Chapter 315: A Difficult Problem
The area in front of the old lady’s workshop was packed with people every single day. Everyone wanted to come inside to see what that oil press of theirs actually looked like. Sometimes, even the workers employed at the workshop couldn’t squeeze their way inside.
On this day, Old Madam Luo truly couldn’t take it anymore. Planting her hands on her hips and standing right at the entrance, she said in a cold voice, “If anyone comes running over here to shout and holler again, disturbing the workers in my workshop while they work, from now on, no one in their family shall bring their beans to my place! If you don’t believe me, just keep standing right here and give it a try!”
The moment Old Madam Luo’s words fell, the crowd of onlookers who had gathered for the commotion began retreating in unison, stepping back until they felt they had reached a safe distance before speaking up: “Auntie Wen, aren’t we just curious to see that contraption that can squeeze oil out of beans?”
“See what? What is there to see? Isn’t it just like that?” Old Madam Luo snapped back directly.
The villagers looked at one another.
“Auntie, can oil truly be pressed out of beans?” Someone ultimately asked the doubt weighing on their mind.
Looking at the bewilderment and anticipation on each of their faces, Old Madam Luo ultimately couldn’t bring herself to maintain a cold face and drive them away. Instead, she explained, “Our family has tested it ourselves—why are you all still doubting it? How about this, you all wait a moment.”
Saying that, Old Madam Luo turned and ducked back into the workshop, went to the kitchen to fetch a small bowl, filled it with a portion of soybean oil, and stepped out. Scanning the area once, she picked out a woman whom she deemed to possess quite a decent character.
“Chunhua’s mother, come here.”
The woman called out stepped forward hurriedly, greeting her politely: “Auntie, what is it?”
Handing the soybean oil in her hand to her, Old Madam Luo said, “This is the soybean oil pressed out by our family’s oil press. Go gather some green vegetables from your field, stir-fry a plate to try, and let them see it too—so they don’t keep crowding around here all day. Is our workshop supposed to function or not?”
Chunhua’s mother showed a face of joy: “Auntie, are you really giving it to me?” This bowlful looked quite substantial; used sparingly, it would last their family for several meals. At this moment, Chunhua’s mother’s eyes were filled with gratitude.
Old Madam Luo let out a grunting “Mm,” handed the bowl to her, and said, “Be careful not to let anyone squeeze past and spill it. If anyone bumps into you and spills this oil, come tell me, and we won’t press oil for their family from now on! Oh, right—remember to return my bowl.”
Saying that, without giving the crowd another look, Old Madam Luo turned and stepped inside, shutting the main gate with a loud bang. She could only hear the noisy clamor outside urging Chunhua’s mother to hurry home and try it out.
Listening to the clamor fade into the distance, Old Madam Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Little Madam Luo smiled upon seeing her like this: “Eldest Sister, you clearly wanted to help them, yet that mouth of yours looks like it can’t wait to offend everyone.”
Little Madam Luo’s voice wasn’t quiet, and all the women working in the workshop heard it, covering their mouths one after another to laugh in secret.
Old Madam Luo grunted twice, still stubborn as ever: “I just find them noisy! So noisy that you couldn’t do your work properly!”
“Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say is right.” Little Madam Luo could only humor her elder sister.
Old Madam Luo led Little Madam Luo into the room, fetched a bucket of oil out, and said, “This is for your family. When Second Son sends you home tonight, bring it back to Lady Yue. She’s pregnant now, and I fear she might feel uncomfortable eating animal fat; eating this will be just right.”
Taking a look, Little Madam Luo saw that this bucket held at least twenty to thirty catties of oil. She didn’t refuse either, merely saying, “Just in time! Over these next couple of days, I’ll give her lighter meals. This first pregnancy is causing quite a scene—she vomits every single day, throwing up the moment she smells meat. Yet she can’t go without a single drop of grease either. Eldest Sister, deduct the money for the beans from my profit share!”
Old Madam Luo shot her a side-glance: “Deduct what? As if I’d care about those few hundred catties of beans from you.”
Saying that, Old Madam Luo added, “When you go back, mention this matter to Brother-in-law. If anyone over in Jiao Village wants to come press oil, they can come too. But make Brother-in-law step forward to speak about this matter—don’t say a word yourself.”
“Ah? Why?” Little Madam Luo froze for a moment.
With only the two sisters in the room, Old Madam Luo didn’t beat around the bush either: “This… just like with your brother-in-law, it’s a matter of face.”
Little Madam Luo understood in a flash. She was worried that with Brother-in-law Jiao at home while she earned money here with her elder sister, others might gossip behind their backs. If Brother-in-law Jiao was the one to step forward regarding the oil pressing for Jiao Village, others wouldn’t dare speak recklessly anymore.
“Sister…” Deeply moved in her heart, Little Madam Luo called out.
Old Madam Luo glared at her: “You’re a grandmother yourself now—don’t pull this routine with me! I’m only doing this because I see he’s treated you mother and children well over all these years. While you earn money outside, he manages the household well and takes care of your pregnant daughter-in-law, so I’m giving him some prestige. Otherwise, do you think I’d pay him any mind?”
As an elder sister, she would more or less harbor a bit of disdain toward her brother-in-law, feeling her own younger sister was the best person in the world. As long as her brother-in-law was lacking in the slightest, it was her brother-in-law’s fault.
On this day, the autumn sky was clear and the air crisp. Upon an order from Wen Xiuyi, the entire village began harvesting the soybeans in the fields. The Wen family mobilized their whole family’s strength to begin harvesting the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes in the fields. Every face overflowed with a satisfied, happy smile. Walking through the village, the question asked most often upon bumping into anyone was: “How many catties did your family harvest? How was the yield?”
After a few days, everything that needed harvesting was harvested. The Wen family’s storeroom was almost unable to hold all those sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Every single household among the villagers began busying themselves with drying their beans, waiting for them to dry thoroughly so they could go to the Wen household to press some oil.
The doorway to the workshop had been opened as well. Carpenter Zhang built a large, brand-new door and installed it, hanging a plaque above it that read: Wen Family Oil Mill.
The characters were penned by Qiu Zhi personally, and two lines of couplets were carved on either side of the entrance: The pressing roars like thunder, startling stars across the heavens; the oil shines like the moon, illuminating ten thousand miles of creation.
Magistrate Chen ran to the Wen household every single day, practically wishing he could live right at the Wen residence.
A few days later, the yield from Qiu Rongrong’s estate came out as well. Combined with the Wen family’s side, the yield of sweet potatoes alone reached over a hundred thousand catties, while the yield of regular potatoes was even higher, reaching two hundred and fifty to two hundred and sixty thousand catties.
Among the three new high-yield crops reported so far, corn was the only one with the smallest quantity. Yet they firmly believed that after next year, corn would become abundant as well.
Inside Wen Xiuyi’s study, everyone gathered together.
Old Man Wen and Old Madam Luo went without saying, alongside Wen Xiuyi, Qiu Zhi, Magistrate Chen, plus Wen Yao and Qiu Rongrong. Looking at the tabulated data, the expression on each person’s face was entirely distinct.
Old Madam Luo and Old Man Wen saw the hope of eating their fill; Qiu Zhi saw the future of Annan Kingdom; Wen Xiuyi saw the fruits of hard labor; Magistrate Chen saw his grand highway of promotion; Wen Yao saw a pile of processed food products; and Qiu Rongrong saw silver.
Looking at the several people keeping silent, Magistrate Chen hesitated for a moment before speaking up: “Well now… so are we going to reclaim wasteland or not?”
The several of them had gathered together today precisely to discuss this matter. There was still a vast amount of wasteland in Yunwu Town. Since His Majesty had issued an imperial decree designating Yunwu Town as the primary promotion site for the new high-yield crops, they had to properly make use of these tracts of wasteland.
However, how to utilize them became another difficult problem. If they simply mobilized the commoners to reclaim the land, to whom would the land belong once reclaimed? Would it belong to the court, or to the commoners? If they had the commoners reclaim the land themselves, how should the seeds be distributed? How much grain should be collected when harvested later on? A clear set of procedures had to be established for each of these questions today.
