Knowing they were coming back, Old Mrs. Zhao, her daughter-in-law, and Yunmu waited at the city gate early in the morning.

The carriage stopped, and the two of them went up to ask Yun Mo, the driver, for directions.

"Mo'er, where's Nineteen?"

Lin Yinan peeked out of the carriage, holding her sleeping child, and Yunmu quickly reached out to take the child from her arms.

"Nineteen, let Grandma hug you."

"Mom, Nineteen is asleep. Come and carry her in the car. Walking is tiring."

Yun Mo got out of the carriage and helped them onto the horse-drawn carriage. There was a lot of luggage pulled behind the carriage. After they got on, Lin Yinan got off and walked with Yun Mo.

The three of them kept looking at Yun Shijiu.

Lin Shuo, standing behind, looked dejected. In his mother's eyes, his status was not even as high as that of the nineteenth child.

The couple led their horse into town, greeting familiar villagers from time to time.

Lin Yiheng rushed over after finishing his official business, and Lin Yinan then entrusted him with the affairs of A Ming and A Liang's families.

Lunch was eaten at the Yun family's house. Li Huishan and Yun Yan had already prepared lunch, and everyone could eat as soon as they entered the house.

Back home, upon seeing the familiar Yun Junding, Yun Shijiu no longer clung to Lin Yinan as she had in Chi'an.

Yun Shijiu would grin whenever anyone spoke to her, and everyone looked at her with pity.

Lin Yinan knew that her daughter's aphasia was caused by psychological trauma, and that her symptoms had improved considerably as she had grown older.

She believes that, given time, with gradual guidance and some rehabilitation training, Shijiu will definitely be able to speak.

After lunch, Lin Yinan rested for half an hour before going to the government office to handle official business.

Pan Qingfeng brought over a stack of account books. "Lord City, this is a summary of the grain collected in the first quarter. Please take a look."

Hopefully, the hurricane that happened a few months ago won't affect food production.

"How was the harvest this year?" Lin Yinan asked.

Pan Qingfeng: "Based on the experience of the villagers, the average yield of paddy fields this year is about 250 jin per mu, with the highest yield being nearly 280 jin per mu."

"Thanks for your hard work in achieving this harvest."

Pan Qingfeng added, "The rice planted in the second season has already headed. For some fields with insufficient fertility, Uncle Lin suggests that they be left to grow for half a year or plant some other crops and plant rice next spring."

As for what to plant, Lin Yinan didn't need to worry at all. Old Uncle Lin, Ding Gui, and Chen San had been farming all their lives and were very experienced.

As the two were talking, Lin Yiheng came in carrying a thick booklet.

"Anan, we have informed the distributors in various regions about the imperial court's taxation of salt, and they have no objections."

Lin Yinan pulled over the abacus on the table and her fingers flew across it. "Even after deducting 30% tax, they can still make a profit. Salt is a necessity for people's livelihood. In these difficult times, they are unwilling to give up even if they only make 10% profit."

Lin Yiheng frowned and said, "It's just that our profits are less."

Chi'an has to support so many people, and now he needs to spend money everywhere. He's worried about the food he's consuming every day!

"We need to make arrangements for the future as soon as possible," Pan Qingfeng added.

Lin Yinan already had a basic idea of ​​how Longtan would develop in the future.

She said calmly, "There's no need to worry too much. We don't lack food now, and we can be self-sufficient in other things. Once the war is over, we can look for opportunities elsewhere. Right now, we just need to prepare the grain tax that we have to pay at the end of the year."

Then, Lin Yiheng talked about the expansion of the sugar mill and the winery.

"This year's lychee harvest is abundant, and villages in the vicinity and even around Changyi County are sending them here. The cellar that Yun Nian dug is already full. In order to speed up the work, Miss Yun and Miss Huang posted recruitment notices in the city and recruited a group of women to help. It was only in the last two days that all the fruit was processed."

"If we don't have enough people, we'll hire more, and those who start work will be paid on time."

Looking at his increasingly authoritative younger sister, Lin Yiheng hesitated before saying, "Grandpa Clan Chief vouched for us, and Lin Chunmei and her sister also got jobs at the winery. Anan, if you think..."

"Are they lazy and good-for-nothing?" Lin Yinan interrupted him.

No, not at all.

"If it's not there, that's fine. I'm not the kind of person who's petty."

Lin Yinan has always been generous when it comes to hiring people.

"The sugar factory is still under construction and will be completed in another month."

Lin Yinan reminded him, "Build two more warehouses for storage. The Chen family gave us advance notice; they planted a lot of sugarcane there this year."

"Okay, I'll go and tell them later."

"In addition to the material warehouse, we need to add two more sets of equipment such as the juicing stone mill."

Lin Yiheng picked up his notebook and wrote it down in another small notebook. He had a lot to do and was afraid he would forget.

The three chatted about many other minor management details, and the afternoon passed just like that.

As evening approached, Luo Shouxin came in carrying two large bags of things, his voice filled with barely suppressed joy.

"Anan, come and see what good stuff I brought!"

After putting down his things, Luo Shouxin's sweaty face broke into a smile as he casually wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

His skin was more than two shades darker than the two people in the council chamber.

Lin Yinan got up, poured him a cup of tea, and then bent down to untie the bag on the ground.

"Brother-in-law, what's in here?"

Luo Shouxin downed the tea in one gulp. "You'd never guess!"

Lin Yinan reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of dark brown seeds with some fluffy material.

"Cottonseed?!"

After filling the pot with water, Luo Shouxin put down the cup and gave Lin Yinan a thumbs up.

"Anan is truly knowledgeable! That's right, these are kapok seeds!"

The kapok tree that Luo Shouxin mentioned, also known as white cotton or cotton in modern times, came from the Western Regions.

If they can grow cotton, they can spin yarn and weave cloth themselves, saving a lot of money on purchasing fabric in the future. If they grow it well, they can also make a lot of money by selling it.

She searched her memory but couldn't find any recollection of cotton farming in Linjia Village.

Lin Yinan looked at Luo Shouxin with a puzzled expression, "Brother-in-law, where did you get so many kapok seeds?"

Luo Shouxin: "I traded a few kilograms with people who fled here. This stuff used to be grown in the Western Regions, and some people in northern my country also grow it, but fewer people in the south grow it. I found out that some people in the south also grow it, so I went to the surrounding counties and towns to buy some, and I finally managed to collect these two bags."

"However, growing cotton is not simple. We need to call my second uncle and the others over to discuss how to grow it."

As far as she knows, cotton, as a natural fiber crop, may encounter various pest problems during its growth, especially in the humid and hot south.

Lin Yiheng knew that his second uncle had returned, so he didn't go out. He asked the guards to invite Lin Shuo over.

Lin Shuo arrived at the county government office soon, and when he saw the two bags of cottonseed, he was stunned and somewhat embarrassed.

"I've heard of this plant, but I've never grown it."

In her past life, Lin Yinan loved shopping for clothes online. When she discovered that many merchants liked to label the composition of their clothes as Xinjiang cotton, she specifically researched the entire process of this cotton from planting to harvesting.

So she suggested to Lin Shuo, "Second Uncle, if we're going to plant kapok, should we do it like rice, first cultivate seedlings, and then divide them and plant them in the ground?"