Chapter 181: Finding a Way Out for Himself
Wen Yao suddenly felt a wave of bittersweet emotion welling up in her chest. This minor character—who, in the original book, could be considered an 18th-tier passerby and was horribly pitied after being ruined by her own biological son—had actually experienced a shift in her fate because of her arrival. She even trusted her completely now.
“Sister Qiu, you are truly wonderful.” Wen Yao sniffled. To say she wasn’t touched would be an absolute lie. Regardless of whether the original book’s settings made the people here easy to fool or not, Qiu Rongrong’s current trust and tolerance deeply moved her.
Qiu Rongrong let out a helpless laugh, her own eyes growing somewhat stinging and warm, yet she still smiled and pinched Wen Yao’s nose, chiding, “Look at how old you are, yet you’re still sniffling like a child. Let me ask you, can you really not scrounge up a bit more seed for me? This tiny amount truly isn’t enough to satisfy anything.”
Since Qiu Rongrong trusted her so implicitly, Wen Yao naturally couldn’t let the elder sister down.
“In a few days, have your men head over to this address to cart them away.” Wen Yao passed the address of the small courtyard she and Wen Xiuyi had rented in the prefectural city to Qiu Rongrong.
“I can only manage a thousand catties of each for you, Sister. I won’t be able to get any more than that,” Wen Yao stated.
A thousand catties of each. Qiu Rongrong made a brief calculation; that should be enough to plant quite a bit of land on the manor.
“Alright, then it’s a deal. I’ll wait for your news.”
“Great.”
Because she had promised Qiu Rongrong, Wen Yao couldn’t break her word. After discussing it with Wen Xiuyi, the father and daughter made another trip to the prefectural city, pulling two thousand catties of potatoes and sweet potatoes out from the space. Once they returned, they could notify Qiu Rongrong to come and fetch them.
Qiu Rongrong was also highly loyal. After carting the potatoes and sweet potatoes back to her manor, she understood the importance of putting on a complete performance, so she made a formal visit to the Wen family home.
Old Man Wen looked at Qiu Rongrong, then cast a glance at Wen Xiuyi.
“Madam Xie, were these things truly planted by Eldest because you asked him to?” Old Man Wen had originally felt that the eldest son’s household had become somewhat different, and had even harbored a few absurd thoughts. But when Qiu Rongrong declared that she was the one who had requested Eldest to plant them, Old Man Wen suddenly felt a bit bewildered.
In his daze, he also seemed to recall that when Eldest and Wen Yao brought these things back saying they wanted to plant them, they had indeed mentioned that Madam Xie had procured them.
This…
Since they belonged to someone else, now that they were grown, shouldn’t they be returned to the owner?
“Then is Madam Xie here today to… cart them away?” To say Old Man Wen wasn’t nervous would be a lie. There was a vast difference in concept between what belonged to one’s own family and what belonged to someone else.
If Qiu Rongrong stated today that she wanted to cart them all away, he would have to throw caution to the wind and beg Madam Xie to leave a few seeds behind, even if it meant humiliating his old face.
Qiu Rongrong merely offered a smile and said, “Grandpa Wen, why would I cart them away? Back when Yao’er spotted these things on the manor, had it not been for her reminder, I would have had my men cart them all off to feed the pigs. I wouldn’t even have known these things were edible. Since you were the ones who grew them, they naturally belong to you.
“My purpose in coming today is to invite you, Old Master, along with Uncle Wen, Second Uncle, and Third Uncle to come to my manor to teach our long-term laborers how to plant them. I’ve kept the seed share for myself; back then, there was truly no space left on the manor, which is why they were transported over here.”
Old Man Wen let out an “Ah,” and his mood instantly turned entirely bright and relieved.
“Ai, we were just lucky, and it’s also thanks to Eldest having read many books, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to grow them. The rest of us won’t go, as a bunch of rough fellows wouldn’t know how to teach anyone. Just let Eldest go by himself; he understands a great deal, a great deal.” Old Man Wen answered with a smile, not forgetting to shoot Wen Xiuyi a glance. “Eldest, you must teach them properly, do you hear me?”
Wen Xiuyi nodded hurriedly. “Yes, Father, I understand. I’ll go have a look in a few days.”
Old Man Wen then pulled Wen Xiuyi to the side, asking in a low voice, “Eldest, tell Father the truth. Was that fertilizer also sourced with the help of Madam Xie? You didn’t tell us before because you were afraid the villagers wouldn’t know when to be satisfied and would cause trouble for Madam Xie, right?”
Wen Xiuyi was left utterly dumbfounded.
Ah, this… The old man’s ability to find a way out for himself and invent excuses on his behalf was truly something he loved far too much.
“Ah, yes, yes, Father. You mustn’t speak of it to anyone else. It’s all thanks to Madam Xie’s assistance, otherwise our village’s yield this year would likely have been in trouble,” Wen Xiuyi also nodded with a thoroughly solemn expression.
Not far away, Qiu Rongrong arched an eyebrow and shot Wen Yao a glance.
What fertilizer? Is there another mysterious blame I’ve somehow taken on my shoulders?
Wen Yao grinned and blinked pleasingly, whispering, “I’ll share some with you later.”
“That’s more like it,” Qiu Rongrong snorted with an amused smile.
Qiu Rongrong stayed at the Wen family home for half the day. Before leaving, Lady Li shoved a basket of duck eggs into her carriage.
“These are all eggs laid by the ducks in our own duck pens, they’re incredibly fresh. Take them back to nourish the young master’s body. Big Brother mentioned that if a child eats an egg in the morning, their body will be healthy and sturdy.” Lady Li also knew that Qiu Rongrong had come specifically to inspect the harvest volume, so she was incredibly grateful to her.
With these potatoes and sweet potatoes, they would no longer have to fear going hungry during the lean seasons every year. Her parents had already promised to send two hundred斤 to her maternal home to use as seed.
Qiu Rongrong didn’t stand on ceremony with them either. She accepted the duck eggs and departed with Qiao Yan.
Only after she left did Old Man Wen thoroughly breathe a sigh of relief.
“I actually thought she had come to demand the goods, it scared the wits out of me.” Old Man Wen sat on a small stool and wiped his sweat.
Old Madam Luo cast a glance at him, then looked toward the father and daughter who were huddling together to talk. Her brows knit slightly. In truth, the things Eldest and the girl thought were entirely seamless were actually riddled with gaping loopholes.
If this item truly belonged to Qiu Rongrong’s manor, would the people on that manor not know how to plant it? Only a fool like the old man would believe it.
However, regardless of what the truth was, a family living together like this now finally looked the way a family ought to look. As for anything else, Old Madam Luo couldn’t be bothered to manage it.
“You old woman, why are you glaring at me with those wide eyes?” Old Man Wen raised his head, only to see Old Madam Luo looking at him with utter disdain.
Old Madam Luo let out a cold laugh. “Nothing. Just looking at how stupid you are.” Having spoken, she departed straight away, giving Old Man Wen no opportunity to talk back.
They had barely sent Qiu Rongrong off when Datou returned in the evening, bringing another piece of news to the Wen family household.
“Godfather and Divine Doctor Jin said it’s been a long time since they came to have a drink with Granddad. They said the clinic will close for a day tomorrow so they can come eat a meal at our house, and check on how the reclamation of our barren hill is going while they’re at it. Godfather said he’s never seen such a magical mountain spring either and wants to come take a look.”
By now, Divine Doctor Jin and Manager Qiu were practically like members of their own family. Hearing Datou’s words, Old Madam Luo and the others didn’t think much of it.
“If they want to come, let them come. It’s not the first day your godfather and Divine Doctor Jin have visited our house, why are they suddenly putting on airs and having you come back a day early specifically to let us know?” Old Madam Luo pinched her young grandson’s nose and laughed.
Datou spoke with absolute gravity: “But Godfather said he will be bringing two friends along. Because he’s bringing two friends, he’s afraid that showing up unannounced might disrupt our household, so he had me inform everyone in advance. Godfather said that this is proper etiquette.”
