“These three acres of land have been plowed perfectly flat and are just waiting for the seeds to be sown.
Our entire family can’t work for nothing; you must pay us wages!”
She was highly unwilling to let the land they had already acquired be snatched away by the Second Branch.
The more Mrs.
Tian thought about it, the angrier she became.
Sitting on the ridge of the field, she wiped away a tear and clamored at Jiang Baozhen for her wages.
Since the land deed was in Jiang Baozhen’s hands, the First Branch had no choice but to concede.
Given that reality, the time and effort they had spent working the fields had to be converted into compensation paid by the Second Branch.
Shaking the land deed, Jiang Baozhen said, “You didn’t even know whose land this was before running over here to plant blindly.
Who’s to blame for that?
I haven’t even reported you for trespassing on my property, yet you have the nerve to extort me!
“If you’re not convinced, then let’s go to the government office and hash it out.”
“Forget it, just forget it.”
Chen Dazhu looked utterly defeated.
Carrying his hoe, he trudged along the field ridge toward the edge.
He paused as he passed Chen Huaiyuan, pointed at the bruise on his head, and said, “Ergou, you lied to me.
When we were young, I either worked in the fields or did odd jobs just to support your studies.
What was all my hard work for?
Wasn’t it so I could share in your glory when you made something of yourself?
Let’s not even mention that you failed at your studies.
You spent so much of my Silver, so giving me three acres of land isn’t asking too much, right?
How could you hold back on me, giving me the land but not the deed?
“I don’t think there’s any need for us brothers to interact anymore.”
Chen Huaiyuan wanted to explain, but he only opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
Mrs.
Tian dusted off her backside, stood up, and spat at Chen Huaiyuan.
“You are the most sinister one of all!
You played us just to get us to do your family’s farm work,” she cursed.
Being publicly reprimanded by Chen Dazhu and Mrs.
Tian, Chen Huaiyuan felt he had lost all face.
After the disturbance died down, the crowd dispersed.
Only Jiang Baozhen, Lin Yingxue, and their group remained in the field.
Having won a complete victory without even needing to lift a finger, Jiang Baozhen was in an excellent mood.
It had to be said, Chen Dazhu and Mrs.
Tian were truly skilled farmers; the three acres of land had been plowed so thoroughly that not a single clod of dirt remained.
“Xue’er, look at this.
This land is the most fertile in the whole village.
What should we plant this season?” Jiang Baozhen casually scooped up a handful of dirt to show Lin Yingxue its richness.
She wasn’t actually asking for the girl’s opinion; she was merely stressing over what crop would be most suitable to plant at this time of year.
Based on Lin Yingxue’s understanding of Mangshan’s geographical location and climate, this region yielded two harvests a year.
The main food crops were wheat, maize, and sorghum, while sesame, soybeans, and cotton served as the primary cash crops.
Had there been no war, the winter wheat in the fields would have already started turning green and jointing by now.
However, the current season was caught in an awkward transition, leaving few viable options for planting.
The climate was unsuitable for spring wheat.
As for sorghum, sesame, soybeans, and cotton, they couldn’t be sown until April or May.
High-yield sweet potatoes didn’t even exist as a species here yet.
This meant that these three acres of fertile land would have to sit empty during this awkward time of year.
As someone with farming and vegetable-growing carved into her very DNA, Lin Yingxue couldn’t tolerate letting a field sit idle in the spring.
She worried right alongside Jiang Baozhen.
“Mother, how about we plant maize?”
Maize was just another word for corn.
Lin Yingxue didn’t know exactly what era she was in, but she had definitely spotted corn kernels among the seeds distributed by the court.
Jiang Baozhen chuckled.
She thought, “My daughter grew up with a hunter and has never farmed before.
She doesn’t know that spring maize takes a relatively long time to mature and can’t be harvested until September.” With little grain left at home, Jiang Baozhen wanted to plant a crop with a short growth cycle—ideally, something like wheat that could be harvested in early summer without delaying the planting of summer maize.
Knowing what Jiang Baozhen was thinking, Lin Yingxue explained, “We don’t necessarily have to wait for the maize to fully mature.
Once it starts to tassel and form kernels, we can snap off the ears and sell them.
We can trade the tender maize for grain.”
Lin Yingxue did the math.
It took a minimum of eighty days, or a maximum of one hundred and twenty days, for maize to grow and form kernels.
If they sowed the seeds now, they could harvest the tender cobs in May.
After picking and selling the young maize, they could plant cotton and intercrop it with watermelons.
They would sell the watermelons in the summer, harvest the cotton in the autumn, and then plant winter wheat after the cotton was picked.
This way, the entire year would be seamlessly connected, condensing their field’s output into three harvests.
Lin Yingxue’s reasoning was perfectly logical.
While marveling at her daughter’s intelligence, Jiang Baozhen also voiced her doubts: “In times like these, who would buy green grain?”
The “green grain” Jiang Baozhen referred to meant unripe crops—such as tender maize, green Mai Sui, or young edamame.
“The world is at peace now, and the original wealthy families of Peng City have returned home,” Lin Yingxue said.
“Besides, the current Emperor is from Peng City.
How could he not look out for his hometown?
The benefits given to his hometown are entirely unique.
Mother, you know that’s exactly why we’ve been exempted from taxes for three years.
With such lenient policies in Peng City, even more wealthy people will move here.
When it comes to food, these rich folks are always chasing freshness.
In the past, they could easily buy fresh fruits and vegetables, but restoring production isn’t something that happens overnight.
Even if they want fresh produce right now, they might not be able to find it.
Come summer, we can sell our tender maize to them.”
Lin Yingxue hadn’t come up with this idea blindly.
Supplies were relatively scarce after the war, and many wealthy people couldn’t buy fresh food no matter how much money they had.
Once fresh, tender maize hit the market, it would absolutely sell out.
Furthermore, it was written in the book that Chen Tianhao had made Jiang Baozhen a massive profit by having her sell young maize.
Lin Yingxue’s suggestion reminded Jiang Baozhen of her youngest brother, Jiang Shouzheng.
Jiang Shouzheng had a quick mind.
One year before the war, he had snapped off a ridge’s worth of tender maize and sold it for a considerable sum in Peng City, claiming that the wealthy families had scrambled to buy it.
However, he only ended up selling that single ridge, because Jiang ManCang couldn’t bear to see unripe grain being plucked.
Just as Jiang Baozhen hesitated over whether to plant spring maize to sell as green grain, Chen Tianhao interjected, “Mother, don’t listen to her.
What does a silly little girl know about farming?”
Seeing Lin Yingxue speaking with such assurance made Chen Tianhao incredibly uncomfortable.
This idea was supposed to be his.
On the way to the fields, he had already figured out how to propose planting spring maize and selling tender cobs to Jiang Baozhen.
The inspiration had come from tagging along with his youngest uncle to sell young maize in Peng City before the war.
He just hadn’t gotten the chance to mention it due to the First Branch’s commotion, allowing Lin Yingxue to beat him to the punch.
Jiang Baozhen flared up in anger.
How dare a little bastard question her daughter!
“You actually have the nerve to bring up farming?
Which grain in this household was planted by you?” After firing back at Chen Tianhao, Jiang Baozhen made up her mind.
Turning to the rest of the group, she announced, “Listen to Yingxue.
We’re planting spring maize on these three acres.”
As for selling the green grain, there was no need to explain the details to everyone.
The money from the sales was going to be saved for Yingxue anyway.
All they needed to do was put in the labor before they were kicked out.
“The rest of the land is too poor.
The few of you need to properly compost and nourish the soil so we can plant other crops,” she ordered.
Time waited for no one.
Once the planting plan was finalized, the next step was to start raising the seedlings.
Jiang Baozhen didn’t trust anyone else, so she intended to handle the seedling cultivation herself.
The others wouldn’t be allowed to stay idle, either.
Chen Huaiyuan and Chen Tianhao were assigned to carry manure.
Chen Gensheng, Chen Tiansheng, Wu Qiaoqiao, and the grandsons Shitou and Tie Tou were led by Chen Chunsheng to reclaim the remaining seven acres of land.
Liu Yinhua and her two daughters, Pingping and Yangyang, would act as Jiang Baozhen’s assistants.
Huang Qiuju, being pregnant and unable to do heavy lifting, was put in charge of cooking.
As for Lin Yingxue, she didn’t have to do a thing.
Chen Huaiyuan and Chen Tianhao didn’t want to carry manure, but they didn’t dare shirk their duties.
After all, Jiang Baozhen had declared that if the work wasn’t finished, Chen Tianhao could forget about entering a private school.
Once the fieldwork was assigned, Jiang Baozhen took Lin Yingxue back home to cultivate the seedlings, conveniently making the father-and-son duo, Chen Huaiyuan and Chen Tianhao, follow them back to haul the manure.
Chen Huaiyuan’s footsteps were unsteady.
Despite him having been beaten by Mrs.
Tian and Chen Dazhu, Jiang Baozhen didn’t care in the slightest about his injuries.
In the past, during the busy farming season, Chen Huaiyuan never had to do a lick of work.
He would just sit at the edge of the fields with a book tucked under his arm, reciting poetry and writing verses to praise the beautiful pastoral scenery.
Chen Huaiyuan deeply missed his old life.
A large, swarming crowd had gathered at the village entrance, and Chen Huaiyuan’s immediate instinct was to take a detour.
He didn’t want the villagers to see his pathetic, disheveled state after getting beat up by the First Branch.
However, the path home forced him to pass right through the village entrance, leaving Chen Huaiyuan looking incredibly embarrassed.
But Chen Huaiyuan was overthinking it.
At this moment, the focus of the Jiangya Village residents was entirely on a horse-drawn carriage that had just entered the village; absolutely no one was paying him any mind.
Because the carriage was far too conspicuous, it was hard for Lin Yingxue’s gaze not to be drawn to it.
Her eyes lit up.
She was quite familiar with this part of the plot—this carriage would bring Chen Tianhao’s confidante and romantic interest, Jin Meilian.