Chapter 82, Planting Watermelons
The next morning, under the leadership of Yan Zhiqiang, Daohua and Old Lady Yan set out for the newly purchased farm.
The boys, including Yan Wenxiu, had to go to school, so they couldn't go. As for Yan Yihan and the other two, they couldn't go because Madam Li had to stay behind to see a matchmaker, and the old lady couldn't take care of so many people alone.
Sun did have time, but she grew up in the countryside and was used to farm work. She had no interest in the farm at all. Instead of going to the farm, she might as well think about how to dress.
Mrs. Wu had to take care of Yan Wenhui, and a month ago she found out she was pregnant. Although she wanted to go to the farm to check on him, she was worried that the bumpy carriage would upset the fetus, so she didn't go with them.
Zhuangzi was just outside the city, and we arrived there in less than an hour.
Yan Zhiqiang first took Old Lady Yan and Daohua to the big farm.
When they arrived at the farm, Old Lady Yan followed Yan Zhiqiang to meet the tenants, while Daohua took Wang Maner to see the fields.
Around noon, Daohua returned to the village.
Seeing the sweat on Daohua's forehead, Old Lady Yan immediately called her over and wiped the sweat off her face with a handkerchief. "Although it's April now, the weather is still a bit chilly. You went out for a run, so don't catch a cold."
Daohua smiled and agreed, then said, "Grandma, I took a look and the fields on our farm are all pretty good. The soil is quite fertile."
Old Madam Yan said with amusement, "Your Third Uncle is an old hand at farming. How could he be wrong if he came to see it in person?"
Daohua quickly shook her head: "That's not what I meant. I just wanted to say that the farm chosen by Third Uncle is really good." After saying that, she smiled and gave Yan Zhiqiang a thumbs up.
Yan Zhiqiang shook his head and smiled, then sighed, "We bought this farm a little too late. I had planned to use our own grain, but unfortunately, the spring seeds have already been sown."
Rice Flower: "Grandma, Third Uncle, I just took a look and found that a lot of dry land is still empty. Didn't I save some watermelon seeds last year? Let's use those lands to plant watermelons!"
After the Yan family came to Xingzhou, they had more places to spend money. She saw Madam Li sighing at the account book several times, and also saw Pingtong taking Madam Li's dowry jewelry out, probably to pawn it.
Watermelon was a relatively rare fruit in ancient times and sold at a relatively high price. After the harvest, it could also alleviate the imbalance between income and expenditure of the Yan family. Moreover, my uncle's family had sales channels in the provincial government, so there was no need to worry about not being able to sell it.
Yan Zhiqiang hesitated: "Isn't it too late to plant now?"
Daohua: "No, we just planted it ten days late, it's okay." That batch of watermelon seeds were left over from the watermelons planted in the space, and there was absolutely no problem with the quality.
Yan Zhiqiang was undecided and looked at Old Lady Yan.
Mrs. Yan thought of the two acres of lush watermelon fields last year. She was silent for a moment and then decided, "Plant!"
Although the eldest daughter-in-law is now in charge of the Yan family, she still has a general understanding of the Yan family's financial situation. Over the years, the family has been supported by the eldest daughter-in-law's dowry.
Now that the children are growing up day by day, they need money for weddings, gifts and dowries. If I don’t find a way to save some money, it will be difficult to say for sure whether my grandchildren will get married in the future.
Seeing that the old lady had made a decision, Yan Zhiqiang didn't think about it anymore.
In his mind, he would do whatever the old lady said.
Afterwards, Old Lady Yan and her companions had lunch at the farm, and in the afternoon they went to the small farm of Daohua.
The big farm previously belonged to the Yan family, and Daohua was not in a position to make a decision, but the small farm was her own, so after moving the farm over, Daohua immediately called the head of the farm.
The head of the village is a dark-skinned man in his forties. He looks honest and simple, but from his behavior of actively reporting various situations in the village to Old Lady Yan, it can be seen that he is quite shrewd.
In particular, he was not perfunctory towards Daohua, who was only 9 years old. No matter what Daohua asked, he answered in detail.
Daohua: "Uncle Zheng, how much vacant land is there in the village now?"
The village head, Zheng Xinghe, did not dare to hide anything: "To answer my question, my lady, the tenants are very diligent. Now there are only 20 mu of land that have not been planted. But don't worry, my lady, I will tell the tenants to plant the land quickly so that they will not miss the spring plowing."
Daohua: "No, I have other uses for those 20 acres of land. Later, I will give you some watermelon seeds, and the land will be used to grow watermelons."
In ancient times, girls had to get married, and she was powerless to change this. The Yan family had too many children and too little financial resources. In order to live a better life in her husband's family in the future, she had to save more for her dowry.
Zheng Zhuangtou looked embarrassed and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Miss, watermelon is a precious commodity. Neither I nor the tenant farmers know how to grow it!"
Rice Flower: "It's okay, I know how to grow it. I'll teach you when the time comes."
Zheng Zhuangtou was shocked. He had found out clearly that the new owner of the manor was the family of the magistrate who had just taken office in Xingzhou, and the girl in front of him must be the daughter of the magistrate.
A young lady from an official family can also farm?
Zheng Zhuangtou's expression was so obvious that even Yan Zhiqiang could see his confusion. He smiled and said, "Our Yan family comes from a farming and reading background. Our children have been working with the fields since they were young and can do common farm work."
After hearing this, Zheng Zhuangtou's expression relaxed a lot. The owner of the house understood the matters in the fields and knew the hard work of tending the fields, so their lives would be a little better.
Daohua: "Uncle Zheng, I want to use the barren hills behind the village to plant medicinal herbs and fruit trees. Can you find mature fruit tree seedlings?"
Zheng Zhuangtou nodded and said, "Shunning Temple outside the city has planted many fruit trees. Every year they sell some fruit tree seedlings."
Daohua: "Go buy some saplings. I want saplings of every fruit tree. The sooner the better."
Zheng Zhuangtou looked at Old Lady Yan and Yan Zhiqiang, and seeing that neither of them spoke, he nodded in agreement.
After he left, Daohua took Old Lady Yan's arm and said, "Grandma, I've taken a look and the farm is in great shape. How about we stay here for a few days?"
Seeing that Old Lady Yan seemed about to object, Daohua immediately said, "Grandma, we have already missed the best time for spring planting. I would be worried if I didn't watch over it here. You don't want the watermelon seeds I collected with great effort to be wasted by tenants who don't know how to plant them, do you?"
Old Madam Yan was still a little hesitant: "If you don't go back, your parents will be worried."
Daohua: "What's the big deal? We have Uncle San with us. We can just send someone back to tell Mom later."
Old Mrs. Yan was so annoyed by the rice flowers that she went to check on the room in the farm. Seeing that it was clean, she nodded in agreement.
(End of this chapter)
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