Chapter 32 Having Land and Cattle

  "Hmm...this..." Liu Yitiao obviously didn't expect Old Liu to bring up the topic of finding a daughter-in-law. He patted his head, this matter was giving him a headache. Getting married and having children at eighteen? In his opinion, this was simply ridiculous, who had ever seen a high school graduate get married and have kids?

  "Dad, my things are not urgent, let's talk about these after a few years." Liu Yitiao wanted to shirk and put it off, but Liu Laoshi didn't give him the chance. Old Liu rarely spoke in such an authoritarian tone: "This matter is not up for discussion! I'm your father, you have to listen to me! After the new year, I'll find a wife for you, and by this time next year, your mother and I will be holding our grandson! If we still can't hold one, I'll marry another daughter-in-law for you until the Liu family has an heir!"

  What kind of people are you? Forcing me to marry a daughter-in-law? You want to hold your grandson, but you have to wait until my body is fully mature. There's no such thing. Liu Yitiao said with a gloomy face: "Dad, if you want to hold your grandson, isn't there still Er Tiao? In two years, his age will be just right. At that time, you can marry him a few more wives." Helpless, Liu Yitiao had no choice but to shift his target shamelessly.

  Lao Liu said bluntly, "Erlang is Erlang, you are you. When Erlang's age comes, I will naturally find a wife for him, but as for you, after the New Year, you must bring back a first wife! Our Lao Liu family's incense is relying on you to pass it down!"

  "......" Liu was speechless. Having such a father, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

  "Yes, big brother, I also want you to bring a sister-in-law back for me." Liu Er Tiao chimed in at this time, and Liu Yi Tiao glared at him fiercely, saying: "What are you, a little kid, doing chiming in? Alright, Dad, we'll talk about this later. Now it's time to go eat, Mom has already come out to call us."

  It's only over when it's over.

  But Liu Lao Shi was determined to marry off Liu Yi Tiao.

  In the afternoon, at dusk, the village heads or neighborhood chiefs of each village took out copper gongs and started beating them in the village, gathering all the main male villagers. It was announced that County Magistrate Wang had obtained a method for treating intestinal beriberi. The medicine had been distributed to the village heads and neighborhood chiefs, and villagers with cows were asked to go and collect it as soon as possible, to treat those who were ill and prevent those who were not.

  For a time, Wang Zhihong's reputation in San Yuan County reached an unprecedented height.

  Maybe this is what he wants.

  Liu Yitiao also returned the plowing cattle to its owner and refunded the deposit. He had already gained the benefits he was supposed to get, and it wasn't necessary to let people bully his family for a small amount of money. Yuan Fang and Zhang Chu were moved by Liu Yitiao's kindness and remembered his favor in their hearts.

  The next day, someone from the county came to inform Liu Yitiao to go and inspect the land. The person who came was not recognized by Liu Yitiao, and looked like a minor official or a clerk. The purpose of his visit was simply to take Liu Yitiao to identify the boundary markers.

  The land was just three miles west of the village where Liu Yitiao and his family lived, not far away. It was a piece of wasteland overgrown with weeds. Judging from the degree of abandonment of the land, this land had been abandoned for at least five years, or even longer.

  The land that has not been cultivated for five years, the soil is compacted, the air is not prosperous, and even the nutrients are a problem. It's feared that it will take some effort to restore it. However, Liu didn't mind, he knew many methods of fertilizing the land. He was confident that within a year, he could turn all this wasteland into good fields. What he worried about now was the manpower issue, such a large piece of wasteland, without the labor of hundreds of people, it would be difficult to restore before spring. He also wanted to plant a season of spring corn at the beginning of spring.

  At noon, Wang Zhihong's promised ox also arrived at Liu Yitiao's home.

  Ten heads, together with the small yellow ones they already had at home, made a total of eleven. Liu Lao Shi looked at them, his mouth was so happy that it couldn't be closed. He had never seen so many draft cattle together before, and he didn't even dare to think about owning so many draft cattle. He stroked one head and looked at another, each of the ten draft cattle was very sturdy, a top-grade draft cattle. It's hard not to make him happy.

  However, with the arrival of more cattle, problems arose. The original cowshed at home was only built for one head of cattle and could not accommodate eleven heads. As soon as the cattle arrived, Lao Liu began to consider building a new cowshed. Now it's winter, and who knows when it will snow, putting the cows in the snowy ground made Old Liu feel distressed.

  Liu Yitiao also started his old business, wearing a cow nose ring. After experiencing the benefits of leading by the nose from Little Huang's body, Old Liu had already recognized the great use of the cow nose ring, so this time he didn't wait for Liu Yitiao to mention it, and instead urged him on first.

  Ten cows' noses kept Liu busy for an entire afternoon, and the bellowing of the old Liu family's cows was deafening. The commotion attracted many neighbors to come and watch. The neighbors were first astonished by the large number of draft cattle in the old Liu family, wondering when Lao Liu had bought so many draft cattle? Then they were puzzled by Liu Yi's method, not knowing why Liu Yi wanted to bother their draft cattle like this, was he not afraid of going back to jail? They remembered that last time, his whole family was caught by the police because of a cow's nose.

  No one realized the use of a willow branch through the cow's nose. It wasn't until a month later, when they saw how tame the ox was at the Liu family's farm, that they suddenly understood and began to follow suit.

  After dealing with the cattle, Liu Yitiao washed his hands clean of bloodstains with warm water and began to help Old Liu set up a cowshed.

  The cowshed was built with dry wood as the frame, and reeds and mugwort as the thatch. Old Liu had already set up the framework and was about to climb up to cover the top. Seeing this, Liu Yitiao feared he might have an accident, so he called out to stop him, saying: "Dad, let me do the rest, you take a break down there."

  Liu Laoshi wiped the sweat from his face, supported his waist with both hands, and said to Liu Yitiao, "It's okay, but you have to be careful. I'll pass the mugwort down to you from below. Let's try to finish it before dark."

  "Uh-huh." Yuliu responded with a grunt, nimbly climbing up the wooden frame, taking over the Artemisia grass handed to him by Old Liu. As he spread it out, he asked, "Dad, now that we have cattle and land, after the New Year, I plan to hire several farming households to help open up the wasteland. Do you know where I can find people to hire?" Yuliu had asked a few families today, but despite offering very generous terms, no one was willing to come and help him, leaving him somewhat perplexed. That's why he sought advice from Old Liu, someone who knew the roots of things.

  "This is the thing," Lao Shi thought for a moment and said: "You probably can't hire anyone in the village. Everyone has their own fields to cultivate, and no one will come to help you. Recently, there hasn't been any news of outsiders moving in, so if you want to hire someone, you can only go to the county to find those who have been released from prison after serving their sentence or demoted to a lower status. However, although the wages for hiring this kind of person are not high, generally no one wants to employ them because they don't listen, love to cause trouble, or simply don't know how to do farm work. If it's not necessary, it's best not to consider them."

  "Really." Liu Yitiao murmured, it seemed that he had thought things were simpler. It's not easy to be a local tyrant here either. "I'll go to the county town again tomorrow and visit Old Man Yang, he has many connections in the county town, maybe there will be some way."