PFC Chapter 336: Farm Daily Life 8
Chapter 336: Farm Daily Life 8
Evelyn Ford was shocked.
"Three argali sheep for a new set of clothes, a radio, and a few cassette tapes?"
"He bought some things for Wyatt Vaughn."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "I guess he has some conscience, then."
Meanwhile, Quincy handed Wyatt Vaughn a burlap sack. When Wyatt opened it and saw what was inside, her eyes suddenly turned red.
"How could you use public funds to buy things for me?"
Quincy smiled. "I asked Ronan Kendrick. He gave me the argali sheep to do with as I please. That’s how I bought these."
Inside were sanitary pads, lip balm, moisturizer, and also brand-new underwear, a comb, hair ties...
There were many items, all of them very thoughtful and personal.
"Wyatt, I love being a bandit."
Wyatt was speechless.
"Ronan took you out robbing people?"
Quincy shook his head. "It was even better than robbing. With Evelyn Ford not around, he’s like a wolf off its leash. Tarr City even had wanted posters up for him and Evelyn, and he just swaggered over and tore them down."
"Did you get caught?"
Quincy gave a mysterious smile. "How could we possibly get caught?"
"But Tarr City is much colder than Immeasurable Mountain, and there are a lot of refugees. People are begging everywhere. The rich kids from powerful families aren’t affected at all. They still drive around, showing off. In the end, it’s always the common people who suffer during a disaster."
"I bought some things for Miles Vaughn. You can take them to him later."
Wyatt took a look. There were socks, gloves, a hat, and a razor. ’Even though Quincy always seems a bit goofy, he’s a genuinely good person.’
Wyatt’s eyes reddened slightly. "Thank you."
"What’s there to thank me for? Just give me back the job of playing movies tomorrow."
Wyatt smacked Quincy on the back. "Don’t you have a radio now?"
"That’s a separate issue. The movie job is mine."
Wyatt couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and left with the items to find Miles Vaughn.
With the reaper and rice transplanter, planting rice had become much easier. They weren’t short on grain now, so Evelyn Ford decided to let the paddies lie fallow for half a month, waiting for the nutrients in the black soil to replenish before planting the second crop.
The medicinal herb field was already tilled. Gold and Silver Flower, bleeding-stop grass, and dendrobium all needed to be planted. Compared to grain, Evelyn Ford was more passionate about cultivating medicinal herbs.
After several months, life on the farm had improved significantly. Their meals had been upgraded from wheat bran to coarse flour steamed buns or cornbread muffins. They still had meat once every two days, but every meal included vegetables and eggs. With the better food, the once scrawny Penelope Parker and Patrick Pence had both put on a fair bit of weight.
Evelyn Ford did a count. The number of argali sheep had reached 148. Since they were slaughtering them every month, the increase wasn’t that large. The chickens and ducks now numbered over 500, and the wheat bran and rice bran were mostly used to feed them. The populations of red deer, roe deer, and elk were all growing.
The winter wheat in the greenhouses began to head and ripen. Evelyn Ford had everyone pause their work to harvest the cassava and sweet potato vines, saving them to plant a second crop.
The tender sweet potato leaves could be stir-fried, a rare delicacy for everyone. Taylor Vance organized the group to dig an especially large root cellar, about 300 square meters, to store the grain, which would be easier to preserve there.
Although cassava is toxic, after being replanted and improved, the toxicity was almost gone. Cassava has a high yield, so Evelyn Ford planned to make some cassava flour.
Refugees from other villages learned of the farm’s existence, and quite a few people came to trade for supplies. Early in the morning, Quincy came looking for Evelyn Ford. A couple had come to trade but had requested to see the farm’s owner. Quincy asked Evelyn if she wanted to meet them, but she refused outright.
"For trading, just let Chet Lawrence handle it. Also, we’re only open for trade three days a month. Any other time, I don’t care if they crawled here from the Southern Hemisphere, we’re not trading."
Looking at Evelyn’s grumpy, just-woken-up face, Quincy felt a little sympathy for Ronan Kendrick.
"Alright. They didn’t bring wood or branches, just some gold jewelry. Jewelry is useless now, but I saw that even though they looked haggard, their demeanor wasn’t like that of ordinary people, which is why I let them in. I’ll go make them leave now."
Evelyn Ford suddenly appeared in front of Quincy. "Gold jewelry? Is there a lot?"
"Probably a fair amount, but they only showed me a bracelet and a ring."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "Let’s go. I’ll take a look."
Quincy was confused. "Didn’t you say you wouldn’t see them? Besides, you can’t eat jewelry."
"I can’t help it, I just like gold. I’m going to see if it’s real. If it is, I’ll take it."
Quincy thought Evelyn Ford had lost her mind. ’Women... so irrational.’
When the two of them arrived, a man and a woman who were sitting on stools and drinking hot water immediately stood up. As Evelyn Ford sized them up, they were also sizing her up.
"You’re the owner of the farm?"
Evelyn Ford nodded. "I am. I hear you want to trade for supplies. May I see what you’ve brought?"
Evelyn Ford got straight to the point, not wasting a single second.
The other party hastily took a bracelet out of their pocket. The couple looked to be around forty. Though their clothes were tattered and their faces were haggard, their bearing was indeed rather distinguished. In such hard times, it was rare to see people who could still stand up so straight.
The bracelet was jade inlaid with gold. Evelyn Ford took it, examined it for a few seconds, and then handed it back.
"To be honest, in this day and age, jewelry isn’t very useful to anyone. Not unless a currency system is re-established. But for now, everyone is bartering."
The woman nodded. "We understand what you’re saying, Farm Master. To be perfectly honest, we’ve been to many places, we even went to the base in Oakhaven, but we couldn’t trade for anything. A high-ranking leader’s daughter at the Oakhaven base took two of our jade pieces and only gave us one pound of flour. Left with no other choice, my husband and I came here to try our luck."
Evelyn Ford didn’t say anything. The bracelet was of excellent quality, but she was always cautious. Though she wanted it, she wouldn’t accept it rashly. She needed to ask some questions first to avoid bringing trouble upon herself.
"Then how much are you looking to trade for? This bracelet of yours is high quality—it’s pure gold—but in this day and age, nothing is more important than food."
Evelyn Ford was reminding her not to get greedy.
The woman nodded. "I understand. You’re a straightforward person, Farm Master, so I won’t beat around the bush. Our family was well-off before, so we accumulated a lot of things. You’re right, even though they’re nice, jewelry is the most worthless thing in this world. I’ll give you everything, Farm Master. I want one hundred pounds of rice, fifty pounds of flour, and twenty pounds of salt."
Quincy was furious. "Are you robbing us? That stuff is no different from scrap metal right now, and you want 150 pounds of grain and 20 pounds of salt? Lady, how do you have the nerve to even say that?"
The woman glanced at the man beside her. The man, who had been silent the whole time, opened the black backpack on his back. A bag full of gleaming gold jewelry immediately appeared before Evelyn Ford’s eyes.
"Farm Master, all of this together weighs fifteen pounds. Is it enough for 150 pounds of grain?"