Chapter Thirteen: Willow Trees Reborn
A month later, the sweet potato seedlings, nurtured by ginger honey, grew lush and were ready for planting.
So the Jiang family cut most of the sweet potato seedlings and planted them on Woniu Mountain.
Watching the busy Jiang family, the villagers of Qingyun Village were all laughing at them.
Just as the Jiang family was busy with their work, a guest arrived.
When Jiang Mi saw Huo Ran standing outside the door, her brows furrowed involuntarily: "What are you doing here?"
Huo Ran looked at Jiang Mi with a somewhat subtle expression.
It had been a month and a half since I last saw Jiang Mi, and she had lost a lot of weight and her skin had become much fairer.
"It's Huo Ran! Come in quickly." Seeing that Jiang Mi was blocking Huo Ran at the door, Jiang's mother immediately came forward to greet him. In Jiang's mother's eyes, Huo Ran was a rich but foolish man, so he was naturally a memorable figure and someone she had to treat well. Especially when she saw the bulging bundle on Huo Ran's back, her smile became even brighter: "Honey, don't block the door, let Huo Ran in quickly."
Huo Ran was reluctantly allowed into Jiang Mi's house.
"Little Huo, is there something you need this time?" Jiang's mother poured Huo Ran a glass of water. They were just about to go out to plant sweet potatoes. If Huo Ran had come any later, the whole family would have been out of the house.
"I want to discuss something with you," Huo Ran said, placing the bundle he was carrying on the table and opening it.
A large amount of silver came into view of the two of them.
Jiang Mu swallowed hard.
In her eyes, Huo Ran was indeed a god of wealth, but she wasn't stupid. This time, Huo Ran took out more money than last time, so he must have something in mind.
Jiang's mother suppressed her greedy desires and looked at Huo Ran: "Little Huo, what are you doing?"
"I want to learn how to grow sweet potatoes," Huo Ran said, looking at the two of them.
What are the techniques for growing sweet potatoes?
Jiang's mother and Jiang Mi exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
Does this thing require learning? It's not something you can just pick up and handle casually?
Huo Ran said this with some embarrassment.
He had the sweet potatoes sent back to the capital by fast horse and submitted a report along with them, recounting what Jiang Mi had said earlier. After reading the report, the emperor ordered the chief eunuch to cook the sweet potatoes. The emperor became addicted to them after eating them, and only remembered them after finishing them. He even sent a message asking the chief eunuch to send more sweet potatoes back to satisfy his craving.
Did he send it back for him to eat? No, it was for him to research and promote it to benefit the people, not for him to eat.
Not only did they eat them, but they also ate all five of them.
The thought of this made Huo Ran clench his fists.
Who would have thought that the current emperor is such a foodie?
With such an unreliable emperor, what could he do? He could only learn the planting techniques himself.
Coming to his senses, Huo Ran saw Jiang Mi and her daughter looking at him with suspicion. He quickly composed himself and said to them, "Well. Here is a thousand taels of silver, in exchange for you teaching me how to grow sweet potatoes. I would also like to see how much these sweet potatoes can produce."
This was something he hadn't considered before. He originally thought that after discovering a new edible species, he could send it back to the Ministry of Agriculture to study whether it was suitable for widespread cultivation. However, to his utter surprise, there was an emperor who was holding him back.
Huo Ran couldn't help but grit his teeth whenever he thought about it.
Jiang Mi looked at the silver on the table, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded: "Okay. But this time I need silver notes."
The man had already proven that the silver he gave was genuine, so she no longer needed to doubt that the banknotes he gave her were fake.
Most importantly, too much silver is too conspicuous; converting it into banknotes makes it easier to store.
Huo Ran was stunned for a moment, then took out a silver note worth one thousand taels from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Mi.
Seeing that Jiang Mi had agreed to Huo Ran's request, Jiang's mother frowned slightly, but did not refuse again.
She originally wanted to refuse because Huo Ran's gaze towards her sweetheart was a little strange.
"We can let you learn how to grow sweet potatoes, but the problem is where you'll live. Our house is small, and we don't have room for you." Jiang's mother tidied up the silver on the table and handed it back to Huo Ran.
Huo Ran did not accept the money. Instead, he said to Jiang's mother, "Consider this money as payment for my lunch at your house. As for where I stay, please don't worry about it, Auntie. I have a place to stay in the neighboring village."
A neighboring village?
Jiang's mother's eyes flickered. She would have to find out who this person was another day.
During this time, she has to be wary of this man, and be careful that her sweetheart doesn't get seduced by him.
After all, this man is handsome, spends money like water, and has an impressive presence. Such a man is not someone her sweetheart is worthy of.
Therefore, she had to nip any inappropriate thoughts in the bud.
“Alright, let’s do it that way. We also need to cut sweet potato vines for planting, and you’ve come at the right time, so let’s go together.” Mother Jiang said, getting up to hide the silver and banknotes before getting a sickle: “Let’s go.”
Huo Ran followed Jiang Mi and her daughter to the vegetable garden, cut sweet potato seedlings, and then headed towards Woniu Mountain.
Unbeknownst to the three of them, as they walked out of the village, Yang Liu was watching them leave with a chilling gaze.
Ever since she was defeated by Jiang Mi, she has been looked down upon by the villagers, and the Wang family beats her every time they see her.
Her family, disgusted by her shame, discussed it with Zhang the Cripple and moved up her wedding date to the end of the month.
Seeing that Jiang Mi was accompanied by an extremely handsome man only fueled the growing resentment in her heart.
Why is it that Jiang Mi, a stupid, fat, and ugly woman, can win the favor of such a handsome man?
After glaring at Jiang Mi's retreating figure, she turned and headed towards the village chief's house.
When Jiang Mi brought Huo Ran to Woniu Mountain, the Jiang family members were somewhat surprised to see Huo Ran arrive.
"He's here to learn how to grow sweet potatoes," Mother Jiang explained to the Jiang family. After greeting him, the Jiang family members got to work.
After Huo Ran and the others got busy, they gathered around Jiang Mi to ask about the planting. At this time, Jiang's mother would squeeze in whenever she could and tell Huo Ran how to plant it.
While Jiang was teaching Huo Ran how to grow sweet potatoes, Yang Liu had already arrived at the village chief's house and knocked on his door.
Village Chief Yang opened the door and saw Yang Liu. A hint of urgency flashed in his eyes. He stepped aside, let Yang Liu into the yard, closed the gate, and returned to the yard. He sat on the stone bench, took a puff of his pipe, looked Yang Liu up and down, grinned at her, revealing a set of large, yellow teeth: "Have you figured it out?"
Yang Liu bit her lip in humiliation and looked at the village chief: "If you want me to submit to you, I can. But I have one condition."
“You say, not just one condition, but ten conditions are all acceptable.” As he spoke, Village Chief Yang grabbed Yang Liu and pulled her into his arms.
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