Chapter 381

The sixth day of the first lunar month.

Snow-capped peaks stretched into mountains, and half-foot icicles hung under the eaves.

Last night, Pingyang County rarely had a heavy snow; after one night, it could sink half a foot, which is rarely seen in two or three years.

Liang Qu sat quietly under the eaves, watching the salt-grain-sized ice crystals bounce from the stone curtain, jumping into the accumulated snow.

No martial arts practice, no reading, no trivial matters.

Exhale, breathe.

Between the rise and fall of his chest, he savored the severe cold of winter.

That ice-cold feeling without any discomfort seeped into his lungs, turning into a different kind of clarity in his leisure time.

Living in this world, what one pursues is nothing more than the two words "stability."

The sixth day.

Sitting alone listening to the snow sliding all day.

"My lord! Fan River Earl, Lord Fan is here!"

"Let him in."

Liang Qu stood up, patted his shoulders, brushed off a thin layer of frost, and returned to the hall to welcome the guest.

Work starts on the seventh day.

The seven-day Spring Festival holiday of the River Patrol Office is about to end, and Unlike Cha Qing and others have returned from their hometowns one after another, each bringing back quite a lot of local specialties.

Therefore, Liang Qu received another round of local specialties from the surrounding counties yesterday.

Since becoming a Water Lang, Liang Qu has never bought tea leaves again, and the "heart" sent by Unlike Cha Qing alone has covered everything.

"Everything starts anew, wishing Lord Liang good luck, health, and everything goes smoothly!"

Fan Fan Zixuan bypassed the shadow wall, passed through the hanging flower gate, said blessings, and had two flying dragons fluttering in his hands.

He went to hunt two wild animals to send over this year as well.

"Why spend so much money?"

"My lord, you misunderstood; I went home this year to accompany a few juniors into the deep mountains and dense forests to practice, and happened to catch a nest, six of them! It just took a bit of effort."

After some polite refusal, Liang Qu "reluctantly" accepted and let Fan Xinglai take them into the kitchen.

Coincidentally, as Fan Xinglai carried the chicken across the door, a flower-tailed hazel grouse flapped its wings and passed by the entrance of the hall veranda.

The silly chicken alternated its wings, moved back and forth, and crawled past the hall door bit by bit.

Behind it, Wulong wagged its tail, occasionally pouncing, scaring the flying dragon into jumping away.

"Shoo!"

Liang Qu shouted, driving Wulong away, and the silly chicken was able to catch its breath, lying on the threshold and sticking out its tongue.

Fan Fan Zixuan was stunned; although the chicken was much fatter, it still looked familiar: "My lord, this flying dragon..."

"Oh, the one you sent last year, there was a change in the middle, and it has been raised ever since, for several months."

"Oh."

Fan Fan Zixuan didn't understand what change there was, but who can be sure about the affairs of big figures?

Could it be that Lord Liang likes raising chickens?

Looking at the fat posture of the flying dragon.

After a few pleasantries, Fan Fan Zixuan left with an enlightened look.

Liang Qu felt something wrong in the "Eye Recognition Method," but opened his mouth and remained silent.

Forget it.

A few days slipped away.

The Spring Festival atmosphere faded, those who go to work go to work, and those who shovel snow shovel snow.

On the evening of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Liang Qu clocked out and went home.

The performance appraisal before the New Year was just rated as first, winning a Great Merit reward.

Although the Great Merit had already been used in advance, the remaining small rewards hadn't been collected yet, but for the first few days of the new year, attendance still had to be guaranteed to avoid gossip.

At the gate, Chen Qingjiang's family, from big to small, passed by one after another, each holding a bamboo pole with a bundle of straw tied to the top.

Liang Qu found it strange and asked what they were doing with the grass bundles.

"Setting off fire fires."

"Setting off fire fires?"

Liang Qu was even more confused.

He knew the custom of "setting off fire fires" on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Commonly known as "lighting up caterpillars" or "lighting up field wealth," it is the hope of eliminating pests and looking forward to a bumper harvest in the coming year.

Villagers pile up rice roots and weeds at the edge of the fields to burn, calling it "roasting a hundred insects," and burn the messy grass on the roadside, graves, ditch banks, and wasteland, calling it "clearing out insect nests."

At night, they use reeds or thatch to tie into grass bundles as thick as a bowl, wave them along the edge of the fields, and shout a few times, "Setting off fire fires on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, other people's vegetables grow as big as copper coins, my vegetables grow as big as baskets..." and so on.

The only problem is.

Chen Qingjiang's family are fishermen for generations, and their food and clothing all depend on a single boat; where did they get fields to burn?

They didn't see this happen last New Year.

Chen Qingjiang said: "Bought fifteen acres of land after the rice harvest last autumn."

"Fifteen acres of land? Uncle Chen, you're not fishing anymore?"

"Fishing, I have to fish."

"Then who is going to farm the land?"

Fifteen acres of land is not a small number; at current land prices, it would cost at least seventy or eighty taels of silver, plus the two annual taxes corresponding to it.

With the tax-in-land system, you have to pay more taxes if you have land in your name.

The more land, the heavier the tax.

Chen Qingjiang fishes, the two children are too young, the oldest, Little Shunzi, is only six—oh, he's one year older this year, seven years old—and is not a labor force at all; there is only one old man, Chen Chen Renxing, and his wife, Adi, in the family; how can they farm it?

Chen Qingjiang said: "Not farming, just keeping two acres for myself to grow some melons, fruits, and vegetables; the rest are all rented out; I don't collect much, and there's not much left after paying taxes.

But I plan to save all this money; in four or five years, when Little Shunzi is eleven or twelve, the saved money will be enough to send him to school, and after studying for two or three years, sell the land and send him to practice martial arts."

"Not bad."

Liang Qu didn't expect Chen Qingjiang, a fisherman, to have good investment awareness, knowing how to use the money in his hands to purchase assets for appreciation, and planning for the child's future early.

With his own overt relationship, there is no need to worry about being exploited or sabotaged by clerks; what you get is what you get.

Pondering for a moment.

"Uncle Chen, if you have the opportunity to lease, it's better to keep it all, hire people to plant, and don't just plant rice; go to the Changchun Medical Hall branch in town, ask Manager Chen, and buy some live black-spotted frogs and golden-thread leeches in my name, and learn how to raise them.

Before the summer plowing, try planting rice and black-spotted frogs, and rice and golden-thread leeches together."

"Black-spotted frogs and golden-thread leeches?"

"Right!"

These two medicines, Liang Qu often caught them to soak in medicinal baths when he was in the four barriers of skin, flesh, and bone, which are very useful for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis and increasing Qi and blood.

Each martial arts hall has different formulas, but the medicinal principles are the same.

Both belong to the basic medicinal materials that low-level martial artists will use in large quantities.

According to the development prospects of Pingyang County, at least within ten years, the number of martial artists will be in a stage of continuous growth and explosion, and the demand for basic medicinal materials will become larger and larger—a steady, profitable business.

"Can it be done?"

Chen Qingjiang didn't have much confidence; he hadn't farmed much land, and suddenly having to farm and raise frogs made him slightly hesitant.

"Try it, count me in for a share, and pull Manager Chen in too.

It's too late today, tomorrow, tomorrow I'll have Li Libo and Chen Jiechang come, and discuss it with Manager Chen, and pull two medicinal material merchants to advance the funds."

Raising black-spotted frogs and leeches is definitely no problem; with such a large demand from martial artists, there must be farming, otherwise, it can't be supplied.

But whether three-dimensional farming can complement each other, Liang Qu himself is not very clear.

If it can be done, expanding the scale, it will be another good income over time.

It's only ten or so acres of land, the experimental cost is affordable.

"Okay, let's try it."

Chen Qingjiang didn't have confidence himself, but he believed in Liang Qu.