Transmigration: A Farm Girl's Brocade-Chapter 111 - Misunderstanding_1
Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Misunderstanding_1
Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Misunderstanding_1
Qian Yixiu advised, “Mom, we don’t have so much money right now, and we won’t be able to support if we buy more people.”
Cheng Yue hugged her daughter tenderly and said, “Don’t worry, Xiu’er, once Mom has finished embroidering the ‘Two Ducks Playing in the Water’ and embroiders another even better one, we’ll sell it for more silver to buy a maid for Xiu’er.” She emphasized again, “Just for Xiu’er alone.”
Qian Yixiu was filled with gratitude, leaned in, and gave her mother two kisses, saying, “Mom is really good. But Xiu’er doesn’t need a maid for now, please don’t work too hard.”
At night, the exhausted Qian Yixiu still slept uneasily. There was only three hundred taels of silver left in the house, and she needed to find ways to earn more to be at peace.
With not so much silver left under the bed, but now with the deed for the eighty mu of paddy fields, they had finally become small landlords. With an additional martial arts practitioner and a few more men of courage in the yard, Qian Sangui and his wife slept peacefully.
The next day, Lady Wu and Qian Manxia got up early again; they still had to make cakes to deliver to Butler Wong’s family.
Qian Yixiu, not reassured, also got up with panda-like eyes.
Lady Wu said with concern, “Such a little person, don’t work too hard, go back to rest.”
“I’m afraid you’ll turn the cakes into egg pancakes,” Qian Yixiu shook her head in refusal.
The Qian Hua family and Huang Tie also got up. Qian Hua and Huang Tie were looking for things to make a simple shed for the oxen, Lady Wong went to Pine Pool to fetch water, Xiao Yu helped in the kitchen, Xiao Feng took a broom to sweep the courtyard, and Xiao Lei ran errands for Dad.
As soon as Qian Yijin got out of bed, she dragged Huang Tie to teach her martial arts, and also had Xiao Lei to learn with her.
The third wife’s quarters of the Qian family saw its liveliest morning ever.
Qian Yixiu watched the bustling scene with sheer delight. Having many people was great; their home had finally ceased to be the third wife’s quarters of the Qian family of the past, which only had the old, weak, sick, and disabled, who would buckle under a single poke.
They first steamed two pots of cakes.
After the meal, Qian Yijin took a basket to school. Passing by Qian’s Main Courtyard, she took out ten cakes for Old woman Qian, and carried the remaining ten to present them to Mr. Zhang at the private school.
After that, they steamed three more pots. Once cooled, Lady Wu and Qian Yixiu, along with Lady Wong who carried four jars of sweet rice wine, and Xiao Lei with two food boxes, all went to the Song Family Manor together.
Lady Wu, unaccustomed to not carrying anything for the first time, wanted to help Xiao Lei with a food box. Xiao Lei sensibly said, “Grandma Wu need not bother herself, I can handle it.”
Upon their arrival at Butler Wong’s house, they received an unprecedented warm welcome. They were offered seats, sugar water was poured, and Steward Wong’s wife came to keep them company. The fragrance of the cake made Steward Wong’s granddaughter, Sister Hui, fuss nonstop until she got a piece and still wanted more after eating.
Steward Wong felt that although the cake was just a pastry, it tasted truly different from other sweets, and since his eldest son was going to send mountain goods to the provincial capital, he said, “Liangzi was supposed to go to the provincial capital in a few days, but since the cake can’t be kept for long, and the young master is about to return to Capital City, let Liangzi leave for the provincial capital early tomorrow morning.”
Xizhou Mansion, the provincial capital, was not too far away from Xishan County, roughly a hundred and eighty li. If the horse cart hurried and left at the beginning of chen time, they could arrive before dark.
After the group returned home, Qian Dagui had already come with Wang Lizheng to measure the land, and Qian Sangui was also carried out by Huang Tie. Qian Hua had also brought out a chair, ready to let Qian Sangui sit down and rest at any time.
Wang Lizheng watched with his cheek in his palm—he had a toothache. No matter how discontent he was, he could only bear it.
In fact, it wasn’t that Qian Sangui was trying to show off having servants; it was just that the stress from yesterday had aggravated his already poor health.
Qian Yixiu didn’t join in the commotion because she had already quietly made her intentions very clear to Qian Sangui the night before.
At first, when Qian Sangui and Lady Wu heard about buying such a large piece of land, they were unwilling. Then, Qian Yixiu talked about the advantages of Pine Pool. She counted the deliciousness of their homemade lees cake, the fact that their grandfather’s severe illness had been dragged out until now, and the prosperous hundred-year-old pine tree by Pine Pool as its benefits.
Qian Yeejin also helped his sister by speaking on her behalf.
Qian Sangui, who was already insightful, and feeling that his granddaughter was precocious, agreed that it was best to act first.
Lady Wu still didn’t understand and was reluctant. But with the approval of her husband and the strong support of her grandson, she had no choice but to agree.
Since they were going to purchase Pine Pool, they couldn’t just buy that one plot, or it would raise suspicions. So they could only buy the entire stretch of land from there to their home. Although this land couldn’t be used for growing grain, it could be used for digging ponds to plant lotus roots and raise fish. This would certainly bring in more income than growing grain.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
Lady Wu said, “Our family only knows how to farm, and no one knows how to plant lotus roots or raise fish.”
Qian Yixiu thought to herself, I know how, but she said aloud, “I have already asked Shopkeeper Cui this afternoon, and he said he could help us find people who know how to plant lotus roots and raise fish to teach us. Moreover, Uncle Qian Hua said that when he was young, he took care of lotus roots in Huguang and is quite knowledgeable about it. Now that we have bought so many servants, they will have work to do.”
From the Foot of Shixi Mountain heading north to where their front yard is level, and then west from their courtyard to encompass Pine Pool, all this adds up to about over sixteen acres of land. Wang Lizheng only charged them for fifteen acres, which was twenty-two taels of silver and five hundred wen. Including tips for Wang Lizheng’s trip to the county to set things up, they gave him a total of twenty-three taels of silver.
After buying this land, not to mention Wang Lizheng, even Qian Dagui was shocked. He advised Qian Sangui, “Third brother, why buy so much barren land? Even if you want to build another courtyard, two acres of land would be enough.”
Wang Lizheng also kindly said, “With that money, you could buy a few acres of land; although it’s more expensive, there will be a yield. This barren land is cheap, but what will you do with it? Grow weeds?”
Qian Sangui smiled and said, “We won’t grow crops; we’ll dig ponds to plant lotus roots and raise fish.”
“Are lotus roots so easy to plant? Are fish so easy to raise? We are farmer folk; we only know how to farm the land.” Despite Qian Dagui’s long persuasion, it was to no avail, and he could only stand aside, puffing up with suppressed anger.
Qian Sangui knew his elder brother was looking out for his well-being, but he couldn’t say much. He planned that once the lotus were planted successfully, he would have his brother join him in farming them as well.
Once the land was measured, Wang Lizheng returned to the village, causing an uproar. The Qian family of Huaxi Village, once the poorest, had risen to wealth overnight.
The children of Qian Sangui’s family stumbled into the deep mountains and unexpectedly found two valuable and rare flowers that they sold to a noble young master from Capital City, earning them hundreds of taels of silver. Blinded by the wealth, Qian Sangui first bought several dozen acres of farmland in Mengxi Village, then six servants, and spent twenty-three taels of silver to buy fifteen acres of barren land to the west of the village. The news quickly spread throughout the village.
While the people of Huaxi Village were shocked and envious, they also expressed various misunderstandings. The vast majority, including the skilled farmers, shook their heads, saying that Qian Sangui’s mind might have been scorched by the silver.
“That plot of land may be large, but its yield is still less than that of a single acre of hillside field. What’s the use of buying it?”
“The poor will always be poor. Once they have money, they don’t know how to spend it. People like that might become a little rich, but they can’t dream of great wealth in their lifetime.”
“Just a few peasants, and they’re buying servants now. I can’t help but laugh. They must still be dreaming. Just wait—the moment they wake up, they’ll have to sell those servants off.”
…
