The snow in Beijing was much heavier than Qiao Lan imagined. The snow fell on the muddy dirt roads in the countryside, freezing the already bumpy dirt roads tightly.
The snow is so thick that it can easily cover the insteps. Occasionally, when the sun comes out, it not only fails to melt the snow, but also illuminates the white snow all over the mountains and plains.
Qiao Lan was sitting in the room, writing notes as usual.
There were three or four maids inside and outside the house busy with various tasks. Some were sorting out the account books, some were wiping the table, and there was one who was waiting beside Qiao Lan to help Qiao Lan grind ink, spread paper, and organize the things on the table.
object.
There was a crunching sound of snow, and the maid waiting in the house quickly opened the heavy curtain and opened the door to see who was coming.
"It's Aunt Xiang who's back!" Yinque shouted. Seeing Aunt Xiang approaching the door of the courtyard carrying a bamboo basket, she quickly opened the curtain wider. "Aunt Xiang, please come inside quickly, it's warm in the house..."
Qiao Lan also heard the movement and followed the sound and looked outside.
After Grandma Xiang entered the house, she took off her cloak, put on a pair of shoes, and approached Qiao Lan.
"Old madam, this is the gift list issued years ago. The second master asked me to deliver it." Grandma Xiang came forward with a basket and said.
Zi Shan brought a bowl of warm tea to the table nearest to Grandma Li Xiang and said softly, "Grandma Xiang, please use the tea."
After putting out the tea, she immediately went to do other things.
After hearing this, Qiao Lan took the account book and looked at it a few times.
What is written in the booklet is the annual gift issued by Zhuangzi this year.
If this wealthy family has a lot of money, they will give an extra monthly payment to the servants in the house as the new year is approaching. This is for good luck, and secondly, it is to hope that the servants can work harder.
Qiao Lan was extremely busy, so she left this matter to Duan Mingjing.
Firstly, it was to train Duan Mingjing and find him some work to do in the winter, so that he would not be too idle. Secondly, it was to use up some of the inventory on Zhuangzi.
It snowed so hard this winter that Zhuangzi couldn't transport a lot of things he had accumulated in the past half year. Even though it was easy to store things when the snow and ice were frozen in winter, everything would become stale over time, so Qiao Lan let Duan Mingjing make the decision.
Take some and send it out.
Qiao Lan didn't say a word about how much or what to send, leaving it up to Duan Mingjing to do it himself.
The booklet that was delivered contains the things Duan Mingjing sent out. It mainly contains eggs, rice, cured duck, salted duck eggs and the like.
Some families were given out ten kilograms of eggs, five kilograms of rice, and three kilograms of salted duck eggs. Some were given fifty kilograms of rice directly, while others asked for cured duck bacon. These were all produced by Qiao Lan's own farm, so he rounded them up.
It costs nothing.
Qiao Lan took a cursory glance and silently calculated the price of these things. In normal times, they would be worth about two months of people's wages. Coupled with the increase in prices of various commodities at the end of the year, they can be considered real objects.
After reading the account book, Qiao Lan suddenly looked up and asked, "How is the mushroom growing?"
Duan Mingjing is now in charge of painting insects at Zhuangzi, and he also raises chickens, ducks and mushrooms part-time.
The mushroom shed was built by Qiao Lan in the past two months. Qiao Lan only came to the capital this year, and it took a lot of effort for the people in Zhuangzi to take care of the fields. They were busy from spring to late autumn before planning for the near future.
Several years of planting goals.
Seeing that the weather was getting colder and there was nothing to eat in the fields, she happened to have a book on growing mushrooms, so she asked someone from Zhuangzi to build a shed for growing mushrooms.
Mushrooms do not require too much light and can be grown as long as the temperature is suitable. There is no need to deliberately light a fire to heat up the mushrooms. You only need to pile some thick culture media in a draft-tight room.
Aunt Xiang just picked up the tea and didn't care to drink it. She immediately put it down and replied: "The second master went to see me today and said that it has started to sprout. It looks pretty good."
Qiao Lan nodded in relief and said casually, "When the mushrooms in the house are almost grown, it's time to go back home."
Everyone in the room looked a little excited when they heard this. The last time I went back to my hometown was during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This time I went back to my hometown to celebrate the New Year.
It's not that Qiao Lan doesn't want to go back, it's just that the temperature has plummeted since autumn, and some crops in the fields have been harvested.
Although Zhuangzi was not far from the capital, it would take at least five or six days to go back and forth. It was the first time Qiao Lan came to the north to farm, and she was afraid that something might happen to the fields, so she simply stayed there until nothing could grow in the fields.
Who knew that once it snowed, it would be endless.
"Old lady, since the crops grow slowly in winter, will it take a long time for the mushrooms to grow?" asked Green Moss, who was following Qiao Lan.
The new girls Qiao Lan recruited were all literate. They followed Qiao Lan and read a lot of books on weekdays to understand the principles of this kind of crops.
"No! These mushrooms grow very fast. Do you think that once it rains this summer, the forest will be full of them! Even if the mushrooms are afraid of the cold and don't grow, we should all go back when the time comes. It's a pity that the stove in this winter
One dish is missing!" Qiao Lan sighed.
The maid next to her smiled when she heard this and had a lot of expectations for the mushrooms Qiao Lan mentioned.
Before coming to Zhuangzi, they had already informed the new owner that she was an old lady and someone who liked farming, so they all made plans to endure hardships.
Unexpectedly, after arriving, although there was a lot of wind and sun, there was an umbrella in the rain or shine, and there was facial grease to wipe the face in the wind and sun, all of which were given to them by the old lady in the house, and everyone had a share.
They didn't eat much of the hardships. They just went to the geography every day and helped the old lady. It was not a hardship. Instead, they tasted the sweet crops and fruits in the fields.
The old lady treated them very well. When she was not doing work, she let them read and learn crafts, and she never scolded them in the slightest.
Although there is no need to dress carefully in gold and silver on weekdays, such days are obviously extremely comfortable. Everyone is relaxing in the village, naturally looking forward to the mushrooms Qiao Lan talks about.
Qiao Lan grew mushrooms for the first time and had little experience, so she spent a lot of money to buy some fast-growing strains from the system. Although many things in the system cannot be used by outsiders, in agriculture-related fields
The system is particularly tolerant when it comes to items, especially items that can be obtained directly locally, such as cabbage seeds, which can be purchased and planted directly.
It's just a bit more expensive. A few strains cost Qiao Lan a full 500 points.
In the past, Qiao Lan would never have been willing to do it.
But after coming to the capital, the reputation points increased little by little.
Sitting at home, her points dropped from the sky, rising to over 100,000! Qiao Lan immediately became excited and spent 500 points to buy strains.
I hope it will taste delicious when it grows up and be worthy of its worth!
Qiao Lan started writing notes again while thinking about it, when suddenly there was a knock on the door outside.
"Who is it?" Yinque asked, hurriedly putting down what she was doing and going to open the door.
This time, it was Duan Mingjing.
Qiao Lan: "Why are you here?"
Duan Mingjing ran over all the way, with some mud on his body. He didn't know if he fell down on the road. He said with a panic on his face: "Mom, a message has been sent from the palace! You are asked to attend this palace banquet!"