Chapter 153: The Ducks Are Here, So Many Quacking Ducks
A few days later, Wang Yong and Wang Yuan came over again. This time, the two brothers had grown wiser; instead of seeking out Old Man Wen and Old Madam Luo, they tracked down Wen Xiuyi and informed him about the situation in hushed, private tones.
As it turned out, they had spotted someone sneaking into the fields again at night to steal the seedlings. With the flashlights in hand this time, the two of them had flashed the bright beams straight into the field, scaring the prowler away instantly.
“Did you see who it was?” Wen Xiuyi asked.
“He looked like Er Mazi from the village,” Wang Yong replied. “Even with the light, he was pretty far away, so we couldn’t make out his face entirely, but his build and stature looked just like him.”
Wen Xiuyi’s brow furrowed tightly. He knew this person—a notorious village loafer who spent his days pulling petty, underhanded stunts like stealing chickens and dogs.
However, since they hadn’t caught him red-handed, Wen Xiuyi couldn’t very well go and confront the man based purely on a silhouette the brothers hadn’t seen clearly.
Sigh. Not having surveillance cameras really was a massive pain in the neck.
“It’s fine. Keep a tight watch for a while longer. Things will be better in another two months,” Wen Xiuyi sighed. After debating the matter back and forth, he decided not to tell Old Man Wen and Old Madam Luo, lest the elderly couple get worked up and fall ill from anger.
Meanwhile, the pond was finally filled to the brim. Not only that, but the duck coop beside it had also been completed. Wen Yao sent word to Qiu Rongrong, and within a day, the manor dispatched a convoy to deliver the ducklings—a whopping two hundred of them.
“My lady said that she will send another two hundred ducklings over in ten days. Miss Yaoyao, do you think that’s enough? If it’s not, I’ll figure out a way to procure more.” The speaker was a manager from Qiu Rongrong’s manor. Over this past period, they had done nothing but busy themselves with ducks, traveling to all the neighboring towns and counties. They had even sent word to the main household, requesting that a separate manor be set aside exclusively for raising ducks.
Truth be told, with so many ducks, he was still worried they wouldn’t have enough to meet demand. Nowadays, business at the roast duck restaurant was even better than at Zui Xian Tower. People were even traveling from other regions just to get a single bite of the roast duck.
Wen Yao looked over at the duck coop, where Old Madam Luo and the others were radiant with smiles. The ground was filled with quacking, downy little ducklings, looking so small and fluffy that they brought an instant wave of joy to anyone watching.
“Please extend my thanks to Sister Qiu. Our duck coop isn’t that large, so it can only hold five to six hundred ducks at most. It will be plenty if you could just help us secure another four hundred, Uncle. Once this first batch grows up, we’ll be able to hatch our own ducklings.” Wen Yao said.
The manager nodded. The mistress had instructed him to defer entirely to Miss Yaoyao’s wishes, so whatever Miss Yaoyao said, went.
“Then this servant shall take his leave.” The manager bowed respectfully and departed with the convoy that had delivered the ducklings.
Only then did Wen Yao walk toward the duck coop. Seeing her second and third aunt scrambling about in a frantic rush, with Tie Niu’s mother helping out at their side amidst a literal sea of ducks, Wen Yao silently pulled back the foot she had just lifted. Standing outside the coop, she called out:
“Grandma, Grandma…”
Old Madam Luo was also getting a splitting headache from all the noisy quacking. When she finally managed to catch Wen Yao’s voice calling her, she hurried out immediately.
“My ears are practically going deaf,” Old Madam Luo grumbled as she walked over.
Overhearing this, Third Aunt Li smiled so widely her teeth showed. “Mother, it’s not noisy at all! These are all cold, hard cash! A single duck can fetch a hundred wen once it’s grown. These two hundred ducks mean twenty taels of silver! Even after splitting it with Eldest Brother’s house, we’ll still get four taels in our hands. And Yaoyao said there will be more ducklings coming later.”
Aside from the ducklings, there were also duck eggs. Yaoyao had mentioned she would teach them how to make something called century eggs and salted duck eggs, which sounded delicious and bound to fetch a handsome price.
The mere thought made Lady Li ecstatic. She had never been this happy in her entire life, so how could she possibly find these little golden nuggets noisy?
Old Madam Luo waved her hand dismissively. “If you don’t find it noisy, keep tossing them around. My ears can’t take it. Yaoyao, let’s go.” Old Madam Luo tucked Wen Yao’s arm securely under her own and pulled her away.
Lady Li and Lady Cai watched them walk away with smiles, while Tie Niu’s mother looked on with immense envy from the side.
“Madame Wen is truly a wonderful person. Your family has finally seen the clouds part to reveal the sun.” Raising so many ducks meant that their life ahead would only get better and better.
Lady Li smoothed back her hair, not caring at all that her hands were soiled with duck down. She smiled and chimed in, “Ah, it’s the same for your family. My mother said that your ducks can be sold right along with ours when the time comes.”
Deeply grateful, Tie Niu’s mother nodded repeatedly. “That goes without saying! Since Madame Wen is giving me this opportunity, I will definitely work hard alongside you all.”
To be frank, Tie Niu’s mother was genuinely thrilled. Back when the Wen family was working the fields—whether it was making compost or turning the soil—her family had followed their lead. Now, hearing her husband say that the crops in their fields were growing significantly better than in previous years, how could she not be ecstatic?
She had firmly made up her mind to follow the Wen family’s lead implicitly from now on, doing whatever they asked her to do.
With that thought, Tie Niu’s mother put even more muscle into her work.
Since it would take a fair amount of time to get so many ducks settled in, Old Madam Luo strolled around with Wen Yao and ended up visiting Wen Xiuyi’s precious darlings.
By now, the seedlings in the field had grown nearly knee-high, and some were even blooming with tiny flowers. There was also a crop that looked somewhat like bamboo but wasn’t; Wen Xiuyi insisted that it was the greatest treasure of them all, but Old Madam Luo truly couldn’t see anything extraordinary about it right now.
“What on earth are these things? Your dad comes to look at them all day long, as if three times a day isn’t enough,” Old Madam Luo asked Wen Yao curiously.
Seeing that the potatoes had begun to flower, Wen Yao squatted down and began digging into the soil with her hands. It had been over a month since they were planted—could they have started growing baby potatoes already?
Seeing her clawing at the dirt, Old Madam Luo asked, “What are you doing? Is there something buried in the field?”
“A treasure,” Wen Yao replied, digging away without lifting her head.
Old Madam Luo pulled her up and brushed the dirt off her hands. “Digging with your bare hands? Do you not want your fingers anymore? I’ll have your Uncle Yong bring a hoe over to dig it up for you in a minute.”
Old Madam Luo looked around to spot the brothers after she spoke.
Wen Yao pulled away from her grip and squatted right back down to dig with her hands, saying, “Grandma, it’s fine. I just want to see if they’ve grown yet.”
Just as the words left her mouth, her fingers brushed against something firm. Clearing away the top layer of dirt, she indeed saw a round, plump little potato resting in the soil.
Wen Yao’s face lit up with joy. “Grandma, they grew! Look, they really grew!” It didn’t look small either, already about the size of Datou’s little fist.
She wanted to eat it so badly!
Wen Yao swallowed her saliva, kept digging, and unearthed the small potato entirely.
Wiping the dirt clean from its surface, she held it in her palm and inspected it thoroughly, her eyes sparkling with delight.
Thank goodness. Thank goodness she had purchased an early-maturing variety to use as seed back then, which was why they could see baby potatoes this quickly.
“What is this? This thing is edible? This is it?” Filled with curiosity, Old Madam Luo took it and examined it intently, truly unable to see anything special about it.
“Grandma, wait for me! I’m going to ask Uncle Yong for a small hand rake!” Leaving Old Madam Luo behind, Wen Yao bolted off instantly, running as if she had a wild beast snapping at her heels.
“Slow down!” Old Madam Luo called out, her voice a mix of helplessness and affection, before turning back to turn the potato over in her hands.
