Mu Yi'an had Jiang Shuyun talk to him about getting his relatives and friends to grow watermelons, as it was good for his reputation.
"Shuyun, do you mean you want to teach the tribespeople how to grow watermelons?"
"Third Grandfather, I'm not teaching the clansmen to grow watermelons. Yi'an feels that growing watermelons isn't a sure thing, and there are risks involved. I'm thinking that during the second crop, I'll share some seedlings with close relatives so everyone can try it out."
By this time, there was no idle land, so people planted a few dozen seedlings in their vegetable gardens. Whether they survived or not didn't matter much. Next year, the county magistrate would probably come knocking, and watermelons would likely be planted on a large scale.
Jiang Shuyun's words were veiled, but Third Grandfather understood: they were small and powerless, and even with the golden hen, they were powerless to protect it.
"Alright, on behalf of the clan, Third Grandfather thanks you."
"Third Grandfather, the melon seedlings are limited. Your family, my eldest grandfather's family, my parents' family, my third uncle's family, and my maternal uncles and cousins have all taken good care of us."
Third Grandfather understood that Shuyun and her husband were repaying a debt of gratitude and wanted to help their friendly relatives and friends. Indeed, everyone has their own selfish motives and their own degrees of closeness or distance.
After Jiang Shuyun finished talking with her third grandfather, she returned to the Jiang family's old house.
"Mother, what are you doing?"
"The little girl isn't feeling well, let me give her a massage."
Jiang's newborn daughter hasn't grown much lately. The baby was premature and didn't have breast milk, so she's been drinking goat milk, which has upset her stomach.
"Was it taught by Physician Wu?"
"Hmm, they say massaging it every day can help with the child's digestion. Why did you come over? Have you finished with everything at home?"
Jiang's mother knew that her second daughter-in-law was busy with the melon patch, and Shuyun would also help out. The couple were living a good life.
"I'm planning to plant a second crop of watermelons and cultivate more seedlings. I was thinking of letting relatives and friends try planting some too. So I came over to ask if anyone wants to grow some at home?"
"Shuyun, I heard you've started selling watermelons, and you must have made quite a bit of money, right?"
Sister-in-law Jiang couldn't resist coming out of the house. She had heard that the second son and his wife had sold a lot of watermelons.
"They're sold. The first batch of watermelons was a bit ripe, but they've already been transported away."
"Oh, the watermelons are ripe! You didn't even say you'd bring some over for your parents to try first. You're so filial!"
Jiang's sister-in-law was being sarcastic and unpleasant. She felt terrible, wondering how much money her second son's family had made. If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have separated the family in the first place.
"The watermelons are just ripe, why don't you hurry up and sell them to make money, and keep them for yourself? What kind of logic is that?"
Jiang's mother glared at her eldest daughter-in-law, thinking, "She's so short-sighted!"
"Mother, the first batch of watermelons is in high demand. Yi'an said that when the next batch is ripe, he will send them over for Father and Mother to eat."
Jiang Shuyun and the others were afraid that with so many people in the old house, they would spread rumors after eating watermelon, causing unnecessary trouble.
"Don't worry about eating them, save them all to sell for money. You'll need money for the imperial examinations later. We'll plant some watermelon seedlings, since the vegetable garden on the east side is empty and hasn't been planted yet."
“Okay, I’ll talk to Yi’an and we can each set aside a few dozen trees.”
Jiang Shuyun didn't want to say anything to her sister-in-law; it wasn't worth it. She got up and went home.
"Mom, what melon seedlings? Are we going to grow watermelons too?"
Sister-in-law Jiang asked anxiously, but Mother Jiang ignored her and went into the house with her granddaughter.
The matter of planting watermelons was settled, and Mu Yi'an went back to her parents' home to teach her older brother how to tell if a watermelon was ripe.
"Alright, all the ripe watermelons have been marked. Manager Zhou and his team will come to pick them up the day after tomorrow. The second batch of watermelon seedlings will be planted in July."
"Brother, could you keep an eye out for land for sale nearby? I'm planning to buy some more farmland."
Mu Yi'an thought that besides farming and doing business, she had no other talent. In the future, when she had money, she would buy land, shops, and acquire some fixed assets.
“Okay, I understand. I’ll also talk to your second brother; he has a wide network of information. As for the watermelon planting, he said he’d recommend Shuyun to the county magistrate.”
"Listen to Second Brother, we'll discuss this further later."
Mu Yi'an was going back, and Uncle Wang drove her back to Jiangjia Village.
Since the watermelons ripened, Mu Yi'an hired several more strong laborers to help look after the watermelon field. They were all close relatives of the Jiang or Wang families, chosen by his third grandfather and Wang's eldest uncle.
Mu Yi'an had been busy all day, marking the ripe watermelons in her family's melon field. This time, there were many ripe ones, probably more than 20,000, and each one weighed about seven pounds.
Mu Yi'an planted this batch of watermelons rather sparsely, without dense planting. She also didn't leave many small watermelons, just so they would grow to a sufficient weight to fetch a good price.
At dawn the next day, Mu Yi'an and her group arrived at the melon field on time. This time, there were more people helping out, with more than 20,000 watermelons. If there were fewer people, it would take too much time.
Jiang's father and elder brother, Jiang Shuwen, also came. Wang's uncles and cousins came with their sons. Third grandfather and great-grandfather also came with their sons and grandsons...
Mu Yi'an explained the procedure clearly, and everyone lined up and, under the torchlight, picked out the watermelons tied with red ribbons and cut them off.
When Manager Zhou arrived with the convoy, Mu Yi'an and her team had already cut more than 10,000 watermelons, and there were still half left to cut.
Manager Zhou had the load weighed and loaded onto the cart; the well-trained workers moved swiftly and quickly.
"Mr. Jiang, let's settle the accounts here."
Manager Zhou handed Jiang Shuyun a piece of paper. The two checked it and found that there was no mistake. There were a total of 25,000 watermelons, weighing 245,000 catties, and the total price was 7,350 taels.
Manager Zhou took out a wooden box, counted out the corresponding number, and Jiang Shuyun took it and counted it again. It was exactly the right amount, no more and no less.
"Manager Zhou, the amount is correct."
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