Peasant Woman's Decreed Life as a Wife

“Yes, this servant will bring it over now.” Su Mei quickly entered the kitchen.

Ye Muyu cooperated and carefully cleaned her teeth to make sure that there was no trace of alcohol in her mouth.

“Madam, Zong Fu is here.”

Ye Muyu quickly called for him to come in.

In the lobby, two braziers were lit and two doors were opened. It was not very cold and did not cover people.

Zong Fu walked in wearing a thick cotton coat and cupped his hands.

“Sit down and talk slowly.” Ye Muyu saw that his hands were trembling and red from the cold, so she called for someone to send a stove over.

Zong Fu quickly thanked her, and he became more loyal to the main family.

“Madam, I came today to deliver the account book. Please take a look.” He took out the account book from his sleeve. Madam Hu walked up and took it, then presented it to Ye Muyu.

Ye Muyu asked someone to pour tea for him as she slowly looked at it.

According to the account book, starting from September, they could produce more than 1,000 eggs every month. The duck eggs were lesser but they could still produce around 500 each month. On average, they could produce dozens of eggs a day.

There were about a hundred chickens, but more than half of them could not lay eggs.

They could only dig a pond to raise the ducks, so there were only about thirty of them.

Eggs could be sold for 2,000 copper coins a month, and food would cost 100 copper coins a day.

The money for the eggs was not even enough for the fodder.

Ye Muyu continued to read. Other than selling eggs every month, she could also get about 20 chicks.

The colder the weather was, the more charcoal the chicken coop needed to burn to control the temperature. Starting from October, the expenditure on firewood and charcoal was about 300 to 400 copper coins per month.

As for the chicks that were produced, they would only start laying eggs after four months. However, compared to the cost of buying a chick, the cost of raising one was much lower.

Generally, after a year and a half, a hen would not lay any eggs at all. It could be sold at 20 copper coins per catty. Whether it was sold to a restaurant or a large family, it could be sold at a high price. A chicken could cover at least ten days of food expenses.

However, there were only chickens that could still lay eggs in Chai Mountain. It would take a year before they could start selling chickens.

As expected, in the end, they were still losing money. They were losing about two taels of silver a month, not including the monthly salary they had to give to the servants. Including the monthly salary, they were losing about seven or eight taels a month.

However, Ye Muyu did not find it strange. They would only start profiting when the chickens and ducks could be sold.

The subsequent profits would be able to make up for the losses in about two years. Although it was a small business, it was very stable and suitable for the village to slowly operate.

Ye Muyu raised chickens and ducks just to fertilise the fruit trees.

The fruit trees brought along profits, and the price of the fruits was not low with the caravan around. Naturally, it was also a profit.

After looking at the account book, Ye Muyu could tell that Zong Fu and the others took good care of the chickens and ducks on firewood mountain. Zhang Shu, Chu Zhiwen, and Madam Liu would also go over to take care of them.

Zong Fu and the others were indeed very attentive.

She kept the account book and returned it to him. “I’ve taken a good look at it. It’s not bad. Just develop slowly according to your habits. Oh right, always pay attention to hygiene and don’t let any of them get sick. If there’s a chicken that’s unhealthy, bring it to the doctor.”

“Madam, I usually take them to clean up the chicken nest very well. The duck shed is also separate from the chicken nest. There is no illness. It’s just that one duck caught a cold last time and vomited some food. Later, I brought it to a doctor.”