Traveling through the famine, I stockpiled supplies like crazy

Chapter 483 Building a House

Whether it was the open space in the front yard or the backyard, mushrooms were all hung out to dry, and the scene was very spectacular.

If all these mushrooms are dried, they would probably weigh about 70 or 80 kilograms. If I continue like this, I'll be able to pick a lot of mushrooms every time it rains. I can make a lot of money just by picking mushrooms, drying them and selling them.

According to the price of dried mushrooms in previous years, a pound of dried mushrooms can be sold for 12 cents. On a rainy day, to pounds of dried mushrooms can be dried, which can be sold for about one or two taels of silver.

With so many people, they can make a lot of money just by drying mushrooms throughout the year. Then they can make some dried bamboo shoots and other mountain products and exchange them for money.

The output from the mountains alone can be exchanged for one hundred or eighty taels of silver in a year, which is a considerable income.

Xu Han certainly would not miss such a good opportunity to make money. After figuring out the account, every rainy season thereafter she would take people to the mountains to pick mushrooms and make dried bamboo shoots. Of course, other mountain products would not be missed either. Her main goal was to get everything.

By this calculation, it would only take one year for Xu Han to earn back all the money he spent on buying people, and even make a profit.

The servants we bought can not only do these things, but they can also reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land. This way, we won't lose anything.

Xu Han said to Ma Pozi, "Ma Pozi, if you are tired, just take a rest. Don't rush. Sorting mushrooms is hard work, and your waist will hurt if you sit for a long time."

When Ma Pozi heard Xu Han's words, she did not stop moving her hands. "Madam, I am not tired. This job is not tiring at all. Compared with the jobs I did before, it is so much easier. Doing this job is like playing."

Xu Han smiled and said nothing more after hearing her say that. She turned to the three girls who came back and said, "Go get some big wooden basins and wash the mushrooms. We will make mushroom sauce later."

After receiving the instructions, the three little girls acted quickly, while Xu Han turned around to prepare other ingredients needed to make mushroom jam.

Xu Han has made mushroom jam many times, almost every year, and now she is very familiar with it.

It just so happens that there is not much mushroom jam left at home, so today I made some more while I picked up a lot of mushrooms and kept them in reserve.

Now that there are more people eating at home, all kinds of pickles and sauces are eaten up quickly. I have to increase the amount when I make them in the future, otherwise they won't last for a few days.

After they washed the mushrooms, Xu Han started to make mushroom jam.

Xu Han was in charge of cooking, while Ma Po was in charge of making the fire. The other three girls took over Ma Po's job and continued to sort the mushrooms in a cool place nearby.

This time, Xu Han made two large jars of mushroom sauce at once, which were kept at home for consumption.

She also made four small jars of mushroom sauce, intending to give them to Yunhua when he returned.

Not knowing when he would come back, Xu Han prepared it and put it in the space so that she could take it away anytime when he came back.

Just as Xu Han put the mushroom jam into the jar, Lu Chuan came back with a group of people.

Everyone dumped the mushrooms in the yard and started picking them up consciously.

Xu Han looked around and didn't see the Taoist priest, so she asked, "Where's the Taoist priest? Why can't I see him?"

Lu Chuan replied, "He said he wanted to improve the food for everyone, so he took Han Qi hunting. I think he should be back soon."

"Hahaha, what a great relationship! It looks like we'll have another treat tonight. I just don't know what they can hunt. It would be great if they can hunt pheasants. Then we can make a pot of pheasant and mushroom soup. The taste is simply amazing. I'm drooling just thinking about it."

Lu Chuan looked at Xu Han lovingly, "Want some chicken soup? That's easy. I'll go to the chicken coop and catch a few."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was about to get up and go to the chicken coop to catch the chickens. Seeing this, Xu Han quickly stopped him and said, "No, no, I was just talking casually.

We can’t eat our chickens anymore, or they’ll be gone.”

Lu Chuan looked at Xu Han with amusement, "You've raised so many chickens, but you're reluctant to eat them. Just raise more after you've eaten them. Someone will help you feed the chickens this year, so you can raise more chickens."

"Well, I was planning to do that. The weather will soon get cooler, and I'll see if I can hatch another batch of chicks. But now the kang in the backyard is occupied, so there's no place to hatch them."

"There's no rush. We'll start building two rooms tomorrow, and then we can free up the backyard. If you really don't want to, we can wait until next spring to hatch more."

"Yeah, go check if the Taoist priest is back. It's getting dark. If you don't cook, you'll be hungry."

As Xu Han spoke, she pushed Lu Chuan out and followed him out to see what was going on.

Today's dinner was made by Dan Niang, and it was still simple home cooking. Although there was no big fish or meat, and we only ate coarse grains and black noodles, everyone was very satisfied.

Because the Taoist priest and Han Qi came back late, they did not eat the game they hunted today. Fortunately, they had good skills and the game they hunted was still alive, otherwise it would definitely not be alive until tomorrow in such hot weather.

Because of the rain, the work on the house was temporarily suspended for two days. As soon as the sky cleared up, Lu Chuan led everyone to start building the house again.

It had just rained and the ground was still wet. The mud was too sticky to the feet and there was no way to weed, so the women in the family also went to build the house.

As for the three younger girls, Xu Han did not let them go because building a house was too much work and they were too weak to do much.

Xu Han simply let them continue making clothes at home, and help clean the yard and prepare three meals a day for the family.

As for the rest, they were doing their best to prepare for building the house, trying to complete it as soon as possible to avoid the inconvenience of everyone living together.

The materials for building the houses were all ready. After clearing out a space big enough for two houses, Lu Chuan led his men to start building walls with mud, while the others continued to carefully clean the rest of the foundation.

Because there were so many people, the two houses were built very quickly. They were all completed in just three days, and the kang in the house was also turned out.

Now we just need to wait for the house to dry, and then lay the bluestone slabs and we can be ready to move in.

Of course, Lu Chuan would not just sit there and wait for the house to dry. While the house was being ventilated and dried, he led others to continue building the rest of the house.

Finally, after the eighth day, the first two houses built were completely dry, and two new houses were built in addition to the remaining houses.

On the ninth day, Lu Chuan arranged for everyone to move their belongings into the new house early in the morning. From that day on, the servants all lived across the valley.