Chapter 122
The scent of wheat straw filled the air in the spacious main room of the new house, where Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing were busy making scarecrows.
After the wheat harvest, they hired laborers to plow and plant ten acres of soybeans (柴豆) and three acres of peanuts. By mid-September or October, when the peanuts ripened, they wouldn’t need to buy peanuts for cooking or entertaining guests during the New Year. Three acres was a considerable amount, equivalent to an extra portion of food.
However, after the wheat was harvested, the dry fields were left exposed, and birds kept landing and digging around. Whether it was the soybeans or the peanuts, seeing them unearthed and eaten by the birds was heartbreaking, so they needed to make more scarecrows.
The early morning wasn’t too hot, and the shade under the house provided some coolness. As Shen Xuanqing tied bundles of wheat straw, he said, “The fence is all set up, so we don’t need to let the chickens out. I’m thinking of scattering some grass seeds and spring vegetable seeds inside the fenced area. When they grow, the chickens can peck at them if they want. That way, we won’t have to gather as much chicken feed.”
“Should we scatter vegetable seeds too?” Lu Gu wrapped two bundles of wheat straw around a wooden stick to make the scarecrow’s arms.
Shen Xuanqing replied, “Yes, we have extra at home anyway. A couple of years ago, when I went to Liangzhang Bridge, I heard someone say that mixing chopped vegetable leaves with chicken feed not only helps the chickens grow fatter but also improves the quality of their eggs. Let’s give it a try. Scattering the seeds is easy, and at most, we’ll need to water them. Whether they grow or not is up to fate.”
“Alright.” Lu Gu nodded. The two of them worked together to finish the scarecrow. Lu Gu took an old shirt of Shen Xuanqing’s and dressed the scarecrow in it. From a distance, it really did look like a person.
After finishing this one, they moved on to the next.
Even the dog was too lazy to move in the summer heat. Guaizi lay at Lu Gu’s feet, sniffing at the scarecrow on the ground. He opened his mouth to bite, but Lu Gu tapped his head, and he quickly pulled back, lazily lying down on the ground, yawning before closing his eyes.
Shen Xuanqing glanced at the dog and said, “This house is too big. Just having Da Bai might not be enough. Uncle Jinhu’s big yellow dog will have puppies in about a month. I think we should take two of them to raise. That way, we’ll feel safer at night.”
He paused from his work to take a few sips of water, then added, “They’re just for guarding the house, so we don’t need to buy hunting dogs. I’ve already asked, the father dog is also a big yellow dog, so the puppies won’t be small.”
Lu Gu looked toward the backyard. The five-acre plot was indeed quite large. At night, when everyone was asleep, having only Da Bai on guard wasn’t ideal. So he said, “I’ll leave it to you.”
His obedient response made Shen Xuanqing smile involuntarily.
The back door was open, and from a distance, they could see Shen Yan returning with a basket of grass on her back, which she had gathered for the rabbits. Early in the morning, she had driven the ducks to the river to swim. Earlier, Da Hui and Da Hei had followed her out but hadn’t returned, likely staying by the river to guard the ducks.
As she approached and set down the bamboo basket, Shen Xuanqing casually handed her a stool from behind him. “Take a rest.”
“Mom’s already watching by the river, so I don’t need to go back. I’ll come home and do some needlework,” Shen Yan said, pouring herself a bowl of water.
“Is that outfit of yours almost done?” Lu Gu asked.
Shen Yan nodded. “I just need to finish the cuffs and hem, and it’ll be done.”
Although her birthday hadn’t arrived yet, after the New Year, she would be considered twelve years old. By the time she was sixteen or seventeen, she would need to start looking for a husband. In the four or five years she had at home, she needed to learn needlework and embroidery. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even know how to make clothes.
Some time ago, Wei Lanxiang had specifically gone to town to buy a length of cloth. She taught Shen Yan how to make an outfit and then had her make another one herself. This kind of work couldn’t be learned without hands-on practice. Only by doing it multiple times could one understand and become more skilled.
Lu Gu, who had been under Du Hehua’s harsh treatment, had never been taught how to sew clothes for after marriage. He hadn’t learned at all.
Fortunately, he was skilled at embroidery, and his hands were dexterous. When Wei Lanxiang was teaching Shen Yan how to make clothes, he watched and picked up about seventy to eighty percent of the skills. When he went to town, he bought some cloth and had just finished making a new outfit for Shen Xuanqing the day before.
That’s why the old clothes were no longer needed and were given to the scarecrows to wear.
After resting, Shen Yan went home to continue her work. Lu Gu finished the scarecrow he was working on and then picked up the bamboo basket to feed the rabbits.
The rabbit hutches were built in the middle-front part of the courtyard, far from the front rooms to avoid disturbing the rabbits. The ducks and chickens were kept further back in the yard, also kept away from the rabbits.
This arrangement worked well, as it kept the hutches far enough from the main rooms and bedrooms so that the smell wouldn’t bother anyone.
The rabbit hutches were arranged in three large rows along the walls, with two smaller rows of twelve hutches each placed side by side. Each large row consisted of twenty-four hutches, totaling seventy-two hutches.
The five pregnant mother rabbits had already given birth. Excluding the two baby rabbits that had died, there were now nineteen young rabbits, all within a two-week age range. The oldest litter had just been weaned a couple of days ago and had been separated from the adult rabbits.
As Lu Gu stuffed grass into the hutches, he felt a sense of joy seeing the plump, round baby rabbits. The largest litter had four rabbits, kept in pairs. As they ate the grass, their little mouths moved up and down, chewing intently, completely focused on their meal.
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