Transmigrated in Ancient Times as a Hunter - 26
People often say “one mu, three fen,” which sounds like a small area, but according to modern calculations, one mu is over 600 square meters. Cheng Duo bought four mu, so this quantity needs to be multiplied by four…
(T/N: In Chinese land measurement, “mu” (亩) is a unit of area equal to 1/15 of a hectare or approximately 666.7 square meters. “Fen” (分) is a subunit of the mu, where 1 mu is divided into 10 fen.
Therefore, “one mu three fen” means an area of land equivalent to 1 mu and an additional 3/10 of a mu, which is 1.3 mu or approximately 866.7 square meters.)
So Cheng Duo stood in the field, and what he saw in front of him was an endless expanse of green wheat, tender corn stalks, and a patch of green plants that hadn’t grown yet…
Cheng Duo’s memories of living in the countryside during his childhood had already faded, and since the apocalypse, he had been collecting supplies, so he was not very familiar with many crops.
That patch of green plants, Li Man Cang told him it was beans when he introduced it to him. Li Man Cang originally planted them with the intention of selling them to the oil mill or using them to make oil for his own consumption. Now that Cheng Duo had bought them, he could do the same.
However, this piece of land is now overgrown with weeds, and there are some insects that Cheng Duo doesn’t recognize crawling in it. Without fertilizers and pesticides, crops in ancient times couldn’t grow well on thin soil, and with the addition of pests, the harvest would be even smaller.
So many modern people don’t understand why ancient farmers seemed to be busy in the fields all year round. Isn’t it enough to plant and occasionally take care of them every three to five days? This may be true in modern times. But in ancient times, if you didn’t tend to the crops for ten days or half a month, they would either wither or be eaten by insects.
Cheng Duo thought about when he went to find Yong-ge six days ago. At that time, Yong-ge was also weeding in the field. After so many days, he and his son should be done with their work, right?
That’s right, Cheng Duo planned to ask Li Wang and Yong-ge and his son to help. With himself included, three people should be enough.
When Cheng Duo returned home, he unexpectedly found two wolves lurking behind his house. One part of the adobe wall, where it connects to the ground, had already been dug out by them, leaving a large hole.
Fortunately, the fence he built was high enough, otherwise these two wolves would have climbed in and eaten the cured meat he had hung under the eaves.
Seeing Cheng Duo’s return, there was suddenly a long wolf howl from the woods, and the two wolves that were digging the hole tucked their tails and ran away upon hearing the sound.
Cheng Duo happened to have brought a sickle when he went to the field. Without thinking, he threw the sickle, hitting one of the wolves’ hind legs directly!
The wolf’s hind leg was pierced by the sickle, and it struggled and howled on the ground, trying to escape. Cheng Duo approached and broke its neck.
It was at this moment that he felt a gaze from deep within the woods. Cheng Duo drew out the sickle and looked back, locking eyes with the leader wolf’s sinister eyes.
Half of its face still bore the “medal” Cheng Duo had given it, a deep scar that reached the flesh.
The leader wolf didn’t confront Cheng Duo for long and soon disappeared into the woods with the remaining wolf.
Cheng Duo pondered for a while, staring into the woods. Wolves were vengeful animals. The leader wolf had previously ambushed him when he went up the mountain, and now they had come to his house to steal things… Cheng Duo believed that it wasn’t just the scent of meat that attracted them but also their grudge against him.
Now that he had killed one wolf, this enmity escalated once again.
…
Cheng Duo planned to process the prey he had killed himself. After all, the weather was gradually getting hot, and the meat wouldn’t keep for long.
In fact, he had this idea before. That day, when he was carrying several wild chickens down the mountain, Second Uncle Shu, who happened to pass by, bought one from him.
Second Uncle Shu was the one Cheng Duo encountered on his first day in the village when Wu Gui Hua was cursing and Li Da Zhuang called out to inquire. It turned out that Second Uncle Shu’s wife was in poor health, and he saw that Cheng Duo had caught quite a few prey that day. After hesitating for a long time, he approached and asked if he could buy one to take back and stew it for his wife’s nourishment.
In fact, the villagers of Yang Er Village rarely eat meat. It’s considered a luxury to have meat twice a month. Because there are few households that can afford to raise pigs, a piglet costs one or two silver coins. If it dies midway, that money would go down the drain.
Even if they are lucky enough to raise a pig that doesn’t die, without feed and additives, it would take a whole year to raise it. After a year, the pig still wouldn’t grow much because it grows on a diet of grains, resulting in lean meat.
It’s completely impossible to have the kind of fatty meat that is one inch thick like in modern times.
The same goes for chickens, ducks, and geese. Moreover, when the villagers raise chickens, ducks, and geese, they are reluctant to kill them and keep them for egg-laying purposes.
This also led to Second Uncle Shu wanting to treat his wife and finally finding Cheng Duo.
Of course, there is also a reason why wild chickens are cheaper than domesticated ones.
Cheng Duo threw the wolf carcass into the yard, closed the door, and then went to chop a few pieces of bamboo. He split one of them open, mixed it with some red clay, and used it to plug the hole.
Then he dragged the remaining bamboo and went to Yong-ge’s house. Yong-ge was sweeping the yard and drying bamboo shoots and some mushrooms. When he saw Cheng Duo, he was startled.
A few days ago, he had brought fresh bamboo shoots to Cheng Duo and had prepared some food for him. Why did he suddenly come to his house?
“Why are you here?” Yong-ge glanced outside the fence like a thief, then pushed Cheng Duo and said, “You should leave quickly. My father went to fetch water and will be back soon.”
Cheng Duo found it amusing. “Why should I leave? I came to find your father.”
“Find my father? What do you want from him?” Yong-ge thought for a moment and immediately understood. “You want us to help you with farming?”
“Yes,” Cheng Duo nodded in agreement.
Without hesitation, he placed the bamboo at the entrance and directly entered the yard. He lowered his head to study the things Yong-ge was drying in the sieve and pointed at something he hadn’t seen before, asking, “What is this?”
Yong-ge, knowing that he couldn’t chase him away now, reluctantly motioned for him to sit down while he turned to enter the kitchen to fetch water. He replied casually, “It’s ground-patch vegetable.”
“How do you cook this ground-patch vegetable?” Cheng Duo asked humbly.
“You can stir-fry it, boil it in soup, or make it into a cold dish,” Yong-ge explained while handing him the water bowl.
After taking a sip of water, Cheng Duo looked at Yong-ge sitting on a small stool next to him and suddenly noticed something different about him. “…You seem to have become fairer, and your skin has improved?”
In fact, it was more than that. Yong-ge had tidied himself up. Due to the gradually warming weather, he no longer covered his face with a animal skin headscarf and hair. His face and neck were clean, except for his skin condition not being particularly good. With his long eyebrows, deep-set eyes, delicate facial features, and contours, he resembled a handsome mixed-blood youth from before the apocalypse.
Yong-ge felt a bit embarrassed and touched his cheek. He didn’t tan easily, and his previous complexion was due to the effect of medicine. As for his improved skin…
“Yes, thanks to the sheep fat you gave me.”
“I see…” Cheng Duo seemed lost in thought. Yong-ge had disguised himself before because of his two reckless brothers, but now that Li Da and Li Er had disappeared, he had restored his true appearance. Perhaps now he could get married?
Cheng Duo’s gaze involuntarily drifted from Yong-ge’s slightly upturned nose and slid all the way to the red mole between his eyebrows. Thinking of its significance, his eyelid twitched, and he quickly retracted his gaze, feeling uneasy. He clenched his fist and coughed lightly. “Ahem, when will your father be back?”
Yong-ge also felt a bit uncomfortable. “Soon…”
Li Wang came back carrying water from outside and witnessed this scene. He furrowed his brow and quickly looked around to make sure no one else was there before hurrying to his house with the half-full bucket of water.
He had difficulty walking
, so he couldn’t carry a full bucket of water each time. To prevent the water from splashing out, he put fresh pumpkin leaves in the bucket. However, in his haste, some water splashed out from the edge of the wooden bucket.
“Father, you’re back,” Yong-ge hurriedly went to greet him, seeing that his pants were soaked halfway, and complained, “I told you to let me do it. Look at you, why were you in such a hurry?”
Li Wang glared at him, originally intending to make him behave a bit in front of Cheng Duo. But Yong-ge didn’t understand his intentions. As he poured water into the water tank, he reminded Li Wang to change his pants inside to avoid catching a cold.
Li Wang was helpless and could only chase him away. “Alright, go back to your own room!”
Yong-ge stuck out his tongue and reluctantly left.
Li Wang tidied himself up as best as he could before limping over to Cheng Duo.
Cheng Duo had already stood up and hesitated for a moment before calling out, “Uncle Li.”
Li Wang nodded and deliberately couldn’t recall Cheng Duo’s name, saying, “You’re the… new hunter in our village, right? What’s your name?”
“My surname is Cheng. Uncle Li can call me Cheng Duo.” Cheng Duo suggested, “Uncle Li, shall we sit down and talk?”
Li Wang had no objections, so the two of them sat down, and Cheng Duo explained the purpose of his visit.
Li Wang listened calmly, but he was actually very disappointed. He almost thought that Cheng Duo had come to propose…
Seeing Li Wang’s silence, Cheng Duo suddenly realized that he had been presumptuous. He had bought Li Man Cang’s land, but now he was asking his brother, Li Wang, for help. Would Li Wang refuse or accept?
“Uncle Li…” Cheng Duo wanted to change his words and say that if it was inconvenient, they could forget about it.
Unexpectedly, Li Wang immediately agreed, “Sure. Yong-ge and I help others, and we earn thirty coins a day. I’ll charge you the same price, no problem, right?”
Cheng Duo thought it was too cheap. Zhao Shu Gen, a mountain villager, charged forty coins per person for labor. Besides, they were two people.
But then he realized that Zhao Shu Gen did heavy physical work, while Li Wang was a cripple and Yong-ge was just a kid, so it made sense that they earned less.
Cheng Duo thought for a moment and said, “Alright, I’ll provide two meals for you. And Yong-ge can cook for us.”
Li Wang suddenly looked up at Cheng Duo with a strange expression. After hesitating for a while, he didn’t oppose. At this moment, he was already confused by Cheng Duo. If he said he liked Yong-ge, he didn’t come to propose. If he said he didn’t like him, he still wanted to provide food and drinks. Who would do such a thing?
Li Wang couldn’t figure out Cheng Duo’s intention for providing meals, which was to get Yong-ge to cook for him…
“Oh, by the way.” After finishing the discussion, Cheng Duo remembered the bamboo he brought. “Uncle Li, can you help me weave a bamboo raft? It should be this long and this wide.” Cheng Duo gestured.
“Sure, I can do that… But what do you need it for?” Li Wang was puzzled. It wasn’t long or short enough to be used as a fence, and it was too long to be used as a winnowing basket…
“For selling meat,” Cheng Duo explained. “With this, I can put the meat and the appropriately sized bamboo raft in a backpack. When I arrive, I can use four stones as a base and set up a stall to sell meat.”
Li Wang nodded after listening, “That’s easy. I can weave it for you this afternoon.”
Actually, when he heard that Cheng Duo wanted to sell meat, a sense of crisis suddenly arose in his heart. He had thought that Cheng Duo had come as a refugee, with no land or money. But now, in such a short period, Cheng Duo had bought four mu of land, had good hunting skills, and had more meat than he could eat. He could even sell it.
In a little while, the matchmakers from the surrounding villages would probably be knocking on Cheng Duo’s door!