Every day after breakfast, Wu Qingshan would come to the Su family's five acres of land to observe the growth of rare ingredients. He was more active than visiting his own vegetable garden.
In more than a month, three rows of green pepper vines have grown flower buds, and six rows of tomato vines have only grown to half a person's height.
The chili pepper grows slowly and is only about the height of a child's knee. It is still too early for it to bloom and bear fruit.
Wu Qingshan saw that the chili peppers were growing slowly and had a bad feeling. He was afraid that since the tomatoes and green peppers had already bloomed and borne fruit, the chili peppers would not produce many fruits, and the villagers might not be willing to plant chili peppers.
"Grandfather." Wu Huaiyuan came trotting over.
"Huaiyuan, you've come at the right time. Take a look at how this rare ingredient is growing."
Wu Huaiyuan glanced at the Su family's five acres of land and asked, "What kind of ingredients are the shortest in this row?"
"Chili pepper."
"Grandpa, we can encourage villagers to plant chili peppers next spring."
Wu Qingshan shook his head. "Chili peppers are obviously growing slowly, and they may not produce good fruit."
Wu Huaiyuan said, "My classmates at the academy invited me to Yulanxuan to eat some divine food. The chili peppers were incredibly delicious. In the future, when they are widely grown, many people will buy them. Since chili peppers grow slowly, they should be more expensive than green peppers and tomatoes."
"You mean growing chili peppers will increase the villagers' income?"
Wu Huaiyuan nodded. "That's right. No matter which kind of food we grow, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for the villagers."
Wu Qingshan smiled with relief, "Grandson, you are so far-sighted. How come such a smart grandson of mine can't pass the imperial examination?"
Wu Huaiyuan failed the exam several times and was somewhat discouraged.
At that time, he was the top scholar in Xishui County and always performed well in every examination of Yunqi Academy, but he failed to pass the examination to become a juren.
He was not the only one who failed the exam, he was the only one who still insisted on taking the exam.
Three years after three years, how many years are missing in life? He was really worried that his son would grow up by the time he was thirty and he still wouldn't pass the exam.
"Grandfather, I'm very confident that I can pass the exam this year."
Wu Qingshan had heard this many times. Seeing the determination in his grandson's eyes, he didn't want to discourage him. "Grandfather believes in you. You will definitely pass the exam."
“Grandfather, the Su family is back.”
Wu Qingshan looked up and said, "The Su family has guests again." He saw a row of trucks following three horse-drawn carriages.
Wu Huaiyuan said: "Not only that, Madam Su also bought a lot of fresh flowers and potted plants."
Feng Jinyu lifted the car curtain and looked out. The first thing that caught his eye was the large flat. Surprise flashed in his eyes. Guihua Village was indeed different. The house was built in a unique way.
Looking at the surrounding courtyards, this big house seems to stand out from the crowd.
"Master, this is the new house built by the princess."
"The princess built such a large house. She must have seen it in the collection of books."
Feng Jinyu has been with the Su family for a long time and has learned how to make his own decisions.
Xu Mo nodded, "I guess the princess couldn't stand the Su family's yard next door, so she wanted to build a big house."
Feng Jinyu looked towards the courtyard wall next door, which was covered with vines and flowers. It was faintly visible among the osmanthus trees, like a painting.
"You are wrong. Wherever the princess is, that place will be prosperous."
Before arriving in Xishui County, Feng Jinyu only thought about Xiao Lingyu suffering and never thought about it that way.
Xiao Lingyu changed a lot after being exiled and married.
Sometimes he felt that Xiao Lingyu was a different person, somewhat unfamiliar.
Perhaps this feeling of strangeness is because being exiled and married has changed her original character.
If these changes had not happened, she would still be the pampered princess who protected the country.
If she didn't like this place, she wouldn't have bothered to decorate the courtyard wall, let alone build a house.
"Uncle Huaiyuan." Su Ningwen got off the carriage and trotted over to Wu Huaiyuan, holding a book. "I know you're the best-read uncle in our village. I have a lot of words I don't understand. Can you explain them to me?"
Wu Huaiyuan felt warmed when he heard this. This was the first time someone came to him and asked for his guidance.
He lowered his eyes to look at Su Ningwen's eyes full of curiosity and smiled gently, "Of course, tell me what you don't understand?"
Su Ningwen said, "There are a lot of words and phrases I don't understand. If you don't go back to the academy today, could you tell me more about them? I'll buy you some milk tea, okay?"
"Okay, Uncle Huaiyuan will tell you more today."
Then Su Ningwen pulled Wu Huaiyuan into the large flat.
Seeing Feng Jinyu's extraordinary demeanor, Wu Qingshan didn't dare to look at him directly. He said hello to Su Xingyi and Xiao Lingyu and left.
"Xiao Yu, is this the rare ingredient you are trying to grow?"
Xiao Lingyu nodded: "It will take some time from the time the flowers bloom and the fruit ripens to the time of harvest."
Xu Mo said, "Madam Su, could you give us some food seeds so we can plant them in Cangnan County?"
"Okay, I'll prepare it for you when you leave for Cangnan County."
"Godfather, let's go and see our new house."
As soon as he entered the yard, Feng Jinyu was stunned for a moment. Except for the large flat and the cobblestone ground, the layout and furnishings of the entire yard were the same as Xiao Lingyu's yard in the Duke's Mansion.
After a moment, Feng Jinyu came to his senses and looked at Xiao Lingyu.
Xiao Lingyu walked to the edge of the fish pond. "This place is a little different. The children are still growing up, so we can only raise some crucian carp and carp."
After saying that, Su Xingyi entered the yard, picked up the fishing net and caught three carp. "Jinyu, wait, today's farmhouse dishes will definitely satisfy you."
After saying that, Su Xingyi carried the three fish back to the Su family yard next door.
Xu Mo and Li Yuanliang hurriedly followed them out and helped brothers Tong Yun and Xing Ying cook a big pot of rice for the four of them on the stove built outside.
"Godfather, isn't the crane painting my big brother drew beautiful?"
Feng Jinyu glanced at the painting of circling cranes without looking closely. "Your mother taught your eldest brother to draw this, right?"
"Yes, mother knows a lot. I wonder what else she can do?"
Feng Jinyu whispered: "Your mother knows a lot, I'll tell you quietly..."
Seeing this, Xiao Lingyu hurried to the pavilion, filled the teapot on the stone table with spiritual spring water, took out a few small pieces of charcoal from the stone drawer under the stone table, put them into the charcoal stove, and began to slowly boil and brew tea.
"Mrs. Su." Wang Yunhe heard from the villagers who went up the mountain that Xiao Lingyu had returned to the village, and hurried to the Su family's new house.
"Master Wang, you've arrived just in time. The tea is freshly brewed." Xiao Lingyu handed him a cup of tea.
"Thank you, Madam Su." Wang Yunhe took a few sips before saying, "The papermaking workshop was completed yesterday. We've already started selecting bamboo and shaving the green bamboo. Tomorrow we'll officially begin the 108 steps of papermaking according to the techniques and methods you described. I'd like to ask, do you only make one type of bamboo paper?"
"Later, I'll draw out several molds. You can have people create them to make different types of bamboo paper... There's also a type of bamboo paper that's relatively soft and can be used as a handkerchief to wipe your mouth and hands."
Wipe your mouth?
Wang Yunhe was puzzled. Neither wood pulp paper nor bamboo pulp paper could be used to wipe the mouth.
Xiao Lingyu didn't explain too much. "Let's make some of this bamboo paper for wiping our mouths first. We'll use it ourselves. Once the people are comfortable using bamboo paper to wipe their mouths, it won't be too late to mass-produce it.
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