Chapter 473: Chapter 246: Ox Cart_1
At the second watch, she pleaded for a hint of pink.
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Zhang Qingshan asked Qingnian to go home, as he wanted to stay for a few days. The Lian Family had never raised large livestock, and of course, Shouxin was a novice in this regard. Zhang Qingshan’s stay was partly to see that they had a lot of work to do, wanting to help his daughter and son-in-law with the chores, and partly to teach Shouxin how to raise cattle.
Shouxin certainly understood Zhang Qingshan’s kindness and was very touched in his heart.
Lady Zhang took a basket, wrapped a few cakes in cloth for Qingnian to eat on the way, and included a jar of fermented rice for him to take back to Lady Li and the children. Ever since they made a jar of fermented rice during the New Year, the whole family loved it, so they bought some glutinous rice and brewed two more jars.
Lian Manman went back to the old house and took out seven taels of silver, one string of coins plus one string of coins, wrapped them in cloth, and handed them to Qingnian.
Qingnian carefully put away the money. Eight taels of silver was not a small amount. He and Zhang Qingshan did not carry that much money with them when they went to the market. It was only because the two of them had a good reputation and many acquaintances at the mule and horse market that they managed to bring back the plough and the ox, with the money still owing. On his way back, he would just deliver the money to the seller.
Zhang Qingshan also gave Qingnian a few more instructions, watched him leave, and then went back to the fields, letting Manman lead the ox while he handled the plow behind her, father and daughter working side by side with laughter and chatter.
When Wu Lang and Xiao Qi came back from school, they both rushed over excitedly. Manman had no choice but to give up the task of leading the ox.
Lian Manman’s family first bought a piglet, then added a bunch of chirping chicks and ducklings, and now they added an even bigger creature, the Little Yellow Ox. This Little Yellow Ox immediately displaced all the other animals and became the darling, especially of Xiao Qi’s heart.
Wu Lang, being slightly older, did not show his affection as openly, but Xiao Qi could not hide his excitement and would not even walk properly, jumping and bounding around the Little Yellow Ox.
"...as soon as the grass grows, I’ll take you out to graze as soon as school is over. I know a place, where the grass is especially tender. No one else knows about it, just me," Xiao Qi whispered into the Little Yellow Ox’s ear as if it could understand him and would become his best friend from then on.
The Little Yellow Ox was still young and needed to slowly adapt to the work in the fields. Zhang Qingshan treasured it, so after turning over the vegetable plots, he removed the plow and let the Little Yellow Ox rest.
This Little Yellow Ox was theirs now, so they needed to arrange a place for it to live.
"Move the firewood in the alley to the outside of the main gate, and build the cattle pen in the alley," suggested Shouxin. There was an alley between the pigsty and the wall of the main gate at the old house, about four to five feet wide, which Shouxin thought was not too spacious but adequate to accommodate the ox.
"Child’s father, we’ve raised a few ducks, and their smell was already too much for your mother, who disapproved of us. The smell from the cattle will be even stronger. Have you seen what Wang Shiliu’s house is like? I fear your mother will be even less willing this time," Lady Zhang raised her concerns.
Shouxin fell silent. He knew Lady Zhang was right.
"But there’s no alternative, if not there, where else can we keep it?" Shouxin said.
Although they had built some shops on the side, and would eventually build houses for their two sons on the land behind, in Shouxin’s heart, the old house was his home. He wanted to raise the ox at home, but where else could he possibly keep it?
"That alley of yours," said Zhang Qingshan, "if you ask me, it seems a bit narrow. I’m afraid the ox might not even be able to turn around in it. The ox has more growing to do."
Zhang Qingshan believed that the cattle pen needed to be more spacious.
"I’m aware of that, but apart from there, there’s no suitable place. It certainly can’t be set up in the vegetable garden," Shouxin replied.
"Dad, let’s just build a cattle pen here," Manman suggested.
"Build it here?" Shouxin did not catch on immediately, "That would be quite inconvenient to look after."
"Dad, who will be looking after this ox in the future?" Manman asked.
"That goes without saying, of course I’ll look after it," Shouxin immediately replied. An ox, to a tenant farmer’s family, was a valuable property, the main helper in farming. Some families valued the ox even more than the daughter-in-law.
As the saying goes, "A horse doesn’t get fat without grazing at night," and the same goes for cattle. Although the Lian Family had never raised cattle before, Shouxin knew that in families where livestock were well cared for, someone usually had to get up at least once during the night to check on them in the stable, including feeding and watering.
