Chapter 70.3

Translated by Aviana

Yang Tiegen dropped by several times to discuss the farm work. But, every time, Lin Qingwan vetoed, saying that the bandage on Yang Tiezhu’s arm hadn’t been removed as an excuse to brush him off.

Naturally, the major reason behind her firm refusal was because she was apprehensive that Yang Tiezhu’s arm hadn’t healed completely yet. But that wasn’t all; Lin Qingwan was disinclined to have Yang Tiezhu work in the fields again.

It wasn’t because she thought being a farmer was bad. Rather, the current conditions were quite constrained.

Lin Qingwan was distinctly aware that people with bone-related injuries need to properly rehabilitate even after their bandage was taken off. Although she hadn’t faced any such problems in her previous life, one of her acquaintances had suffered from a bone fracture. Even after their cast was removed, they could not move their arm. Because of prolonged immobility, the muscles became rigid and atrophic. To restore former mobility, continuous exercise was a must.

Yang Tiezhu was the type of person who would strive to do his best in everything he did. She reckoned that he would go work in the fields right away as soon as the bandage was taken off. Even if his arm hurts, he perhaps won’t utter a word. The medical treatment in ancient times wasn’t that good. That’s why Lin Qingwan didn’t want Yang Tiezhu to develop any hidden injuries later.

Another reason was Lin Qingwan found farming unprofitable. After working themselves to death on those two mu of land, there wouldn’t be much left to sell after paying grain taxes. Furthermore, they still had to provide annual support for the elderly couple every year. If they placed their entire hopes on those two mu, she reckoned their whole family would have to starve to death.

She and Yang Tiezhu still had some silver in their hand, but it would certainly prove arduous for the third branch’s husband and wife if the situation is left as such. Rather than overworking themselves to death and still not being able to earn enough to keep up with expenses, they might as well give the land to other farmers on lease. With the 60 percent of grains as rent, they could pay the grain tax, and the remaining food would be more or less sufficient for the family to feed upon. As for the rest of the expenses, they could look for other means to earn money.

Lin Qingwan put her opinion in front of the third branch’s husband and wife. Yang Tiezhu, who was listening from the side, seemed to have caught up on her intentions, but the third branch couple didn’t understand her intent.

“But second sao, we will have only a limited amount at our disposal to eat in this way. Not to mention, we still have to father a dan of grains and a silver tael. Where will we get all of this from if we don’t do farming?” Yao-shi asked apprehensively.

Lin Qingwan sighed before saying, “Let’s calculate then—Assuming that we have planted the entire two mu land with the wheat, one mu field will yield approximately somewhere between 1-2 dans of wheat…”

Yes, that’s right. It was only this bit. Only after finding this did Lin Qingwan understand how harsh farming was here. In her previous life, one mu land could easily yield several thousand jins , which in here was no less than a fantasy.

Luoxia village’s water and soil conditions were pretty good, but the climate here was a bit problematic. Thus unlike the south, where crops could be planted twice a year, here it could only be done once annually. If one mu land was planted with wheat seeds, the output would be over 200 jin, roughly equivalent to 2 dan. And in case the weather was favorable and crops were meticulously cared for, one might even get an output of about 4 dans. 1 dan was equivalent to 120 jin. Suppose if the output was 4 dan, then it might be over 400 jin. In the market, one jin of whole wheat would fetch somewhere around 6 to 7 wen . That means, 400 jin would fetch more or less 2 silver taels.

Certainly, many Luoxia villagers exchange wheat with coarse grains such as maize and sorghum and then pay the taxes. The remaining grains were then stored by them as rations, even that actually wasn’t much.

But, if you think about it another way, suppose you leased a land. Annually, you would receive 60 percent of yield as rent. That would be over 200 jin. After paying taxes, you would still be left with about 100 jin. But, with this free time, you would be able to do other things. Lin Qingwan refused to believe that she wouldn’t be able to earn even 3-4 silver taels after a year.

But of course, this way of thinking might be pretty difficult for the farmers, who had been farming for years, to comprehend. Because they never had such awareness. Even Yang Tiegen and Yao-shi merely thought that by helping Lin Qingwan in the making laweixian and getting dividends, they would be able to earn extra money when they weren’t farming. They had never thought of making this their primary income source.

Lin Qingwan detailed everything in layman’s terms, making them deeply contemplate the issue. Yang Tiezhu also began to ponder. Previously, every time he helped the family, he followed Yang Tiezhu to cultivate the crops, which slowly became his habit. But now, he thought, even if he didn’t do farming, he could still support Wanwan. Just this time, compared to the past, he had to go into the mountains more diligently and get more prey back.

Since Wanwan doesn’t want him to farm, he simply won’t. As a good husband, Yang Tiezhu wouldn’t do something his wife was against.

After a moment of contemplation, Yao-shi was first to say, “Husband, I feel second sao’s words are indeed reasonable. When you are not farming, you could do some work in town and still earn a few taels of silver in a year.”

When Yang Tiegen used to go to the town to do odd jobs, he also used to earn somewhere close to a tael. Naturally, the work was extremely tiresome and arduous too.

Yang Tiegen also considered this bit, but his second sao’s words toppled his entire past thinking and notions, leaving him somewhat at a loss.

If a farmer does not farm, was he still a farmer?

Lin Qingwan never thought of completely overturning the third branch’s couple’s thinking processes. After all, everyone possessed different thinking processes and outlooks. And she can’t take decisions on the third branch’s behalf on what to do either.

However, she still put forth her plans and apprehensions regarding Yang Tiezhu’s injury in front of them. And also affirmed to them that so long as they followed her in the laweixian business, she would still give them dividends just like in the past and wouldn’t cut even a cent.

The third branch’s couple went back to think deeply over it. Lin Qingwan went back to sit on the kang.

“Wife, I just found out that you are brilliant. How come I didn’t discover this side of you before?” Yang Tiezhu gazed at his charming wife with a gleam in his eyes.

Lin Qingwan, feeling proud of herself, tittered, “You still have a lot to find!”

This flexible thinking was an essential trait for every modern citizen. She could only say that people of this era were too inflexible in their minds. Day after day, year after year, they continued to work laboriously, only to get meager earnings for their survival.

In fact, sometimes, if you could change your thinking process and the way you look, perhaps pleasant surprises would be awaiting you later on in life.

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