cannot grow three hectares of sweet potatoes until May and it will take more than half a year until they can harvest them. How will their family survive for half a year?

Xiaocao carefully calculated the resources of their family. In the kitchen, other than the two wild rabbits left from the banquet, there were still five cabbages and some radishes. They have about two kati of wheat flour and four or five kati of millet flour. Sweet potato flour was the most they had, but only less than ten catties remained. In the basement of the backyard, they had more than a hundred catties of sweet potatoes that his maternal grandmother had given him. If they live frugally, they can last more than a month.

They only had forty copper coins left in the house. They were reluctant to eat the two rabbits, so they brought them to the city market and sold them for over two hundred copper coins.

The winter snowstorm has been a disaster. Although the government had stabilized prices, the lives of the commoners were still tight and frugal.

Yu Xiaocao had learned that the price in early spring was much higher than when he first moved here. Pricing at a grain store is a great example. Coarse grains, such as millet flour and sweet potato flour, were once two copper coins one catty, but now cost three or four copper coins. Processed flour, which cost five copper coins per catty last year, costs at least eight copper coins now. White rice is more expensive. The peak had risen to fifteen copper coins per catty. It cost thirty copper coins one catty for pork at the moment, while the price of eggs also rose quite a lot.

They only had two hundred and sixty copper coins left. Their families would probably consume at least a hundred catties of grain per month, so after making a rough calculation, they didn't even have enough money to buy coarse grain. It is only fitting that most villagers cannot eat wheat flour all year round!

He thinks saving is not enough. They need to expand their revenue sources!

Madam Liu also understood the fact that they could not just sit idly by while gnawing at all their resources, so she was looking for a job in the city to help people wash their clothes. He had to go once every three days. He left early in the morning and came back around three to five in the afternoon. He earned fifteen copper coins every time he worked. In early spring, the weather in the northern region is still relatively cold. Madam Liu's hand became red and swollen from being exposed to cold water for too long. Yu Xiaocao's heart ached when he saw the bloody wound on his mother's finger.

Every day when Madam Liu returned, Yu Xiaocao would help her mother warm her hands and feet with boiling water that had been soaked by the sacred stone. With the water from that mystic stone, the frozen area in Madam Liu's hand healed within a few days. The calluses in his hands also disappeared. His hands became so smooth that he did not have to worry about accidentally scraping the thread as he embroidered again.

When their mother went to work, Yu Xiaolian did all the housework at home. As if she was a small housekeeper, she collected firewood, cooked, washed clothes, and also cleaned the courtyard. When she is free, she will sit in the warm sunshine and embroider purses and handkerchiefs to help support the family.

Yu Xiaolian's embroidering skill was almost on par with Madam Liu's skill. However, before they parted from the Yu Family, she was too busy and did not have time to sew.

Yu Xiaocao greatly admired this eight-year-old young girl. In his previous life, Xiaolian had just sat in the second grade of elementary school. However, he carried most of his family's burden on his weak shoulders.

In fact, Xiaocao should have called her ‘kakak kefal’. But even when the original host was still alive, he had never called out to her that way. The reason being, when Madam Liu gave birth, they did not expect that she would give birth to twins. During the confusion, the midwife had mixed them up and had no idea who was older and who was younger.

Later, due to Xiaocao's weakened body condition, Xiaolian, the wiser one, always took care of and protected him. Thus, the family started calling Xiaolian ‘the oldest daughter of’ and Xiaocao naturally became the younger one.

The renovated old house has a spacious courtyard with at least half an acre of land. There is a small entrance in the backyard that leads to the pool behind the house. During late winter and early spring, there is little rain and the pool water level is low. There was also plenty of fertile and empty land beside the pond. So, Xiaocao made a plan to use the empty space in front and behind their house.

In modern times, there is a greenhouse farm, so most vegetables are not limited to certain seasons. People can buy any vegetable they want to eat at the supermarket all year round. However, in ancient times, the end of winter and the beginning of spring was the time when new vegetable crops had not yet matured. Even if people wanted to eat vegetables and had the money to buy them, it might not be available anywhere. If one could grow fresh vegetables at this time, they could definitely sell them for a good price.

Due to the limitations of his living conditions, Xiaocao would definitely not be able to make a large greenhouse and brooder, but he also did not plan on doing so. He was almost certain that the emperor had also moved here, just like him. So, he didn't want to do anything extraordinary. He has decided to ‘ secretly make a lot of money’!

However, it can first use the indoor temperature to grow vegetable seeds, and then move them to the yard as the weather gets warmer. This way, they can definitely sell vegetables on the market earlier than if they were growing them in early spring.

As Xiaocao enthusiastically considered the kind of soil he should use to fertilize the seeds, the Little Divine Stone muttered beside his ears, [Why go through so much trouble? You just soak the seeds in this god stone bath water. Not only does it become immune to cold and pests, but it can also reduce the ripening time of vegetables.].

Yu Xiaocao felt elated in his heart when he heard his words. He held the petite body of Little Glutinous Dumpling and kissed her solemnly, which provoked the little god stone to repeatedly protest her actions.

Today, the little sacred stone has turned into the shape of a little kitten and become part of the family. As for the origin of the little cat, Yu Xiaocao's explanation was that he had found it at the foot of the mountain when he went to collect firewood. Seeing that the little kitten was about to freeze to death, he kindly brought it back.

The whole family happily accepted the proud golden kitten, and thus the Little Divine Stone became the second popular family pet after the little roe deer.

But, the little holy stone did not care about anyone else except its master, Yu Xiaocao. His favorite thing to do every day is lie on his soft head and sleep. From afar, Xiaocao appeared to be wearing a golden headdress.

Yu Xiaocao was overjoyed when he found out that the Little Divine Stone could improve the quality of the seeds, “Little Ketan Dumpling, you are truly my lucky star! I will plow the fields immediately .. ”

Under the questioning gaze of his father and Xiaolian, Yu Xiaocao took the hoe and went plowing the ground.

Little Glutinous Dumpling paced leisurely around his feet and spoke in a voice that only Xiaocao could hear, saying, [If it wasn't for the fact that helping you can help me lift the shackles placed by the Spirit Goddess, I wouldn't have bothered helping you! Not only should I help take care of your father's feet at night, but also soak his seeds. I need to replenish my spiritual energy, so I strongly ask you to throw me into the water vat.].

Frequent contact with water will help the recovery of its strength. Xiaocao would usually just let him bathe in the pot, but he had long been interested in the water barrels in the courtyard.

Yu Xiaocao finally gave up on the nagging of Monk Xuanzang. He removed the colorful stone bracelet from his wrist and threw it into the water barrel. The little golden kitten gracefully jumped into the water barrel and sat on the edge of the barrel, wagging its tail. Little Shitou could not help but worry that the little boy would accidentally fall into the tank. From then on, all the water, even for washing vegetables and clothes, used by the Xiaocao family was mystic stone water.

“What are you guys doing?” Madam Liu, who had returned from work with a hand that was flushed with coldness, curiously asked as she saw Yu Hai and the three brothers kneeling in the courtyard and excitedly turned the ground.

Yu Hai could now walk a few steps without crutches. She was in a good mood, so when her second daughter suggested that they plow the fields and plant vegetables, she went to help without hesitation. He plucked the grass roots from the plowed ground and threw them away. Then he lifted his head and said, “Cao’er is planning to grow a wide variety of vegetables in the front and back yard. In the future, our family will not have to worry about not having anything to eat. Our daughter is so competent! ”

Madam Liu was upset and amused at the same time, so she replied, “Of course we need to grow vegetables, but this is only February. The water in the tank still freezes at night. It's not like we're in a hurry to sow seeds, so why are you guys in such a hurry to plow the soil? ”

“After all we have nothing to do so we better work in the field first!” In terms of pampering the children, no one dared to take first place even if Yu Hai identified himself as second. He always does his best to meet all the requests made by his children, let alone the natural things such as plowing fields and growing vegetables.

Madam Liu could not win their hearts, so she also rolled up her sleeves and joined in. At night, half an acre of front yard land had all been flipped over, leaving only a small walkway to walk in the middle.

At night, Xiaocao asked Madam Liu about the seeds that her maternal grandmother had sent. Madam Liu looked at her and asked, “Cao’er, are you planning on growing vegetables now? It's not time yet. If you sow the seed now, it will not sprout at all and the seed will be wasted. ”

“Mother, God of Fortune came to enlighten me again last night. He taught me methods to keep the vegetable fields warm. Think about it. If other people's vegetables have just sprouted, we can already sell our vegetables. The people of the city had already eaten radishes and cabbages all winter, so they would definitely buy them even if they were expensive! ” Xiaocao, who is mentally a modern person, knows better than anyone about the principle of ‘ hoarding rare commodities and selling them at a high price’.