Chapter 29 Cousins
Jia Lian was completely unaware that there were outsiders present. As soon as he entered the room, he aggressively approached Wang Xifeng, wanting to get to the bottom of things.
Wang Xifeng paused for a moment, then pouted.
"Hey, let me introduce you. I'm talking about her."
Jia Lian then noticed a young woman sitting on the chair next to him. Realizing that she had overheard his words, his face flushed red.
"Next time you eavesdrop, listen carefully. What's with that fierce look on your face when Sister Yuan comes to see me?" Wang Xifeng scolded lightly.
Jia Lian naturally knew of Yuan Hongqu, but he didn't know that his wife had such a good relationship with Lin Daiyu's teacher.
Jia Lian and Yuan Hongqu exchanged greetings, and Ping'er brought over tea, which eased the awkward atmosphere.
"Feng'er, what are you holding? Let me see." Jia Lian noticed that Wang Xifeng was holding a bowl full of bright red small fruits.
"Oh my, there are even things that our Second Master Lian has never seen before! Didn't you say that the Jia family has all the good things in the world, and that you are a noble family while our Wang family is a declining one?" Wang Xifeng mocked Jia Lian with a smile.
"Feng'er!" Jia Lian felt embarrassed after being ridiculed by Wang Xifeng in front of outsiders, but he couldn't vent his anger on her directly.
How could Yuan Hongqu be so tactless? While the couple were saying these things, she just sat there nonchalantly, her smile so irritating, as if she were watching a play.
Jia Lian was already somewhat displeased and immediately told them to leave.
"Thank you for visiting Feng'er, Teacher Yuan. My husband and I have some things to attend to, so we won't keep you any longer."
"What business is it between us? Go play by yourself!" Wang Xifeng raised an eyebrow, dismissive. Jia Lian's affairs were nothing! Sister Yuan was the most important!
“Sister Yuan, I’ve finished what I was doing this morning. If you have some free time now, I’d like to go with you to Rongyue Courtyard to learn calligraphy, so that we won’t get in Master Lian’s way here!” Wang Xifeng couldn’t tolerate Jia Lian’s rudeness towards Yuan Hongqu, so she immediately pulled Yuan Hongqu along to go to Rongyue Courtyard.
Yuan Hongqu was indeed a little distracted just now. Jia Lian was absolutely right; she was just watching a show.
Looking at the couple, she thought that Wang Xifeng was quite beautiful, and Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng were surprisingly well-matched. Although they were cousins, they were not actually related by blood.
Wang Xifeng was Lady Wang's niece. Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng became cousins because Lady Wang was his aunt.
Yuan Hongqu started shipping this couple without any psychological burden regarding ethical incompatibilities.
"Feng'er, if you want to learn to read, I'll teach you. You don't need to trouble Teacher Yuan at Rongyue Courtyard." Jia Lian grabbed Wang Xifeng, a strong sense of crisis rising in his heart: Feng'er's feelings for Yuan Hongqu were really extraordinary. When she was little, she was unwilling to learn to read no matter how she was asked, but now she actually wanted to learn on her own initiative?
Wang Xifeng shoved him away.
"Master Lian has become quite successful now, can he even teach me? I saw it when you were in school! The master was chasing you all the way to the school with a wooden stick, and I even went along to watch the spectacle!"
Jia Lian's face flushed red, but then Yuan Hongqu smiled and said:
"Master Lian and his wife are such a loving couple, it's truly enviable. But Madam, you're not in a hurry to learn to read today, I have another request to ask of you."
"Sister Yuan, just tell me what you need, and I'll definitely get it done for you!" Wang Xifeng didn't even know what it was, but immediately took it on.
"I want to find some green glutinous rice to use as seeds."
"This..." Wang Xifeng looked a little embarrassed when she heard this. "Sister, I don't know much about farming. Tell me where you can find this kind of rice, and I'll go find it for you."
“The Bijing rice is the kind of rice that our family uses exclusively for the old lady. It only produces about two hundred catties a year. On our estate, we only have less than two mu of land that can grow this kind of rice, and each mu only produces about a hundred catties,” Jia Lian said from the side.
"Since you know so much about this, go and get some rice seeds for Sister Yuan." Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng didn't stand on ceremony and immediately assigned the task to Jia Lian.
"It's not that I'm unwilling to search for it, it's just that this kind of rice is really tricky and quite troublesome to grow."
Jia Lian spoke of this matter with the deepest feeling. He had specifically talked to the head of the estate who was in charge of paying rent and learned that this kind of rice needed to be watched over at all times from planting to harvest.
During the rice growing season, the water in the paddy fields must always be kept at a depth of only half a foot. If it is too deep, the rice seedlings will drown; if it is too shallow, the leaves will turn yellow and the stalks will wither, resulting in a state of drought.
This rice is particularly prone to insect infestation. If one stalk gets infested, a whole stalk around it will fall over and die.
Moreover, if weeds aren't removed from the field in time, it will also die...
In short, if you're not careful enough or don't pay attention, it will kill you!
The man in the village takes better care of these two acres of land than he would his own children.
Even so, when harvest time came, although it wasn't a complete loss, the yield was far too meager!
If it weren't for the old lady's fondness for this kind of rice and the Jia family's insistence on its cultivation, the people on the estate would have long since refused to plant it.
"Those two acres of land are extremely fertile; whatever you plant there will yield a bumper harvest. Only this rice, despite being grown in the best fields, has stunted growth, and the yield is declining year after year..." Jia Lian finished speaking, glancing at Yuan Hongqu as he reminded her.
"Teacher Yuan, I advise you not to look for this seed. Can we use the rice from the Imperial Rouge Rice variety? I'll weigh out a pound for you!"
"Thank you for your trouble, Second Master Xie Lian. If we really can't find the fine rice, we won't need the others." Yuan Hongqu said, about to take her leave. She still needed to check on Xiang Tao's preparations for the dishes, as she hadn't had time to teach Wang Xifeng this morning.
"Sister Yuan, wait a moment," Wang Xifeng called out to her, then turned to Jia Lian and said.
"Second Master, others may not be able to grow this rice well, but Sister Yuan definitely can! If you can get your hands on some rice seeds, I'll bet you that Sister Yuan can definitely grow rice! Do you dare to bet?"
Jia Lian, rarely seeing Wang Xifeng so interesting, was momentarily captivated and immediately said,
"There's nothing I wouldn't dare to do; Lian Er will risk his life to accompany Madam!"
Wang Xifeng looked at Yuan Hongqu, and seeing her nod, she said:
"If Master Lian loses, he must promise me one thing; if I lose, I will relinquish the stewardship and ask Master Lian to hire someone more capable."
"You wish!" Jia Lian's expression changed. He had noticed it over the past few months: Feng'er didn't want to get involved in the family's affairs and would always bring up things like not wanting to manage the household.
He always pretended to be deaf and dumb, and was fooled.
Is this a direct and open confrontation, a complete breakdown in relations?
If Wang Xifeng wins, her condition is that she will no longer manage the household affairs, and if she accepts her loss, she must agree to it.
If Wang Xifeng loses, she will lose the power to manage the household, which suits her wishes.
Regardless of winning or losing, she got what she wanted. What kind of bet is this!
"I'm not gambling anymore. I can't find this seed. Go find whoever you want!" Jia Lian flicked his sleeves and was about to leave when Wang Xifeng grabbed him.
"Second Master Lian, let's discuss this some more. Don't rush off!"
"If you're going to bring this up, then there's no room for discussion!" Jia Lian had now come to his senses, and was both angry and annoyed.
Yuan Hongqu glanced at Wang Xifeng, not knowing what to say about her.
She's only been here a few days, and she's already heard Wang Xifeng say several times that she doesn't want to manage the household anymore.
It's a small matter if she hears about it, but what about the others?
Yuan Hongqu was genuinely worried for Wang Xifeng.
"Second Madam, please don't say things like that again. As for the bet, I think we should just forget about it."
"Sister..." Wang Xifeng said coquettishly.
"We can't just let this go. This is a situation we've already won; how can we just let it go like this..."
"What's so good about gambling? Do you want to set a bad example for your child?"
"Teacher Yuan's words are very pleasing to the ear!"
Jia Lian clapped his hands with a smile, "Just because of what Teacher Yuan said, I'm going to go find you a bunch of Bijing rice seeds!"
"Second Master Lian, if you can find some green glutinous rice, I won't ask you for these seeds for free. I'll exchange them with you. What do you say?"
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