Chapter 592 - 591: Farm Woman 20
Similar conversations were happening in every household of the clan. Now that everyone’s lives had improved, it was time to start arranging marriages. Before, they wouldn’t have dared to even think about such things.
After all, Miao Gou Village was poor. It was already a struggle for an ordinary family to scrape together one decent set of clothes, so how could they afford to marry and have children? All they could do was endure. They never expected their fortunes to turn around like this.
Sure enough, just as the workshops reopened after the new year, weddings began to happen one after another in the clan. Tan You became a very busy person; every family holding a wedding invited her to the celebratory feast.
"This is the tenth wedding this month. I see all these new brides joining the families, but the clan has daughters of marrying age too." Tan You brought this up during one of the feasts.
Chen Tianshui stroked his beard. "No one wants to marry their daughters out. They feel it’s better to stay in the clan. If they marry out, they’ll have to deal with all sorts of schemes."
Tan You considered this. "That’s true, but in that case, should we recruit men to marry into the clan?"
Chen Tianshui wished they could. "These days, how many young men from good families are willing to marry into their wife’s family?"
Tan You had her own idea. "We don’t have to look in the nearby villages. We can look for migrants. There are many migrants out there right now. Our clansmen are working in the workshops, and in the future, our workshops will need even more employees. The clansmen don’t have time to tend to the clan’s fields anymore."
"If we let migrants settle down here, those fields will be cultivated. There’s so much land outside the village. If we clear it and put it all to use, a single year’s harvest could be enough to feed the entire clan for three to five years."
This was a major issue, and Chen Tianshui couldn’t make the decision alone. "I’ll discuss this with the other clan elders later. But if we’re going to take in migrants, we have to find people with good character and ability. We can’t let any sly, lazy troublemakers into the village."
Tan You said, "Don’t worry. As long as the elders agree, you can leave it all to me. I’d say I’m a pretty good judge of character."
After the banquet, Tan You met with the clan elders for a meeting. Everyone had different opinions about Tan You’s proposal concerning the migrants, but overall, most were in favor.
Rather than getting into messy disputes with the neighboring villages, it would be better to take in outsiders. Outsiders would have no roots here. If they wanted to live in the village, they would have no choice but to depend on the clan.
Once that happened, the clan’s population would grow, and its strength would grow with it.
Having gotten the green light from the clan elders, Tan You wasted no time. The very next day, she set out for the prefectural city with Chen Xi and An Wen. The first purpose of her trip was to find migrants, and the second was to ask about Chen Cui’s whereabouts.
However, Chen Yue and Chen Xing were still too little, so Tan You took the two sisters to stay at Chen Tianshui’s house for a while. The two were delighted. To be honest, Tan You was just thankful they didn’t burst into tears.
Tan You didn’t bother to disguise herself as a man for the journey. There was no need. This era wasn’t as socially restrictive as the Qing Dynasty, after all. It wasn’t uncommon to see women traveling about, so someone like Tan You didn’t stand out.
An Wen sat on the shaft of the cart. "Aunt, are you sure it’s okay for you to be away from the workshops?"
Tan You replied, "Why wouldn’t it be? The elders are there. This isn’t my business; it’s the clan’s business. Not a single member of the clan would allow anyone to ruin this livelihood."
"Only when individual interests are transformed into collective interests will everyone work together as one, without selfish motives."
An Wen lowered his gaze. "It’s like what you always say, Aunt. We have to be united."
Tan You spread her hands. "Something like that. Everyone is an experienced hand now; they can manage just fine. But the soap workshop alone is a bit precarious. We need to find some other business ventures."
Chen Xi reminded Tan You, "In a few more months, the mosquito coil workshop will get busy again."
Tan You waved it off. "How is that enough? That’s just small money. We need to work hard to earn more, to hoard Silver and grain. No matter the era, you won’t panic as long as you have money and food in your hands."
"It’s a shame we don’t have much grain on hand. If we had enough flour, we could totally make instant noodles."
Chen Xi said, "In a few more months, the Little Mai will be harvested. The clan will accumulate a lot of Little Mai."
"That’s everyone’s food ration," Tan You said softly. "Never mind, I’ll think of something else."
’Her mind was swimming with countless ways to make money—papermaking, tea, printing, and so on. But any one of those was beyond the clan’s ability to protect. Instead of earning Silver, they would bring disaster and death upon themselves.’
An Wen thought for a moment. "Aunt, you asked Sihai Groceries to collect wool for you before. What are you planning to do with it?"
Tan You replied, "Oh, so many things. Wool can be spun into yarn to make woolen clothes or woolen cloth, and so on. But wool products have their downsides. They shrink easily, especially pure wool. And after you’ve worn a piece of clothing for a long time, you eventually have to wash it."
"Ultimately, woolen clothes have too many limitations. I’m not considering setting up a workshop for that for the time being."
"The only reason I had Sihai collect wool was so everyone could have a more comfortable winter. Woolen sweaters and pants really are warm."
An Wen was completely bewildered. He didn’t understand what "woolen sweaters" were, but they sounded incredibly warm.
"Then could we do furs? Could we raise rabbits?" Chen Xi proposed another idea. "If the clan raises rabbits, we could eat the meat ourselves or sell it, and we could make the pelts into clothes."
"Just like the clan’s pig farm."
Tan You said, "Rabbits are very good at digging burrows. And they aren’t easy to raise, even though they breed like crazy. Plus, raising rabbits requires a lot of grass, grain, and so on. That’s all extra work."
’The risk tolerance for animal husbandry is too low. If the animals were to get sick, it would be a total wipeout. So, privately, Tan You didn’t want to get into large-scale animal farming.’
The group chatted as they traveled. They weren’t in a hurry, just letting Dazao amble along slowly. This was Tan You’s first time heading toward the prefectural city, and she found it quite novel.
Their Miao Gou Village was to the southwest of the prefectural city. The closer they got to the city, the more people they saw, and the more prosperous it appeared.
Chen Xi swung his little legs. "Mother, is this the prefectural city? It’s so lively!"
Tan You said calmly, "It’s only natural for the prefectural city to be lively."
’Others saw the prosperity and liveliness of the prefectural city, but what Tan You saw was a fleeting spectacle, like flowers embroidered on brocade or a fire stoked with oil. And so, with the coming chaotic times, she had to be the first to seize talent and resources.’
Sihai Groceries naturally had a shop in the prefectural city. As luck would have it, when Tan You arrived at Sihai Groceries with Chen Xi and An Wen, Xue Guanglin himself was in the store. Xue Guanglin was overjoyed to see the three of them.
"Mistress, what brings you to the prefectural city?"
Tan You smiled and gently pushed An Wen forward by the small of his back. "I couldn’t get any news about Chen Cui in town, so I thought I’d bring the children to the prefectural city to have a look."