Zhao Xuwan exchanged sweet potatoes and potatoes with Zhao Ying for a piece of land—land that belonged to her.
She planned to use it to grow the cotton and soybeans she had long desired.
"Thank you," Zhao Xuwan expressed her gratitude to Zhao Ying, who shook his head. "It should be me thanking you. With such a high yield per mu, if this can be widely promoted, famine would no longer be a concern."
Zhao Xuwan smiled without replying. She had once held hope, thinking the King of Zhao might intervene, but later she realized that the arrogance of the nobility made it impossible for them to care about the Shuren (commoners). The Shuren, accustomed to oppression, would not dare to rebel.
After acquiring the land, the first thing she did was take her people to inspect it.
There were scattered households in the area, and Zhao Ying had assigned them all to Zhao Xuwan.
Suddenly becoming "nobility," Zhao Xuwan felt somewhat unaccustomed.
She wouldn’t exploit the Shuren like the true nobility did, but certain rules were still necessary.
"Plant diligently, and when the harvest comes next year, there will naturally be many benefits. We don’t have as many rules as the outside world, but what’s necessary cannot be omitted. There are only two types of crops, and someone will guide you. For the rest of the time, plant what you wish. We won’t take a single extra thing from you."
Yu played the "bad cop," while Yun naturally played the "good cop." The two Binu (maidservants) worked in tandem, with Zhao Xuwan standing by, borrowing their authority to assert herself.
Once the people were appeased, Zhao Xuwan strolled through the fields. The land was truly excellent—thirty mu, vast and open. Zhao Ying had intended to give more, but Zhao Xuwan politely declined. Too much land would be difficult to manage and protect, and besides, enough to sustain a family was sufficient.
After simply categorizing the land, Zhao Xuwan took out the seeds. Due to the recent improvements in the historical process, she now had 359 points. Cotton seeds cost eighty points, wheat one hundred points, and soybeans fifty points. She also bought three manuals, leaving her with 126 points after the calculation.
"Sigh," Zhao Xuwan sighed. Earning points was truly difficult. However, once everything grew, it would count as changing the historical process again. Using points to sustain points wasn’t too much of a loss—she could even earn a little more.
Comforting herself this way made her feel much better.
Zhao Xuwan didn’t tell Yiren about her transaction with Zhao Ying. She wasn’t sure why, but her instinct was to keep it a secret for now.
Since Yun and Yu had followed her, they obeyed her completely. Although the Zhufu (master of the house) was the head of the household, they served the Zhumu (mistress of the house). They naturally understood the difference between the nominal master and the true master.
Zhao Xuwan knew the two girls were clever, so she wasn’t afraid of being betrayed.
Since the weather had turned cooler, Zhao Xuwan resumed her evening walks. Previously, she had only walked indoors because the heat outside could easily cause illness, and there were no medicines here to treat it. Even Yiren hadn’t gone out during the hottest month of the year. His health had always been poor, and a casual stroll outside could make him faint.
Yiren valued his life highly, something Zhao Xuwan had always noticed.
Who doesn’t value their life? Even Zhao Xuwan was terrified. In this era where nothing was available, even a minor accident could cost her life.
Autumn was a good season—a season of harvest and also a season for tax collection.
Their household had little to pay, as Yiren had left all matters to Lu Buwei to handle.
The crops on Zhao Xuwan's plot hadn't grown yet, and on the surface, that land was still managed by Zhao Ying's family. The tax rates for the nobility differed from those for commoners, so Zhao Ying handled everything, which suited Zhao Xuwan just fine.
She only visited her precious cotton three times a day.
"What is this?" Zhao Ying often came to see Zhao Xuwan as well. For some unknown reason, she felt an inexplicable closeness to Zhao Xuwan.
"Cotton," Zhao Xuwan smiled. Her belly was large now, so she couldn't do any heavy work. As a result, she hadn't earned a single point so far. But it was all for her health and the baby, so she had to endure it.
"What kind of flower is cotton?" Zhao Ying had never seen it before, but Zhao Xuwan's expression was so full of longing that Zhao Ying began to feel the same.
A cool autumn breeze blew over them. The two lay unrestrained in the field, with a stray piece of straw that Zhao Xuwan picked up and played with. Nearby, commoners were bent over harvesting, their eyes filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.
"If only every year could be like this…"
This year's famine had starved many commoners and depleted much of the grain. Even the little that remained, as long as it could be harvested, brought happiness to the commoners.
Just before the winter snow arrived, the cotton finally bloomed. Zhao Ying was utterly stunned by the sight before her.
"So it really is cotton," she murmured to herself.
Zhao Xuwan, unable to wait any longer, carefully made her way down to the field, holding her belly. She plucked one cotton boll after another, quickly gathering a large amount.
The soybeans and wheat had been harvested a few days earlier. Some were distributed to the commoners, some to the Zhao family, and the rest belonged to Zhao Xuwan.
The cotton had taken so long to bloom that Zhao Xuwan worried it might have been planted too late. But 001 reassured her, saying these seeds were technologically enhanced and couldn't be compared to ordinary cotton. This eased some of her anxiety.
Now that the cotton had finally bloomed, she could make swaddling clothes for the baby and sanitary pads for herself. Nothing could be better.
The surrounding commoners helped harvest the cotton, and it was nearly done in less than a day. After picking a few bolls herself, Zhao Xuwan was persuaded to step aside and could only watch as others gathered the cotton.
Zhao Ying, who had never done any manual labor in her life, felt an irresistible itch at the sight of the white cotton. She joined in, picking for a long time until her back ached and her waist grew sore.
"No, you have to compensate me," she leaned against Zhao Xuwan, playfully demanding compensation.
"Alright, I'll make something for you with the cotton," Zhao Xuwan teased her.
"Really?" Zhao Ying had secretly hoped for this but hadn't dared to ask.
The yield per mu of soybeans and wheat had astonished her. Zhao Xuwan had given much to the commoners, some to the Zhao family, and even a little to her. Now, looking at the cotton, Zhao Ying longed for some but didn't dare ask. To her surprise, Zhao Xuwan offered it herself.
"But only one thing," Zhao Xuwan didn't want to disappoint Zhao Ying. "Don't be fooled by how much cotton there seems to be. When it comes to making clothes, it's pitifully little. We can expand the planting next spring and reduce the soybeans a bit."
"That's fine," Zhao Ying waved her hand. "I'm getting it for free. I won't complain."
"The baby will be born soon, right?" Zhao Ying leaned down and gently touched Zhao Xuwan's belly. "When the baby arrives, I'll send plenty of gifts."
"Then I thank you in advance," Zhao Xuwan smiled.
Lately, she had been feeling a bit anxious. With less than a month left until the birth, she felt unprepared, as if she were missing everything.
To keep herself from overthinking, she and Yiren had recently become obsessed with playing chess.
At first, it was Go, but unfortunately, Zhao Xuwan didn't understand it. Even after being taught several times, she still couldn't grasp it.
Later, she shamelessly claimed she had invented a new game called Gomoku and dragged Yiren to play it on the Go board.
Yiren had no choice—pregnant women had the final say—so he could only accompany her.
Zhao Xuwan had originally wanted to use her modern intelligence to crush Yiren, an ancient person, but it seemed ancient people weren't that foolish either. Within less than a day of learning Gomoku, Yiren successfully defeated Zhao Xuwan.
Zhao Xuwan stared blankly at the sky, feeling that she might never be able to showcase her intelligence and talent in this lifetime.
The first thing she did upon returning home was to card more cotton. Zhao Xuwan had lived with her grandparents as a child and had seen people carding cotton. By experimenting, she managed to do it in a somewhat decent manner.
However, the step of turning cotton into cloth left Zhao Xuwan utterly stumped.
Fortunately, there was a simple spinning wheel at home, mainly used for spinning hemp thread. Zhao Xuwan followed the manual and modified it, placing the carded cotton inside to start spinning thread. Yun and Yu learned alongside her so they could help Zhao Xuwan with the work in the future.
"This is quite similar to hemp thread," Yun said excitedly.
"But it's much softer than hemp thread," Yu added happily. They had never seen such a novel thing before, and it felt fresh and exciting to them.
Zhao Xuwan worked on it for over an hour, feeling dizzy and exhausted. Luckily, Yun and Yu had mostly mastered it, so Zhao Xuwan went to rest nearby.
The cold wind outside had already begun to blow, and many people were starting to prepare for winter.
Naturally, no one would go out to farm during winter, but with insufficient food and clothing, many would freeze to death.
This happened every year.
Zhao Xuwan's gaze darkened. In the previous eighteen years, every autumn, she would take her two younger siblings to search for straw, rabbits, and branches all over the mountains.
Rabbit fur could be stripped and used as warm clothing, straw could be stuffed into quilts for extra protection in winter, and branches were used for burning to keep warm. Huddled together as a family, they managed to survive one harsh winter after another.
The sound of the outer gate opening echoed—it was Yiren. He had been leaving early and returning late recently, but today he came back unusually early.
"Cough, cough, cough." Perhaps due to the strong cold air, Yiren had been coughing incessantly since winter arrived. Zhao Xuwan had invited a physician to prescribe medicine, but it could only alleviate the symptoms, not cure the root cause.
The system store did have cold medicine for sale, but each dose cost 150 points. Zhao Xuwan was also worried about childbirth expenses, so she didn't touch her points.
"Are you feeling better today?" She stood up and handed the cup in her hand to Yiren.
It contained hot ginger tea, the most effective remedy for dispelling cold.
Yiren waved his hand, signaling Zhao Xuwan not to get too close to him. He took off his outer coat at the doorway, warmed himself by the fire pit for a long time, and only then sat down beside Zhao Xuwan.
"How are you today?" Yiren habitually touched Zhao Xuwan's belly. It was the late stage of pregnancy, and the baby's movements inside were becoming more frequent.
Sometimes, a kick in the middle of the night would keep Zhao Xuwan awake until dawn.
Yiren slept lightly and could hear the slightest disturbance, so he often stayed up with Zhao Xuwan.
Needless to say, the couple's panda eyes looked perfectly symmetrical.
"Today was fine, not much fuss," Zhao Xuwan said softly.
Perhaps because his mother was going to make clothes for him, he hadn’t been fussy.
“It looks like it’s going to snow, so don’t go out,” Zhao Xuwan said. Yiren wasn’t unaware that Zhao Xuwan went out every day, but since he himself was also often outside, he didn’t have much standing to tell Zhao Xuwan what to do. However, now that the weather had turned cold and snow was on the way, if anything unexpected happened, it would be too late for regrets.
“Mm,” Zhao Xuwan replied, holding a cup of hot water and leaning back in the chair, sounding somewhat lazy. “Things are pretty much wrapped up now. Just waiting for the child to be born.”
Author’s Note: