The happy little days of the Ye family

At night, Ye Xilin locked the door, and the young couple happily counted the money together.

I sold herbal medicine in Wang's Pharmacy today and made a total of 27 taels and 383 yuan.

According to the rules of the Ye family, half of the money earned must be handed over to the public school, and the remaining 13 taels, 691 Wen are their private money.

After finally going back to the county, and the Chinese New Year was coming soon, the two of them bought some new year's goods for their families.

The two of them desperately moved home the necessary firecrackers for the Chinese New Year, delicious sea fish, all kinds of delicious snacks, etc., as if they didn't need any money.

The two of them bought a lot of things in the county today and spent a lot of money.

The large and small silver and copper plates on the table were counted twice by two people.

Ye Xilin sighed, "There are only 12 taels of 183 coins left. I spent more than one tael of silver in half a day. This money is really hard to spend."

Li Guoer also comforted him: "It's okay, money is earned and spent. Just make more money in the future."

Neither of them has the habit of keeping accounts, they only know how much money they spent.

After counting today's income, the two of them counted the money in their hands again.

The two of them rummaged through the boxes, dug under the bed, and climbed up to the beams. After a lot of trouble, they took out all the money.

Looking at the table full of silver and banknotes, the two of them were so happy that they could hardly close their mouths, and they counted the coins with smiles on their faces.

Ye Xilin: "I have 158 taels of 958 coins here."

Li Guoer: "I have 115 taels and 342 coins here."

Including the money from selling herbal medicine today, their small family now has 274 taels and 281 wen.

Among them, more than 235 taels were saved by Ye Xilin before getting married, and 6 taels were the money that the Ye family paid to Li Guoer to correct his confession.

In addition, there was 20 taels of silver that was Ye Xilin's betrothal gift to the Li family, and Li Guoer took it out.

Li Guoer, who had not seen the big scene, couldn't take his eyes away when he saw the money on the table.

Ye Xilin, who was counting the coins from time to time, seemed much calmer.

The young couple usually raises pigs at home every day. Except for buying some New Year's goods in the county today, they really haven't spent much money.

The 100 Wen pocket money Li Guoer gave Ye Xilin before is still in his pocket.

After counting the money, the young couple talked about their future livelihood.

I went to Langshan Mountain a few days ago and the harvest was very good. Ye Xilin had the idea of ​​​​going there and going into the mountain to find good things.

"Guo'er, can we go over to Langshan Mountain often in the future? There are quite a lot of good things there."

After entering the mountain, he earned 27 taels of silver. Ye Xilin felt that he was making more money than raising pigs, and he couldn't help but feel a little dizzy.

Li Guoer shook his head, "I was just lucky the past few days. Usually I can find a few Panax notoginseng and Polygonatum japonica, which are very powerful herbs. Wild ginseng is hard to come by."

"Besides, there are wolves and wild boars on the mountain. We usually just wander around halfway up the mountain. I don't dare to take you into the deep mountains."

Before marrying into the Ye family, Li Guoer went into the mountains every day. She knew this best. She could only dig up a few medicinal plants in a day.

Pheasants and hares are not difficult to hunt, but wild boars and wild goats can only be encountered occasionally, and it is impossible to have a big harvest every day.

Hearing what Li Guoer said, Ye Xilin's enthusiasm for going up the mountain was immediately extinguished.

"Orions are not stable, so it is better to raise pigs."

After thinking about it, Ye Xilin suggested again:

"Now I have someone to help with the pig weeding. I just cook and feed the pigs, and there isn't much to do at home. I thought it would be better to raise a few more sows at home."

"Anyway, you have to cook and feed pigs. There is no difference if you raise a few more pigs."

Li Guoer thought about raising pigs at home these days, and the two of them were indeed quite leisurely.

"Okay, you know more about raising pigs, so just make your decision."

The Li family did not raise pigs, and Li Guoer really didn't know much about raising pigs, so she asked curiously:

"I see that you raise both sows that give birth to piglets and big pigs that make bacon. Which one is more profitable?"

Ye Xilin explained to her carefully: "A sow can give birth to about two litters a year, and one litter can give birth to 6 to 10 piglets."

"Currently, the price of a piglet in the village is 220 taels. If you just rely on piglets, a sow can earn three or four taels of silver a year."

"But now there are more people and fields in the village, and every household raises pigs. Piglets are very popular, and the piglets at home are kept and raised at home."

Li Guo'er thought about it and realized that her family raised more than a dozen sows. Even after deducting the wages of the two children for cutting pigweed and the money spent on buying bean dregs, there should still be a lot of profit.

Then Ye Xilin said: "The big pigs in Xiaohoushan are used to make bacon. If the pigs at home eat well, they can usually grow to more than 200 kilograms. There is no way they can make 100 kilograms of bacon."

"Bacon is wholesaled at the wharf for 40 taels per catty. With the leftovers from bacon making, a big fat pig can earn more than 4 taels of silver."

"However, making bacon requires a lot of salt, spices, and labor. In total, the profit is about the same as that of a sow."

"It's quite troublesome to make bacon, and the money you make isn't much. Why don't you just sell the pigs to the butcher?" Li Guoer asked again.

"If sold to the butcher, the leaner pigs will cost 11 cents per catty, and the fatter pigs will cost 12 cents per catty."

"The pigs we raise are basically 12 cents per catty, which is just over taels per pound, and we don't earn much."

Ye Xilin had already given up on it. Although bacon was a bit more troublesome, the money he earned was still more cost-effective than selling fresh pork directly.

"Besides, there are many people raising pigs in the village. If we sell fresh pork directly, the town will not be able to eat so many pigs."

"Things are rare and expensive. If there are too many pigs, the price will not be high."

"If you can't sell them after they are raised, it will be a waste of food. Bacon is durable, so making it into bacon is the best choice."

After Ye Xilin's explanation, Li Guoer probably understood the actual situation of raising pigs.

She really didn't expect that there were so many twists and turns in raising pigs. If you don't have some ability, you may not be able to sell the pig after you raise it.

Ye Xilin feels that raising pigs is actually the same as growing grain. The harvest is good and there is a lot of grain, but the price cannot be sold.

If the harvest is not good, no matter how high the price rises, you will have nothing to sell.

It is a safer way to make bacon pork.

There is no light in the east but light in the west. Being close to the dock, he can sell bacon to other places that are short of meat.

The two discussed for a while and decided to raise five more sows after the new year.

In addition, one more pigsty needs to be built on the Xiaohoushan side. After all, there are sows, and a place must be arranged for these piglets.

As for the rabbits, it is still the same as before. These small things are very edible. No matter how many there are, there will be nothing to feed.