CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 77: JIANG HU’S LITTLE SCHEMES

Although Erniang didn’t quite understand why they previously agreed not to sell the grain, and now suddenly they were selling it.

But since her husband made the decision, and Xiaomi also agreed, despite her confusion, she didn’t say much more.

However, Dawazi looked heartbroken, as if his personal rations had been taken away.

It wasn’t until the constables paid money and took the grain away that he finally tugged on his father’s clothes.

"Dad, didn’t we agree not to sell? Why are we selling it now?" His lips quivered, almost crying.

Xiaomi had never seen her older brother like this, almost got scared, and Jiang Hu was also startled. He quickly explained, "Don’t worry, we still have plenty of grain at home. You won’t starve."

He spread open his hand to reveal pieces of broken silver, "Look at this, even if we run out of grain at home, this silver can buy several hundred pounds of coarse grain."

With his father’s reassurance, Dawazi felt a little better. It seemed he was also afraid of going hungry.

Jiang Hu felt sorry for the children, but since the grain was already sold, there was no need to dwell on it further.

"Alright, Dawazi, you and Er Ni go feed the rabbits while your father and I clean the house."

After all, Dawazi was just a child, nodding as he led Er Ni along.

Only then did Erniang step forward, "Hugo, what were you thinking of doing?"

Previously, they said they wouldn’t sell, but then quickly changed their minds.

Jiang Hu replied, "It’s just that there were only the tax-collecting constables, no villagers around; except for those constables, no one knows how much grain we harvested this year."

"You know, our family is different from others in the village; they have several households of relatives and friends together, but we’re on our own, with no one to rely on."

Jiang Hu spoke, handing the broken silver from the grain sale to Erniang, then began sorting the remaining grain.

"In the past, during tax collection, everyone in the village would help each other, so it was impossible to hide how much grain each family had."

"Who knew we would be so lucky this year, the constables came directly to our house without anyone else around. Perfect, we spent a little money to have the constables keep it secret for us, sparing others from knowing and feeling envious."

Envy makes people ugly.

No one knows if those who are envious might harbor any evil intentions.

He used to just work with his head down, not caring about anything else.

But now things were different; he was the head of the family, everyone relied on him, so he had to think carefully and consider things thoroughly.

Xiaomi, held in Erniang’s arms, took advantage of her moment of inattention to take the broken silver from her hand and examined it with curiosity.

After listening to her father, she nodded internally, thinking highly of him for daring to ’leave home’ with his wife and children—what bravery!

Indeed!

Although her parents rarely talked about this, they didn’t know Xiaomi could understand their conversations, and inadvertently let the news slip.

Xiaomi quickly deduced that their family didn’t accidentally lose their way from the grandparents—they had deliberately gone in the opposite direction her father took them!

But none of that mattered; she didn’t know her grandparents or uncles anyway.

She just felt her father was indeed a ’big-time doer’—no matter what the issue, he thought it through thoroughly!

As for selling the grain, Xiaomi thought the same as her father. When the constable asked, she was worried her father might be reluctant.

But it’s understandable if he hesitated; she knew there were hundreds of tons of rice and flour in the space, so she wasn’t afraid. Her father had experienced hunger, so he hesitated.

Fortunately, he eventually understood that compared to hoarding grain at home, keeping a low profile was better.

Erniang also understood. Although she still felt sorry for the grain, she knew her husband acted in the family’s best interest.

"I understand now; you’re right, Hugo. It’s me who didn’t think it through enough, and there’s still plenty of grain left, no problem at all."

In the past, with ten plus family members, they only had about four or five hundred pounds of grain, and now with over eight hundred pounds of corn and sorghum at home, what’s there to worry about?

Seeing his wife understand, Jiang Hu smiled too, "Besides, in another month, won’t it be time to plant wheat? Oh, Erniang, I heard on the road about another crop that’s planted in autumn and harvested the next year, used specifically for oil pressing."

Xiaomi’s spirit perked up instantly, Canola! Is there already canola here!

Canola can be used for pressing oil! Rapeseed oil smells delicious! Frying vegetable dishes with plant oil is better than animal oil!

But she didn’t dare speak, only dared to perk her ears up to listen.

Not just rapeseed oil, there’s also soybean oil, peanut oil, olive oil—all good stuff!

But Xiaomi didn’t dare say anything.

Erniang saw Jiang Hu lifting sacks and casually placed Xiaomi beside a small chair, not forgetting to take back the silver from her hand.

"I remember you mentioned it before. Hugo, do you want to plant it?" Erniang helped Jiang Hu lift the grain, carrying it to the bedroom.

Jiang Hu said, "I’ll go to the grain depot tomorrow to ask what it is, whether they have seeds, and if they do, I’ll bring back a small amount to try."

Previously, the parents made all the decisions; whatever crops were to be planted, he’d plant them, never interfering. But now, perhaps due to the experiences on this escape, and seeing so much more, coupled with having other income sources, his thoughts changed a bit.

The couple, while discussing planting crops, stowed away more than half of the remaining grain in the bedroom cabinet, leaving only three to four hundred pounds.

It’s fortunate that everyone was busy these days, and they lived far away. Not to mention others, even Liu Yang hadn’t come over yet.

But after finishing up these few days, that guy Liu Yang would surely come by, and his wife might also come to talk to Erniang. Seeing there wasn’t much grain at home, they wouldn’t be too surprised.

Xiaomi shuffled the chair to the eaves, watching Tiedan, who didn’t have to worry about anything, while listening to her parents’ discussions, feeling hopeful about the future.

Her parents had a good relationship, understood things well, not rigidly adhering to old ways, and were willing to boldly try unknown things.

Of course, Xiaomi also knew, this confidence came from the family having some money. Her father planned to plant an acre of canola this year. If they didn’t have some money, they might not dare to ’mess around’ like this.

Because with that canola, there’s no guarantee it’ll be as good as expected, and if it doesn’t yield, wouldn’t it waste an acre of farmland?

But their family evidently didn’t need to worry too much, since, while planning to plant an acre of canola, Jiang Hu also prepared a separate half acre for growing vegetables!

There’re many winter vegetables too, and now they’re settled in Fu’an Village, gradually establishing everything. Besides the main grains, they could also have other vegetables, legumes, and so on.

As Xiaomi listened to her father’s words, she rummaged in the space and set aside whatever she found, ready to mix a bit in when her parents started planting.

Such as wheat, canola, garlic, spinach, and so on.