Chapter 62
Even though Yao Chunnuan told Yu Chen that she had found a high-yield crop, Yu Chen was still worried. So Yao Chunnuan took him home and planned to show him the sweet potato vines growing in her room.
Because the house had a kang (kang), the heat washed over them as soon as they entered. They both quickly took off their coats.
Facing the warm breeze, Yu Chen smiled and said, "Your kang has been unanimously praised by the villagers, especially elderly people like my parents. They all say that with a kang, the cold winter is much better. During the day, the room with a kang is warm, and at night, you don't even need a thick quilt to lie on it. It's so comfortable. And the best part is that it doesn't use much firewood." When he first brought his parents here, he was worried they wouldn't be able to adapt to living in Yichun, after all, the winters here are really cold. Now that they have a kang, his parents no longer talk about returning home.
Yao Chunnuan nodded. They were the first group to use the kang.
"You don't know that those people, having seen the benefits of kangs, are now working very hard and want to live in houses with kangs as soon as possible."
As the houses in the new military dependents' quarters are completed, they are all equipped with kangs (fired beds) and then distributed. No house is left empty. By now, more than half of the military dependents have moved into their new homes. The old military dependents' quarters and the northern labor camp are also installing kangs. In short, kangs are a common practice throughout the military.
"How long will it take for your family to arrive in Yichun?" Yu Chen asked casually. His family and the families of some middle and senior management had arrived one after another, but the Xing family and the Yao family had not arrived yet.
"If nothing unexpected happens, we will arrive in ten days at most." Before leaving, Kang Xiaodong sent a letter back to Yichun via the post station to inform her about her family's relocation.
Yao Chunnuan has merit points, and they are not low. She has already exchanged them for two large courtyards, one for each of her parents and uncle, which is enough for them to live in.
As they were talking, the two of them came into an ear room.
After Yao Chunnuan opened the door, she casually said, "Actually, you can grow some vegetables in the room where the kang is heated."
Yu Chen saw some wooden racks in the room, with mud placed inside. There were vegetable seedlings half a finger high growing in the mud. "I'll let everyone in the village learn this later."
"Look, that's it." Yao Chunnuan said, pointing to the sweet potato potted plant beside the kang that had grown two or three vines.
"Is this the high-yield crop you mentioned?"
"Um."
"It's a tuberous plant, and this is its fruit." Yao Chunnuan took out four or five sweet potatoes, some large and some small. "When I found it, it already had a bunch of red fruits. After I dug it up and weighed it, it weighed about six or seven kilograms."
"The fruits produced by one plant weigh six or seven kilograms?" Yu Chen was surprised. If this was true, then it would truly be a high-yield plant.
"Yes, you see, these are only big and small. The big one must be more than half a catty, and the small one is only about one or two catties."
Yu Chen took the big one in his hand and weighed it, "It should be about six taels."
"So I guess, if they are taken care of properly, these small fruits should be able to grow to more than half a kilogram." Yao Chunnuan was tired. It was obviously common sense, but they had to pretend it was a new discovery.
Yu Chen nodded, agreeing with her. "These four or five are probably only a little over three pounds. What about the others?"
"Ahem, we brought it for a taste test, and only after we tried it did we confirm it was a new food. It can be eaten raw, roasted, or boiled. It tastes surprisingly good. Raw, it's sweet like a sweet potato, and cooked, it's very soft, but I still think roasted ones are the best." It must have been incredibly difficult for her to smuggle this nest of sweet potatoes out. "Oh, right, because it tastes sweet like a sweet potato when eaten raw, and the fruit is red, we call it a sweet potato."
Yu Chen had no objection to the naming of the new crop. What he was speechless about was, "You ate half of it?"
Yao Chunnuan felt a little guilty, "It was so delicious, I couldn't resist it."
"Do you know that if sweet potatoes are really high-yield crops, what you eat are all seeds." Yu Chen learned that sweet potato tubers can sprout, and that her potted plant was sprouted from a sweet potato. She immediately felt very distressed, as if what she had eaten was all gold.
Yao Chunnuan touched her nose. Fortunately, he didn't know that there was a saying in later generations: If two taels of sweet potatoes rot today, there will be ten pounds less in the field next year, otherwise he would definitely tell her about it.
Yu Chen confiscated all the sweet potatoes, including her potted plant, and said he would find a place for someone to take care of it.
Yao Chunnuan didn't care. Sweet potatoes were easy to grow. She might as well take them with her. Otherwise, seeing them so green and tender yet so ignorant, she was afraid she'd lose control and pluck them all. She wondered if the sweet potatoes were ripe.
*********
Han Jinan finished his morning work and returned home shortly before his half-brother Han Chaosheng dragged him out of the house, "Come with me."
Han Jinan frowned and said unhappily, "Chaosheng, where are you going?"
"Don't talk nonsense, just follow me."
Not long after, Han Jinan's eyes were red as he stared at Wei Qiuyu pulling a man's sleeve, his expression nervous and a little shy.
"Is this the woman you knelt down to beg your father to marry?" Han Chaosheng asked calmly. When Han Jinan wanted to marry Wei Qiuyu, his parents were reluctant to do so. It was only after he knelt for a whole day that his father reluctantly agreed.
This question made Han Jinan feel embarrassed.
"That man's name is Shi Mei, Marshal Zhu's trusted advisor. Now Wei Qiuyu has hooked up with him. Do you know what this means?"
Han Jinan remained silent, but Han Chaosheng didn't let him go. He said cruelly, "It means she wants to kick you out, kick the Han family out, and leave this quagmire of Juntun."
Han Chaosheng didn't know why Shi Mei was willing to take her away, and his men didn't dare to get too close, but that was the fact.
"No, impossible!" Han Jinan was in disbelief. Even though he'd been unhappy with his wife recently, he'd only been ignoring her and had no intention of abandoning her. But now his half-brother told him that after all the trouble his wife had caused, and after all he and his family had endured, his wife was going to abandon him. How could he accept this?
Han Chaosheng once again ignored his wishes and dragged him back home. After bringing him home, he let go of his hand and directly picked up the warm water on the table and started drinking.
Madam Han looked at the scene with displeasure, "What did you do by taking him out? You made him so distracted!"
After drinking a glass of warm water, Han Chaosheng touched his flat stomach and sighed softly, ignoring his nominal mother. "Han Jinan, even now, you still don't want to face reality?"
"I didn't take you on that trip to let you think about the things between husband and wife! I believe that you, who have been trained as the heir of the family, are not so stupid as to not see that our Han family is in danger."
"If you continue to live in such a muddle, our whole family will be buried with you and your wife."
When Han Chaosheng said this, the Han family was in an uproar, and Han Jinan's face turned pale.
"Chaosheng, are you saying that someone wants to kill our family?"
The Han family first suspected Yao Chunnuan. Han Chaosheng didn't say anything, but then he heard them start to criticize Yao Chunnuan word by word. He couldn't help but slam the table, "Han Jinan, what do you think?"
Han Jinan knew it wasn't her, but the Third Prince. They had finally angered the Third Prince.
Han Chaosheng said, "You are truly pitiful. I'm afraid you won't even know who murdered you after you die."
Everyone in the Han family: Isn't that Yao Chunnuan? That's—
"It's the third prince. The one who wants to kill our family is the third prince!" Han Jinan finally said it.
It's him? How could it be?
The reason why Han Jinan was sure that the person who wanted to kill his family was not Yao Chunnuan was not only because he had other evidence, but also because he understood Yao Chunnuan's approach.
Yao Chunnuan didn't kill them, but she oppressed the Han family, denying them any chance of advancement. At least within the military settlement, within her sphere of influence, they couldn't hope to rise above the crowd, forever forced to do the lowest of tasks. She wouldn't kill them, but her actions were more painful than killing them. If they eventually couldn't bear this hopeless life and wanted to commit suicide, that would suit her.
Moreover, he suspected that the reason why the Third Prince suddenly became so murderous towards them was because of her instigation.
The women in Jinniu Village are so cruel and heartless, each one more than the other!
"Then what should we do? Do we still have a way to survive?" The Han family asked dejectedly. In this era where the ministers have to die if the king wants them to, such an answer made the Han family feel desperate.
This question made Han Jinan lose his mind, because their Han family seemed to have reached a dead end, and even he didn't know where the way out for their Han family lay.
"have!"
Everyone looked at Han Chaosheng, who spoke, in confusion.
Han Chaosheng explained, "Our Han family has a way to survive, and it's the only possible way to survive."
Everyone in the Han family looked at him and said, "Chaosheng, tell us if there's anything you need us to do. Just tell us."
What follows is the sex scene. The men of the Han family ask the women to take their children somewhere else.
Han Chaosheng smiled slightly, "Old Madam, where is the thing that the old man has been holding in his hand now?"
Madam Han said subconsciously, "You want that thing? That's our only hope."
Han Chaosheng nodded and said, "If you are reluctant, you can take it into the coffin as a burial companion for our family."
"mother--"
"Who are you going to give that thing to?" Han Jinan wanted to know what he meant by the solution.
Han Chaosheng grinned, "Yao Chunnuan!" He had a strange smile on his face as he spoke. In fact, he had been observing her the entire time, and he saw something interesting in her. She had done something he couldn't.
"she?"
"Yes, it's her."
The answer was confirmed, and all the Han family members present jumped up, "You want to give it to her? You are crazy. Don't you know that she has a grudge against their Han family?"
"I'm not crazy." Han Chaosheng said, looking at Han Jinan, "Second brother knows how our feud with her started."
Han Jinan was well aware that the Han family and Yao Chunnuan had no grudges at first, but that it was Wei Qiuyu who started the feud. Wei Qiuyu had pointed out Yao Chunnuan's pregnancy, and the Han family, hoping to use this as an opportunity to exile her, had reported her. Since then, Yao Chunnuan had come to hate both her and the Han family.
As husband and wife were one, he bore the brunt of Yao Chunnuan's revenge. But honestly, it was the Han family who wronged her that time. After that, he'd been fighting her more out of a desire to protect Wei Qiuyu. He genuinely didn't want to be her enemy, or rather, he didn't want to create any. They'd already fallen, and he understood that more friends opened up new avenues, while more enemies created more obstacles.
But Yao Chunnuan kept embarrassing and causing trouble for them, and he grew impatient. As a proud son of an aristocratic family, was he afraid to fight? Unfortunately, opposing her would not end well for the Han family. In fact, he and his family had grown afraid of her. It was just that his wife refused to repent and constantly provoked him, causing Yao Chunnuan to grow increasingly resentful of them.
Thinking of this, Han Jinan thought of Wei Qiuyu's betrayal. As the man beside him, his wife's growing indifference was not without his feelings.
The Han family members suddenly realized that it was really because of Wei Qiuyu that the feud between their family and Yao Chunnuan became more and more serious.
Han Chaosheng continued, "In this situation, no one can save us except her. Dear second brother, I believe you have already tried the person you secretly voted for. What was the result?"
Han Jinan was silent.
The other brothers of the Han family said, "I don't believe it. With that thing, we can definitely bypass her and find someone higher up!"
Han Chaosheng said, "No one dares to take care of this matter. If you go, be prepared to be robbed by the thieves!"
"If we vote for Yao Chunnuan, will she take care of it? Will she stop exploiting her fellow criminals?"
"So, I said, this is the only possible chance of survival. If she doesn't want to take care of it, then our whole family will just die."
The Han family members present were speechless.
Han Jinan knew that what he said was right. There was no other way. Even if Yao Chunnuan waved a knife at their Han family again and again, he would have to lead the Han family to submit to her this time, because the Han family had no way out except to go to her.
"We've invested in her, but she's about to give birth, and she'll have to recuperate and won't be able to work. Will someone else replace her during this time?"
"No, this is our chance! You only see the risks, but I see the opportunities! Besides, what else does our Han family have to lose?"
The Han family was finally convinced by him.
Han Jinan never expected that his half-brother, who had always had little presence at home, would turn out to be such a strong person. It turned out that he had been hiding his incompetence before!
After finishing the business, the Han family couldn't help but think of Wei Qiuyu again.
Han's eyes turned red with anger. "Brother, Wei Qiuyu has ruined our family like this, and now she wants to kick us out. I won't let her go!"
The angry voice of his younger brother brought Han Jinan back to his senses. He said, "Don't think too much. Her heart is not here anymore. She can leave if she wants." His wife had given up on the Han family, so she wanted to kick them out and find another better partner.
Han Chaosheng said with a half-smile, "I think it's better if she leaves. Her staying in the Han family is like a death warrant." If she leaves, their Han family will have a chance to survive. And Yao Chunnuan hates her even more than the Han family. Now that Wei Qiuyu is gone, their Han family may be able to get a glimmer of hope from her, right?
******
After Yao Chunnuan sent Yu Chen away, she planned to rest at home first.
At this moment, a soldier rushed in and said, "Master Yao, please go to the military settlement office and check. Someone wants to take Wei Qiuyu away."
"who?"
"Lord Shimeishi."
Wei Qiuyu hooked up with Shi Mei?
At the Juntun Office, Shi Mei wanted to take Wei Qiuyu away, so she first found the relevant person in charge of the labor service.
When the person in charge learned that the person he was going to take away was Wei Qiuyu, he shook his head like a rattle and said, "No, Master Shi, everything else is fine, but I can't let you take this Han family member away."
"Why?" Shi Mei didn't expect that it would be so troublesome for him to take Wei Qiuyu away.
"Let me tell you the truth. The person you want to take away is none other than Chief Clerk Yao. We dare not let him go without Chief Clerk Yao's approval." They all knew that Chief Clerk Yao and the Han family never got along.
Shi Mei could tell the man in front of him was serious about what he said, so he could only say, "Okay, please send someone to invite Chief Secretary Yao over."
The person in charge complained in his heart, "A soldier has already rushed to inform Yao Zhubo, okay?" But he said, "Okay, then Master Shi, please wait a moment."
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