"Madam Cheng! It's been a long time! What brings you here today? Is there some lucrative business opportunity for me?"
Huang Youcai was somewhat surprised to see Cheng Ruyi suddenly appear, since they hadn't seen each other much since the rabbit business stabilized.
Moreover, as far as he knew, this Madam Cheng no longer lived in the county town. As the saying goes, one doesn't visit a temple without a reason, so her special visit must be for something important.
Especially after greeting the other person, seeing their serious expression, he couldn't help but feel a little flustered!
"Manager Huang, you're joking. Even if there's a lucrative business, it's because your Zhiwei Restaurant is taking care of me!"
Cheng Ruyi didn't notice Huang Youcai's unusual behavior. She was so busy these days that she could barely keep her feet on the ground, and she finally managed to find time to go to the city. So she didn't keep her in suspense and went straight to the point.
"I came to see Manager Huang today because I have some questions for you. It's been getting hot very early and very quickly lately, and there hasn't been any rain for many days. I'm worried that this will affect this year's harvest, so I'd like to ask if the spring planting at the Zhou family's place is going smoothly? Do they have any countermeasures in place?"
Cheng Ruyi's words were far beyond Huang Youcai's expectations. After listening, he thought for a moment, and then asked somewhat uncertainly, "Does Madam Cheng mean... that she is worried about a drought this year?"
"No, I didn't say that!"
Cheng Ruyi quickly shook her head in denial. She was joking; such words could be serious or trivial, and she wouldn't dare say them carelessly!
He could only quickly explain, "Well, thanks to Manager Huang, I bought a few acres of land. I originally planned to farm it myself to save some money, but I didn't expect that after finally getting to spring, it hasn't rained for several days in a row. The weather looks really strange. I don't have any experience in farming, so I wanted to ask for your advice."
Although the system's characteristics suggested that a drought was highly likely, she didn't know the exact extent of the drought. If the impact on Huaishan County was not significant, she would seem to be making a mountain out of a molehill. Therefore, Cheng Ruyi's words were rather conservative and cautious.
Huang Youcai was an extremely shrewd man, and he understood Cheng Ruyi's meaning in an instant.
Logically speaking, he was usually only responsible for managing the restaurant business and never interfered in other matters of the Zhou family. However, because this Madam Cheng was quite special, Huang Youcai felt for some reason that her words could not be taken lightly.
After thinking for a while, he decided to pass on Ruyi's message; what happened afterward was beyond his control.
After receiving Manager Huang's reply, Cheng Ruyi also visited Guo Qinglan on the way, repeating the exact same words, and then asked her to inquire whether similar situations had occurred in the past. In fact, she hoped to attract the attention of the county government through Guo Qinglan.
That's pretty much all she can do right now.
Unfortunately, until mid-March, neither the Zhou family nor the county government made any move. During this period, the county only experienced a few light rains, which were all very short-lived.
Fortunately, the water storage project at Lishan Villa has been initially completed, enough for all of them to use for several months. In the past few days, they have been preparing to build a few more simple water storage ponds next to their own paddy fields to ensure the daily irrigation of the farmland.
Now that she can see the water level in the village river has started to drop, Cheng Ruyi is finally less anxious than before.
However, not long after the initial completion of the Cheng family's water storage project, someone from the Zhou family suddenly came to visit.
"Madam Cheng, my name is Zhou Shouli. I have come today because I heard that you have some matters to discuss regarding the management of your fields and harvests. May I ask what those matters are?"
The man was about twenty years old, wearing a fine cotton long gown. His features resembled those of Zhou Fu, the steward of the Zhou family. Cheng Ruyi remembered that the steward had introduced his youngest son before, whose name seemed to be Zhou Shouyi. Based on this, she deduced that this man should be the steward's eldest son.
Although the other person was polite enough, he remained seated in the mule cart and did not get off. He simply lifted the curtain of the cart window and spoke to her from above, showing no intention of getting off. It seemed that he disdained to have any connection with her.
Fine, she's not interested in teaching other people's sons, as long as they can talk!
"So it's Manager Zhou. My apologies! It's nothing serious, but the weather in Huaishan County has been a bit unusual lately, and I'm worried it might affect the harvest. So, I'd like to ask if the Zhou family has any solutions?"
Regardless of the other party's attitude, Cheng Ruyi still spoke politely and even offered tea. Whether or not to accept it was their business, but whether or not to give it was a matter of her own family's manners and upbringing.
Zhou Shouli raised his hand to refuse the tea, saying with some impatience, "The weather is unusual? What's unusual about it? It's just that it got hot earlier than usual, what's the big deal?"
"Not only did it get hot early, but this winter wasn't very cold either, and there wasn't much snowfall. Since the beginning of spring, there have only been a few short showers..."
Before Cheng Ruyi could finish speaking, the other party interrupted, "You don't mean you're afraid of a drought, do you? Hahaha, what a joke! Our Huaishan County is right next to the Jinshui River, and we've never experienced a drought before!"
Zhou Shouli regretted coming here. Listening to a woman's nonsense was a complete waste of his time.
"Madam Cheng, as far as I know, your family only has ten acres of paddy fields. If you don't want to manage them, you can just sell them. Why say such alarmist things? Sorry to bother you!"
Seeing Zhou Shouli leave after saying those words, Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but sigh.
She did her best, that's all.
Now she can only hope that this drought won't be too severe; she really doesn't want things to fall apart again just as she's starting to develop her business.
However, the large-scale water conservancy project that Cheng Ruyi built in his own villa still successfully attracted the attention of the villagers of Lishan Village.
Unlike the aloof and detached steward of the Zhou family, the villagers had been dealing with the land for generations. They understood that farming depended on the weather, so when they saw how much the Cheng family valued it, many cautious families or those who already had difficulty getting water came to inquire about how to repair the reservoir. Ruyi was not shy and directly told everyone the principles and methods.
This incident gave Cheng Ruyi an idea: it's better to tell ordinary people at the bottom of society about drought than to tell those in power who don't know what's good for them!
So she successfully persuaded the village chief of Lishan Village to raise funds with the villagers to build a medium-sized reservoir. Although it could not guarantee water for farmland, at least the villagers' drinking water was guaranteed.
Ruyi also asked the village chief to persuade several nearby villages, but unfortunately, the results were minimal.
After all, she couldn't just go around shouting that there would definitely be a drought this year and that everyone should hurry up and store water! Regardless of whether there would actually be a drought in the future, she would be locked up in jail. No matter how saintly she was, she wouldn't sacrifice herself for a stranger.
So, since she can't stop natural disasters, all she can do is make thorough preparations and have a clear conscience.
Such days continued until late March, when not only did the water level of the village's river drop sharply, but the temperature also rose rapidly to levels close to those of May or June.
As people struggle to adapt to temperature changes, more and more are falling ill, with the majority suffering from heatstroke!
In fact, most people are not used to change, so even though the temperature has risen so much this year, many people are still wearing the same clothes as in previous years.
As a result, people either get so hot from the stuffiness that they faint from heatstroke, or they take off their clothes too quickly and catch a cold from the sudden change in temperature. In short, the pharmacies in the whole county are overcrowded, and there is no such thing as wearing masks. It's a situation where everyone is infected by cross-infection!
Looking at the several saplings in front of her that were growing very well, had successfully blossomed, and had borne more than a dozen bright orange fruits, Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but marvel once again at the system's powerful predictive ability.
These fruits are the Qingling Fruit, a reward for checking in for 30 consecutive days in late February.
"【Qingling Fruit】, a first-grade low-level spiritual plant, five seeds. The fruit contains a trace of clear and cool icy spiritual energy. It tastes extremely sour. Those who consume it at the early stage of Qi Refining or below will instantly feel refreshed and have a clear mind."
Note 1: The darker the color of the fruit, the more spiritual energy it contains; the darkest color can be red.
Note 2: Fruit tree leaves also contain extremely small amounts of spiritual energy, which can improve the comprehension of ordinary people if consumed over a long period of time.
Note 3: No mortal should eat a whole fruit at once; otherwise, they will bear the consequences.
Although the description does not directly state that it can dispel wind-heat or clear heat and detoxify, it is not hard to see that this Qingling fruit is definitely a summer heat relief product!
Of course, cooling off is probably the least noticeable of its many uses. In fact, its greatest advantages are "instant mental clarity" and "enhanced comprehension".
As expected of ice-attribute spiritual plants, Cheng Ruyi could immediately feel a significant difference in temperature just by getting a little closer to these fruit trees. A cool breeze seeped out from the fruit trees, not to mention that she suddenly felt clear-headed and refreshed the moment she stood here!
She wished she could move one to her room; it was practically a portable air conditioner, and from then on, she was no longer afraid of any kind of sweltering heat!
As expected of the spiritual plant she cared for most carefully besides Jade Rice, the five small fruit trees lined up in a row had at least twenty or thirty fruits on each tree. Although the fruits were only yellow at the moment, Ruyi felt that it should be enough for ordinary mortals.
So she picked two or three fruits that looked almost orange and also moved a few leaves, intending to use them to make some drinks and let everyone try them to see how they were.
"Ruyi, someone is looking for you outside. It seems to be the steward of the Wen family. Is he the one you met at Mande's first birthday banquet?" Cheng Yan's voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.
The Wen family steward? Why is he suddenly coming to the villa to find her? Could it be that the matter from before hasn't been resolved yet? Or does he have some other gift to give her?
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