Even Fu Xuanchen didn’t cause any trouble, focusing solely on eating voraciously.
As soon as Jiang Wanwen put down her chopsticks after finishing her meal, the food on the table was completely devoured by Fu Xuanming and his two siblings.
Their actions demonstrated just how much growing teenagers could eat.
Looking at her empty plate, Jiang Wanwen had only one thought: ‘Stockpiling food can no longer be delayed.’
Seeing the three siblings slumped in their chairs, Jiang Wanwen stood up first and headed outside. “Since you’re all finished eating, let’s go! We’re going to clear that vacant plot in front of our courtyard.”
Fu Xuanming and his siblings immediately rose and followed Jiang Wanwen out.
They went straight to the weed-covered land at the courtyard entrance. Standing before the half-meter-high weeds, the three siblings were momentarily stunned.
Under their puzzled gazes, Jiang Wanwen wrapped her palms with scrap cloth prepared in advance by Ruhua, picked up the sickle that had been ready nearby, and began cutting the grass.
This sickle was one Jiang Wanwen had retrieved from the warehouse at Shengyang Suiyuan Estate and brought along in her space. There were only five in total. Don’t underestimate these five sickles—if Fu Xuanrui saw them, he would immediately have them melted down to forge weapons.
Iron was extremely scarce in this era, and finding these five sickles was considered a luxury.
Jiang Wanwen distributed one sickle to each of the three children. She first crouched down to demonstrate how to use the tool to cut grass.
After watching their mother’s demonstration, Fu Xuanming, Fu Xuanchen, and Fu Xuanzhao found it quite simple. Eagerly, the three crouched down to try it themselves.
It wasn’t particularly difficult work. After a few attempts, they quickly mastered the skill.
Ruhua used a stick to pat and beat through the grass, fearing there might be snakes or other creatures inside.
Originally, neither Ruhua nor Ruyue approved of their mistress doing this work herself, but they couldn’t dissuade her. They could only do their best to prevent the Little Masters from getting injured.
When the original servants at Zhuangzi saw their masters working the land themselves, they hurriedly joined in pulling weeds, full of trepidation.
Jiang Wanwen didn’t say anything, as many hands make light work. The sooner this land was cleared for seedlings, the better—they could still plant one crop this year if they hurried.
Fu Xuanchen initially used the sickle quite well, but eventually felt something was missing. He handed his sickle to Ruhua, drew his sword, and began slashing through the weeds with swift, powerful strokes.
Combined with Fu Xuanchen’s great strength, the efficiency increased dramatically.
Seeing this, Fu Xuanming and Fu Xuanzhao also drew their swords to try.
In the end, Fu Xuanzhao also chose to rely on brute force, hacking away with his sword tirelessly. Using the sickle, he found his legs would go numb after crouching for just a while.
Fu Xuanming, however, lacking such great strength, grew tired after hacking with his sword for a while and switched back to using the sickle.
They all went from full of energy to complete exhaustion, taking several breaks in between to drink water before continuing.
After three consecutive days of work, they finally cleared the land at the courtyard entrance. Fu Xuanming and his siblings all had blisters on their hands, and after these two days of labor, they felt sore all over.
The three of them sat inelegantly on the ridge, watching their mother direct the others at work.
Jiang Wanwen was actually aching all over as well. Although this body knew martial arts and possessed innate divine power, it had been pampered and spoiled all these years. Suddenly doing such strenuous work left her entire body in pain.
However, Jiang Wanwen cared about her dignity. In front of these three little ones, she couldn’t bring herself to show weakness.
Jiang Wanwen directed people to repeatedly turn and sun-dry the grass they had cut right in the field. After two or three days of sun-drying, she instructed them to burn the weeds on the spot.
As for why they didn’t just set fire to it directly – many of the grasses were still alive and wouldn’t catch fire.
Later, just as Jiang Wanwen was about to take the three children to till the land again, Zhong Yuancheng came by and saw them. He summoned his twenty or so subordinates, and they managed to prepare the field in just half a morning.
Fu Xuanming voluntarily joined in the work, while Fu Xuanchen was dragged along by Fu Xuanming.
Fu Xuanzhao was spared from going because Jiang Wanwen felt sorry for her.
Nevertheless, Fu Xuanzhao watched the entire process from the sidelines, which was a completely novel experience for her.
When Jiang Wanwen had people prepare the land, she intended to plant some melons, fruits, and vegetables, and cultivate rice seedlings.
But while organizing her space during her spare time recently, Jiang Wanwen discovered that among the pile of seeds Ruhua had bought in Shengyang, there were wheat seeds and a small pile of sweet potatoes.
The wheat seeds weren’t easy to take out, but as for that small pile of sweet potatoes – only about ten in total – Jiang Wanwen could easily find an excuse to take them out for planting.
Sweet potato shoots could survive even when propagated by cuttings. Just these ten potatoes’ sprouting branches would be enough to plant quite a large area.
By next year, this entire area could be planted with sweet potatoes.
However, this year Jiang Wanwen still wanted to plant a season of wheat. Although it was somewhat late, she felt it should still be manageable.
Just as Jiang Wanwen was worrying about who to send to buy wheat seeds, Ma Liu completed the tasks she had assigned and came to report.
“This humble servant pays respects to the master. Fortunately, I have not failed in my mission – I have purchased all the adjacent farmland. I bought medium-grade fields at four taels of silver per mu, and with the remaining gold, I took the liberty to purchase those two nearby mountains as well.”
After reporting, Ma Liu respectfully handed the box containing the land deeds and property deeds to Ruhua.
He was full of anxiety about having presumptuously spent the remaining gold, but he genuinely believed that buying those two mountains would mean this entire area would belong to the master, providing greater security.
If they missed this opportunity and someone else bought those two mountains later, it would be unfortunate.
Ruhua smilingly received the box and presented it to her master.
After examining the contents, Jiang Wanwen was extremely pleased, “You’ve handled this assignment very well. The purchase of these two mountains particularly suits this Wangfei’s intentions. When the time comes to distribute land to my personal guards, you’ll receive your share too.”
Ma Liu hurriedly expressed his gratitude, “Thank you, master!”
Jiang Wanwen signaled Ruhua with her eyes, and Ruhua immediately took out five taels of silver and handed them to Ma Liu, “The master rewards you for handling your assignment excellently.”
As Ma Liu was about to express thanks again, Jiang Wanwen quickly waved to indicate it wasn’t necessary, “I urgently need a batch of wheat seeds recently. Can you acquire them?”
Ma Liu hadn’t spent all these years in Cheng County for nothing – he had made all the necessary inquiries, always awaiting his master’s arrival. “This humble servant knows where to get them. How much does the master wish to purchase?”
Hearing that Ma Liu could make the purchase, Jiang Wanwen felt somewhat relieved. She could produce the gold and silver because, from the original owner’s memories, she had discovered that the original owner’s father had once mentioned a hidden chamber in the room she lived in.
On her very first day there, Jiang Wanwen had secretly entered it and taken out about a dozen chests of gold and silver.
Afterward, she brought Ruhua inside with her once more, ensuring there was a witness.
At this moment, Jiang Wanwen was in excellent spirits. With the land secured and seeds soon to be available, her tone was brimming with cheerfulness:
“Buy enough to plant on all the land outside. Although it’s a bit late now, we’ll purchase and sow them first, and then harvest whatever we can when the time comes.”