Chapter 8: Grandfather, You’re Going to Have Grandkids!
Time flew by quietly, and the harvest season arrived in Yang Family Village. This year was relatively calm, and every household in Yang Family Village had a bountiful harvest, filling the air with joy.
“Dad, our harvest is great this year! Look at this rice!” Yang Mingcheng held up a basket of full, plump rice, presenting it to Yang Zhengshan with a smile.
The fields were tended by Yang Mingcheng and Yang Mingzhi, so the harvest was a result of their hard work.
“Not bad!” Yang Zhengshan’s mouth curved slightly upwards as he nodded in approval.
For farmers, grain was everything. Although Yang Zhengshan had some silver in hand, he was still delighted by the harvest.
“This year, we’re not selling our grain. Let’s store it all!” Yang Zhengshan said.
“Store it all?” Yang Mingcheng asked in surprise.
Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, “Yes, store it all. With grain in hand, we won’t worry about food in the future.”
He didn’t want to eat coarse grain, nor did he want to drink mixed grain porridge. He only wanted to eat refined, white rice.
“Okay!” Yang Mingcheng smiled, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He also wanted to eat white rice every day, and who would want to eat coarse grain and bitter vegetables?
The Yang family’s twenty mu of land was divided, with half planted with rice and the other ten mu with dry crops, including wheat and corn.
The harvest lasted for over ten days, and the Yang family’s granary was full to the brim, overflowing with grain. This was because the Yang family granary was relatively small, and in previous years, they would sell some of the grain after the harvest. This year, Yang Zhengshan didn’t want to sell, so the granary couldn’t hold all the grain.
It was fortunate that the extra grain could be used to pay taxes, as the autumn tax collection was approaching.
Looking at the Yang family’s abundant harvest, Yang Zhengshan calculated that even in a good year, their daily lives were only barely satisfactory. This was still under the assumption that there were no natural disasters or illnesses; if such catastrophes occurred, even basic sustenance would be a problem.
The main issue was that the grain yield per mu of land was too low. The highest-yielding crop, corn, only produced around four to five hundred catties per mu, while wheat yielded less than two hundred catties.
In this world without fertilizers or high-yielding grain varieties, ordinary people found it difficult to get a full meal.
Luckily, Yang Zhengshan had some silver, so he wasn’t too worried.
After completing the autumn tax collection, the weather grew colder, and the villagers of Yang Family Village busied themselves preparing for winter. Many villagers went to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables, chop firewood, and the Yang family village’s rear mountain became lively.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t idle away either. He took time to buy ten to fifteen gun heads in the county town and made ten to fifteen short guns.
Short guns were suitable for hunting and had more power than ordinary bows and arrows. For Yang Zhengshan, short guns were better than bows and arrows.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t bother with household chores, as his two sons and two daughters-in-law managed them. He would often venture into the mountains, not going too deep, just around the outskirts of Longqing Mountain.
He would catch wild birds, rabbits, and pheasants, which added to the family’s meat supply. Aside from these, Yang Zhengshan had an unexpected harvest – a thirty-year-old ginseng.
There were many medicinal herbs in the mountains, but Yang Zhengshan was too lazy to gather them. This time, he stumbled upon a ginseng, and upon digging it up, he discovered it was thirty years old, which made him extremely happy.
The ginseng had a wrinkled skin, a long neck, and a round, smooth body. Yang Zhengshan carefully wrapped it in a cloth and quickly headed home.
Such an old ginseng was priceless, worth at least a hundred taels or more, although not as valuable as a national treasure, it was still a rare find.
Moreover, the ginseng had great health benefits, nourishing the spleen, lung, and stomach, and calming the mind. If Yang Zhengshan had possessed such a ginseng in his past life, his old injuries would have largely healed.
For martial artists, ginseng was also a wonderful medicine, increasing internal energy and filling in deficiencies.
However, Yang Zhengshan currently had the Mystical Spring water, so he didn’t need the ginseng. Therefore, he planned to sell it.
Upon returning home, Yang Zhengshan found his eldest daughter and son-in-law back from their maternal home.
“Dad!”
Yang Yunyan’s eyes sparkled with joy upon seeing Yang Zhengshan.
“How did you two get back? Is everything prepared for winter?” Yang Zhengshan asked in surprise.
It was almost winter, and every household was preparing for the season, including the Jiang family. Moreover, the Jiang family would venture into the mountains to hunt before the heavy snow blocked their path, or else they wouldn’t be able to hunt for at least four months.
“Dad, I have some news!”
“What news?” Yang Zhengshan didn’t react quickly enough.
“Dad, you’re going to have grandkids!”
Yang Guang stepped forward and took the backpack from Yang Zhengshan, which contained seven or eight short guns. Yang Zhengshan froze.
So, I’m going to be a grandfather.
Being a grandfather, being a grandfather… This was a new feeling!
It should be a happy occasion, but Yang Zhengshan couldn’t bring himself to smile.
“How many months along?” Yang Zhengshan asked.
“It’s almost three months now.” Yang Yunyan’s eyebrows arched upwards.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t know what to say, so he turned to his eldest daughter-in-law, Wang, and shouted, “Prepare a good meal for lunch, and make sure Yunyan eats well!”
“I know, Dad. I bought three catties of beef this morning, and it’s already stewing!” Wang replied cheerfully from the kitchen.
“Beef? Where did you get beef?”
Cattle were not something that could be slaughtered at will, and farm households’ cattle were registered with the government. Killing cattle without reason was a serious crime, and even if there was a valid reason, the cattle hides and tendons would need to be surrendered to the government.
Therefore, even in the county town, beef was a rare commodity.
“The Min family’s cow broke its leg a few days ago, so they slaughtered it this morning. I thought you might like to eat it, so I bought three catties of beef!” Wang walked out of the kitchen, speaking cautiously.
She wasn’t buying it because she thought Yang Zhengshan would like it; she was buying it because she wanted to try it herself.
Growing up, she had never eaten beef, and now that the family’s living standards had improved, she wanted to taste it.
Yang Zhengshan wouldn’t bother with such small thoughts, and in his eyes, it wasn’t a big deal.
Isn’t it just about eating beef?
Then eat it.
He himself wanted to eat it too.
Yang Zhengshan took out a few silver taels and handed them to Wang, saying, “Go buy more, and save some for Yunyan to take back. We’ll keep the rest for winter.”
It was a rare opportunity to eat beef, and Yang Zhengshan didn’t want to miss it. Buying more would allow them to eat it slowly, and since the weather was cold, it wouldn’t spoil.
“Okay, I’ll go right now!” Wang took the silver and smiled.
Jiang Guang and Yang Yunyan looked at Yang Zhengshan, their eyes filled with surprise.
In the past, the Yang family’s life was difficult, but now Yang Zhengshan was being so generous, which made them uncomfortable.
However, thinking about the two large wild boars they had received earlier, the couple relaxed.
They didn’t know that Yang Zhengshan’s confidence came from the old ginseng in his possession. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so extravagant.
The price of beef was much higher than pork, and without sufficient financial backing, he would only be able to taste it occasionally, not buy a few catties at once.
Wang quickly went to buy the beef, and Yang Zhengshan shouted, “Come in and sit down!”
“Grandpa, I made you two sets of clothes!” Yang Yunyan brought out a bundle of cotton clothing and said, “Try them on!”
This was his dear daughter, and she was even thinking of making clothes for him.
Yang Zhengshan tried them on, and they fit perfectly.
“Where did you get the cotton?” Yang Zhengshan asked.
“It was given by Grandpa Jiang.” Yang Yunyan responded with a smile.
Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, knowing that the Jiang family and Yang family were not yet separated, and all resources had to be allocated by Jiang Cheng and Jiang Wangshi. If Jiang Cheng and Jiang Wangshi didn’t provide cotton, Jiang Guang and Yang Yunyan wouldn’t have any to make clothes.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t refuse his daughter’s kindness and happily accepted the clothes.
“I’ll give you some fabric and cotton later, and you can make some for your grandparents too.” Yang Zhengshan put away the clothes and said.
His original wife had passed away, but his wife’s parents were still alive.
In the past, when his wife was alive, they would make clothes for her parents every year. Now, he could only ask his daughter to do it.
Yang Zhengshan wanted his daughter to make clothes for her grandparents because they had taken care of the Yang family a lot, and although his wife had passed away, he shouldn’t sever the ties. Additionally, his father-in-law was a scholar, and his brother-in-law, Lu Zhaoqi, worked as a scribe in the county government. This relationship might come in handy in the future.
“Yes.” Yang Yunyan nodded, her eyes reddening.
She was probably thinking of her mother.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t say much, turned around, and walked into the inner room to store the old ginseng in a wooden box.
(End of Chapter)
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