"Wait for brother-in-law to come back. I'm not hungry yet. Shall I help you pull them out too?" Shen Xiaoming said, walking closer to the kitchen. When she came out again, she was holding a hoe.
With the siblings working together, the speed increased significantly, though it was mainly Shen Xiaoyan's speed that was remarkable.
Shen Xiaoming watched Shen Xiaoyan's actions with surprise, completely unable to understand why her sister had suddenly become so capable.
Not long after the two of them finished clearing the weeds in the yard, Zheng Wei returned, pushing a handcart.
Shen Xiaoyan saw that the handcart was piled high with many things and walked over with great interest, "What did you buy all of this?"
"Seeds, and farming tools," Zheng Wei replied.
Shen Xiaoyan didn't say anything upon hearing his answer, only sifting through the pile of items.
"What is this?" Shen Xiaoyan asked as she opened a cloth bundle.
Inside the cloth bundle were several pieces of fabric, one green, one black, and one blue.
"Are these to make clothes for us?" Shen Xiaoyan asked Zheng Wei, holding the fabric.
Zheng Wei looked at Shen Xiaoyan, whose eyes were shining brightly, and finally nodded.
Zheng Wei pushed the handcart to the thatched shed beside the kitchen and said to Shen Xiaoyan and her brother, "Eat first."
Shen Xiaoyan also nodded, "Right, let's eat."
Breakfast was very simple: rice porridge and scallion pancakes. After the three of them, plus two cats, finished breakfast, they began to carefully examine the items on the handcart.
After a thorough inspection, there were two hoes, two shovels, two sickles, one rake, and then large bags of vegetable seeds. Each oil-paper packet had writing on it, but unfortunately, Shen Xiaoyan couldn't recognize a single character.
Seeing Shen Xiaoyan's frustrated look, Zheng Wei picked up the oil-paper packets one by one and pointed to the words, explaining to her, "This is baby cabbage, round eggplant, yardlong beans, cucumber, luffa, Chinese gourd, string beans, tomatoes..."
Shen Xiaoyan listened intently, but by the end, she was a bit confused. How could there be so many kinds of vegetables? She remembered that in novels, fictional dynasties didn't have many varieties of vegetables.
She had initially planned to grow some uncommon vegetables to earn money, but it seemed that wouldn't be possible now.
"These two packets, the shopkeeper gave them to me as a bonus because I bought so much. They are watermelon and raspberry," Zheng Wei said, holding the last two oil-paper packets.
"What are watermelon and raspberry?" Shen Xiaoming immediately asked.
Shen Xiaoyan was also attracted by these two names, no longer bothered by her illiteracy. There were even fruits now; they really weren't leaving her any room to maneuver.
"The shopkeeper said they are two kinds of fruits, but no one here has ever grown them before," Zheng Wei said.
Shen Xiaoyan looked at Zheng Wei's expression; he showed no curiosity. Perhaps it was because he was naturally like this, uninterested in anything.
However, Shen Xiaoyan didn't care about these things. What she cared about was finally having a way to earn money.
"Then let's try planting them. Maybe we can make money since no one else here does," Shen Xiaoyan said, looking at Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoming.
"We can," Zheng Wei agreed. After all, he didn't know how to grow anything, regardless of what it was.
In fact, it didn't matter what they planted.
Shen Xiaoming hesitated and said, "But, sister, do you know how to plant them?"
Although her sister used to do many chores every day, she had never been asked to do farm work.
"We'll figure it out as we go, and then we'll know," Shen Xiaoyan said nonchalantly.
Jokes aside, as a graduate of agricultural university, how could she not know how to farm? Besides, she had already farmed a lot in the space.
"We have limited land, only a little over an acre. Let's plant some common vegetables, and then plant these two types of fruit," Shen Xiaoyan asked.
In reality, she was also very hesitant. Even planting a little of each vegetable would be quite a lot. She could only plant fruit on about an acre of land, and it had to be divided into two types, which was truly too little.
Zheng Wei suddenly spoke up, "That roe deer we sold brought in a total of 30 taels of silver. We spent 3 taels of silver on these things, so we still have 27 taels. If you think the land is too small, we can buy more."
"Really?" Shen Xiaoyan looked at Zheng Wei in surprise.
"Yes," Zheng Wei nodded affirmatively. Seeing Shen Xiaoyan happy, he felt a little joyful too.
Shen Xiaoyan rested her chin on her hands and began to plan to buy a few more acres of land nearby. However, what was the price of land?
"How is the land sold? How much can we buy with 27 taels of silver?" Shen Xiaoyan quickly asked.
"Uncultivated land is cheaper, at 3 taels of silver per acre."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiaoyan immediately started calculating in her mind. At 3 taels of silver per acre, they could buy nine acres.
But if they actually went to buy it, they couldn't calculate it this way, as buying land also involved handling fees and giving some benefits to the village chief and those who handled the paperwork. In any era, these were necessary.
Shen Xiaoyan thought this and spoke it out.
After hearing this, Zheng Wei nodded in agreement, a look of approval flashing in his eyes. He hadn't expected his little wife to be quite so clever.
Seeing Zheng Wei agree with her idea, Shen Xiaoyan immediately urged him to go find the village chief to discuss buying land.
The weather was gradually getting warmer, and the villagers had already begun preparing for spring plowing.
Even though what they were planting was not grain, they still had to start preparing early.
Watermelons and raspberries were fruits with relatively short growth cycles. If planted now, they should be able to harvest the first batch in two to three months.
Thinking that her first pot of gold was within reach, Shen Xiaoyan urged Zheng Wei again.
Seeing Shen Xiaoyan's eagerness, Zheng Wei could only grab his things and head towards Baiyun Village.
Fortunately, he had bought some pork in town, and he also took the fabric intended for making clothes. This should be enough.
Shen Xiaoyan reluctantly withdrew her gaze as she watched Zheng Wei walk away.
Her gaze swept over Shen Xiaoming, who was standing nearby. Shen Xiaoyan asked, "Xiaoming, you don't blame me for using the fabric your brother-in-law bought for you for this?"
Shen Xiaoming quickly shook his head, "Of course not. I know buying land to grow fruit and make money is more important. But, sister, after we make money, can you buy fabric to make clothes for me?"
"Of course," Shen Xiaoyan said, patting Shen Xiaoming's head, feeling very comforted.
Although they had to wait for Zheng Wei to return, sitting idly would be a waste of time. Shen Xiaoyan took the opportunity to use the rake to loosen the soil.
When Shen Xiaoming saw this, he also wanted to help, but he was shorter than the wooden handle of the rake and didn't have the strength to swing it. Instead, he tired himself out.
"Xiaoming, you can't lift it, why don't you..." Shen Xiaoyan wanted to persuade Shen Xiaoming to rest, but looking at him, she knew he wouldn't agree.
Her eyes turned, and she continued with a smile, "Why don't you go weed outside the yard? It's going to be our land soon anyway."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiaoming happily took the hoe and bamboo basket and headed outside the main gate.
Seeing this, Shen Xiaoyan's smile widened. Although poor children learn to be independent early, there are also those who are both poor and lazy.
In any aspect, Shen Xiaoming was a good younger brother. Shen Xiaoyan made up her mind that she would work hard to earn money and give her little brother a better life.
Although the weeds in the yard had been pulled, they couldn't directly plant the land yet.
What was needed next was to use the rake to loosen the soil and pick out any small stones to be discarded to the side.
When Shen Xiaoyan had loosened half of the soil in the yard, Zheng Wei finally returned with some people.
"Xiaoyan, this is the village chief, and these are people from town who measure land," Zheng Wei said to Shen Xiaoyan, gesturing to the three people behind him.
This was the first time Zheng Wei had called Shen Xiaoyan by her name. Hearing the word "Xiaoyan" come from Zheng Wei's mouth, Shen Xiaoyan felt her face flush.