Chapter 29: Courtyard Economy

Bai Puting had thought the conversation with the Chief was the end of it and was shocked to see him arrive in person. He had never hosted such a “high official” as a Yuanlao before and was thrown into a panic. He rushed back to the main room and told his wife to take out the clothes reserved for guests. He then repeatedly called for his eldest daughter to herd the chickens into their coop and sweep the yard.

In the midst of the hustle, Liu Yuanhu arrived with tea. This was no ordinary tea; it was “Limushan Oolong,” purchased from the county. It was said to be a favorite of the Chiefs, and Fan Shier had originally bought it specifically to entertain visiting cadres. He never thought it would actually be used.

Han Daoguo frowned. “Yuanhu, I told you to watch that old hag. What are you doing here? What if she gets out?”

Liu Yuanhu replied, “The village chief told me to bring this! I’m going back right now!”

“Hurry, hurry, and keep a close watch!” Han Daoguo was terrified that the old Mrs. Cao would pull a “stop the sedan chair and cry out an injustice” stunt, which would be a major embarrassment. If this Chief fancied himself a “virtuous official,” it would be even worse.

Liu Yuanhu scurried away. By then, Yun Suji had already entered the gate. Seeing the courtyard swept clean and Bai Puting dressed in clean, fresh clothes, he said, “You’ve gone to too much trouble. There’s no need for all this.”

Bai Puting bowed. “For the Chief to visit my home, it must be due to the accumulated virtue of my ancestors. This… this… brings light to my humble dwelling!”

Yun Suji was amused. “I didn’t expect you to know idioms!”

“Yes, yes, I attended a private school for a few years as a child.”

Yun Suji looked around the “landowner’s” courtyard. It was indeed different from the others!

The courtyard itself was not very large. The standard villages were all built according to a few unified blueprints. The houses were similar in area, structure, and style, with the only difference being three types—large, medium, and small—based on the household’s population. The Bai family, having a large population, was assigned the largest type, with a homestead area of about 150 square meters.

The courtyard walls in the standard village were neither brick nor wood, but hedges made of fast-growing shrubs, which had already grown to a person’s height in two or three years. These shrubs were carefully selected, and their trimmed branches were used as firewood.

The space in the yard was not large, but it was designed compactly. In the middle of the yard, facing south, was a row of five or six rooms, all brick houses with glass-paned windows that sparkled brightly. There were no side rooms in the front yard. A gravel path for walking ran through the center of the yard. The open spaces on both sides were turned into garden plots. The larger one was planted with various vegetables, while the other had only mounded earth—Yun Suji knew this was an earthworm bed, specifically for raising earthworms.

The central path was not wasted either. Posts were erected on both sides, and bamboo poles were used to create a shade trellis over the path, where loofahs were grown. On both sides of the path, wooden planks and bricks were used to create three-tiered, step-like flower stands, holding many flower pots with honeysuckle, jasmine, and daylilies.

Yun Suji had visited about ten households in this model village, but he had not seen a single courtyard as meticulously cared for as this one. Although the layout and plantings were clearly guided by the Heaven and Earth Society, if the owner had not been so diligent, it would never have been so prosperous.

In front of the main house was a small, brick-paved open space with a low, plain wooden table and a few bamboo chairs. Everything was washed clean and looked very comfortable. Yun Suji nodded. “Good. Very well kept!” He saw a well curb under the eaves and walked over with interest. It turned out not to be a well, but a cistern. The rain gutters under the eaves collected rainwater and channeled it here.

Yun Suji praised it. “Good, this is a good method. With a cistern, it’s much more convenient to water the garden. Why don’t the other families have one?”

Fan Shier quickly said, “This was built by Old Bai himself. It wasn’t part of the original house construction.”

Yun Suji nodded and asked, “It must have cost a lot, right?” Building a cistern required cement, which could only be obtained from the Heaven and Earth Society, and the cost would not be low.

Hearing the Chief ask about money, Bai Puting became a little nervous and said vaguely, “A lot, a lot.”

Fortunately, the Chief didn’t press further. Bai Puting invited him to sit in the main room, but Yun Suji waved his hand. “No hurry. You have a backyard, right? Let’s go take a look.”

Bai Puting had thought the Chief would just sit and talk for a bit; he didn’t expect such a detailed inspection. He couldn’t refuse and had to lead Yun Suji around the side of the yard.

The backyard was smaller than the front. A few sparse trees like Chinese toon and jujube were planted along the hedge. On one side was a chicken coop enclosed by a bamboo fence, which was covered in pumpkin vines. On the other side was a cowshed. This was the first time Yun Suji had seen a farmer in the village raising cattle. He quickened his pace to take a look.

The cowshed was built to standard, with no skimping on materials. Inside were two cows, one large and one small, a crossbreed of Simmental and local yellow cattle. Simmental cattle were a multi-purpose breed, suitable for meat, milk, and draft. The crossbreed with local yellow cattle was a key promotion of the Heaven and Earth Society. However, due to their small numbers and high price, few farmers raised them. Many still raised the strong, hardy water buffalo from the Li districts.

Because it was winter and the temperature was low, the cows were covered with straw coats and were slowly chewing their feed.

Yun Suji leaned in for a closer look. The cows’ coats were smooth and their muscles were firm; they were clearly well cared for. He casually picked up some feed from the trough and sniffed it. It had a sour, grassy smell. He put the feed down and asked, “Are you using silage?”

“Yes, yes, the agricultural technician from the Heaven and Earth Society taught me how to make it. The cows love it, and it helps them gain weight.”

“What do you use to make the silage?”

“Wild grass from the wasteland, red clover from the fields, waterweeds from the river, and the stalks of miscellaneous grains. It just takes a bit more labor…” Bai Puting said with some regret. “My place here is a bit small. The silage pit can’t be dug very big, and the cowshed can only be this size. Otherwise, it would be profitable to raise another three or four cows.”

“With more cows, you could use the big farm machinery you want.”

“The benefits don’t stop there,” Bai Puting said, getting excited when talking about production. “Just the manure from the pens would be much more. After composting, I’d first put it in the earthworm beds to raise earthworms, then take it out and put it on the fields as good fertilizer. It can be used to raise chickens and also increase the grain harvest!” He shook his head again. “Unfortunately, there’s no space!”

Yun Suji also looked at his silage pit and the biogas digester used for composting. The Bai family had invested a lot in their farming! But it also showed from the side that this household’s income from farming was much higher.

Returning to the front yard, Bai Puting again tried to usher him inside. Yun Suji said, “I think we can just sit here.” He pulled up a chair under the gourd trellis and sat down. “It’s airy and bright, and it’s easier to talk!”

After some polite refusals, Fan Shier and Bai Puting also sat down. Bai’s eldest daughter brought tea. Yun Suji saw that in front of him was a fine porcelain-lidded bowl, emitting the fragrance of oolong tea. Knowing he was being treated as a guest, he said, “Why did you do this?” He pushed the bowl away, picked up a coarse porcelain teacup, poured himself a cup from the teapot, and took a sip. It was jujube leaf tea. He smiled. “This tea is good. It’s refreshing and good for the eyes.”

The others all chimed in, agreeing, “Good tea.”

Yun Suji said, “Old Bai, I see you have a knack for farming. You must have been a good hand back in your old home too, right? Probably a landowner?”

At the mention of the past, Bai Puting couldn’t help but sigh. “I wouldn’t say I was a master. I had a few hundred mu of land back home. Though I had a lot of land, the farming there was far worse than here. My family built up our property generation by generation, scraping a living from the soil. You could call us landowners, but in reality, we were pitiful! In a good year, we’d only harvest a hundred or so jin per mu. How can that compare to here!”

“Your courtyard economy is very well-run. I’ve been to the demonstration farm, and their courtyard economy is no better than this,” Yun Suji said admiringly. “If every household could be like this, you would undoubtedly be the number one model village in the county!”

Fan Shier gave an awkward smile. Just as he was about to speak, Bai Puting said, “This is all thanks to the help of the Heaven and Earth Society. Otherwise, how would a farmer like me know all these tricks! Take the silage for feeding the cows. Back home, not only did no one know how to do it, no one had even heard of it. When you feed cows, you just give them fresh grass when you have it, and dry grass when you don’t. Who would have thought you could store fresh grass to feed them, and that the cows would love it! Daoist Zhang was right: the Chiefs are truly living gods who know everything under the heavens!”

“In your village, are there many people like you who spend their own money to hire the Heaven and Earth Society for guidance?”

“Not many,” Bai Puting said. “Most families can’t afford it. But that’s secondary; the Heaven and Earth Society has loans. I took out a loan myself at the beginning. But most people are unwilling to borrow, afraid they won’t be able to pay it back and will lose their land. Many families here were originally tenant farmers and didn’t have their own land. Now that the Chiefs have given them land, they cherish it like the apple of their eye.”

“You are the bold one, with the courage to venture.”

“I’m not that bold. I just felt, what’s the point of farming the same old way?” Bai Puting felt that this Chief Yun spoke very practically, and in the language of a farmer, so he became more talkative. “When everyone went to the county to visit the Heaven and Earth Society’s demonstration farm, I thought, the people from the Heaven and Earth Society are human, and so am I. Why can they do it and I can’t? When the Heaven and Earth Society was promoting agricultural loans, everyone was afraid of getting into debt and not being able to pay it back. But I had another thought: the Chiefs went through so much trouble to save us from the ice and snow, gave us food and clothes, brought us to Hainan Island, built houses and gave us land. What would they gain by tricking us? Don’t you agree, sir?”

Yun Suji smiled. “Yes, yes.” He thought to himself, No wonder this man could be a landlord in his old home and has become a large landowner here. His thinking is a cut above the average peasant. He then asked, “Do you still owe any agricultural loans to the Heaven and Earth Society?”

“I paid it all off this summer,” Bai Puting said enthusiastically. “If it weren’t for this progressive tax, I’d want to take out another loan and clear a few dozen more mu of wasteland!”