Chapter 171 Hu Ling's Father
Zhong Jing felt that this sounded a little off, but he couldn't put his finger on it, so he just nodded with a smile: "Yeah, anyway, Brother Zhou will definitely be happy!"
Zhao Liya couldn't help but smile.
Knowing that Brother Zhou was safe, she was indeed relieved. His departure was so sudden last time, so it must be something serious.
The group left early the next morning, and Zhong Ming and three others saw them off all the way to Gaolian County.
Zhao Liya and the other three had to walk around again and pretend to have just returned from the mountains.
Yu Xiaofang had a good harvest this time. The four of them were carrying backpacks filled with various medicinal herbs, and Lin Mo was holding a large sack in his hand.
Anyone can tell at a glance that this must have been brought back from collecting herbs in the mountains.
They were away for seven or eight days before coming back, and everyone in the family missed them terribly. The courtyard suddenly became lively again.
In the evening, Zhong Ming came quietly, and after Zhao Liya handed him the 30,000 taels of silver, he left again. He went back to report to his master and did not mention it.
Zhao Liya naturally devoted herself to her own career.
Qu Yutao and the stewards took good care of everything.
The sweet potato seedlings have grown very long, and in a few days they can be pinched and planted.
The wasteland in Yan Village has finally been reclaimed. Families who are free and willing to work will allocate one or two laborers every day to reclaim the wasteland.
The next day, Zhao Liya went to take a look. Only about 200 acres had been reclaimed, which was not bad.
This was just incidental.
Zhao Liya asked people to bury the sweet potatoes and grow seedlings while continuing to reclaim the land.
Qu Yutao smiled and said, "There's not much planting to do in Zaihu Village and Bajiao Village. Everyone says the weather is good now and they want to continue clearing the land. I said we'll make a decision after my cousin comes back. What do you think—"
Zhao Liya did a rough calculation and found that there were still several thousand acres of land that had not been developed in these two places. If possible, she would like to expand it further next year. If it can be reclaimed, then so be it.
"Open it, it will open sooner or later anyway. But now the weather is getting hotter, everyone should be careful to prevent heatstroke and mosquitoes, snakes and ants when working, and make sure nothing happens."
Qu Yutao laughed out loud: "Don't worry, cousin. It's not the first time for us to work in the fields. We are all locals, so how could we not know this?"
Zhao Liya also laughed: "Well, then you must know it better than me."
The pigs on the farm were also being raised, a hundred in total, and they looked quite cute. Zhao Liya had gone to the city to buy a lot of corn, which she ground into powder, mixed with rice bran, and chopped vegetables. This was then used as food for the pigs, as they were still young and didn't eat much.
When they grow a bit bigger, we can feed them with sweet potato vines, which we will have in abundance by then.
Now the family feeds the baby themselves and employs three daughters-in-law from the village to help out.
This won't work.
But Zhao Liya didn't want to completely contract out the pig farm to others. No one dared to take the risk, so she had to do it herself.
She discussed with Hu Ling and decided to buy a few servants.
Zhao Xiang smiled and said, "Let's wait a little longer. Your Uncle Hu and Aunt Hu have written to us, saying they've already set out for us and will be here soon. It won't be so conspicuous if we wait until they arrive before buying someone."
The Uncle Hu and Aunt Hu that Zhao Xiang mentioned were Hu Ling's parents. They had originally said that they would come after they had arranged things at home, but unexpectedly they actually came.
Zhao Liya was surprised, happy, and full of emotion: "Really? Uncle Hu and his family are really coming! Dad, Uncle Hu and his family are so kind to our family!"
There are really not many people these days who can share both wealth and hardship with you.
I didn't expect that even though my family had fallen into such a situation, Uncle Hu and his family would still stick with me.
"Yes," Zhao Xiang sighed and said helplessly, "I wrote to persuade them, but they wouldn't listen. Well, they're definitely going to come over, so let them come! When they get here, we must make good arrangements for them and not let them suffer or be wronged."
Zhao Liya nodded and smiled: "That's for sure!"
In this case, the natural thing to do is to wait for them to arrive before taking the next step.
To be honest, buying people is indeed a bit too conspicuous.
Although we can do it now under the names of Hu Ling and Qu Yutao, the Zhao family is developing too fast, so it is better to take it slow.
By the time Uncle Hu and his men arrived, they had already escaped slavery and had some assets, so buying people was perfectly normal for them, and no one could say anything wrong about it.
On second thought, Zhao Liya felt that it was a good thing that they came, as it would make things more convenient.
Suffering? Not at all.
Even when we first came here, we didn't suffer any hardship, and we certainly won't suffer any hardship now!
Not to mention anything else, she still has tens of thousands of taels of silver in her hands!
This courtyard was originally built to be quite large, so even if they move in together, it won't be crowded. If they feel uncomfortable or inconvenient, that's easy to do: either rebuild the house or live in the academy area.
It just so happened that the large courtyard of the academy was also built. There were more than ten small courtyards and some back houses and row houses in the large courtyard, which were used to accommodate the people who were hired or bought.
Zhao Liya already had a plan in mind and decided to wait until they arrived.
In the evening, Zhao Liya and Shu Yan picked vegetables in the vegetable garden to cook for dinner. The newly budded Chinese cabbage, spinach, and lettuce were all so fresh and tender that you could almost squeeze out the water. Simply stir-frying them in a pan gave them the freshest taste of spring.
The vegetable garden at this moment is the most tender, green, vibrant and prosperous, which makes people feel happy when looking at it.
In addition to these leafy vegetables, pumpkins, winter melons, loofahs, bitter melons, etc. have already climbed onto the racks, with leaves and stems all green. Peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants are quietly forming buds, and beans are also climbing onto the bean sticks. Ginger, onions, garlic, leeks, celery, coriander, etc. are growing densely, and you can eat as much as you want.
Zhao Liya and Shu Yan laughed as they picked vegetables, saying, "I almost forgot, this is the perfect time to eat all kinds of wild vegetables! Why don't we go into the mountains in two days—or even tomorrow—to look for wild vegetables!"
Shu Yan's eyes lit up, and she nodded with a smile, "Yes, there are indeed a lot of fresh wild vegetables right now. Spring bamboo shoots, bracken, dandelions, chrysanthemum, water spinach, mustard greens, wolfberry, Chinese toon... so many, so many. If you're lucky, you can even find a lot of mushrooms and mountain fungi."
After they picked the vegetables, they chatted and discussed how to eat them as they left the garden and prepared to go back to wash and cook. Unexpectedly, they met Luo Shuyu passing by.
Seeing them, Luo Shuyu's face suddenly turned ugly. He glared at Shu Yan and snorted.
Shu Yan was indifferent and ignored her.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
