Chen Qiao’er hurried over, squeezing herself between them.
"Brother, sister-in-law, we're family, let me sit with you too."
Fine.
At this moment, Chen Xiaobei felt his sister was like a daughter, becoming an obstacle to him and Cui Hongyu getting closer. He needed to urge carpenter Zhang about the bed sooner.
After Chen Qiao’er settled down, Cui Hongyu spoke, "Husband, the grass by the door has been almost eaten by the donkey and sheep. What should we do from now on?"
What to do?
Chen Xiaobei recalled his life in his previous existence. Sheep in the countryside were generally free-range. They were let out into the grasslands to graze until full, then driven back.
However, he didn't have much time now, so this task had to be handed over to Chen Qiao’er.
Although he doted on her, she still needed to be educated in labor from a young age.
"Qiao’er, from now on, you'll be in charge of herding sheep, okay? Just in the open space by the village entrance."
Chen Qiao’er not only didn't refuse but seemed very excited. "Okay, okay! Qiao’er can work for brother now."
Look at her awareness.
But this method would work in summer and autumn. When winter came and heavy snow blocked the doors, where would they find grass? So, he needed to prepare some fodder for winter. After all, Chen Ping would be bringing the village donkey cart over in a couple of days. Raising two donkeys wouldn't be an easy task.
"Hongyu, we need to prepare some grass for the donkeys when you have time, otherwise, they won't have anything to eat in winter."
Cui Hongyu frowned. "The village donkey cart is used by everyone. Why do we have to prepare grass ourselves?"
Chen Xiaobei smiled slightly. "Alright, let's not dwell on these things."
As they spoke, figures flickered in the distance. Li Dong also arrived. He held a fishing rod, preparing to fish. After casting his line, he walked over to greet them.
"Xiaobei, you're up so early."
Chen Xiaobei smiled slightly. "The early bird catches the worm."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt it was inappropriate. There didn't seem to be such a saying in this era.
Fortunately, the meaning was quite clear. Li Dong couldn't help but laugh. "I can't believe you're talking about principles, so eloquently. By the way, how many fish have you caught today?"
He leaned his head over the wooden bucket and, seeing Chen Xiaobei holding a pair of large fish, couldn't help but gasp.
"Good heavens, this is incredible. If these fish spawn, there must be tens of thousands of them. But you need to watch them carefully, don't let the big fish eat their own young later."
His words reminded Chen Xiaobei.
Although his family had never had a fish pond, he had raised goldfish when he was a child.
When they spawned, there were large batches, but then the fish would turn around and eat their own eggs.
After thinking about it, Chen Xiaobei decided to adopt a traditional method.
That was to isolate the mother fish and raise it separately.
He also needed to observe it frequently. Once he found it starting to spawn, he had to watch constantly until the spawning was complete. Then, he would immediately take the large fish out and put it back into the fish pond, letting the fry grow freely for a few days.
With this in mind, Chen Xiaobei secretly decided to take this fish home and keep it in his water缸.
This way, he could observe it at any time.
But then he thought, if he brought two more pregnant fish, would one缸 be enough?
Right, he needed more缸s. So, he would buy a few more water缸s when he went to town tomorrow.
While he was thinking, the reeds suddenly rustled.
Chen Xiaobei jumped up and leaped into the small river, quickly pulling the fishing net to be almost level with the water surface.
Inside was another large fish, over a foot long.
Seeing this, Chen Qiao’er couldn't help but clap her hands and cheer. "Great, great! Brother caught another big fish!"
Unintentionally spoken, but it caught the attention of the listener. Li Dong, who was fishing nearby, came running over again, full of envy.
Seeing a foot-long fish in the net, he couldn't help but shed tears of envy from the corner of his mouth.
"Brother Xiaobei, your net is amazing! Where did you buy it?"
Chen Xiaobei chuckled. "Brother Li Dong, you can't buy this. I made it myself."
Hearing this, Li Dong's expression showed a hint of hesitation. Finally, he rubbed his nose. "Well, brother, can I discuss something with you? Can you make one for me too? I, I'll give you money."
Chen Xiaobei thought for a moment. "Brother Li Dong, I can make you a fishing net. I don't want your money, but I have a condition: you can keep the large fish to eat or sell, but you must put the small fry into the fish pond for me."
Upon hearing this condition, Li Dong was overjoyed and readily agreed.
"No problem, no problem. I only want fish over a foot long. I'll release all those less than half a foot."
"Okay, I'll make one for you then."
Watching Li Dong leave satisfied, Chen Xiaobei began to calculate. A fishing net cost ten copper coins, and could make two to three seine nets.
With Li Dong as the first customer, others might come asking for one too.
Since he was going to town tomorrow, he should buy a few more fishing nets.
Thinking about it, Chen Xiaobei felt a pang of regret. The cost of one fishing net was not a small sum.
All the money he had earned before was handed over to Cui Hongyu. What was spent couldn't be taken back, so he needed to find a way to make money.
The simplest method, of course, was to go to Gourd Valley again and get a few more ginseng and lingzhi.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, Chen Xiaobei's fishing work was finished. After a morning of hard work, he had caught four large fish, over a dozen half-foot-long ones, and countless other small fry.
The four large fish could be sold tomorrow for money, and the rest were put into their own fish pond.
After returning home and having a simple breakfast, Chen Xiaobei set off into the mountains with two bundles.
The village guards on duty saw him heading into the mountains and greeted him warmly.
"Xiaobei, there are fierce beasts in the mountains. Be careful!"
"Xiaobei, do you want us to follow and protect you?"
Xiaobei declined their kind offer, smiling. "I'm just going to the Mountain God Temple. It's not far, and I'll be back soon."
Entering the mountains, Chen Xiaobei was familiar with the terrain and began to climb.
When he reached the Mountain God Temple, he still consciously stopped and looked around. Everything was normal. There were no signs of many people having been there. This perhaps indicated that Sun Jian had not lingered near the Mountain God Temple yesterday.
Everything here was normal, but when he reached Gourd Valley, he sensed that something was not right.
Although he hadn't counted how much ginseng there was in Gourd Valley,
He was very careful to backfill the soil he brought out and compact it after digging up ginseng each time.
But now, some areas had been disturbed.
This meant someone had been there.
It seemed Gourd Valley had been exposed.
Chen Xiaobei's heart tightened.
The person who took something must have taken either ginseng or lingzhi.
Although Gourd Valley didn't belong to him, anyone could come. But in this era, resources were limited. Whoever got them, got them.
Therefore, the struggle for resources had become an urgent matter for him.