Chapter 88 Glass Greenhouse
Once the Prince Zhongshun's mansion has marked what it wants, no fool has dared to try and steal it.
Piles of fruit radishes, like small mountains, were transported from E'er Village to the estate of Prince Zhongshun's Mansion.
The villagers of E'er Village wove fishing net bags with thin hemp rope, and the radishes were neatly packed into the bags, each bag weighing fifty jin.
From the outside, the juicy, fresh radishes were clearly visible and tempting, but these already belonged to the Prince Zhongshun's residence, so there was no use in being tempted!
Prince Zhongshun has made quite a splash in the capital this time.
Yuan Hongqu hasn't left Rongguo Mansion recently. As the weather gets colder, taking out too many fresh vegetables from her space would be too conspicuous.
There was a fairly large house in the original Hongqu's estate. Although the farmhouse was a courtyard house, it wasn't worth much money. When the estate was bought, the house was bought together with it.
Yuan Hongqu had been there once and found that the backyard there was quite spacious, almost the same size as the yard in her space.
After buying the radishes at Prince Zhongshun's mansion, Yuan Hongqu instructed Wu Tian to have people build a glass greenhouse in the backyard.
The greenhouse had a heated wall built of blue bricks, with pillars and beams supporting it. The roof had rows of glass windows that could be opened and closed normally. On sunny winter days, the windows could be opened to let the vegetables inside bask in the sun; on inclement days, they were closed. In the evenings, thick cotton curtains were placed over it, followed by straw curtains.
There's no way around it, glass is too expensive, and I doubt modern glass is very frost-resistant anyway, so we have to make sure we have proper insulation measures at night.
After receiving another harvest, the villagers of Yuan Hongqu's estate all clamored to kowtow to Yuan Hongqu.
Wu Tian sent several letters to the Rongguo Mansion. After the glass greenhouse was built, Yuan Hongqu went to the Tianzhuang.
The glass greenhouse was built to her exact liking.
She planned to grow some of the vegetables that couldn't be grown on a large scale in the outdoor greenhouses privately in this glass greenhouse. Once the vegetables grew, she would have Wu Tian deliver them to the Rongguo Mansion every other day.
“Master, the villagers outside have brought a lot of things over, saying they are gifts for you.” Wu Tian followed behind Yuan Hongqu, watching her plant the seeds into the prepared field. Her skill was no less than that of a farmer with many years of experience.
These seeds were naturally produced in the space. She had already treated them to promote germination. After burying them in the soil, she didn't say that 100% would survive, but 90% would.
Upon hearing Wu Tian's words, Yuan Hongqu did not turn around and continued to sow the remaining seeds in the fields.
This place is divided into many sections of varying sizes, and each section is planted with different vegetables.
Although her glass greenhouse was built a bit late, if the temperature inside is kept around 20 degrees Celsius all year round, the plants will continue to grow, and a batch of vegetables can be harvested as early as the Laba Festival.
When that time comes, she'll be even more adept at using the substitution trick.
Yuan Hongqu finished sowing all the seeds in the greenhouse before leaving.
"Wu Tian, have you found someone to look after the greenhouse?"
"Boss, I can actually manage it myself." Wu Tian felt that there was no need for the boss to find someone who was extremely knowledgeable about planting to manage the greenhouse; he could do it himself.
"You don't want to go to the shop anymore? The shop might reopen at any time."
Could it be that Wu Tian has really fallen in love with farming? He doesn't even want to be a shopkeeper anymore?
“Master, our shop doesn’t even need to open for business. Prince Zhongshun’s family comes directly to buy from us. Recently, a few other families have come to the estate. I took them to see the fields and warehouses, and there was really nothing left. Only then did they give up.”
Wu Tian felt that he was not doing a good job as a shopkeeper as the head of the estate. Not long ago, he had just received a letter to tidy up the shop and prepare to reopen. But before he could finish tidying up, he received another letter from Madam Yang, saying that there was no need to tidy up anymore, as the radishes had all been bought by Prince Zhongshun's Mansion, and he could just take the people from the manor to the estate to hand them over.
He had prepared everything perfectly, but in the end, he had no chance to use his skills at all.
Although his employer had not treated him unfairly at all, he felt guilty, thinking that what he had done was not worthy of the monthly salary and tips given by his employer.
Yuan Hongqu smiled.
“Since that’s the case, you can take charge. There’s one thing you need to remember.” Yuan Hongqu handed a piece of paper to Wu Tian, then pointed to the several potted plants in the greenhouse.
Wu Tian followed Yuan Hongqu's hand and saw that Yuan Hongqu had brought these potted flowers today and placed them on the shelf in the middle of the greenhouse as soon as they arrived.
The leaves of this flower are long and oval. Strangely, the same pot of flowers contains three colors: white, yellow, and blue.
“These pots are called pansies,” Yuan Hongqu said.
"They can control the temperature in the greenhouse. When the temperature is too cold, the leaves point downwards; when the leaves are flat, it means that the temperature in the greenhouse is not hot enough, and then the fire wall needs to be lit to increase the temperature; when the temperature in the greenhouse is just right, the pansy leaves point upwards."
"You need to keep an eye on the temperature in here. If it gets too hot, you'll feel sweating as soon as you come in. In that case, open a few more vents to let the heat out... Also, I've written down when to water, when to fertilize, and what kind of fertilizer to use. I was thinking that someone with experience would understand it immediately. Since you've taken on this task, study it carefully."
Wu Tian was completely bewildered and said with shame:
"Master, I think I should find someone to help me take care of it. I'm afraid I'm not capable enough."
Yuan Hongqu's expression, which seemed to confirm my suspicions, made Wu Tian feel even more ashamed.
"Let's go outside and take a look."
Outside the gate of the house, a number of villagers from E'er Village had gathered. These were all former farmers of Hongqu Farm.
Farmers are honest and kind; whoever feeds them is their savior.
The oldest of these farmers has never had a winter as prosperous as this.
Even if they ate as much as they wanted, they still couldn't finish all the food in the house.
No more tightening your belt to get through the winter.
Upon hearing that the head of the village had announced the arrival of their master, everyone brought over their belongings, insisting that the master accept them.
Seeing that most of the items were wild mountain products, such as dried radishes, dried gourds, and some dried vegetables, Yuan Hongqu accepted them all. On the way back in the carriage, she took the opportunity to put many of the items from her spatial storage together with these.
As soon as she stepped into Rongyue Courtyard, she heard Daiyu's coquettish complaint:
"Granny, why are you only just getting back? You went out to play without taking me with you!"
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