Not long after Zhao Ruyun left, her mother and her two children also went there.

After dinner, Su Luo and Liu Fangfang collected the dishes together and took them to the river to wash them before going home.

Yan Chuan and Yi Huan are almost out of paper for practicing calligraphy, so they need to buy more.

However, Yan Chuan will be going to school next year, and Su Luo will teach him something new, something he can't learn in the school here.

"Chuan Chuan, Huan Huan, come here."

The two children immediately ran to Su Luo's side.

"mother……"

"How's your study of the Thousand Character Classic coming along? Have you memorized it all?"

The two children nodded at the same time. Su Luo had witnessed their memory before. They couldn't be said to have a photographic memory, but they could remember things after seeing them twice.

"I can recognize all the characters, but my brother and I still can't write them well because the pen won't obey us."

Yi Huan pouted and blamed the pen for her poor handwriting.

"We can practice our handwriting slowly if we're not good at it, but today I'm going to teach you something new: numbers!"

number!

"Mother, is it the number we usually count?" Yan Chuan asked.

“That’s right. You may be learning capital numbers in school, but I’m teaching you a simpler form of numbers.”

Su Luo used a pen to write the Arabic numerals from one to ten on the paper.

"These are numbers one through ten. Once you've learned these ten, you can reuse them for numbers from ten to one hundred, or even thousands upon thousands."

"Mom, this is too easy."

Su Luo rubbed Yan Chuan's little head and said, "Numbers are just the first step in our learning. Arithmetic is the beginning of learning. The sea of ​​arithmetic is boundless and endless."

Just like Master Fan building houses for us, as long as you learn arithmetic, you can calculate the length of the beams, the size of the foundation, and how many bricks and tiles are needed on paper.

Once you've mastered arithmetic—written, oral, and mental calculations—you won't suffer any losses no matter where you go in the future.

At the very least, being an accountant means you're quick at arithmetic.

The two children listened with great interest, as if it were something very impressive.

"Mother, we want to learn arithmetic."

"Huanhuan is learning too..."

Yi Huan raised her little hand and looked at Su Luo and Yan Chuan with a smile.

"Okay, then you can start by learning this number."

"This is one, this is two, three, four, five..."

...

Early the next morning, Magistrate Jiang arrived at Changping Village with more than ten yamen runners and three empty carriages.

After explaining their purpose to the village chief, they sent someone to harvest the eggplants from the field.

“Your Excellency, I’ll say it again: give these seeds to the people in our village first, and then you can transport the rest to the capital.”

With his arms hanging at his sides, the magistrate smiled and said, "Madam Su, Young Master Nangong specifically instructed me to comply. I will not shortchange you on this pound and tael of silver."

The yamen runners picked the eggplants themselves, so Su Luo and Aunt Chen didn't have to lift a finger.

Taking advantage of the lull, the village chief picked up a gong and rang it inside the village, summoning everyone to gather at the village entrance and announcing that the county magistrate had arrived and there was something important to discuss.

Before long, the village entrance was crowded with people, and the officials who had picked eggplants had all returned.

As Su Luo instructed, both the village chief's family and Chen Ping'an's family left the large, plump eggplants unpicked.

Those who are ugly or misshapen are taken to Fu Man Lou by Su Luo. Recently, Su Luo has been in charge of almost everything at Fu Man Lou.

The shopkeeper said that Nangong Qing and A Xu went to Beiliang, probably to find turnips.

"Sir, all the eggplants have been collected," a constable reported.

"I understand. You may leave."

When the villagers saw these eggplants, they had only heard that they were edible and that only the village chief, Su Luo, and Chen Ping'an had them. They had no idea what the county magistrate had to do with them.

"Madam Su, how should we distribute these eggplants to the villagers, and how should we extract the seeds?"

The county magistrate still needs to consult Su Luo about this new variety. Once he has processed the seeds, they can be transported to the capital, saving manpower and resources.

Su Luo did not answer the county magistrate immediately, but asked the village chief first.

"Village chief, do you think it's feasible for two households to share one eggplant seed?"

Changping Village has more than 100 households, so if you divide it up like this, you'll need about 70 eggplants.

Su Luo's family harvested a little over three baskets of eggplants, while the village chief's and Chen Ping'an's families only had two baskets that could be used as seeds.

In Changping Village alone, it would take a whole basket to be divided.

"We can only take it slowly. Let's divide it into two eggplants, one for every two households."

He then asked, "Your Excellency, what do you think of this plan?"

What could the magistrate say? He had already promised Su Luo that he would distribute the seeds to the villagers of Changping Village first. What if he changed his mind now and Su Luo went back on her word and refused to give him the seeds?

"Let's do as you say, Madam Su."

"good!"

Su Luo picked up an eggplant and introduced it to the villagers.

"Dear fellow villagers, you have all heard about this eggplant from the villagers. We have also eaten it at the entrance of the village, and its taste is unanimously recognized by everyone."

Anyone in the family who works at the edge of the village knows it's edible and delicious..."

Before Su Luo could finish speaking, a young woman said, "Yan Chuan's mother, our husband said that these eggplants are good, and he even asked us to borrow some seeds from you next year."

"That's what we say too..."

"Yan Chuan's mother, could you leave us some seeds?"

"Yan Chuan's mother, we want some too..."

Su Luo gestured for everyone to be quiet: "Yes, everyone. Today we're here to give you seeds."

"Really, that's wonderful."

The village head also has household registration information. When he calls out someone's name, they come forward to collect the eggplants, and the village head arranges who gets to share them.

However, when it came to Chen Dazhi's family, they said they had recently made some money and didn't bother coming here at all.

After reading the household registration documents, the two baskets of eggplants were almost empty. Su Luo took the eggplants she had picked from her own field, without weighing them or asking for money.

She gave these to the villagers for free, and both the village chief and the county magistrate looked distressed.

The village chief felt sorry for Su Luo and, for the sake of the villagers, gave them such valuable eggplants for free.

The county magistrate, seeing that the two baskets of eggplants were almost all gone, felt a little sorry for the eggplants.

"Has everyone received their eggplants?" Su Luo asked the villagers.

"Got it."

Seeing that Liu Fangfang and Chen Yan were also there, Su Luo asked Liu Fangfang to fetch two basins of clean water for her.

"Everyone, now that you have all received eggplants, I'm going to teach you how to extract the seeds and how to store them."

The county magistrate and his secretary also had to take careful notes, as this information was to be submitted to the Grand Minister of Agriculture, and there could be no errors.

Su Luo broke the eggplant open, removed the seeded flesh with her hands, removed the empty shell, and kept the plump, dark brown seeds.

After removing the seeds, wash them clean to remove impurities and edible parts of the eggplant.

"Everyone, look carefully. Now comes the most important step: the seeds we take out need to be soaked in water for half an hour. But I don't have time to wait, so let's move on to the next step."

After soaking the seeds, take them out again and wash them in a fresh basin of water to remove the sticky liquid on the surface. Let them air dry for half a day.