叭哒漫画

These past few days, Chen Aqing has been following Xiumei, who, besides teaching her how to prepare braised meat and some basic store selling knowledge, has also been training her manners, expressions, and confidence.

“She’s doing great, she learns pretty quickly and is diligent. I told her to take a break, but she kept mulling it over by herself. She seems very afraid of us not keeping her, so she’s been especially diligent,” said Xiumei.

Speaking of this, Xiumei couldn’t help expressing her sympathy: “She really has a hard life. Her parents favor boys over girls. She has to get up before dawn to cut pig grass, cook pig food, do laundry, make breakfast for the whole family, and then take care of her siblings. Only until late at night can she rest. In contrast, Xiumei felt very fortunate. She served Miss, who treated her well, and she even learned many skills for making a living, which made her life more comfortable and happier than most people.

Wei Ruo said: “Give her plenty to eat, let her get a good replenishment, and become plump and fair. I need her to have strength to work for me. Don’t let her become incapable of working.”

Xiumei replied: “Don’t worry, Miss. Her complexion has visibly improved these past few days. Besides three meals a day, I give her whatever experimental products we made when I was teaching her how to cook braised food. I also give her a piece of fruit every day.”

Fruits, as the kind of stuff that poor families consider as luxuries, especially now in winter when fruits are scarce, are not affordable for ordinary families.

“Hmm,” Wei Ruo nodded.

“Miss, you should also take good care of your body. You’ve been working so much these past few days. Don’t wear yourself out. I’m going to prepare a stewed bird’s nest for you soon. You must be obedient and finish it,” Xiumei reminded her.

“I won’t have any trouble. You don’t need to worry unnecessarily. I have to go to the farmhouse later, so just skip the bird’s nest,” Wei Ruo said.

As soon as Wei Ruo finished her words, she saw the look of grievance on Xiumei’s face and quickly corrected her speech: “Ok, simmer it. I’ll eat it when I

get back.”

“Hmm!” Xiumei immediately put on a smile.

Then the two of them went to the farmhouse together, where Manager Yu reported to Wei Ruo about the situation in the past few days.

“Miss, we’ve bought a total of 1212 acres of fields in the last few days, adopted thirty-seven refugees, and hired nineteen local poor people.”

Manager Yu passed on the account book and roster, which detailed the price of every piece of land purchased and related transaction information.

After carefully checking and confirming no issues, Wei Ruo asked Manager Yu, “Have all the wheat seeds I gave you been planted?”

Those wheat seeds were produced by her space. To wait for the maturity of the wheat seeds in Wei Ruo’s space, they would be planted later than that batch in

Xingshan County.

Manager Yu replied: “They have all been planted. The weather these days is not bad. The sun is good. The temperature has risen a lot compared with the time when the cold wave struck. The seeds have sprouted.”

■■Is the newly reclaimed land relatively infertile?” Wei Ruo asked.

Madam Yuan had talked with her about the issue of infertile land in Taizhou prefecture.

“Yes, it is. All the land can be cultivated, but it’s rather barren and its output

has always been low.”

“Then don’t hurry to plant crops on it. Take me to see the fields,” Wei Ruo said.

“Okay.”

Wei Ruo followed Manager Yu to the fields. After inspecting the land, she confirmed that these pieces of land were more or less the same. Some of them were hardened, indicating that the content of organic matter in the soil was insufficient.

Wei Ruo asked Manager Yu: “Do local residents have the habit of taking away rice straw stubble after harvesting?

Manager Yu answered: “Of course, for common people, rice straw stubble is very important. It can be used for heating, cooking, and roofing.” Wei Ruo said: “The solution is relatively easy. Add more organic fertilizers, that is, human and animal excrement. The stubble can also be returned to the field. Excessive stubble can be incompletely burned and turned into ashes and then mixed with the soil.”

Manager Yu said: “Miss, all these methods have some difficulties. What you said about adding organic fertilizers is known to everyone, but it is very limited, and if it is not enough, it needs to be purchased. The same goes for straw stubble. Now the straw in the field has been taken home. I’m afraid…” Especially this year is colder than previous years, so everyone needs the rice straw stubble even more.

“That’s not a problem. As long as I’m willing to pay, all these things can be had,” Wei Ruo said.

“Miss, this will raise the cost of the land,” Manager Yu reminded.

“It’s okay. I need to invest some money in the early stage to have a better harvest later,” Wei Ruo answered.

Hearing Wei Ruo’s unhesitant answer, Manager Yu was somewhat surprised. After all, buying land and hiring people are huge expenses, and now she wants to invest more to improve the soil conditions.

Even if she did so, it’s still unknown whether she could have a good harvest in the future. If the weather isn’t favorable, she might lose all her investments. Seeing Manager Yu’s hesitation, Wei Ruo asked, “Is there something wrong, Manager Yu?”

“I’m just worried. The weather has not been good recently. Not long ago, a cold front hit, and the temperature is lower than at this time of the year. Nobody knows whether the crops planted now can be harvested. I’m afraid that after Miss has put in so much effort, in the end, she might lose everything,” Manager Yu voiced his worries.

“Hmm, your worries are reasonable, but since I’ve decided to do it, I want to do it in the best possible way and I can’t be discouraged. I believe that the land is, fair. If you treat it well and follow its rules, it can give you a very good return.” With Wei Ruo saying this, Manager Yu had no objections.

Wei Ruo continued: “You do as I said. Use the fertilizer produced on the farm on the farm itself. Purchase the fertilizer for the newly reclaimed land from Uncle Xu with silver. I’ll give you a detailed list of the standards of use later.”

“Yes, Miss,” Manager Yu noted.

Then Wei Ruo went on to inspect the original 1000 acres of good farmland on which wheat had already been planted.

After finishing her work, it was already late, so Wei Ruo returned to Tianqin Garden.

###

At the magistrate’s mansion.

Yuan Zhengqin came back from the government office and, upon entering his wife’s room, heard her laughing and playing with their son. The fatigue from his busy work schedule instantly faded and a smile spread across his face. “Has our Sheng been good today?” Yuan asked as he took his son from his wife’s arms.

“The way you put it, it’s as if he’s not well-behaved on other days,” Madam Yuan laughed.

“It’s good that he’s behaving well. He gave you such a hard time when he was born, so he should be more considerate of you,” said Yuan Zhengqin.

Speaking of the day of the childbirth, Madam Yuan thought of Wei Ruo: “I really owe it to RuoRuo for that day.”

Yuan Zhengqin said: “I was just about to talk to you about Miss Wei.”

“What happened?” Madam Yuan asked with concern..