novelaction Chapter 243 Plowing the Ground
Chapter 243 Plowing the Ground
Zhou Mi said, "It's not made of gold, but it has some patterns carved on it, and it's painted black. The wood is better. It's a little better looking than the usual boxes, and it's also smaller than the average box."
Zhou Mai thought for a moment and said, "That's still very different from the small boxes we usually see. Maybe there's a reason why others can sell it so expensively."
Zhou Xing didn't understand. "Even if it's like this, it won't cost more than a dozen taels of silver per ginseng. This is simply robbing! A ginseng that's forty years old only costs fifty taels. It's not easy to find a ginseng. It's even harder for it to grow peacefully in the mountains until it's fifty years old. But now, people can exchange one for three wooden boxes. This is simply robbing. It's so expensive, will anyone buy it?"
That sounds like it, Zhou Mi agreed.
Isn’t a cow much more useful than a box? And the box is so small, what can it hold?
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "The boxes worth more than ten taels of silver are made of precious wood, which is definitely different from ordinary wood. They are like ginseng, growing in the mountains and taking hundreds of years to grow. It takes a lot of manpower to find them, and once they are found, they have to be transported out, and then they have to be made into various kinds of furniture by craftsmen. If you calculate carefully, it takes more time than ginseng."
After thinking about it carefully, they agreed that it made sense. Precious wood was difficult to find, and to make furniture one had to find suitable large pieces of wood.
Zhou Xing: "Then we can't afford it. Fortunately, you are smart, Guoguo. You are not afraid. If it were me, I wouldn't even dare to go in." She envied Zhou Guo's courage. It seemed that he was not afraid of anything and dared to do anything, but she could not.
Zhou Mi said: "I was shocked at the time, afraid that if we went in like this, we would be beaten out by the people inside."
Zhou Guo laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? Third brother, have you forgotten that I have skills? Even if I can't beat you, I can just run away. How can I just stand there like an idiot and let others beat me? Isn't that something only a fool would do?"
Zhou Mai laughed, "You are not afraid, but your third brother is. He has no skills, how can he outrun those people? He will be beaten up."
A few people thought about that and couldn't help laughing.
After unloading the grass and spreading it out to dry, Zhou Guo asked, "Brother, where are my uncle and master?"
Zhou Mai wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "We went into the mountains to cut firewood. I wanted to go, but I thought grass was also necessary, so I stayed at home to cut grass. We have already cut grass five or six times today, and the grass nearby has been cut almost completely. Now there is no grass to cut nearby, so we have to drive the car to a distant place to cut grass. It takes some time to go back and forth, so it is slower."
Zhou Xing took the ladle and drank half of it, then said, "You and Third Brother will come with us later, it will definitely be much faster. You two are the fastest in our family."
Zhou Guo shook his head and said, "Sister, I have to go to the fields to plow the land this afternoon."
It has just rained and the soil in the ground is not dry yet. This is the best time to turn the soil.
"Plowing the land?" Several people asked in unison, looking at her in surprise, "You're going to plow the land? Do you know how to plow the land? Have you ever plowed the land before?"
Zhou Guo shook his head, "I haven't plowed it before, but I have seen it."
Have you ever eaten pork or seen a pig run? Just put the plowshare on the cow, hold the plowshare in one hand and the whip in the other, and then you can drive the cow forward. When the plowshare is inserted into the ground, the soil can be turned over. Is that difficult?
The few men were so worried that they didn't cut the grass in the afternoon and didn't let the horses go. They locked the horses in the shed and the four of them carried the plow and drove the oxen to the fields.
This time I didn’t go far, I just went to the plots of land close to home.
Even though Zhou Xing had never been to this piece of land, he could still tell which plots of land belonged to his family. The reason was that all the other plots of land had been turned over, but only their plots of land still had traces of being burned. There were patches of black ash on the ground, and those who didn't know would think that they were a lazy family.
Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi worked together to put the plowshare on the ox. After everything was ready, they looked at Zhou Guo who was holding the whip behind them and said, "Why don't you let me try?"
Zhou Mi glanced at him and said, "Why don't you try? Do you have that much strength? When the time comes, I won't know whether you are driving the cow or the cow is driving you."
Zhou Mai: “!…”
Zhou Xing laughed out loud.
Zhou Guo raised the whip in his hand and said eagerly: "Brother, don't worry, I'm fine. Even if I can't plow, I still have a lot of strength. This cow can't do anything to me."
Under the gaze of the three people, Zhou Guo held the plow handle with his left hand, raised the whip with his right hand, and hit the ox with it.
"Ah, wake up, wake up~~~"
The loud sound of cattle being driven away immediately rang out on this land. The sudden sound startled Zhou Xing and others.
Fortunately, this cow had probably experienced a lot and was not frightened. It walked slowly forward step by step.
Zhou Guo held the plow and followed the ox's steps forward. It seemed simple when he watched, but when he really had the plow in his hands, he found that it was not that easy.
If you stand in the wrong position, the plowshare will hit your feet. If you push the plowshare too fast or too slow, the plowshare will sometimes lift up while plowing, or it will tilt, causing the plowed furrows to be deep, shallow, and crooked, which looks really ugly.
Zhou Mai and the others opened their mouths, frowned, and watched her with some worry as she held the plow and drove the ox slowly, step by step, walking a distance.
Looking at the small ditch on the ground, his brows furrowed even deeper.
Zhou Mai: "…It's okay, you'll get it after a few more walks."
Zhou Mi nodded, "...at least I can still drive the cows forward a few steps, that's good."
Zhou Xing sighed, "I can't believe I plowed the land like this for the first time!"
Then he looked at Zhou Mai and the others, "Guoguo can learn it just by watching others plowing. Are you two capable of it?"
The two of them quickly shook their heads like rattles, "We won't."
Zhou Xing said, "People with great strength are good. They can accomplish anything. They can even do farm work faster than others. It looks easy, and they just have to move forward and it will be done."
This is true. Zhou Mi and Zhou Mai nodded at the same time. Regardless of whether the work was done well or not, it looked easy.
Zhou Guo was groaning in his heart and sweating profusely. If his men were not so strong, the ox in front would have been out of control long ago, and the plowshare would have been disobedient as well, as if it would turn out at any time. It was not enough to put all his heart and soul into the plowshare. Plowing the land was indeed not an easy task.
As she was working, she became irritated by the ox in front of her and the plow she was working on. She threatened the ox, "I don't believe I can't deal with you. Even if you are a dragon in this field, you have to turn over this field for me today!"
After speaking harshly to the cow's rear end, he spoke harshly to the plowshare under his hand, "And you, you are just a plowshare, yet you look down on others? I will definitely subdue you."
After he finished speaking, he looked at the soil being turned over under his feet and his lips started moving again.