The Zheng Family’s well-being was evident through their children.
In Xiao Yu’s previous life, she learned needlework. Although her skills were quite average, they were considered exceptional in modern tis. Consequently, she used cloth purchased from the Space Mall to make nurous pairs of pants and sweatshirts for the little girl to wear in the sumr. Made from the most ordinary cotton, the garnts were distinct because their patterns were rare for the era. Moreover, since her children were always well-grood and smartly dressed, outsiders thought the Zheng Family must be as wealthy as mine owners. Gradually, matchmakers began approaching to arrange marriages.
However, no matter how many people ca to propose matches, Xiao Yu politely declined them. At first, she would simply say she was uninterested, but as the number of suitors increased, she lost her patience and bluntly stated she had been injured in battle and was unable to engage in martial relations, putting a stop to the matchmakers’ chatter.
Even so, gossip about Xiao Yu spread throughout the village. So felt sorry for her, while others admired her honesty, saying a single sentence had severed her marital prospects. Xiao Yu had lived as both a man and woman; why would she need a woman to manage her household?
Though managing alone as both father and mother was demanding, her children were understanding, and she never felt burdened by them. So, all the gossiping aunts and busybodies might as well mind their own business.
The fall harvest was as busy as the sumr harvest, except loaches were trickier to gather than fish, but the yield was much more abundant.
Altogether, Xiao Yu collected over 1,500 pounds of loaches, selling at least 1,000 pounds to the Space Mall and earning twenty thousand yuan, as the purchase price for loaches had reached twenty yuan per pound.
Even in 1980, the price of loaches was similar to pork – about sixty to seventy cents per pound, whereas Carp cost only thirty to forty cents per pound, nearly half as expensive.
Xiao Yu exchanged the remaining five hundred pounds of loaches with the villagers for fish, at a ratio of one pound of loaches for two pounds of fish. In the end, she was left with one hundred pounds of loaches and acquired 800 pounds of fish, which was too much for her to consu. She decided to marinate all of it into Rice Flower Marinated Fish, while storing the loaches in the Space Mall to eat whenever she wanted.
Of course, she made sure the loaches were freshly killed before placing them into the space.
She pickled three hundred pounds of the 800 pounds of fish and sold the remaining five hundred pounds to the Space Mall for six yuan per pound, earning a profit of 3,000 yuan.
Obviously, whether the fish sold to the Space Mall were dead or alive wasn’t a concern.
Xiao Yu’s balance in the Space Mall stood at approximately 2.03 million yuan. With the occasional sale of vegetables and everyday expenditures, the net amount ca to 2.03 million after all the additions and subtractions.
This fall, her half-acre of corn yielded 300 pounds, and half-acre of sesa produced fifty pounds. The rice paddy yielded nearly 900 pounds, slightly more than before, which was considered a high yield and clearly demonstrated the crucial role of the loaches.
After this grain harvest, Xiao Yu planted wheat in the fields, while the paddies were left fallow, waiting to be sown with rice in the spring.
Entering autumn, Zheng Long bought plastic sheeting and chopped down so bamboo from the back mountain to construct a greenhouse in his backyard. As winters in Southern weren’t very cold, he built his greenhouse to grow fresh vegetables. Since he couldn’t sell them at the mont, he only planted a modest amount, including lettuce, romaine, coriander, scallion, baby bok choy, and other green vegetables.
The greenhouse was not very tall, just about a ter in height. To water the plants, he had to lift the plastic film held down by soil on the sides. Since the technologies of that era were immature, and he was also figuring things out as he went, he used his own words to explain the principles when the curious villagers asked.
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