Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 48 Making Money is Easy

That evening, Beijiwu looked at the mud house that was already half-built.

Bricks were not used in many places; most houses were built by hand, with mud plastered on by the hands.

With more people, the work speed increases significantly.

There's not much to worry about with a single-story cabin. The mountain climate is arid, so waterproofing is just a minor task.

The house was mainly for warmth and protection from wild animals and insects, so it was made a bit thicker.

Xianglan led the ox back from outside and brought it into the house to rest.

Beijiwu looked at the wild boar tied to the corner of the yard. The big wild boar's four hooves were tied and its mouth was also wrapped, and it had been unable to move for half a day.

The other wild boar has been mostly eaten, leaving only some meat for tomorrow.

Beijiwu stretched, closed the door, jumped onto the courtyard wall to look around, and only went back to his room to sleep after confirming that there were no problems.

The walls of the passageway were re-covered with wood, and Beijiwu walked over and sat down near the haystack where Xianglan and the others were sleeping.

"The smell of blood will attract animals from the mountains, and there's a dirty, smelly sow outside that might attract a lot of animals. I'll sleep at the door tonight; you can all go inside."

Beijiwu lay on the haystack and placed a machete within easy reach.

Xianglan offered, "Sir, may I sleep with you?"

"No need, everyone go inside and sleep. You'll only be in the way here," Beijiwu refused outright.

Jiang Rong reached out and pulled Xianglan's shoulder, saying, "Listen to the master, go to your rooms to sleep."

"Okay." Seeing that everyone was obedient, Xianglan got up from the haystack and went to sleep in the house with her sisters.

Jiang Cao and Xi Dan carried two baskets of chicks into the house. The chicks had already eaten their fill of millet and were now sleeping peacefully.

Gao Conglian prepared an oil lamp that she wouldn't normally light. "Sir, I'll put the lamp here. Call us if it's about to go out at night."

Arctic Martial yawned, ignoring the women's incessant chatter.

The women and children all went inside to sleep obediently, and Beijiwu also closed his eyes.

The bustling little mountain village quickly quieted down during the day.

The courtyard is sometimes as bright as day, and sometimes pitch black.

Small animals that are invisible during the day become active at night.

Abundant wildlife resources are a good thing, as they can improve hunting efficiency.

However, when sleeping at night, one can easily encounter many unpredictable dangers.

Summer is the season when animals are most active. Beiji Wu had only slept for an hour or two when he felt something diligently digging wood.

Arctic Martial opened his eyes and, illuminated by the flickering lamplight, saw the yellow creature emerging from the cracks in the flimsy wooden fence.

A fox, much shorter than a normal hen, was digging at the yellow soil on the ground with its paws, trying to squeeze through the cracks in the wood into the house that smelled of meat.

Arctic Martial closed his eyes, and after a few seconds, when the fox was almost halfway into the house, Arctic Martial suddenly pounced.

With a screech from the fox, Arctic Martial squeezed the fox's neck with all his might.

Under immense brute force, the fox urinated all over the ground, and its feces also fell out.

The woman inside the house heard the noise and Gao Conglian asked softly, "Sir?"

Beijiwu casually said, "Go back to sleep. We caught a fox; we'll deal with it tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir." Gao Conglian breathed a sigh of relief, patted her sleeping son, who was fast asleep, and then leaned against the corner of the wall to continue sleeping.

The youngest son is almost eleven months old and no longer needs to eat at night. However, he sometimes wets the bed, so Gao Conglian has to let him sleep on the outermost or innermost side to prevent him from soiling other people's clothes and blankets.

Fortunately, bedwetting is not just a problem for this little baby; other little girls like Xianglan, Jiangcao, and Xidan also experience bedwetting to some extent, so separate sleeping arrangements are very necessary.

The women in the house slept soundly that night. Beijiwu woke up a few times during the night. In the morning, in addition to a fox, there was a badger and a leopard on the table in the courtyard.

The smell of chicks, the smell of pig's blood, the smell of a little girl, and the smell of a sow are all culprits that attract carnivores.

Once it was daylight, it would be safe. Beiji Wu hadn't slept well all night. When he saw Gao Conglian and Jiang Rong come out, he ordered them to get to work.

Compared to a young woman like Li Hong, Beijiwu prefers a woman in her mid-twenties like Jiang Rong or Gao Conglian.

Not only are they docile, obedient, and cooperative, but they also take initiative in their work, always treating themselves as outsiders and consciously fulfilling the duties of a maid.

Li Hong, on the contrary, is a girl whose courage and mindset to break through feudal constraints, as well as her self-awareness, make Beijiwu feel very tired in her presence. The two sisters are able to fight hard in desperate situations, pursue their own happiness, and actively seize the last glimmer of opportunity.

However, Arctic Martial Arts was unwilling to cooperate with their ideas.

"Sir, are these all beasts that came at night?"

Jiang Rong looked at the three prey lying on the table, shocked that she had slept so soundly last night that she hadn't noticed the wild beasts approaching.

Beijiwu casually said, "When the hunters come over later, have the women from the Beigong family pack up these three things and cook. I'll eat and then take a nap."

"Yes." The two glanced at Beijiwu's haul from the previous night and then prepared to make breakfast with a relaxed and reassured air.

As Jiang Rong and Gao Conglian moved, the others also woke up one after another.

When Xidan came out to empty the chamber pot, she saw the things on the table and exclaimed in surprise, "Ah! Big Cat!"

Upon hearing this, Beijiwu laughed and said, "This isn't a big cat, this is a fox, this is a badger, and this is a leopard."

The little girl had never seen pictures of animals or watched television, so she was unfamiliar with many of them and couldn't name them.

After Beijiwu's introduction, the other girls also came out to look at the dead beasts.

Although they didn't recognize the meat, the girls all knew it was edible!
Li Hong came out and glanced at the frightening leopard. She urged the girls, "Hurry up and get to work. Li Bing and Xiang Lan, go fetch water."

With nothing else to do, Beijiwu got up and said, "We'll need a lot of water for cooking today, and the buckets at home aren't enough. I'll go fetch two buckets first, and then I'll have the women who come to work fetch water later."

Seeing that Beijiwu got up to continue working, Li Bing quickly followed, and Xianglan followed as well.

Li Hong didn't stop them, after all, Li Bing and Xiang Lan were not young anymore.

Girls over ten years old are no longer considered little girls; only those like fine ginger grass are considered little girls.

Li Hong went back inside to start cooking. It was just past five o'clock, but the sky was already completely bright.

Scoop a ladle of water into the pot and scrub it slightly, then pour the remaining ladles of water into the pot and heat it up.

Xi Dan sat down to tend the fire and added firewood to the stove.

Jiangcao and Jiangrong led the docile yellow ox out and let it graze freely in the yard.

Xi Dan looked up and saw Li Hong putting the pig's trotters into the pot.

Sitting on the small stool, she couldn't see clearly, so Xidan stood up to take a look.

Li Hong placed two pig trotters in the bottom of the water and then placed a round wooden frame on top.

This round, breathable wooden frame made of willow wood is called a steamer basket. In rural areas, it is used to steam things, and in storybooks, monsters also use it to steam monks and pig demons.

Li Hong placed a few steamed buns on the steamer rack, then put the chopped pig ears and ribs on top and continued steaming.

Xi Dan's mouth watered just looking at it, and Gao Conglian, who was passing by, also swallowed hard, but then joked to Xi Dan, "Sit down and cook properly, don't add too much wood, or you'll burn the pot and you won't be able to pay for it even if you sell it!"

The little girl, Xidan, quickly sat down, honestly and nervously thinking about how to start a fire, a little afraid that she might actually burn the iron pot.

Li Hong then used the old earthenware pot to make porridge. The family prioritized cooking for Bei Jiwu, and there was no rush to cook for the others later.

When Beijiwu came back for dinner, he didn't stand on ceremony. He ate his own food, including two pig trotters, half a pig ear, a few pieces of ribs, and steamed buns with porridge.

The rest of the people stayed inside and cooked.

It was good enough to have steamed buns and porridge to eat. All the women in the house, young and old, were keeping an eye on each other, and anyone who ate would be breaking the rules.

After Bei Jiwu had eaten and drunk his fill, he was about to go to the backyard to catch up on his sleep when Bei Gong Dingbian came over with his family.

"Chief, we've come to get some work done."

When Beijiwu saw them come in, he said, "I caught three things while I was on night watch last night. I'm sleepy now, so I'm going to sleep in the backyard for a while. When the rest of you come over, you can get to work. See who knows how to process furs. Clean up these pelts and then we can eat the meat."

Beigong Dingbian led his family to the stone table and looked at the spotted leopard on it, which was over a meter long even without its tail.

"These Hu people like to make clothes and saddles from leopard and tiger skins. A single skin can be exchanged for a horse, worth at least ten or twenty taels of silver. Leopard bones and oil can be sold as medicine. If the leopard is alive, it's even more valuable."

The women eating inside the house held their bowls and looked outside, taking notes as they ate.

Even a tael of silver used to be a lot of money for Gao Conglian and Jiang Rong.

But after joining Arctic Martial Arts, he discovered that making money was too easy.

(End of this chapter)