Chapter 288 - 284: Spring Planting_1
“Youyou, you’re back!”
With tears welling up in her eyes, Yingbao calmed Xiaolu down and then used scissors to cut off the straps of the saddle.
There were several bare patches on Xiaolu’s back and abdomen where fur had been rubbed off, numerous minor injuries, some of which had begun to rot.
Youyou had somehow managed to get rid of the saddle on his back, but he couldn’t get rid of the straps, which caused his severe injuries.
Yingbao quickly sprinkled healing powder on his wounds, touched its head, and asked, “Do you want to go back with me?”
Youyou licked her face with his tongue, then slowly turned around and walked off.
“Wait!” Yingbao was saddened, she ran over to get some more ointment to feed him before letting go.
Youyou slowly walked over to a tree, his head held high as he looked towards the forest.
The antlers on his head resembled a king’s crown.
After a little while, several deer appeared from the forest. Two females, two fawns, and two adolescent bucks.
Yingbao’s eyes widened, unbelievable.
This was the first time she saw so many deer. Could they be Youyou’s herd?
The fawns near the does were curiously watching Yingbao, seemingly not scared at all.
What Yingbao saw next was Youyou leading the herd towards her, eventually standing nearby. The herd curiously observed the human cub, with the fawns even trying to sniff her.
Yingbao thought for a moment and then brought out some tender leaves from the cave to feed the deer.
Youyou began to eat first, then the fawns came over, finally followed by the does and adolescent bucks.
Seeing that they had finished the leaves, Yingbao brought out a handful of shepherd’s purse, a plant grown in the cave, and led them away.
When Chen Zhao and Xubao arrived, they were stunned by the scene.
“Youyou came back, I’m going to take them home.” Yingbao told Chen Zhao and then led the herd away on her own.
When she led the herd into the village, Jiang Sanlang and many villagers ran over at the news.
“Wow! Little fairy child truly is a little fairy child, managed to bring back such a big herd of deer on a single trip.” The villagers were extremely impressed by Little Yingbao.
Jiang Sanlang, afraid that the crowd would scare away the deer, quickly let his daughter lead the deer into their yard.
Lead by Youyou, the herd, although a bit scared, followed suit into the Jiang family’s compound.
Jiang Wu and Huzi were tremendously happy and ran home to see the deer.
“I want to keep a fawn! One like Youyou!” Huzi exclaimed furiously.
Jiang Wu also interjected: “I want to keep one too!”
“I’ll go cut grass to feed it right now!” Huzi declared.
Jiang Wu: “I’ll go too!”
The two stared at each other, neither willing to back down, immediately grabbing a basket and a sickle, and squeezing out of the crowd in the courtyard..
Seeing the increasing crowd of villagers, Jiang Sanlang had no choice but to say, “The herd just got back and is new to this place. Stop staring, everyone go home.”
Seven deer crowded into the stable in the yard, terrified by the intense human attention, except Youyou.
Chen Yin laughed and said, “Brother Jiang, can you sell one to our house?” He also wanted to keep a deer, to raise it to be a magnificent deer like Youyou, which would be quite distinguished when brought out.
Chen Zhuzhu also quickly said, “Brother Jiang, I want to keep one too, to serve as a mount for the little demon.”
Perhaps in the future, the little deer could also bring a herd of deer to their home.
Jiang Sanlang was somewhat troubled, “We can discuss this in the future.”
In fact, it mainly depends on his daughter’s opinion, as long as she agreed, it was not impossible.
After all, it’s quite impossible to keep so many deer in their home.
If he proposed to kill half of them, his daughter would definitely disagree.
“So we’ve settled it, remember to save one for my family.” Chen Yin, fearing Jiang Sanlang might renege, clarifies in advance.
Chen Zhuzhu: “And don’t forget me, Brother San.”
Jiang Sanlang reluctantly says, “These deer still need to be tamed for a while, we’ll see when the time comes.”
Having finally sent away the villagers, Jiang Sanlang asks his daughter, “How do you plan to raise these deer?”
Yingbao: “They can adopt deer, but they can’t kill them for meat.” Otherwise, she would betray Youyou’s trust.
Jiang Sanlang sighs, “Then let’s fence off a deer field in the wasteland and raise the herd there.”
“Mm.” Yingbao had the same idea.
The next day, Jiang Sanlang brings over a dozen villagers to help cut some bamboo. Afterwards, they fence off a bamboo walled area in the wasteland and confine the deer inside.
Youyou still follows Yingbao around, same as before.
February is the right time for planting tree saplings. Yingbao takes out dozens of lychee and tangerine saplings from the cave, as well as longan and papaya trees, and plants them in her own orchard.
Because of this, the orchard expands even further, almost reaching the grapevine and pepper circles.
Seeing that the Jiang family has somehow gotten hold of many fruit tree saplings, the villagers ask for a couple to plant at home.
Yingbao simply gives a few saplings to each family, whether they grow or not is up to their luck.
Even the school gets a few saplings, which were planted in the courtyard.
The elderly teacher and Li Xu both treasure them very much. They carefully plant the gifted saplings in the school flowerbed, watering them every day.
As for the vegetable seeds, some are planted in their own vegetable garden, some are given to her eldest and second uncles, and the rest are distributed to the villagers.
Yingbao also pulls out a bag of sesame seeds from a big wooden box sent from the Xiao family and hands it to her father, “This year, let’s plant more sesame. In Beijing, they use sesame oil for cooking. It’s very fragrant.”
Jiang Sanlang takes the bag of seeds and asks, “How to plant them?”
“Just plow the soil and scatter them in. But you have to wait until March to sow them.” Might as well irrigate it with pond water, that should make the sprouts come out.
Jiang Sanlang has no doubt about his daughter’s words, immediately he goes check where to plant these seeds.
Following his daughter’s instructions, this much sesame seeds could plant about five or six acres, so he plans to cultivate six acres of land.
Spring is the busiest season, villagers not only have to rush to farm, but also have to spin the cotton stored at home into fabric.
Mrs. Chun and her two sisters-in-law spend their days cooking, doing laundry, tidying up the house, and spinning and weaving.
In their weaving room, they have already hired several women. Some spin yarn and some weave fabric, everything proceeds in an orderly manner.
These weavers are poor girls from nearby villages. Mrs. Chun provides cotton and tools, as well as a meal, and they each receive fifty coins, equivalent to ten catties of grain, for every piece of cloth they weave.
The price is not low, because skillful weavers can weave a piece of cloth in a day.
In order to have them focus on their work, Mrs. Chun even hires a woman, paying her a coin per month, to cook meals and boil water for the weavers.
In the hustle and bustle, March arrived quickly.
Peaches and plums shed their exuberant flowers and bore fruits.
All the fruit saplings Yingbao planted are thriving and have grown a lot taller.
The village folk’s saplings also survived, but they aren’t growing as robustly as the Jiang’s.
One day, two officers suddenly came to the village.
The officers headed straight for Jiang Sanlang’s house and handed him a letter.
Seeing it was again the two officers from the previous encounter, Jiang Sanlang couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Upon opening the letter, he finds it’s another summons inviting his daughter to enroll in school.
What’s the County Medical Office thinking?
Jiang Sanlang puts the letter back in its envelope, bows to the two officers and says, “To tell you the truth, my daughter is still young and can’t leave home on her own. So, we’re not planning to go to the County Medical Office.”