Sure enough, when they reached the outskirts of the village, the ice on the ground was minimal. In the middle of the path, there were visible traces of being shoveled, though it wasn’t particularly clean.
But stepping on it at least didn’t have that constant risk of slipping and falling.
It was quite cold, so there weren’t many people outside in the village, but they were aware of many carts and horses arriving at the Zhou Family’s manor outside the village.
When Manbao and the others arrived at the village entrance, it happened that the Chief was about to go out to et them.
It wasn’t anything serious, just exchanging greetings, after all, the villagers were all tenants of the Zhou Family, right?
Upon seeing Manbao and the others, the Chief imdiately stepped forward and saluted, "Greetings, Lord Zhou."
Manbao quickly returned the gesture; considering the other’s age, she didn’t dare just accept the courtesy without reciprocating.
The Chief smiled warmly, "Has Lord Zhou brought the whole family to the manor for fun?"
Manbao smiled and nodded, "We’ve heard that it snowed in Yongzhou a few days ago, so we’ve co to enjoy the snow."
The Chief didn’t quite understand what was so enjoyable about the white snow, as it snows every year, doesn’t it? But he still warmly expressed his welco.
Since they t, Manbao naturally inquired about the village’s situation, "Have the eggs we sent to you hatched into chicks?"
The Chief replied with a smile, "They have. Everyone has been very attentive. The hatched chicks are being raised indoors right now, eating and drinking just like people."
Of course, that wasn’t completely true; the chickens eat food that is still inferior to what people eat.
Manbao was pleased with this, and then asked about next year’s spring planting, "You should be preparing the crop seeds, right? Is the village planning to exchange for new seeds this year, or using ones kept from last year?"
The Chief explained, "We’re thinking of selecting the best from our own and also buying so new seeds from the county to replace them. As agreed beforehand, these seeds..."
"I’ll pay for half of it," Manbao said, "I know that. I’ll send soone to the grain shops in the city to carefully look for particularly good seeds."
The Chief happily agreed. Chatting with soone who knows farming is always reassuring.
Manbao then finally asked about preparations for winter, like whether villagers have enough firewood...
After the Chief assured that everyone was prepared and fairly sufficiently stocked, Manbao promptly proposed buying so firewood from the villagers.
She figured, why bother with borrowing when it’s just a matter of a few coins? Just buy it directly.
Bai Shan agreed with this sentint.
Only then did the Chief co to realize—they were here to buy firewood from the village.
But the villagers were all tenants of Zhou Man. If she asked for sothing, whether buying or borrowing, the tenants couldn’t refuse.
The Chief hesitated for a mont and decided it was better to build a good relationship, so he said with a smile, "It’s just firewood, not worth money. Why bother buying? How about this, I’ll bring so bundles from my place, and gather so from other hos to make it enough."
Manbao declined, "It’s far from the woods here, and it’s quite a trek to gather firewood. I can’t just take everyone’s stuff."
The Chief noted her sincerity and directly stated, "It’s not so expensive thing. Moreover, this year Lord Zhou didn’t ask for straw; everyone has so spare ti to collect so much firewood. Usually, it should be us providing the manor with firewood."
Only then did Manbao recall the matter of straw. In previous years, the villagers as tenants had to provide straw for the official fields.
However, their family didn’t have many horses, plenty of mules though, but Bai Shan’s family always cared for the forr, using the best fodder, completely disregarding the straw from here;
The latter, Zhou SiLang was responsible for, and who knows where he sourced so much dry grass, but the mules hadn’t lost weight and were earning quite so money daily.
Finally, with the Chief’s insistence, Manbao accepted the twenty bundles of firewood he gathered, delivered to the manor by the villagers.
Old Zhou was delighted to hear it was complintary and thanked them, telling Zhou Dalang and his wife, "Although they might be a bit lazy, they’re good people. In the future, when you manage them, try to be considerate, except don’t let them slack off too much. In other matters, lend a hand whenever you can."
Zhou Dalang agreed and asked, "Dad, are we heading back tomorrow afternoon?"
"Why stay here if not heading back?" Old Zhou said, "If Mr. Zhuang hadn’t ntioned that Manbao’s mood was down, and needed to get out to see so snow and climb so mountains to relax, I wouldn’t have even stepped out in this cold weather."
Zhou Dalang wasn’t quite keen on going back, "My wife and I have discussed staying at the manor to raise so chickens and ducks."
He said, "While we have spare ti, we’ll buy so chicken and duck eggs to hatch, and tidy up the other unsettled areas in the manor."
Mainly because he and his wife didn’t have much to do in the capital, often just lending a hand here and there, leading quite a leisurely life.
So Junior Ms. Qian thought, it’s better to stay in the manor where there’s work to do, and when they miss their parents and children, they can return to the capital easily, as it’s not far.
Old Zhou was pondering, and Zhou Dalang continued rambling, "She also wants to pickle so dried vegetables, along with so fish and at. The mansion in the capital is too well-kept, and occasionally dignified guests co by; drying at under the eaves might not be appropriate."
Old Zhou recalled the cured ats, sausages, and various smoked and pickled ats made by his eldest daughter-in-law and imdiately agreed, "Okay, then you stay."
Thinking it over, he said, "Perhaps we’ll stay here with you."
Anyway, in the capital, he only helped at the restaurant, which wasn’t much work, and when Manbao returned, she’d have to enter the palace, making eting her only possible next month on the eighth. So after so thought, he said, "Later, I’ll ask Erya for so money, and we’ll buy so at and vegetables to prepare als, since quite a few people will be dining during New Year in the capital."
Thinking about needing to buy vegetables, Old Zhou grumbled a bit, "We arrived too late, missing the chance to plant veggies. In the future, we should definitely plant them ourselves. By the way, do we have land in the manor suitable for vegetable planting?"
Sitting obediently waiting to eat, Manbao imdiately chid in, "Dad, this manor needs to keep so places for to plant stuff."
Old Zhou inquired, "To plant the wild grasses you dug up from outside?"
"Why call them wild grasses? They might turn out to be dicinal herbs," Manbao said, "All things in the world can be made into dicine. Liru ntioned Manager Zheng has already contacted a farr for a batch of herb seeds, and I want to try planting them here in the manor."
They’d also plant so in the capital mansion, planting separately increases the survival rate. Manager Zheng went to great lengths collecting these from various farming families.
Of course, besides the herb seeds from Manager Zheng, there were things she found interesting from the marketplace, and also things she dug up from outside, hehe...
In the capital mansion, the constant flow of people made her cautious about planting marketplace finds, but the manor here was mostly family, and her eldest brother and sister-in-law would personally oversee it, making her feel at ease. So, she planned to plant so new and interesting things.
For example, the crop seeds Keke ntioned which couldn’t pass on superior genetic traits to the second generation.
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