Before sleep, Long Zhenting asked with a lingering sense of doubt, “Lin’er, are you certain about that rice harvest? Can one mu really produce a thousand pounds?”
Qiao Zilin gave a firm hum of affirmation.
With her knowledge, a thousand pounds per mu was no issue at all. With high-quality seeds and scientific management, some yields could go even higher. However, in this ancient setting, she didn’t dare make absolute guarantees; she would have to let nature take its course. Rice cultivation technology was the result of countless trials and improvements made over generations—things she obviously couldn’t explain to anyone here.
Sensing her answer was a bit dismissive, she organized her thoughts and added, “A high yield depends on sufficient fertilizer and an absence of pests or disasters. Also, the seedlings must be transplanted rather than directly scattered. Direct scattering reduces the yield significantly. Furthermore, people here don’t fertilize their crops, which is why their harvests are so low.”
“Transplanting? You can transplant rice seedlings?” Long Zhenting looked incredulous.
“Of course. We grow the nursery first, and once the seedlings are about ten centimeters tall, we pull them up and plant them back into the field. Then, once they take root and start growing, we apply fertilizer. Stronger plants produce more grains, and the harvest naturally increases,” Qiao Zilin answered between yawns.
Long Zhenting wanted to press further, but seeing his little wife’s exhaustion, he fell silent.
…
The next day, Qiao Zilin once again slept until the sun was high. She rose quickly and headed out; the courtyard was silent, suggesting Qing Mei had joined the men to work.
She was worried about the soaking seeds. Her books mentioned that late rice seeds needed about eight hours of soaking. It had been well over that since last night. She hurried to the utility room, carried the bucket to the well, drained the water, and inspected a handful of grain.
The seeds hadn’t reached the semi-transparent state mentioned in her guides—where the embryo is swollen and the endosperm soft enough to be crushed by hand without a “crack” sound. However, when she pinched a grain, it crushed easily. They didn’t need more soaking; they just needed to be kept moist until the sprouts appeared.
She placed the seeds into a cloth drainage bag, tied it shut, and covered it with a damp cloth to maintain humidity.
By the time she finished, the sun was scorching. Too lazy to cook from scratch, she pulled two meat buns and a carton of milk from her space for herself. Then, she retrieved another fifty large meat buns for the workers. She remembered that Long Zhenting could eat five by himself; given the heavy labor they were doing today, their appetites would be even larger.
She had instructed them to widen the water pit today and dig drainage channels to prepare the land for irrigation.
…
“Shiyu, quick, bring the bucket! There’s a huge fish here—catch it and we’ll have an extra dish tonight!” Shiyi’s excited voice echoed from the field.
Shier sounded skeptical. “Fish tastes terrible. It’s fishy and stinks of mud. You’ve eaten it before.”
Shiyi knew he was right—back when they were starving, they had caught fish, and the memory of that taste was haunting. But he had faith in his mistress. “Pah! Madam is a genius in the kitchen. I bet the fish she makes will be incredible.”
Qiao Zilin heard them from a distance and smiled. So there really are fish in that pit.
She walked over to find two Bighead Carps, about four pounds each, already in the bucket, along with several Crucian Carp. Looking at the small Crucian Carp and then at the paddy fields, an idea struck her, Rice-Flower Fish.
She wasn’t sure if it was too late in the season to start, but she wanted to try. Raising fish in the rice paddies offered double benefits—the fish ate the pests and their waste fertilized the crops.
“Haha! Got it! This one is even bigger!” Shiyi cheered.
Qiao Zilin surveyed their progress. In one morning, they had excavated a rough shape about three meters wide. It was fast for manual labor, but slow for her standards. She thought of the small excavator tucked away in her space farm… but she didn’t dare use it openly.
Maybe I should put a little sedative in their dinner tonight? she thought mischievously. Then I could bring out the excavator and finish the pond under the moonlight. She amused herself with the idea.
“Alright everyone, come up and eat something. It’s getting late,” she called out. She looked at Shiyi. “Take the fish back first. Don’t catch any more today; we can’t eat too many in one meal.”
“Madam, how are you going to cook the fish?” Shiyi asked eagerly.
“Do you want it spicy or sour-spicy?”
Thinking of the Sour Soup Chicken Gizzards they’d had before, they answered in unison: “Madam, let’s have Sauerkraut Fish!”
“Deal. Sauerkraut Fish for dinner. For lunch, we have meat buns. And leave the rest of the fish in the pit for now.”
As they sat together devouring the buns, Qiao Zilin looked at the newly built embankments. She turned to Long Zhenting. “Husband, we need to buy an ox and a plow. We need to plow the field and let it sit for a few days before we can sow the seeds.”
“Of course,” Long Zhenting agreed. “I’ll send Shiyi after we finish these buns.”
Qiao Zilin didn’t know the price of an ox here—only that in ancient times, plow oxen were protected and could not be slaughtered. She pulled out a hundred-tael silver note and handed it to Shiyi.
Shiyi waved his hands frantically. “Madam, it doesn’t cost that much! Twelve taels is enough for an ox.”
“Take it. Use the rest to go to the fabric shop. Buy four sets of clothes for each of you. Look at your rags; they’re falling apart.”
Qiao Zilin wasn’t stingy. Since they called Long Zhenting “Master,” she wouldn’t let them suffer. The men’s eyes welled with tears. “Thank you, Madam! From now on, we will follow your lead in everything!”
Ancient people are so sincere, she thought. Give them a little kindness, and they’re ready to give you their lives.
“Alright, enough with the sentiment. Eat up so you can get back to work!”
After Qiao Zilin left, Long Zhenting and the four men bent their backs and redoubled their efforts, digging into the earth with renewed speed.