Seeing Qin Feng accept the rabbit, Zhang Liang heaved a sigh of relief.
She happily brought her family back.
At the end of the path, she could still hear his hearty laughter.
" Master, Cousin's family is living such a hard life. Brother Liang finally managed to hunt two rabbits, and we still have to take one away. Isn't that a little inappropriate?"
Guan Hanyan felt a little uncomfortable carrying the wild rabbit.
"Sister Hanyan, Brother Feng accepted the rabbit for Sister Yunfang's own good."
" Brother Liang is a man of honor," Tang Dongdong said with a smile." Since he said that he would share half of the prey with Brother Feng, he would definitely feel uncomfortable if Brother Feng didn't accept it. He might have returned the crossbow to Brother Feng at that time."
"Dongdong is still smart."
Qin Feng smiled and rubbed Tang Dongdong's hair.
She regretted it after rubbing it.
Sure enough, Tang Dongdong's little face turned red all of a sudden. Even her neck turned rosy red. With a moan, she covered her face and ran into the shed.
Guan Hanyan looked at Qin Feng mockingly.
"Hanyan, I didn't do it on purpose…"
"I'm used to rubbing your hair," Qin Feng explained, scratching his head like a cat caught on the spot.
"Master, I'm not a jealous woman."
Guan Hanyan covered her mouth and laughed." Dongdong will be yours sooner or later. Even if you rub other places, I won't have any objections. I think Dongdong won't have any objections either. If she has any objections, I'll help you hold her down."
Qin Feng was speechless.
What a good girl, but she had become bad in just a few days.
"Alright, stop laughing. If you continue laughing, your eyes will be gone."
"Clean up the rabbit later. After stewing it, send half of it to my cousin's house," said Qin Feng unhappily.
The Zhang family had been living a hard life for several years. The whole family had lost so much weight that they could not even look human. They had to replenish some nutrition.
He could guarantee that the Zhang family would not bear to eat rabbits and would sell them in town tomorrow to exchange for more coarse grain.
Therefore, it was better to accept the wild rabbit according to Zhang Liang's wishes. This way, not only would Zhang Liang not be embarrassed, but he could also achieve Qin Feng's goal.
Qin Feng was right. When he and Guan Hanyan delivered the rice and rabbit meat to the Zhang family, the whole family was gathered together to eat gruel.
There were only a few grains of millet and two dark-green wild vegetables in the big bowl of gruel. There was not even a speck of oil.
Even so, Zhang Xiaohua still drank with relish.
"Brother Feng, Hanyan, what are you…"
Zhang's mother stood up and asked.
" Cousin gave us a gift when we got married. We're here to return the favor."
Qin Feng smiled and took an empty bowl. He scooped a bowl of rice and poured a spoonful of meat soup and rabbit meat. He smiled and placed it in front of Zhang Xiaohua." Xiaohua, try it."
After all, he was still a child. Zhang Xiaohua immediately put the porridge bowl aside and hugged the rice to eat crazily.
How could he care about answering?
"Thank you."
How could Zhang Liang not understand Qin Feng's meaning? However, this was a gift in return. It was inappropriate to reject it, so he could only accept it.
Knowing that there was no prey at the back of the mountain, Zhang Liang didn't stop at all when he passed by the back of the mountain the next day. He went straight into the old forest.
When he returned that night, he was carrying three hares, a fox, and four pheasants.
This time, Qin Feng took all the pheasants without Zhang Liang's refusal.
Wild rabbit meat was thick and far less delicious than pheasant.
If four pheasants were not enough, it would not be bad to make them into air-dried chicken.
In the future, this thing was a protected animal, and it was usually not eaten.
From that day on, the Zhang family's life became better.
The eldest son went into the mountains to hunt every day and rarely returned empty-handed. The younger son studied blacksmithing at Qin Feng's house and had the capital to eat in the future.
The villagers were so envious that their eyes turned red.
Everyone knew that the Zhang Clan had such a huge change because of Qin Feng.
Therefore, the women ran to Qin Feng's house even more diligently. When they tried to get close to Guan Hanyan, they implied that they wanted Qin Feng's help to forge a crossbow. They were also willing to share half of the prey with Qin Feng.
But this time, Qin Feng rejected them with the excuse of lacking materials.
Although there was no end to the hunting in the mountains, there would be fewer and fewer of them.
It didn't matter if there were one or two hunters in a village, but if there were more than ten hunters, the wild beasts near Haijiao Village would be chased away.
After all, wild beasts were not dead. After realizing the danger, they would migrate to a place far away from Haijiao Village.
This kind of exhausting behavior would not last long.
Moreover, Qin Feng did not lie to them.
There were not many types of wood suitable for making crossbows. If ordinary wood was used, it would either not be elastic enough, weak, or not tough enough. It would break after a few uses.
Zhang Mancang had cut down all the jujube trees that could be used in the back mountain, but he could only make about 11 or 12 more.
Guan Hanyan and Lin Yunfang were relatives, and the Zhang family was on the verge of collapse. Although the villagers were jealous that Qin Feng had made a crossbow for Zhang Liang, they couldn't say anything.
However, if Qin Feng made one for Third Aunt and not for the other villagers, the other villagers would have objections.
After some consideration, Qin Feng decided not to make any more crossbows for the villagers except for Zhang Liang.
However, Qin Feng wanted to see the villagers 'attitude of wanting to live a good life.
Tang Dongdong and Qin Feng had ordered a cart of hemp skin from the county government a few days ago.
The carpenter had also sent over the parts of the ten spinning wheels yesterday. Zhang Mancang had stayed up all night and had finished assembling them all. He had placed them neatly in the shed.
Beside the spinning wheel was a pile of hemp skin.
Since cotton hadn't reached Dakang yet, hemp was one of the most important textile materials.
The processed hempen was spun into thread and then woven into cloth through a loom. Finally, clothes and bedding could be made.
Sackcloth was the clothing that the commoners of Great Kang wore the most.
Of course, other than linen clothes, there were also clothes made of silk, brocade, satin, animal fur, and the like, but these basically had nothing to do with the common people.
With the little silver in Qin Feng's hands, he would not be able to get involved in such an industry.
With the spinning wheels and raw materials, the next step was to recruit workers.
Qin Feng and Tang Dongdong discussed for a while and decided to hire 20 female workers to work in two shifts. Each person would be paid one copper coin a day, plus two meals.
When the women heard the news, they immediately forgot their bows and fought to sign up.
After all, they knew that Qin Feng couldn't make crossbows for everyone. Even if he did, they might not be able to hunt prey in the mountains. If they encountered tigers, leopards, wild boars, or the like, they might even lose their lives.
Spinning was still the safest.
Two meals a day and a copper coin. This reward was much better than they had expected.
One copper coin could buy a meat bun in town. If one bought grains or other coarse grains, it would be enough for three people to eat.
"Hanyan, do you keep your word? Are you really going to pay me a copper coin a day and provide me with food?"
"I'm a scholar. I naturally won't go back on my word."
" That's great. I'm here with the big girl to spin the thread, leaving only the head of the household and the boy. The copper coins I earn are enough for them to eat, and the money that the big girl earns can be saved."
...