CHAPTER 52: 52 BUY STONE MILL

The ones who drove the cart over this time were two people. Including Yang Hongwen, the three of them placed the stone mill in the west room. Looking at the clean room, they felt even more pity for this girl.

"Girl, go find some corn kernels, let’s try out this stone mill.

Also, I made the pushing handle a bit longer for you, it’ll save you some effort. You’re just a child, how much strength could you have?"

"Thank you, Uncle."

Su Yuanyuan was truly grateful. After all, there were still many good people in the world.

She brought over half a bag of corn kernels. "Uncle, I’ll push it. Let me try."

It really was easier than the village’s stone mill. But that was also because this mill was much smaller than the village’s one.

"It’s workable, I don’t find it hard to push."

The stonemason nodded with a smile. "As long as it works. I’ve also set the pig feeding trough for you."

Su Yuanyuan handed the remaining twenty yuan to the stonemason, and he took out a garlic mortar as a gift for her. "Little girl, keep this for your use."

It was out of pity for her that he gave this to her.

Sun Yuanyuan thanked him profusely, really feeling that the stonemason was a good person. Maybe in the future when she had extra grains, she might need another stone mill. But that was something for later.

After seeing them off, Yang Hongwen told her that he would bring corn kernels to her in the evening.

Yang Hongwen thought of not asking this girl for money for now, guessing that she probably didn’t have much.

However, Su Yuanyuan still gave Yang Hongwen fifty yuan. Everyone had to make a living, right?

"Uncle, I want to get little fish and shrimp and some grains for the little pigs. How can I catch them?"

"Haven’t you seen those wicker fish traps at the market? They’re for catching small fish and shrimp. But be very careful; people drown in the reservoir every year."

However, he remembered that this girl didn’t sink in the water, so she should be safe.

"Do you think it’s okay to feed pigs with these?"

"We’ll know if it works after trying it. I think it’s feasible." Definitely feasible. In the future, fish meal was in the feed for pigs, chickens, and fish.

Now the weather allowed for drying. In summer, that wouldn’t be possible. By then, she could store them in the space and always cook them before feeding them to the pigs, ensuring they wouldn’t get sick.

"Uncle, I want to buy chicks. I’ve never eaten eggs before. Are there people who sell chicks in the village?"

"Yes, but you’d better buy them in the village; they’re easier to raise."

"Uncle, I want to buy twenty chicks. It’d be great to have big geese too since they can guard the house, and ducks are good since they don’t need feeding."

Yang Hongwen laughed. "What doesn’t need feeding?

Old Chen’s family has them, I’ll order for you: twenty chickens, how many ducks? How many geese?"

"Twenty ducks and five geese will do." But she didn’t dare to ask for more geese, as they were expensive. She had raised them in her past life as a child.

"Alright, wait for it, I’ll bring them over to you."

Su Yuanyuan thanked Yang Hongwen. This way, it saved her some trouble. At the next big market, she would have to go and buy a few fish traps. Only sheep and geese didn’t eat them. Pigs and chickens’ demand was quite high.

Today, she wasn’t that hungry or tired, so she ground the cornmeal without sifting out the husks.

Now, Su Yuanyuan felt particularly motivated. She was originally alone, with not even a rat around; now things were better. Maybe she’d become a major breeder.

Thinking pleasantly, she pushed the stone mill in circles. Suddenly she thought of trying it with a sheep.

So she brought in a ewe, harnessed it, and let it pull. It turned out to be quite effective.

After grinding half a bag of corn, "You must be tired. I’ll bring your son in to work."

The large ram was very strong. It hadn’t wisened up yet, so it wasn’t as good as the ewe, but it was powerful. It got used to it after a while.

Su Yuanyuan smiled to herself, feeling quite clever. She remembered seeing on TV where small donkeys were used to turn mills, but their eyes were blindfolded so they wouldn’t get dizzy. So she found an old blindfold she’d used before and put it on the ram.

That made it look very proper, and she wouldn’t have to use much effort in the future. She could just put in corn kernels and collect cornmeal.

Grinding a bag of corn kernels would last for a while. She then stored it in space and put it in a big jar in her eastern house. She still lacked large jars; future harvests had to be stored outside, otherwise, she couldn’t deal with the rats.

If only she could keep a cat. But that was just wishful thinking. In the years of famine, when people couldn’t get enough to eat, her cat might get eaten by others.

So it was better not to raise one. It would be heartbreaking later.

After bathing and eating well in the space in the evening, she lay in the warm bed. Though she was still young, she would feel sore. The hot kang bed was comfortable to lie on.

That was also why she eventually went to live in the mountains. Though it was warm in the city, the bed wasn’t as comfortable as a kang.

The next morning, she finished the remaining work in the sweet potato field, making things a bit easier.

Thinking of Hu Chunhua’s care for her, she took her hoe and went to her land.

They were almost done, probably two days away from finishing the second round of weeding.

"Yuanyuan, why are you here?"

"Aunt, I finished all the work at home. I came to help you."

"No need. We’re almost done here. You should focus on planting your vegetables." Hu Chunhua said while winking at Su Yuanyuan.

Su Yuanyuan understood and smiled, nodding. "Okay, I haven’t finished planting my vegetables yet. Aunt, let me know if you need help later."

After Su Yuanyuan left, her two sisters-in-law asked, "Elder sister, why didn’t you take this girl?"

"Don’t you all dislike her for bringing bad luck? If she really brought misfortune to our family, I wouldn’t dare take responsibility."

The two sisters-in-law didn’t say anything, although they were unhappy inside. With one more person working, they could do a bit less.

Just because she became the women’s director, does she think she’s so impressive? But they really didn’t dare openly offend this elder sister.

Feeling frustrated, they took it out on the children. "Look, someone else has finished their work already, why are you so lazy?"

Yang Xue curled her lips; the laziest ones were actually those two, yet they had the nerve to criticize others. Shameless.

But she only thought about it in her head and didn’t dare say it out loud as they were still elders.

After Su Yuanyuan got home, she soaked winter melon, pumpkin, and summer squash seeds in Spiritual Spring Water. She had already planted a lot of them. But considering there were so many mouths to feed at home, it was better to plant more.

This noon, after lunch and a nap, she took the soaked seeds and planted them in the unopened land.

Thinking that it could be opened too, even if just for planting cabbages and radishes. When harvested, she could sell them for money. After all, she had nothing else to do these days.