Making A Fortune Through Hunting To Support My Wife - Chapter 31

Before the rice harvest began, Xu Jing was busy running back and forth selecting and hauling building materials for her new house.

Da Hei (the donkey) had been worked so hard he’d thinned out a circle, which earned Xu Jing a scolding from a heartbroken Song Yu, who was in charge of feeding him.

“Hey, donkeys are meant to be put to work! Da Hei, I haven’t let you work for nothing, right? I’ve been adding beans to your fodder,” Xu Jing said with a grin, rubbing Da Hei’s large head.

Da Hei gave a very human-like roll of his eyes and snorted a blast of hot air right into Xu Jing’s face.

Xu Jing dodged clumsily, coughing. “Ahem, Da Hei!”

Da Hei tossed his mane and let out a braying sound, his mouth pulled back as if he were laughing at her. This tickled the young girl nearby. Song Yu’s eyes curved into beautiful crescents as she laughed.

Seeing this, Xu Jing’s gaze softened. She didn’t mind the annoying donkey anymore and gently stroked its mane.

As the two humans and one donkey chatted in the yard, footsteps approached from outside, followed by the voice of their neighbor, Xu Hongcui.

“Oh, Jing-ge is home?”

“What a coincidence, Jing-ge, I was just looking for you.”

Xu Jing reigned in her laughter with Song Yu. Even without Hongcui saying a word, she knew what the woman wanted, she wanted to borrow Da Hei.

With the busy farming season approaching, many people had their eyes on the households in the village that owned donkeys or oxen. Other families with livestock had many people and large plots of land, unless you were close friends, you couldn’t dream of borrowing them.

But Xu Jing’s house was different. Her family was small and they had little land, making them a “fat piece of meat” in the eyes of others.

“Auntie Hongcui, what’s the matter? Tell me.”

“Well, the rice harvest is coming up. Our family has a lot of land and not enough hands. I wanted to borrow your donkey for a couple of days. Don’t worry, we won’t use him for free, we’ll make sure he’s fed full.”

Hongcui’s round face was covered in smiles, her eyes fixed on Da Hei with total satisfaction.

Xu Jing put on a troubled expression. “Auntie Hongcui, it’s not that I don’t want to lend him to you, but these next few days my family needs Da Hei to haul grain. After we’re done, Yingzi’s family needs him too, they asked a long time ago and I already promised. Oh, and my second grand uncle’s family needs him as well. I only have one donkey. I really can’t spare him.”

With the path blocked so thoroughly, Hongcui couldn’t find another excuse and had to leave dejectedly.

A moment later, the two heard the sounds of an argument coming from the Zhang family’s house next door.

Xu Jing and Song Yu exchanged a look. Song Yu asked confusedly, “When did you lend Da Hei to Yingzi and your grand uncle?”

“I’ll lend him to them in a bit.”

“Ah?”

Rather than lending him to the unpleasant Zhang family, she was much more willing to lend him to the Lu family (Yingzi’s family) and her second grand uncle’s family, who she had a good relationship with.

Besides, few in the village were willing to lend livestock to the Zhangs. Previously, someone had lent them an animal, and the Zhangs hadn’t fed it enough while working it to the bone. When the owner saw the miserable state of their animal, they had come to the door screaming curses.

Xu Jing genuinely cared for Da Hei, and she shared this reasoning with Song Yu.

The Harvest Begins

Peasant families usually calculated the best day to start the harvest for good luck, and the Xu family was no different.

On this day, the autumn air was crisp. Just as the horizon began to turn gray, smoke was already rising from the Xu chimney.

Xu Jing, Song Yu, and Grandma Xu ate their flatbreads, packed water jars and baskets of food, shouldered their crates, picked up their sickles, and officially began this year’s autumn harvest.

Most villagers were out at dawn like the Xus, trying to cut as much rice as possible before the sun rose and the weather turned hot. Only a few lazy families would wait until the sun was high to start work.

Before the three reached their field, they saw several people already standing there, the three Lu brothers and Lu Ying.

Lu Ying ran over like a lively little bird. After greeting Grandma Xu politely, she stood before Song Yu and Xu Jing, smiling. “Sister Song, Jing-ge, you’re finally here! We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Yingzi, do you and your brothers have something going on?”

“My mother said that lending us Da Hei was a huge help, so she sent my brothers to help you finish harvesting your grain first.”

“How can we allow that…”

Xu Jing had lent Da Hei to the Lus primarily to avoid the Zhangs and because the Lus were good people; she never expected them to return the favor by harvesting her crops.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Your Da Hei is worth two or three strong laborers; our family is the one getting the better deal,” Lu Ying waved it off. She then called out to the three brothers, “Big brother, second brother, third brother, come quick! I’ve already told Sister Song and the others, they agreed to let us help!”

Originally, the plan was for the three Xus to cut the rice, and once a portion was done, Song Yu would drive Da Hei to transport it home. Grandma Xu would glean dropped ears and cook, while Xu Jing would be the main laborer.

Now, they had three additional strong laborers.

The Xu family only had about three mu of paddy fields, plus some soybeans, peanuts, and sorghum. With the combined strength of both families, the work could be finished in two days.

Even Grandma Xu, who usually kept a stiff face, couldn’t help but show a warm expression at the Lu brothers’ help.

Since the Lu family was helping, Xu Jing couldn’t let them work on empty stomachs. She asked Song Yu and Lu Ying to go to town to buy some meat so they could prepare a proper midday meal.

Since neither girl was great at driving the donkey, they took the ox cart to town. As Xu Jing and Song Yu were discussing what food to buy, two youths from her second grand uncle’s house, Xu Wu and Xu Liu, appeared uninvited.

Xu Wu said to Xu Jing, “Our family is also harvesting, so we couldn’t spare everyone, but Grandpa told me and Liu to come over and see if there’s anything you need help with. If there is, just give us a task.”

Ever since Xu Jing sent that bowl of chicken to their house, these two brothers no longer gave her “stink face” when they saw her, even if they weren’t overly friendly. Perhaps because Xu Jing had lent them the donkey this time, Xu Wu even directly called her “Jing-ge Tang” (Cousin Jing).

Xu Jing looked at them in surprise and nodded, accepting the title. “I have the Lu brothers helping me, so I’m not short on hands. Your family is harvesting too, go back and help them. I appreciate Grand uncle’s sentiment.”

The two brothers looked at each other. Xu Wu, the steadier one, shook his head. “Grandpa sent us to help. We can’t go back empty handed, or he’ll scold us.”

They were stubborn as mules and refused to leave. Thus, the Xu family harvest team gained two more “half-laborers” (as they weren’t yet fully grown).

Since both boys could drive a cart, Xu Jing had Xu Wu take Song Yu and Lu Ying to town, while Xu Liu stayed to help in the field.

A Successful Season

By lunchtime, the Xu family table was piled with good food, eggplant stewed with meat, dry-fried beans, loofah with sliced pork, stir-fried winter melon, and cold amaranth… Everyone ate heartily and with great satisfaction. Lu Ying couldn’t stop praising Song Yu’s cooking.

The harvest took less time than expected, only a day and a half. All that was left was to dry the grain, remove the moisture, and pay the taxes before it could be stored in the granary.

Before the two Xu brothers left, Xu Jing called them back.

“After the busy season, I plan to build a house. I’ve already spoken to the Village Chief. Please tell Grand uncle about it. If you two don’t mind earning some wages, you can come help with the construction. The pay is 40 wen a day, including a midday meal.”

The two boys looked at each other in shock. Xu Wu nodded, “We understand. We’ll tell Grandpa.”

As they walked away, Xu Liu suddenly said, “Brother, she really has changed. Even though the donkey went to the Lus first, she still thinks of our family when there’s work.”

Xu Wu gave his dim-witted brother a look. “Old Lady Wang has a grudge against her and was just spreading sour words to stir up trouble between our families. Stop hanging out with those Wang boys, don’t be a hothead who gets used by others without knowing it.”

Xu Jing had no idea people were trying to sabotage her family relationships over a donkey, but even if she did, she wouldn’t have cared.

Future Plans

In the following days, while most families were still busy, Xu Jing’s household became quiet. Because of the incident with Wang Hu, she didn’t go into the deep mountains to hunt. Instead, she worked on the medicinal seeds she had bought.

Once the seedlings sprouted and the land was prepared, she could plant them before winter. Her strategy was multi-pronged, hunting, farming, and accumulating land.

Her wood element ability was powerful. Even precious ginseng seeds sprouted under her influence. Besides ginseng, which takes six or seven years to harvest, she also chose Astragalus (Huangqi), which can be harvested in two or three. With her ability, she hoped to shorten that cycle significantly.

“How exactly do I level up this ability? There are no zombie cores here. Can I only rely on meditation and absorbing the ‘spirit qi’ in the deep mountains?” She sighed. Currently, she could sprout seeds, but forcing a plant to age many years was difficult.

Song Yu didn’t understand her worries, she only saw Xu Jing busy in the fields all day.

When the pressure of the harvest faded, Xu Jing focused on something else. She held up a “Q-version” (chibi) plush doll that Song Yu had sewn, poking its little legs and pinching its face with delight.

“The result is even better than I imagined! Xiao Yu, you’re amazing.”

Song Yu blushed at the blunt praise and looked away. “I just followed the drawing you gave me.”

Xu Jing smiled, not wanting to tease her too much. “We have to go to town to pay taxes in a few days. Xiao Yu, make a few more samples. We’ll take them to the embroidery shops. I bet the young ladies there will love these and pay a good price.”

“I hope so,” Song Yu nodded. No girl could resist something so cute. She wondered how the person in front of her came up with such ideas.

“Then Xiao Yu is going to make a lot of money. If business is good, I’ll have to rely on you!” Xu Jing teased.

Song Yu’s ears turned red. Rely on me? How forward! She snatched the doll back, gave Xu Jing a sharp look, and turned to leave.

Time flew by. Most of the grain in Dayue Village had been harvested, dried, and bagged. Everyone was smiling, it was a bumper crop year. Once the taxes were paid and the grain sold, they could settle in for a peaceful winter.