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Now that he had finished planting his 300 golden eared mushrooms, he was preparing to discuss it with his parents and brothers in the front yard, when he saw Chen Cunzheng, standing at the entrance of his yard with his hands behind his back.

Chen Sanyou, the village leader, was in his forties. He was a gentle and polite man who was willing to help others. He held considerable prestige in

Dongchen Village, second only to his older brother, Clan Leader Chen Fu.

Upon seeing Chen Cunzheng approach, Jiang Sanlang quickly went up to greet him, and with a chuckling smile, said, “Uncle Chen, please come in and sit down.”

Only then did Chen Sanyou stride in, looking around as he questioned,

“Sanlang, I see you’ve been busy recently. What are you busy with?”

Jiang Sanlang rubbed his hands together and laughed, “I haven’t been too busy. I just harvested some mushrooms from the mountain and planted them.” “What kind of mushrooms?” Chen Sanyou asked curiously.

Jiang Sanlang brought him into the bamboo shed, pointed at the twenty pieces of mulberry wood on a rack, and said, “I planted golden eared mushrooms.

They’re said to be nourishing food.”

Chen Sanyou stretched his neck to take a look. He couldn’t recognize it, so he murmured, “How strange.”

Jiang Sanlang chuckled naively.

Upon exiting the bamboo shed, Chen Sanyou said in a solemn tone, “Sanlang, it’s fine to plant mushrooms, but don’t neglect your fields. Growing grains is the foundation for us farmers.’

Jiang Sanlang immediately nodded, “Uncle Chen, rest assured. Our fields are all planted. Not a single acre has been neglected.”

Chen Sanyou nodded and sighed, “Yesterday, Lizheng came to inform us that the Imperial Court will be collecting a large amount of food and cloth after the summer harvest. Every acre of our village’s fields will be taxed an additional 10%. You better prepare. If you can’t meet the requirements, neither of us will have an easy time.”

Jiang Sanlang frowned, “Another tax increase? Uncle Chen, is the Imperial

Court going to war with someone again?”

Chen Sanyou shook his head, “I’m not sure. There’ll be official orders when the time comes. We can only wait.”

He walked a few steps, then stopped, and continued,

“Also, you better start farming the fields by South Mountain. No matter what you plant, it’s better than letting the land lie fallow. I expect food prices to rise in the next six months. If you tend to those fields a bit, it’s better than going hungry in winter.”

“Uncle Chen is right.” Jiang Sanlang replied, “I was planning to tend to the South Mountain fields. When the time comes, I’ll definitely ask you for advice.”

“Mm.” Chen Sanvou left. satisfied. with his hands behind his back.

Jiang Sanlang saw off the village leader, his face growing serious.

Every year before the Imperial Court went to war, it would collect grain and fabric. If the war dragged on, it would draft soldiers.

At that time, the common people would probably have to face hardships again.

Fortunately, he had managed to earn a few dozen taels of silver. Even if there was a draft, his three brothers could use the silver to pay for substitutes.

Therefore, he’d need to reconsider the house construction.

There’s an old saying that goes, “Peach blossoms in March, rain in April.” It was now the end of April, and the sky was densely covered with dark clouds, looking like a storm was brewing.

Chunniang sat by the window, occasionally glancing outside, anxious.

These past few days, she had been pondering her daughter’s words, worried that the Chuanhe River would flood, and inundate their house.

“Sanlang, let’s hurry to South Mountain and build a house. Ah, I haven’t been able to sleep well these days.”

Jiang Sanlang, who was playing with their son at the time, was taken aback. He glanced outside and frowned.

The rainfall in early summer was indeed heavy. It hadn’t cleared up for several days.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “How about we start by building three straw huts on South Mountain? If there’s heavy rain, we can take refuge there.”

Chunniang immediately nodded, “Let’s build straw huts then. Sanlang, I just can’t take it anymore.” She had spent all night on tenterhooks, not daring to close her eyes.

“Then I’ll talk to our parents and older brothers about it tomorrow to see if they want to build any,” said Jiang Sanlang.

Chunniang glared at her husband, “If you’re going to build it, just build it. Why do you always bring up your parents and older brothers? If they don’t want to go, are you not going to build it?”

“How can that be?” Jiang Sanlang scratched his head awkwardly, “I was thinking that if there really is a flood one day, they can also find shelter in the houses on South Slope.”

Chunniang appeared slightly relieved and urged, “What are you waiting for then? It’s not too late right now. Go and talk to your older and second brothers. ”

“Oh, I’m going right away.”

Yingbao didn’t realize that a casual comment she made would prompt her parents to decide to build a house on South Mountain. Not only did her father agree to build it, but also roped in her eldest and second uncles to help.

In this moment, she was busily working in the cave-house, planting Xue’er fungi on lengths of mulberry wood.

After planting the Xue’er, she went to inspect the Golden Ear fungi growing on other pieces of mulberry wood.

These Golden Ears had fully matured, but because the current weather wasn’t ideal, they were not harvested yet.

If they weren’t harvested soon, the ripe Golden Ears would shrivel, discolor, and ultimately rot.

Given that the Golden Ears planted by her father hadn’t fully grown yet, naturally, there would be no baking in an oven. Additionally, with it being the rainy season and the weather humid and lacking sunshine, if the harvested Golden Ears weren’t dried immediately, they would rot and mold.

Ah, the timing needs to be calculated well for the next cultivation. Otherwise, it would be wasted effort.

While making the rounds in the cave-house, Yingbao spotted a large patch of Bolboschoenus, a plant that produces Arrowheads.

Now, the Arrowheads had come to maturity. If not harvested soon, they would rot in the ground.

Yingbao scratched her head and squatted down to start digging Arrowheads.

With a bit of pulling and digging from mere dozens of Bolboschoenus plants, she had already harvested a large basket of egg-sized Arrowheads, which worried her.

She couldn’t possibly finish them all by herself, and she also dared not distribute them excessively to others. This was truly a life-ending predicament.

If only she were grown up. Then she could sell them in the town, or perhaps pretend to have bought them from the market.

But she was still just a two-year-old toddler now, only a bit taller than a small dining table. If she were to go out alone, even a slightly older child could easily carry her off.

She picked out a dozen or so of the largest Arrowheads and set them aside to save as seeds. The rest, she temporarily left in the basket.

After cleaning her hands in the pond water, Yingbao set about pondering over the thirty mature Golden Ears that she had.

These things were super valuable, and it pained her to waste even one.

Scanning her surroundings, Yingbao’s eyes fell on the Wu Ding Zhi fungi on the stone wall, and suddenly, she had a eureka moment.

She pulled off a few leaves of the Wu Ding Zhi, crushed them into a pulp in a bowl, and then mixed in some pond water.

The juice of Wu Ding Zhi dissolved into the water, only making it slightly thicker but otherwise, it seemed no different.

Yingbao poured this bowl of liquid over the mature Golden Ears, thinking to wait a few days to see if they would mutate.

Given that the Golden Ears were already mature and would rot and mold if not quickly harvested and dried, it might be worthwhile to use them for an experiment.

If no abnormalities arose, she would cook these Golden Ears and have her grandparents and uncles eat them. That way, it wouldn’t be a waste. If, however, they spoiled or became rotten, she’d simply throw them away.

When she came out of the cave-house, she saw dark clouds and raining outside the window.

Yingbao knelt by the kang table, picking up a stick of ink to begin grinding it.

Ever since her father bought her the set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, she’d added an extra task to her daily routine—copying calligraphy practice sheets and writing the Three Character Classic.

The rain was getting heavier, splattering on the windowpanes and causing water splashes.

Jiang Sanlang hurried back home from outside, his clothes completely drenched.

Taking off his wet clothes and wiping his face with a towel handed over by his wife, he said cheerfully, “Eldest brother and second brother have agreed to go with us to build a house on South Mountain. Once the rain stops, I’ll go ask Brother Li Dayong to help us mold clay bricks so that we can start construction in the autumn.”

Building a house isn’t easy, even if it’s a grass-thatched one. It requires pre-drying the necessary clay bricks, preparing enough bamboo and thatch, as well as round wooden beams for the house. The door and window frames need to be ready as well.

And only once everything is prepared can people be hired to lay the foundation and build the house.

In the meantime, it is necessary to avoid busy farming seasons. It’s not advisable to build during the harsh winters either, because the ground would be likely to contain ice. Once spring arrives and the ice melts, the house becomes unstable and the walls could collapse after not too long.

Spring Maiden chuckled, handing over dry clothing for him to change into, and asked, “Are we still building a clay brick house?”

Given their financial status now, they could completely afford to build a large, five-chamber house with green brick and tile, which was both clean and bright. There wouldn’t be any chance of bugs crawling down from rotten thatch in the summer either.

Jiang Sanlang nodded, “We’ll start with three rooms of clay brick first. Once we earn more money, we’ll build a brick and tile house..”