The Farmer Wife

055

　　Xu Cao was angry and said , "Just shut your mouth!" Her voice was high, and the old lady who was sitting on the ground was startled.

　　Xu Cao touched the silver in her hand, glanced at the old lady, walked to the side of Li and father Xu, quietly said a word, and then took the silver to lock the cellar door. The chain keys are in her arms.

　　Then she said to Li and Old Xu: "Father, mother, I'll go back first."

　　When she walked to the old lady's side, she said coldly: "You should go back quickly, and you can't stay here. If you don't do any good and messing around, I'll go report to the official ."

　　"You Dare !" The old lady got up from the ground suddenly, glaring at Xu Cao.

　　Xu Cao sneered, "You see if I dare, and I don't know you, but you came to my house to spoil . If you are not leaving, I will really not polite."

　　The old lady still pointed at Xu Cao, Yelling, refused to go back. Xu Cao ignored her, greeted Li and went back.

　　After busy working until the evening, Li came to find Xu Cao and said happily, "Da Ya, she is gone. She have been howling for a long time at our house. Your father and I ignored her, and finally wanted to go to the cellar by herself and noving the potatoes, fortunately, you locked the door of the cellar."

　　Xu Cao breathed a sigh of relief, and returned the silver money and the key to the cellar she received for Li in the morning, "Mother, you can keep the money and the key,  you don’t have to be soft-hearted, just stop her outside the courtyard.”

　　Li sighed, “I know.”

　　Fortunately, the old lady didn’t come home anymore. Li and Father Xu were also relieved. .

　　In the past few days, Xu Cao, Fugui and Xiaoguang Xiaoxia have been busy plowing the soil and fertilizing the land, so that they can continue planting potatoes in a month.

　　After working for half a month, the potatoes of other people in the village are all mature, and they are all busy harvesting. At this time, the ten acres of Xu Cao’s family had been cultivated. Fugui continued to be busy hunting. Xu Cao and the others went to the mountains to chop pig grass. The family raised three pigs in the autumn but they had no food. At this time, the hogweed was hit.

　　Soon in August, during this period Xu Cao’s family of 12 acres of land was applied with another fertilizer, and then they began to busy planting potatoes.

　　Time passed in a hurry. During this period, there were Xiaoguang and Xiaoxia's help at home. Xu Cao was not very tired from working on the twelve acres of land. Soon in November, every family was busy harvesting potatoes again. Xu Cao estimated that it would take at least two or three years for this potato to be fully promoted. It's okay to grow potatoes all this time. And after paying the food tax, the remaining potatoes are enough to feed the villagers, and some can be sold.

　　After the potatoes were harvested and some grain taxes were paid, the villagers sold all the remaining potatoes. After all, the coarse grains they eat are only four or five cents per catty. They would rather sell potatoes at a high price and buy some grains to eat.

　　However, everyone here is happily busy selling potatoes and buying miscellaneous grains, but the county grandfather in the town has already written a copy and sent it to the superiors quickly.

　　When the people above saw that this poor mountain and remote place could grow such a high-yield grain, naturally they attached great importance to it.

　　In the past few years, wars and chaos in the frontiers have continued. Soldiers need too much food, so the food tax is heavy, and people in many places have complained again and again. Now that such a high-yield grain can be grown, it can not only solve the problem of food rations for frontier soldiers, but also feed the poor people.

　　No one wanted to conceal this kind of thing. Layers of notifications were posted. After the Zhezi was in the hands of the current sage, the emperor Longyan , attached great importance to this matter, and sent his courtiers to invite the Zhezi who was the first to grow this kind of food. The peasant woman enters the capital.

　　When this Zhezi arrived in the capital, it was already a year of heavy snowfall. Xu Cao didn't know what was about to happen, but stayed at home with charcoal fire to teach Miaomiao to read.

　　Fugui came in from the outside, and saw Xu Cao sitting on the kang and teaching Miao Miao to read. Xiao Xia was sitting next to her, staring at the words above her, earnestly learning.

　　Feeling a cold wind coming in, Xu Cao looked up and saw Fugui. She hurriedly got off the Kangtou. She went to the back room and took a cloth towel. She wiped the snow on Fugui head and patted the snow off his body. Then she said:" Have you bought them all? The Chinese New Year will be in a few days, and the New Year goods should be about the same.

　　"Wife don't worry, they are all bought back." Fugui grinned.

　　A few days later, it is the Chinese New Year. The Xu Cao family spent a happily new year, and after the Chinese New Year, they began to be busy.

　　After the New Year, Xu Cao was about to take the ten acres of surplus potatoes from the family to a distant town for sale, but was stopped by the county grandfather in the town, saying that he wanted to buy potatoes. The price is calculated on the basis of ten cents per catty.

　　Not only the Xu Cao’s family was bought, but there were still surplus potatoes in the nearby villages.

　　Although it is two cents less than before, everyone has a lot of potatoes left, and the people in the nearby villages are not bad potatoes. Naturally, they can sell them to the official.

　　Xu Cao is not interested in knowing why this official  wants to buy so many potatoes, as long as the official doesn't embarrass them and ordinary people, and  squeeze them deliberately.

　　Three months later, the letter from the capital reached the county grandfather first. The county grandfather learned that the Emperor was going to meet Xu Cao and hurriedly sent people to invite Xu Cao.

　　Xu Cao was busy farming in the field at this time, until Li came to the field to look for her ,sweating profusely.

　　When Li saw Xu Cao, her body was still trembling, and  said to Xu Cao with a blank face: "Oh, what have you been doing recently?"

　　"Mother, what's wrong with you? Why are you sweating?" Xu Cao was surprised.

　　Li cried anxiously, "Big girl, tell me, have you gotten into trouble lately?"

　　"Mother, what can we country folks cause ? I stay at home on weekdays, or just In the fields, I haven't even been to the town, so naturally nothing has happened

　　"Then... Then why are there so many officials in your house?" Shaking all over. To say that the people like them are most afraid of being confront with the officials. "Oh, you...you go out and hide for a few days first."

　　As long as the officials come to the door in the villagers' perception, there will be no good things.