"Big brother, take the pig offal and blood back with you. Also, take this piece of at too."
"Yuanyuan, we’ll take the offal back, but we don’t need the at. We have our own pig, and we’re also slaughtering one this month."
In the end, Su Yuanyuan still managed to give them the ten-plus-pound piece of at.
It was actually quite good this way; she didn’t mind parting with the at.
In the afternoon, Su Yuanyuan stayed ho to clean the small intestines. It made it more convenient for Tan Shaoting to eat.
However, she planned to send five pounds of lard and five pounds of at to the Li Family in the evening.
This ti Li Hongxiang didn’t pay for it, thinking that since he was slaughtering his pig later than Su Yuanyuan, he could prepare so preserved at and give Su Yuanyuan a portion in spring next year.
He also felt that it wasn’t necessary to be too calculated. Since the young girl was so sincere with them, he should reciprocate with sincerity. That’s how relationships are built.
Next, Su Yuanyuan started stewing the ribs, and they were truly aromatic. She stuffed about two hundred pounds of sausages, which actually only used a little over thirty pounds of at.
With the remaining at, she stuffed one hundred pounds of preserved sausages, all hung in the room Tan Shaoting used to stay in, planning to steam them all before her departure, to take with her. If she saw him, she’d give them to him; if not, his own stock would be enough for him to eat for one or two years.
She took two pounds of lard to the cotton gin. This ti, Zhao Yanli went with her. The two girls were both capable, so they finished ginning the five mu of cotton in three days. They still demanded ten pounds of cotton but didn’t take the first-grade quality.
"Xiao Li, does your family gin cotton?"
"Don’t worry about us; we have enough people at ho."
With that, Su Yuanyuan started digging out sweet potatoes and potatoes before the freeze set in.
During the day, she dug them out with a hoe, and at night, she used her superpower. There weren’t that many sweet potatoes and potatoes, and she finished digging them all in three days. She handed over the good ones to the farm office, and kept the poor quality ones at ho in the yard, planning to slice them for next year’s pig feed.
At night, the little donkey pulled the grinder, and the remaining corn was ground halfway.
The cotton stalks were uprooted in three days too, all leaning against the outside wall to dry quickly.
In fact, cotton stalks burn more slowly than corn stalks. The sweet potato vines were also piled up in the yard, making it convenient to feed the livestock.
Once everything at ho was in order, it was already November, and she finally had ti to go to the farm office to settle her accounts.
Her wages, plus the money from the grains, amounted to three thousand two hundred and sixty yuan from the farm office this ti.
"Director Feng, I’ll still need you to write a recomndation letter."
"Xiao Su, you should hold onto so money and not donate everything." He still reminded the girl, who hadn’t seed to rest all year but donated all her hard-earned money co winter.
"Okay, this ti I’ll only donate two thousand. I also want to buy so fertilizer; without fertilizer, the yield is significantly less."
"Xiao Su, can you help the farm office secure so more fertilizer?"
Su Yuanyuan shook her head, "I’m not certain. Ten tons shouldn’t be a problem, but for more, I can’t be sure."
"Try to think of a way. When you return, I’ll reimburse you."
Su Yuanyuan nodded, "I’ll give it a try, but I can’t guarantee anything now. Actually, I think having Accountant Zhang make another trip—if it works, bring so back, if not, catch a ride back with my rented vehicle."
Feng Baoshan thought for a mont. "Alright, when are you leaving?"
"In three days; I still have so tasks at ho that aren’t settled."
Mainly because the cottonseed oil hadn’t been pressed yet, it seed like this year either the Li Family or the Zhao Family would help her out.
"Alright, I’ll have Accountant Zhang go with you."
Su Yuanyuan took the money and went to the Zhao Family. Their work was also wrapping up, but there was still so corn to hand over. They hesitated to lose twenty-five percent to weigh it, so they were shelling the corn themselves.
"Yuanyuan, when are you leaving? We’re slaughtering our pig next month. Captain Tian sold us two hundred pounds of pork, and many others want to buy so too."
"I plan to go to the fertilizer factory in three days. This year’s yields were much higher because of the fertilizer."
"Yes, our wheat this year produced over a hundred pounds more per mu than Captain Tian’s family."
Sun Yun listened in from the side, "Yuanyuan, could you secure a bit more fertilizer? If possible, get two tons for my mom’s family."
"Sister-in-law, the whole truck holds only ten tons; I’m not sure. Also, the fertilizer I bring is more expensive than what the farm office gets."
"I know, we can’t get any from the farm office at all."
Su Yuanyuan didn’t know what to do; the three families themselves required ten tons, and even then, not all their land was fertilized. Otherwise, it would be utterly insufficient.
Sun Yun also felt a bit embarrassed. She tried her best; if it worked, great, if not, there was no choice.
"Yuanyuan, my big brother said we have two thousand pounds of corn left to complete our task, the rest can wait till winter to shell slowly."
"Xiao Li, it’s really inconvenient for you to co to us all the ti; how about taking my family’s chickens?"
Sun Yun was tempted; she might buy ten for her mother’s family, as they actually enjoyed so eggs this year.
"Yuanyuan, it’s no trouble; I just need to make a few more trips."
Su Yuanyuan still shook her head firmly, "How many do you need? Otherwise, I’ll just slaughter them all."
"You have so much pork already. Why kill the chickens?"
"The taste is different. I want to take the pork into the city too. In hard tis, people gave pork and pig fat; now that I have so, I’d like to return the gesture. It’s good to have soone to rely on when things get tough."
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"Then give us five and skip the ducks and geese."
Su Yuanyuan nodded; indeed, in winter, chickens are hard to maintain. Without proper care, they’d freeze to death. Next year she’d keep just three to five, enough for her egg consumption. Ducks, in contrast, need less grain.
"Yuanyuan, sell ten to Sister-in-law; I want to give them to my mom’s family."
"Alright, I won’t charge much, just two yuan each. If you want them, let’s catch them later."
The price of two yuan per chicken was incredibly low, Sun Yun nodded, "Okay, I’ll go with you to catch them right now."
That way, only three chickens remained, while all ducks and big geese were slaughtered.
Zhao Yanli followed behind in a cart driven by a donkey.
"Xiao Li, I’m buying chickens for my mom’s family, and they’re paying." Sun Yun feared Zhao Yanli might misunderstand.
"Sister-in-law, I know, I won’t overthink it."
The two sisters-in-law caught fifteen chickens and left. The leftover chickens at Su Yuanyuan’s were all slaughtered in the evening, stored directly in her space, leaving only one big goose, which she’d stew in a pot for dinner.
Now, the family’s sheep and small donkey could be entrusted to Zhao Yanli to take care of.
The sweet potato and potato slices were already half-dried and were moved inside, ready for another sun-drying next spring.
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