Upon hearing this, Su Bai and the others subconsciously thought of the vegetable garden in their front yard.
Thinking back to that one acre of land that looked like a mangled patch of grass, it has been completely transformed in just over a month. Every villager who comes to work at my house gives it a thumbs up.
And this change was all thanks to the potion Hua'er prepared.
Others may not know, but they know perfectly well that Hua'er's master is just a title, and the real person behind it is Meng Po, who helped Hua'er regain her senses in the dilapidated temple. Since Meng Po said that sweet potatoes have a better yield than rice and wheat, then it must be true.
After her initial surprise, Madam Su Bai became even more indifferent. If Hua'er liked planting sweet potatoes, then let her plant sweet potatoes. It didn't matter if she didn't grow anything good. Anyway, the land was already under Hua'er's name. It would just be a matter of her three silly sons putting in some effort. The most important thing was that her daughter liked it!
The two hundred mu of land in Zaozhuang, starting from the entrance of the village, gradually rises, somewhat resembling terraced fields. However, compared to traditional terraced fields, the rise is not significant, and the slope is very gentle.
After the Su family walked through the rice paddies, a clear green lake came into view.
The lake is about twenty acres wide, and there are many lotus flowers growing in the lake. However, it is not the lotus flowering season yet, and only a few sparse lotus flowers can be seen in the lake, and they are all still in the shape of unopened buds. Most of the lake is covered with emerald green lotus leaves that stretch to the sky, like large round plates placed on the calm lake surface.
A mountain breeze blows from afar, causing the lotus leaves to sway. Occasionally, one or two fish can be seen swishing their tails under the lotus leaves, creating a series of tiny ripples on the calm lake surface.
Su Hua gazed at the lake, a slight smile creeping onto her lips. April and May were the season for lotus root tips, which grew from the base of the lotus root, making each root and tip a precious treasure.
Before she transmigrated here, lotus root tips sold for forty yuan a pound in the southern city where she worked, which could be considered a luxury food.
She only buys a pound or two to taste when she's craving something sweet.
Now that there is such a large lotus field in Zaozhuang, we can't miss the opportunity to eat lotus root tips. After we've dealt with things in Zaozhuang, we can go dig up some lotus root tips to satisfy our cravings.
Su Baishi and the three Su brothers were also in a good mood. Back then, their family had worked hard to dig an acre of pond to raise fish, but the flood washed away all the fish, not even the carcasses could be found. This lake was in a good location and far away from the barren mountains, so raising fish in it would surely yield a good harvest.
The three little Su Dalangs chattered excitedly about going to the lake to catch fish and shrimp in the future.
Beyond the lake lies a woodland planted with jujube trees.
The jujube grove covers a total area of fifty acres and consists of two small, rounded hills. The hills are covered with jujube trees of all sizes, with the trunks of the large jujube trees being almost as thick as water buckets. Their canopies block out the sun, and small white flowers hang from the leaves, which are the precursors to the jujubes in autumn.
The jujube trees vary in size, some as thick as a wrist, some as thick as a small stick, and some only as thick as a writing brush handle. Some of them are clearly branches that grew from the roots of the large jujube trees.
However, the jujube trees were a mixed bag. The jujube trees that could be seen from the outside were well-maintained, but as you walked in from the middle of the first hill, you could see that many jujube trees were in a listless state, which was not in line with April when everything was growing. Some jujube trees had even died. If you touched the trunk lightly, you could rub off a layer of bark. Underneath the bark, the trees had long been hollowed out by insects, leaving only an empty shell.
A rough count revealed that about a quarter of the jujube trees in the fifty-acre jujube grove were damaged.
Whether it was because they didn't have time, or because the lake and jujube grove were not very profitable, the stewards of the Liu family ordered the destruction of two hundred acres of rice seedlings, but did not actually cut them down.
Of course, without the master's order, the steward would not have destroyed these two hundred acres of land without authorization. The destruction of the seedlings was most likely Liu Yuxian's idea.
After all, from the moment she first met Liu Yuxian at the Hundred Flowers Banquet, she knew that the woman was not a soft-hearted person. She couldn't break her promise in front of everyone, so she had no choice but to send Zaozhuang over. She must have been extremely angry. It wouldn't be like her if she didn't do something.
Now, seeing these lands destroyed, she actually felt relieved; otherwise, she would have to worry about the land causing trouble behind her back all the time.
Now that Zaozhuang is hers, she must not allow anyone to touch it again.
This wasn't their Shanghe Village, but Wangjia Village, which was separated by a road. So, she needed to make an example of them in front of the Wangjia Village villagers to establish her authority. Otherwise, these people would really think they were easy targets, and that anyone could come and bully them.
Of course, simply establishing authority is not enough; someone still needs to be in charge in Zaozhuang. Ideally, they should be knowledgeable about farming and have some martial arts skills, and they must be one of our own.
The Su family's trip to Zaozhuang has also roughly finalized the arrangements for the village.
Regarding the fields, 20 mu of land with intact seedlings will be used as paddy fields, and the remaining 180 mu will be planted with sweet potatoes. As for the lakes, the original ornamental goldfish will be removed, and new fish fry will be purchased. The project will focus on both planting lotus and raising fish. As for the jujube forest, the damaged jujube trees will be cut down, and the usable ones will be taken home to make furniture. The unusable ones will be placed in the row of farmhouses in Zaozhuang, and other fruit trees will be replanted in the cleared areas.
After the group left Zaozhuang, they saw that a large crowd had already gathered at the entrance of Zaozhuang, and they were all unfamiliar faces.
Their expressions varied: some were shocked, some doubtful, some afraid, and some...jealous.
"Is this Zaozhuang really theirs? How is that possible?!"
"Why would the magistrate's daughter suddenly give away her perfectly good estate to an ordinary farming family? It doesn't sound like the truth."
"What do you mean it doesn't seem real! Erdan and Gouzi just said that Zaozhuang belongs to this family, and they even told us not to mess with them in the future, that the whole family are ruthless!"
"A tough character? That old woman leading the group is clearly Granny Su from the neighboring Shanghe Village. Although she's a bit tough, she's not exactly a tough character, is she?"
"Old Mrs. Su from Shanghe Village? You mean that old woman who spoils her stupid and ugly daughter like a treasure?! No way, the little girl standing next to her is so beautiful, I've never seen such a pretty girl in my life, and her big eyes are so bright and sparkling, she doesn't look like a fool at all..."
The Su family ignored all the gossip from the villagers of Wangjia Village, got into their carriage, and drove away.
With everything going on at home and outside, there's no time to deal with these trivial matters.
But when the Su family's carriage entered the narrow path at the end of the village, it was not quiet at all. Instead, it was noisy and bustling. Further ahead, there were many villagers standing behind the small courtyard, or more accurately, many villagers standing outside the small wooden house behind the courtyard.
In the very center of the group of villagers stood a majestic pink figure.
What followed was a deep, masculine scream, "Brother Jinhan, it's alright if you don't want to marry into my Gao family, I can come to Shanghe Village and marry you..."
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