Chen Guizhi just nodded. She couldn’t be bothered with such a small matter.
She wanted to discuss with Li Feng about expanding the courtyard a little, mainly the backyard: “It’s messy and cramped.”
The good thing about the village was that houses were spaced far apart, so no one could see into each other’s yards, and no one cared how they built their houses or divided their yards.
The new village was different. Neighbors were close together, and even an extra foot of land could lead to years of arguments.
Li Feng agreed. Rabbits give birth in litters, with short gestation periods, and if raised well, one house isn’t enough to hold them all. Though the profit isn’t as high as raising pigs, the volume makes up for it. It’s a viable business.
In the past, the village had some limited experience raising rabbits, but mostly if one got sick, the rest would all die. They were now experimenting, and Li Feng wanted to build larger rabbit hutches, separating them into separate hutches from the start. If one batch died, the rest could be saved, and they could learn from the experience to keep the next batch alive longer.
After discussing this, he went back to the house to talk with his mother.
“I want to find a livelihood. Selling mountain products is fine, selling sauce is fine, and raising rabbits is also fine. We’ll see which one is suitable, save up some money, and focus on one thing in the future.”
With few people, we can’t spread ourselves too thin. We need to focus our efforts on one thing.
She told Li Feng, “We can do both, just like making rice cakes—bring in partners. Look at the businesses in the county. When a business takes off, there’s a shopfront in front and a workshop in the back. How many people does it take to sell goods? There’s no shortage of workers. Small businesses have small workshops, and big businesses have big workshops. We used to have little capital, but now we’ve saved up from these ventures and built connections. In the future, we can reduce the number of partners and hire workers normally. Wages are just a few copper coins. Having one less person to split the profits with is where the real money is.”
She spoke halfway through and summoned Li Feng: “Go, bring your husband here to listen.”
Li Feng couldn’t help but laugh: “Mother, do you also like him?”
Chen Guizhi called him sentimental: “When it comes to living, what’s there to like or dislike? Go bring him here.”
Li Feng went to call Lu Liu over.
Calling the husband into the house in broad daylight caused a commotion among the crowd.
Li Feng saw Shun Ge also trying to come in and told him to go tend to the shop.
Shun Ge felt wronged.
He said, “Do you believe me if I dig a hole and bury myself?”
He learned this from Er Huang.
Er Huang is a dog, so it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t make sense.
He’s a good person, but instead of learning good things, he learns from a dog.
It’s the New Year, and talking about burying yourself is unlucky, so Li Feng slapped him.
Shun Ge: “…”
Lu Liu entered the house and sat next to Li Feng. The two sat on stools. Li Feng was tall, so even sitting down he was still tall. He could look at people easily, but Lu Liu had to tilt his head back to see the old woman sitting cross-legged on the bed. I’ll collect the mountain produce with Shun Ge, and you can help out. Learn how to identify and process them—it’s not difficult. Every household knows how to do it. The main thing is inspection. Then there’s raising rabbits. There aren’t many now, but once the rabbit hutches are set up, the female rabbits, male rabbits, and baby rabbits will be separated into different hutches. We don’t need that many male rabbits; keep some for breeding and sell the rest. Raise fewer rabbits, and you’ll have an easier time. “
Lu Liu couldn’t agree directly, but said he was willing to learn.
He was a obedient child with no other objections, willing to learn, so the rest would be easy to discuss.
Chen Guizhi said, “Then follow me, and I’ll teach you. You need to learn how to manage a household.”
Lu Liu blinked rapidly, “What? Me? Manage the household?” I’m this age now. I’ve gathered a group of old-timers, all your elders. If I yell at you, you’ll be confused. How can we do business like that? You need to learn to manage things, bring in some young people to join the group. Dafeng has some good friends. You need to get along with their husbands and wives. In the future, you’ll be peers, working together, and everything will be easier to discuss.”
Lu Liu was deeply moved. The matter of the marriage had been casually mentioned by Li Feng, and his mother hadn’t said anything harsh to him. They all lived together, and he got up early and worked hard, but she never said anything to him.
Now she was teaching him these things and asking him to manage the household. He was so moved that he couldn’t speak and burst into tears.
He cried as he made a promise: “Mother, rest assured, I will learn well.”
Li Feng sat beside him drinking tea, glancing around with a smile.
Chen Guizhi remained silent for a moment before speaking to them again: “When choosing partners, be selective. Don’t rush to assign tasks. For now, keep it quiet. Spend more time interacting with people and having conversations. Liu Ge is a fool, without any sense. He might get cheated if he goes out. When it comes time to form a partnership, I’ll keep an eye on things. Da Feng, you need to let go of your sense of loyalty and not bring just anyone into the partnership.”
Lu Liu’s eyes turned red as he cried. He walked outside, but when others said Chen Guizhi had scolded him, he didn’t go out and returned to the room with Li Feng.
Once inside, he opened his mouth and shed a few more tears.
Li Feng wiped away his tears, his rough fingertips grazing his face, causing a tingling sensation.
Lu Liu said, “My mother is so kind to me, but I’m just too stupid.”
Lu Liu was well aware of his own limitations. He had never managed anything outside the home; he just liked to stay at home.
He asked Li Feng, “Now that spring has arrived, will we still raise chickens?”
Li Feng nodded. “Yes, we’ll catch eight hens. We might lose a few, but as long as half of them lay eggs, that’s fine.”
Lu Liu felt reassured.
He was still better at raising chickens.
Lu Liu felt a mix of nervousness and excitement.
In the new year, he would try more things.
Things he had never done before, he would gradually get to know.
Perhaps he wouldn’t be very good at them, but Dafeng and his mother would teach him.
One day, when he went to the county seat, he could also ask his older brother.
This was a good start; he couldn’t let himself be intimidated before even taking the first step. The relatives are close, and the man she married is a close friend of Li Feng’s who has been through thick and thin with him. There will definitely be contact between them, whether good or bad. Lu Liu doesn’t know, but he must have an attitude so as not to put his family in a difficult position.
Whether it succeeds or fails, it can’t be his fault.
He went over it in his mind, then paused for a moment.
Huh? He actually thought of that.
Dafeng was right; he wasn’t stupid.
He smiled.
Li Feng saw him smiling while talking about sending yuanxiao to Jiu Ge and couldn’t help but say, “You’re so silly.”
Lu Liu was stunned again.
Huh? What’s going on? Is he still being silly?
Whether he was stupid or not, no one could say for sure.
His mother’s family grew sesame seeds, but they didn’t sell them this year because they were saving them for his marriage. They brought ten pounds to his in-laws’ house. When he first got married, he took out three pounds and made sesame rice cakes, which they shared with the neighbors.
Today, he went to Lu Liu’s house and gave him half a pound of sesame seeds to use as filling for yuanxiao.
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