After breakfast, Li Lanzhen and her group were so tired that they went to sleep.
Han Mingjiang and Shui Niu stretched a rope across the large kang (heated brick bed) in the outer room and hung a cloth curtain on it, dividing the kang into two parts.
The space left near the door was just enough for Han Mingjiang and the water buffalo to sleep in.
Inside the curtain, there was Li Lanzhen, the water buffalo mother, leading her three children, including Xiaoju.
The Shui Shan family of five were sleeping on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the inner room.
When I woke up again, I was awakened by the crying of the little one sleeping on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the inner room.
Just then, the waiter's voice came from outside the door.
"Auntie, it's time for lunch."
Li Lanzhen quickly sat up and agreed.
"Okay, we'll get up now. Thank you, Brother Er."
The waiter chuckled and said, "You're welcome, you're welcome. Can one of you come out and carry the food box?"
Our manager asked the kitchen to make pig's trotters and soybean soup for my sister-in-law.
Upon hearing this, the water buffalo mother was both happy and grateful. She got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and opened the door.
"Thank you, thank you so much, shopkeeper. And thank you too. Here, give it to me. Why don't you come in and sit for a while?"
"No, no."
Lunch was mixed rice and a large bowl of stewed tofu with pickled cabbage and cured pork.
The portions were very large, and both adults and children were very full.
After lunch, Water Buffalo's mother, along with Water Buffalo, Han Mingjiang, and Xiaoju, cleaned up the dishes and followed the waiter to the restaurant.
They said they wanted to find work. They had eaten so much food and lived so well, they felt uneasy if they didn't work.
Li Lanzhen took the opportunity of going to the restroom to enter the space.
She felt that since she had come to Youzhou and was staying at the Sifang Restaurant, she should tell Silver Fox.
She also wanted to ask Silver Fox if he would like to come out and meet the shopkeeper.
Li Lanzhen entered the space and went directly to the outside of the thatched shed next to the medicinal field.
Upon seeing Silver Fox, the two spoke in unison.
"Auntie, you've arrived. I want to go to Youzhou City to find Manager Hua of Sifang Restaurant."
"Silver Fox, I'm currently at the Sifang Restaurant in Youzhou City. Would you like to go out and see Manager Hua?"
They both laughed after they finished speaking.
Silver Fox asked Li Lanzhen, "Auntie, what brings you here?"
Li Lanzhen then gave him a brief account of what had happened between her and Han Mingjiang.
Silver Fox was also quite moved, thinking to himself that whenever Aunt Lanzhen went out, she would encounter many strange people and things.
But she was always kind enough to help the weak.
Silver Fox looked at Li Lanzhen and smiled.
"Regarding the waterway issue, you can talk directly with Manager Hua. Once you've agreed on how to open up the waterway, then hand it over to him."
Moreover, he can just pick up the goods directly from Peach Blossom Spring, so you don't have to deliver them here.
"Don't worry, Auntie, Manager Hua is very reliable, and his men are also very reliable."
As he spoke, he glanced at Li Lanzhen.
"Hua Zixi was my father's attendant. They grew up together and had a deep bond."
Later, my father was hunted down by the imperial court. After the two of them escaped, they got separated.
He searched for my father for over ten years but couldn't find him.
He manages all of our family's businesses.
After my sister's accident, her dowry shop and all of my brother-in-law's businesses were taken over by the Empress's stepbrother and stepmother.
Recently, Manager Hua finally got my sister's dowry shop back from them.
Li Lanzhen nodded. "I see. It's a master's good fortune to have such a loyal servant."
"I understand. I'll talk to him in detail later."
"You want to go out? Then I'll take you out."
Silver Fox said not now, but to take me out after dark.
Li Lanzhen agreed.
"I've been eating and sleeping here with this group of people. I'll prepare a dozen or so baskets of vegetables later, and you can take them to him as well. As for how they were transported here, you can explain that yourself."
Seeing Li Lanzhen's hands-off attitude, Silver Fox shook his head and curled the corners of his mouth.
"Okay, Auntie, it's only right that you bring a lot of people and let them eat and stay at Sifang Restaurant. You don't need to feel guilty."
Silver Fox poured Li Lanzhen a bowl of tea.
"Auntie, sit down and have some tea."
Auntie, I want to ask you something. The other day you told me in a hurry that you went to the Youzhou City government office and asked the clerk about the government's resettlement of refugees.
What are your thoughts?
Li Lanzhen took a sip of tea, smacked her lips, and felt that the tea leaves were very fragrant and had a long aftertaste.
It must have been brought out of the palace by the silver fox.
Silver Fox watched as the man finished his tea, sipped it, and savored it. He smiled and said, "This tea was brought from the palace. It was given to me by the Emperor and Empress."
They've prepared some for you too. Would you like to take it now or go back to Peach Blossom Spring to get it?
Li Lanzhen smiled and said, "Let's talk about it when we get home."
Then she told Silver Fox that she wanted to buy the Peach Blossom Spring canyon and grow wheat, rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn there.
She wanted to increase grain production so that more people could have enough to eat and no longer have to leave their homes, become displaced, or be separated from their families.
"Silver Fox, we've seen it. The land in the Peach Blossom Spring canyon is fertile and very suitable for growing grains and vegetables."
The reasons for wanting to buy it are twofold: one is to increase grain production, and the other is to cultivate some grain and vegetable seeds.
"To enable more people to eat a wider variety of fresh vegetables, and most importantly, to have enough to eat."
Silver Fox asked, "Auntie, are the yields of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn really as high as you say?"
"Yes, that's right. When we first arrived in Peach Blossom Spring, we planted a batch of sweet potatoes and potatoes, and the yield per mu reached more than 5,000 jin."
If the land is barren, the yield may be slightly reduced. However, if the people all have land, or cultivate a field in a remote corner at the foot of the mountain, they can still have enough to eat.
Furthermore, sweet potatoes and potatoes can be further processed, for example, into sweet potato and potato noodles. These noodles are dry, making them very convenient to transport and store.
Sweet potato and potato noodles are similar to noodles, filling, easy to store, and convenient to eat.
“We now have corn in our Le Dynasty, but the yield is very low,” Silver Fox said.
"Yes, I know. It's true that the current corn varieties may not be very good, resulting in low yields. As you can see from this densely populated area, I'm constantly working to improve the corn varieties here, hoping to increase corn production."
If the corn is successfully planted in Peach Blossom Spring next spring and the yield per acre is higher than it is now, then we can promote the corn seeds further.
When Yinhe heard Li Lanzhen's words, she was shocked as if a hurricane had swept through her heart!
Blood boiling!
If that's the case, what do the Empress and the Emperor have to worry about!
"Silver Fox, there's something else I want to tell you."
Do you know that in our Peach Blossom Spring, there are eleven children that I brought from a small mountain village south of Peach Blossom Spring?
That mountain village was called Lishu Village. The entire village was massacred by someone, leaving only these 11 children.
At the time, I was worried that these children would be hunted down by those people in the village, and I was also afraid that they would have no food and no sustenance. With winter coming soon, I brought them to Peach Blossom Spring.
Moreover, it was Shanxing who brought us to Peach Blossom Spring.
Upon hearing this, Silver Fox understood what Li Lanzhen meant.
"Auntie, do you mean this village doesn't want other random people to come in, and these children want to go back to Pear Tree Village, right?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com