"No problem," Dai Fa nodded.
Zheng Wuniang was recovering well and could recall past events. With her two daughters by her side, caring for her closely, she was slowly accepting reality.
Dai Fa no longer needed to stay by her side daily and had time to attend to other matters.
"By the way, Uncle Dai, you said you came to find me. What was it about?" Gu Qingcheng asked.
"Ah, the 40 cattle we ordered last time have been delivered by the cattle dealer. They also brought a batch of chickens, ducks, and sheep. They're at the village entrance now and asked for you to come and inspect them."
Last time Dai Fa went down the mountain, he wanted to buy 40 head of cattle. However, the cattle dealer said the quantity was too large and he couldn't gather them all at once. He promised to deliver them to the mountain after sourcing them from elsewhere.
Seeing that he couldn't find that many cattle, Dai Fa gave him half a month to arrange the delivery to Phoenix Village and paid a 10% deposit.
Now, the cattle dealer had come to deliver, three days earlier than agreed. Clearly, he was eager to finalize this large order.
Gu Qingcheng was overjoyed. Cattle were strong laborers, and having them in the village would be a tremendous help.
She quickly went to the village entrance with Dai Fa to see the cattle.
The village entrance was bustling with activity. Villagers, having just finished their meal, were chatting in small groups. They were stunned to see a large herd of cattle streaming into the village.
"Whose cattle are these? Are they from our village?"
"How is that possible? How can our village suddenly have so many cattle?"
"It must be Master Gu's! I heard Master Gu say he was going to buy cattle earlier!"
Some villagers immediately guessed it was Gu Qingcheng's doing, but they still couldn't quite believe it. As country folk, who didn't understand the value of cattle?
If a family could afford one cow in the past, they were considered affluent in the village, and their children would have no trouble finding spouses.
So many cattle?
Master Gu bought them all himself?
Just then, Dai Fa and Gu Qingcheng arrived. The cattle dealer recognized Dai Fa and came forward to hand over the cattle.
Seeing that the cattle were indeed bought by the village, the villagers became extremely excited.
Liu Ding was the first to step forward and ask,
"Master Gu, are these cattle for plowing our fields?"
"Yes," Gu Qingcheng nodded.
Upon receiving confirmation, Liu Ding was ecstatic and said,
"Then our team will reserve two head of cattle first."
"What about us? We want some too."
The other team leaders, hearing this, couldn't be outdone and quickly vied for them.
Gu Qingcheng waved her hand and said, "Don't argue for now. We'll discuss it later. I need to select a few people with experience in raising cattle. Who has raised cattle before?"
"I have."
At this moment, a man in his early fifties raised his hand.
"Uncle Kang, did your family raise cattle before?" Gu Qingcheng asked.
"Yes, we had two cows. I can even help deliver calves!"
Uncle Kang said proudly.
"Good, then it's you," Gu Qingcheng nodded and continued, "Anyone else? We have 40 head of cattle. One person isn't enough. Who else will volunteer?"
A few more villagers stepped forward, saying their families had raised cattle before.
Thus, Gu Qingcheng asked Uncle Kang and the other villagers to inspect the 40 head of cattle.
Uncle Kang, being experienced, first opened the cows' mouths to check their teeth, to ensure they weren't old cattle being passed off as strong ones. Then, he checked their eyes and so on.
After a series of inspections, several of them declared the cattle to be in good condition.
Gu Qingcheng then gave the remaining silver notes to the cattle dealer.
Along with the cattle, they also received a herd of over 30 sheep, 30 piglets, 100 chickens, and 100 ducks that the dealer had brought. The village was abuzz with activity.
The cattle dealer's primary business was selling cattle, but he also dealt in other livestock. So, last time Dai Fa went down the mountain, he arranged all these business dealings with the dealer, with the condition that the dealer would be responsible for delivering all the purchased livestock to Phoenix Village.
Gu Qingcheng had already instructed people to start building cow pens, sheep pens, pigsties, and chicken and duck coops in recent days.
These livestock facilities were built half a mile away from the village, in a downwind location within a small valley, which was relatively suitable for a farming operation.
After inspecting the livestock and confirming they were in good condition, Gu Qingcheng handed over the remaining animals to Uncle Kang.
She then appointed Uncle Kang as the manager of the farm and assigned him seven newly recruited staff to follow his orders.
The farm's main responsibilities were to add fodder to the cattle, provide clean water, monitor their health, feed the other poultry and livestock, and prevent theft.
Under the watchful eyes of the villagers, the cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and ducks were herded into the newly built animal sheds.
The villagers lingered, reluctant to leave, but Gu Qingcheng soon dispersed them, citing fear of startling the young animals with too many people.
In reality, the main concern with having so many people was the potential spread of diseases to the young animals. Otherwise, there would be no need to build the farm away from the village.
Gu Qingcheng said,
"Uncle Kang, arrange for these seven people to work in shifts. No one should be absent, even in the middle of the night.
Furthermore, when you come to work here, you will be responsible for feeding, cleaning, and many other tasks.
Just like working in the fields, you will receive a salary of one tael of silver per month. For those working the night shift, the commune will provide a free late-night meal."
"All right, Master Gu. Don't worry, we will definitely handle things properly."
Uncle Kang looked at the row of oxen, his heart filled with excitement.
Although the cattle weren't his, farmers were like this. Seeing cattle, they couldn't help but feel a genuine affection for them.
Gu Qingcheng also specifically instructed Uncle Kang to collect the eggs laid by the chickens and ducks promptly, either to be preserved as salted eggs or for the commune to have as an extra meal.
With the arrival of these cattle and sheep, several new positions were created. People were drawn from various teams, and Gu Qingcheng suddenly found herself short of manpower again.
So, she said to Dai Fa,
"Uncle Dai, you'll have to trouble yourself to go down the mountain again another day. Buy more cattle and recruit more people."
"We need to recruit more people? It's already good that we can maintain the current situation," Dai Fa hesitated.
He knew that all the expenses in the village currently depended on Gu Qingcheng alone.
For over seven hundred people, the daily food and drink expenses were substantial. He could roughly estimate that if more people were recruited, could Gu Qingcheng manage?
"We'll stop recruiting once we reach a thousand people. We can discuss further later," Gu Qingcheng said.
Understanding his concern, she explained.
With the weather starting to improve, she wanted to clear more land and cultivate more fields. Once the natural disasters arrived, Taoyuan would have enough strength to cope with the influx of refugees.
"Alright, then I'll go down the mountain tomorrow and try to recruit more people," Dai Fa nodded.
"It would be best if we could recruit veterinarians, as well as assistants and doctors for the medical clinic," Gu Qingcheng added.
"Understood."
Dai Fa had grown accustomed to Gu Qingcheng's way of doing things and knew that she valued skilled individuals the most.
In the village, any craftsman, such as a carpenter or bamboo craftsman, received two more catties of cured meat per month than others.
Many villagers secretly wished to apprentice their children as bamboo craftsmen or bricklayers, as these were profitable trades in the village.
At this moment, a capable villager had already brought grass to feed the cattle, which were eating peacefully and drinking water from time to time.