In late February, the temperature in Huaishan County rose more significantly, and Lishan Village was already lush and green.
After working non-stop for the past two weeks, we have finally succeeded in diverting water from the stream beside the Cheng family's paddy fields into the pond at the aquaculture farm. Next month, when we release fish fry, shrimp fry, and lotus flowers, the pond will be a great success!
In this way, the breeding farm located at the back gate of the villa was finally taken initial shape.
The entire breeding area is now about 30 meters wide and over 100 meters long. The left side is divided into two areas: Cheng Ruyi's personal secret experimental field and pond area. The right side is divided into four areas: the Wind Chaser Rabbit breeding area, the Phoenix Tail Chicken breeding area, the general planting area, and the general breeding area.
After her meticulous adjustments, the system is now running smoothly without any major problems. At least from her perspective as someone in the early stages of obsessive-compulsive disorder, the layout is quite neat and reasonable.
The secret experimental field area is a closed area with a lock on the door. Only Cheng Ruyi has the key. However, considering the future, she is still debating whether to tell Cheng Yan, because she may need his help to take care of it if necessary.
Xu Cui had always managed the Wind Chaser Rabbit breeding area and the Phoenix Tail Chicken breeding area. Now, with the help of the Ding family women, Xu Cui only needed to focus on taking care of the three chickens, Caiyu, Sujin, and Jinfeng, and their chicks, as well as the Wind Chaser and Cloud Chaser Rabbits.
The Chasing Rabbit breed has been fully mass-produced. Two purebred rabbits now only need to breed twice a month, and the purebred rabbits born from them can be used for secondary breeding with ordinary domestic rabbits, which can completely solve the problem of insufficient numbers.
Every three days, Zhiwei Restaurant would drive over to collect the rabbits, usually ten at a time. In total, they could provide about one hundred rabbits a month. In other words, the Cheng family could earn as much as fifty taels a month just by selling rabbits!
Compared to the booming rabbit meat business, the phoenix tail chicken business is not performing as well. The breeding rate is too low, the birth rate is also low, and they are very easy to die. So far, only a dozen or so hybrid phoenix tail chickens have successfully grown up. Fortunately, there are more hens among them, which can meet the Cheng family's daily egg needs.
In addition to the Phoenix Tail Chicken, the Cheng family also raised some ordinary chickens. These chickens occasionally ate some food and water containing spiritual energy, so they grew very quickly and had a high egg production rate, which basically solved the supply problem of egg pancakes.
The ordinary planting area consists of a regular field used for growing vegetables by the family and two rows of wooden houses for sprouting beans. With the support of space and manpower, the daily output of bean sprouts can now reach fifty or sixty catties, and the monthly income can be about ten or twenty taels of silver.
This volume was already almost saturated for them, who only served the local residents of the county, so Ruyi had no intention of expanding further.
As for the final, ordinary livestock area, there are now only two donkeys, two ewes, and a pregnant cow...
Cheng Ruyi originally planned to buy a cow to help with land reclamation and farming, but she didn't expect to encounter this cow. When she met its wet eyes, her "saintly complex" kicked in again, and she bought it.
After examining the cow, Old Man Ding said that although it was a little thin, it was still quite healthy and was about to give birth, so it wouldn't delay the spring plowing.
So the cow that was about to give birth temporarily became the focus of care for everyone in the Cheng family. Cheng Ruyi also specially added some Nourishing Meridian Pills and spiritual spring water for it. After all, if the cow's delivery went smoothly, she would get two for the price of one, which was a good deal.
As for the two ewes, she fed and cared for them well for a few days until their milk production stabilized at three to five catties per day before handing them over to the Ding family for care.
From then on, she finally achieved the freedom to drink milk. So during this period, Cheng Ruyi made all kinds of dairy products almost every day without repeating the same one, and the Cheng family's appetite was once again greatly satisfied.
The days passed by in this fulfilling and busy manner, until the last day of February, when Guo Qinglan and her companions returned to Lishan Villa once again.
Cheng Ruyi noticed that there were several tall guards she had never seen before who came with them this time, and she began to have some guesses.
"Sister Cheng, I received a reply from Father yesterday. He agreed to let us teach you some basic martial arts. I thought you would be happy, so I came to tell you this morning!"
Guo Qinglan actually wrote three letters home. The first one was about the Lantern Festival incident, both to let her know she was safe and to remind her of the impact of the situation in the capital on the escort agency.
The second letter was written because Cheng Ruyi wanted to learn martial arts. At the time, she didn't have much hope. Although Changfeng Escort Agency was said to be the number one escort agency in Yongzhou, it had always been in a precarious situation, with a foundation that couldn't compare to that of a large family and no one from the imperial court to back it up. The inheritance of martial arts was naturally the most important and precious resource in their hands. How could they so easily teach it to outsiders?
However, when the Cheng family members came to the villa to test their aptitude, it completely changed Guo Qinglan's mind. So, after returning home, she immediately wrote a third letter and sent it to the escort agency as fast as she could.
As expected, the letter was taken seriously by her father, who not only agreed to teach the Cheng family martial arts, but also sent four guards over.
"Really? That's wonderful! I wonder what the specifics are?" Cheng Ruyi wasn't too surprised. Although her family was unwilling to send their youngest daughter away for the time being, she estimated that the Guo family wouldn't give up so easily. They would first try to build a good relationship, and then anything was possible.
Guo Qinglan smiled and said, "None of you have any foundation. How about this, let's start with the very basics and learn for a while. Then we'll see how things go. What do you think?"
To be honest, although the three oldest members of the Cheng family could all learn martial arts, no one thought they had any future. It was basically a waste of time and energy. What Old Man Guo meant was that he only needed to teach Yunle with care, and the others probably wouldn't even be able to stick to the basics.
Cheng Ruyi knew, of course, that no matter what you were learning, the basics were the most important, so she didn't think there was anything wrong with that, especially since her original goal was simply to learn the fundamentals.
"We know nothing about martial arts, so we'll naturally follow your arrangements in that regard!"
After she finished speaking, she shared the freshly made red bean double-skin milk and osmanthus honey ice cream with everyone.
As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding," so she waited until everyone had almost finished eating before continuing, "These are some sweet treats I made in my spare time. Do you all enjoy them?"
Guo Qinglan and the others already knew that Cheng Ruyi was a skilled cook, so they weren't surprised. However, the other guards were taken aback, marveling at how amazing this ordinary woman's cooking skills were! So they could only nod and say that it was delicious.
"I'm glad you're used to the food. I've made a lot of sweets these past few days, and my family is tired of them. Your presence is perfect for helping us finish them. There's still plenty on the table, so please don't be shy!"
Whether it's double-skin milk or ice cream cheese, it's all served in a delicate porcelain bowl. A small bowl can be finished in just a few bites. Everyone felt they hadn't had enough but were too embarrassed to take more. Ruyi's words were like a timely rain. After a little hesitation, everyone took another bowl and started to enjoy it.
Seeing this, Cheng Ruyi smiled even more brightly. She turned to Guo Qinglan and said, "By the way, Qinglan, since we're starting from the basics, I wonder if Yunping and the others could learn along with us? You don't need to teach them specifically; you can just let them learn alongside you. Is that alright?"
Looking at Cheng Ruyi's expectant eyes, Guo Qinglan suddenly realized that nothing in this world is free!
"Is...is that okay?"
Next time she comes to the Cheng family, she will definitely not eat anything casually!
Having gotten the answer she wanted, Cheng Ruyi was in a good mood. She then took out milk tea to continue serving the Guo family, but for some reason, no one finished a single cup this time.
Was she too full? Cheng Ruyi wondered.
In any case, the Cheng family is finally going to start formally learning martial arts, something Cheng Ruyi has been longing for for a long time!
Unfortunately, things didn't go as smoothly as expected.
The person in charge of instructing them was one of the guards sent from the escort agency: Guo Ding.
He is in his forties and has been stuck at the "beginner level" due to his limited aptitude. So, as he got older, he took on the responsibility of teaching basic martial arts to the new children of the escort agency. He was chosen this time because he has experience in this area, and more importantly, he needs to understand Cheng Yunle's specific situation.
After doing nothing but practicing horse stance for several days, Cheng Ruyi casually asked how long it would take to practice horse stance. Unexpectedly, Guo Ding said decisively that it would take at least three years to practice...
In that instant, Cheng Ruyi knew something was wrong, but no matter how she analyzed and discussed it with Guo Ding, he refused to change his mind, and the two even parted on bad terms.
Having no other choice, she had to go directly to Guo Qinglan to explain the situation.
It's not that there's anything wrong with Guo Ding's teaching method; after all, that's how the escort agency teaches its children. However, this method isn't suitable for their family's situation.
Whatever is taught should be adjusted according to each individual's situation and needs.
After discussion, it was decided that Guo Xiaoyu would be in charge of teaching martial arts to the Cheng family.
First, Guo Xiaoyu is young and relatively easy to fool... no, I mean, relatively easy to accept and try new things; second, Guo Xiaoyu is more familiar with her, and since they are both women, it is more convenient and comfortable for them to get along.
However, since Guo Xiaoyu was also Guo Qinglan's personal bodyguard, she couldn't leave often. So, it was finally decided that she would go to Lishan Villa every three days for three hours each time, so that everyone would not be too distracted from their business, killing two birds with one stone.
That's how the martial arts training was officially settled. As for whether to separate the training sessions or teach according to individual aptitude, we'll decide that later based on the situation.
Because Cheng Ruyi had a more important matter to deal with at that moment.
In late February, she finally realized that the recent weather seemed a bit unusual.
Not only are temperatures rising faster than in previous years, but the lack of rainfall is the most serious problem.
Normally, this is the most important time for spring plowing, and there should be a lot of rain. However, Huaishan County has not had any rain for more than ten days. Combined with the [Spirit Rain Talisman] given by the system, how could Cheng Ruyi not have any doubts?
Therefore, she specifically consulted Cheng Yan, but he said that he had lived in Huaishan County for so many years and had never heard of drought here, because the county is adjacent to the Jinshui River, which has abundant water and has never dried up!
Even after listening, Cheng Ruyi still felt uneasy; being prepared was her style.
After all, if people can travel through time and even have systems, then what's so impossible about rivers drying up?
So, taking advantage of the relatively abundant water resources, she decided to repair the irrigation canal, extending it to connect directly to the upstream of the village's small river, and even paving it with blue bricks to prevent soil erosion.
The most important thing is to build several small household water storage tanks, which will be located in the woodland behind the farm.
As the project was in full swing, Cheng Ruyi suddenly thought of the Zhou family. Their family had always been rooted in Huaishan County and owned so much land that they should be the people who knew the climate of Huaishan County best over the years, and perhaps even had relevant experience.
In that case, it seems it's time for her to go to town!
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