On the day of rice harvest, Lin Wanwan reported the news to County Magistrate Gao. He had been paying close attention to these two seasons of rice and regenerated rice, and after hearing the news, he rushed over without stopping.
For several days in a row, he would come to take a look every day, just like punching in at work.
As Lin Wanwan expected, this year's rice harvest was indeed a bumper one, with the good fields yielding more than 1,200 kilograms per mu, and the second-rate fields also yielding more than 1,000 kilograms, three or four times more than in previous years. How could one not be overjoyed?
After harvesting the first season of rice, they did not dare to stop, and quickly prepared the fields and continued to plant the second season.
Lin Wanwan calculated that her rice production in the first season was about 300,000 kilograms, and she could harvest at least 500,000 to 600,000 kilograms a year. She could then slowly plant high-yield rice throughout Yun'an County, and there would be no need to worry about food shortages in the future.
After planting rice, we have to harvest other grains, such as corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and cotton. After harvesting, we have to plant the second batch. The yield should decrease, but the more we harvest, the better.
As August approaches, the autumn examination is about to begin.
Lin Wanwan arranged everything and made time to prepare things for Chen Li. She inquired about what she could bring to the examination room and quickly started to prepare.
The provincial examination lasted nine days, divided into three sessions, each lasting three days. Needless to say, there were people who caught a fever or caught a cold, and I heard that there were also people who died suddenly, which was scary.
She was afraid that Chen Li couldn't handle it, so she chose it very carefully.
Dry food and snacks needed to be broken up for inspection, so she brought less. She went to the blacksmith shop and made a small copper stove and pot so that she could cook porridge for herself. She made some spiced dried meat, Chinese sausage, beef sauce, and used peppers that were not too spicy, fearing that he would not be able to eat it, or drink too much water and keep running to the toilet. She also dried some vegetables so that she could put some in the porridge when cooking. Tea leaves, ginseng slices, lamps, candles, bedding, and rainproof oilcloths, in short, everything that could be brought was prepared.
Some students from wealthy families have already gone to the provincial capital early, and the rest are contacting ox carts and preparing to set off.
Chen Li's classmate invited him to go with them, but he declined because Lin Wanwan had already told him in advance that she would take him to the provincial capital. Chen Li didn't want to trouble her, but Lin Wanwan insisted on taking him there, so he had to agree.
They arrived in Yongcheng a day in advance and found an inn that they had booked in advance to stay in. As the autumn examination was approaching, all the inns were overcrowded. If they didn't book in advance, they would probably have nowhere to stay when they arrived, and they would either have to find someone to take them in or sleep on the street.
Since Chen Li needed to review his lessons, Lin Wanwan took them out for a walk to see the scenery of the city.
The streets and alleys here are very prosperous. There are restaurants, taverns, banks, teahouses everywhere on both sides of the street. The doors are full of green curtains. There are also many hawkers selling goods. The stalls are full of things, which are overwhelming.
The pavilions and towers were arranged in an orderly manner, and the carvings on the houses were even more exquisite. She was very confused, thinking that all the effort was spent on building houses. She didn't do any serious work at all. The agricultural development was so backward that the people couldn't have enough food, but she was very concerned about these things.
This time when she came to Yongcheng, Lin Wanwan did not bring Nan Xi and Nan Xing with her. She asked the two of them to take care of them at home. Having grown up with her, they knew how to deal with many things.
The ones who came with her were Nan Mu and Nan Mi. They were not very old, about fifteen or sixteen years old, and very lively. They came from wealthy families, could read and write, and they followed the young lady and were influenced by her, so they were not much different from her.
Lin Wanwan picked out some novel gadgets for them and strolled around the street.
As she was walking, she saw a dental shop opposite and walked in for some unknown reason. A young man immediately came up to her.
"Miss, do you want to buy a shop or a house?"
"Uh, I just want to ask about the price. If I buy a shop, how much silver would it cost?"
The waiter was stunned for a moment, then patiently replied, "It depends on how big it is. Generally, it's three or four hundred taels or more, and you can buy a decent one for five or six hundred taels."
Oh, it's so expensive! I can buy several shops in the county town with this money.
"Well, can you take me to see a few? I have nothing to do and want to go take a look."
"Okay, wait a minute, I'll get the key."
The shop assistant took her to see several shops, some in the busy downtown area and some in the streets and alleys, and the prices in all of them were extremely expensive.
"Girl, look at this shop. It's in the middle of Qingyang Street, surrounded by restaurants and eateries. It's in a great location, with three floors and several rooms in the backyard. It's very spacious."
“Then this should be quite expensive, right?”
"Only four hundred and eighty taels, the price is already very cheap."
"I've seen a few that are much smaller than this one before, and they were all over a hundred taels more expensive. How come this one is so cheap?"
The waiter looked around, muttered a few words, and said to her: "The previous owner of this restaurant was a gambler. He lost all his family fortune a few years ago and had no money to pay his debts. The gambling house used his restaurant to pay off his debts. This man was so depressed that he hanged himself in his own restaurant. Many people thought it was unlucky, and the gambling house couldn't sell it, so it had to lower the price."
Lin Wanwan nodded. She was not afraid of these things. At most, she could ask someone to perform a ritual and take it down. But wouldn’t it be a bit bad to deal with the gambling house?
"If I buy it today, do I have to go to the gambling house?"
The waiter shook his hand and said quickly, "No, no, the owner of the Duan family gambling house is easier to talk to. I'll just ask him to come over."
"Okay, I'll wait for you here."
The clerk was very happy when he heard this and immediately ran out to invite people. Lin Wanwan and the others were just wandering around the shop.
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