The Lucky Heiress

“I see you’ve had no quarrels with Brother Xiaoyong recently. You must be getting bored,” Wei Ruo said with a laugh.

“Miss, you mustn’t belittle me. I don’t enjoy arguing with him, and I’d rather not see him at all. He’s a troublesome presence,” Xiumei complained.

“Aren’t you accompanying me to Four Treasure House today? If you do, you’ll definitely see Brother Xiaoyong. I wonder how long before he returns from the barracks this time,” Wei Ruo teased.

“Of course, I’ll accompany you, Miss, but not to see him. I’m there to protect you. It’s not especially peaceful outside these days, and I don’t trust leaving you alone.” Xiumei explained.

“Ok, ok, you’re doing it for me. Meimei, you always know how to take care of me!” Wei Ruo said, laughing.

Xiumei blushed a little, “I won’t argue with you, Miss. I’ll go make some snacks for our journey.”

Wei Ruo chuckles, not revealing the truth. After all, their journey to Four Treasure House is a short one and they don’t really need any snacks. In reality, the snacks were mostly likely for Brother Xiaoyong to savor in his Wuzang Temple.

###

Just after Dragon Boat Festival, the days which should have been getting hotter were, instead, met with an unexpected drop in temperature, catching everyone by surprise.

The temperature dropped drastically for several days, and there was even frost in some mountainous areas, which was very unusual for this time of the year.

Although there’s a saying in the Jiangzhe area that it’s not warm enough until Dragon Boat Festival, the temperature shouldn’t have dropped so much to cause frost.

This sudden drop in temperature led to crop disasters, and many growing crops were frozen to death.

The rice cultivated by Wei Ruo could withstand cold temperatures relatively well, so the damage wasn’t as severe as in some areas where the rice fields were completely ruined.

Those farmers who had planted Wei Ruo’s late rice were fortunate, as their losses were relatively less severe.

Wei Ruo’s farmland was also affected, losing a partial of the rice seedling she had prepared earlier.

Fortunately, before Dragon Boat Festival, all the wheat in Wei Ruo’s fields had been harvested and the land had begun a new round of renovation. So, it was unaffected by this cold wave.

After the caretaker, Yu did a headcount, he found out that the remaining seedlings were not enough for the fields left vacant after harvesting the wheat. As a result, he sent a message to Wei Ruo.

Upon receiving the letter Wei Ruo specially went to the farm to inspect the situation.

Yu sought advice from Wei Ruo about how to handle the current situation.

“Miss, what should we do now? We don’t have enough seedlings to plant. Would there still be enough time to grow new seedlings?” the manager asked, concerned.

“How much land can we plant using the remaining seedlings?” Wei Ruo asked.

“We could cover approximately 80% of the fields. The remaining 20% still needs planting.” Yu answered.

“Plant rice seedlings on 80% of the land, and leave the other 20% for later. Don’t bother preparing new seedlings, because I am planning to plant taro in a few days,” Wei Ruo said.

“Taro?” Yu looked at Wei Ruo, surprised.

“Yes, taro. I am sure you have eaten taro before,” Wei Ruo answered.

“Of course I have. There are families growing it here in Taizhou prefecture. But over the years, due to the poor climate, most people plant rice if they can, so there is less taro being cultivated,” Yu replied.

People will only consider planting a variety of fruits and vegetables or plant other crops if the rice yield is sufficient or if the land condition is unsuitable for rice planting.

Taro can indeed fill one’s stomach, but the overall output can’t keep up.

“We are planting taro,” Wei Ruo stated firmly.

“Alright, I will follow Miss’s instructions. I will instruct them to change the remaining 20% of the rice paddies into fields,” Yu responded.

“No need to change anything. We’re planting water taro, not dry taro; we need to retain water in the fields,” Wei Ruo explained.

“Water taro?” Yu’s expression turned curious.

“Yes, it’s planted in water,” Wei Ruo said.

Wei Ruo knew that the taro previously grown in Taizhou was dry taro, which was planted on dry land. The variety produced large stems and small taro, and the taste was ordinary, with no great yield.

However, the taro that Wei Ruo was about to plant was multi-headed taro: a sticky variety that tastes good and has high yield because it has big, mature taro and many young ones.

“So where do we find this type of water taro?” Yu asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Just have your men plant the rest of the seedlings for now, and keep the 20% of the rice fields for me. After the rice is planted, I will have the taro varieties delivered and then you can plant the taro.”

Compared to rice, planting taro is not so urgent.

And the taro seeds that Wei Ruo intended to give Yu were newly unlocked in her space, she still needed to grow them there for a while, and sufficient seeds needed to be stored for the 200 acres of land.

“Alright, I will arrange for that,” Yu placed complete trust in Wei Ruo, knowing that whatever decision their family made would not be wrong.

Wei Ruo didn’t stay long in the farmland as she wore no disguise today. After instructing Yu, she left.

On the way home, Xiumei asked Wei Ruo, “Miss, will leaving 20% of the rice fields unplanted affect us greatly?”

“Don’t worry, the impact on us won’t be substantial. Firstly, we had a good harvest of wheat this year, which is enough for us to eat for two years. Secondly, I am planting this taro not solely because the seedlings were frozen to death. Actually, even without the frost killing the seedlings, I was considering sparing some land to plant taro.”

“Why?” Xiumei was confused. “Taro is not as filling as rice.”

Wei Ruo explained to Xiumei: “Planting the same crop on a piece of land for a long period will lead to loss of soil fertility. Although I always have the people from the farm fertilize the land after each harvest, this practice is costly and labor-intensive.”

“Crop rotation is an excellent way to improve soil fertility. Taro and rice are two crops that can complement each other. Planting taro this year and rice next year will yield higher harvests than continuously planting rice.”

“That’s amazing!” Xiumei exclaimed with joy.

“Also, taro is very filling once grown. It can make many delicious dishes. Meimei, remember we used to make a lot of taro dishes. The taro variety used then was not very good. Wait until I grow this batch of taro, I guarantee it will taste better than before.”

“Miss, please stop talking about it. It’s almost dinner time and I’m already hungry. Speaking about taro has made my mouth water.”

###

By the time Wei Ruo returned to the Military Prefecture from the countryside, it was already time for dinner.

As soon as Wei Ruo entered the door, she was ushered by Cuiping who had been waiting for her to go to the Cangyun Garden.

Wei Ruo had a vague idea of why.

Upon entering the main house of Cangyun Garden, she saw Yunshi sitting in the Taishi Chair facing the door, looking troubled as she was talking with Li.

After Wei Ruo entered the room and stood aside for a while, Yunshi finished speaking with Li and dismissed her, and then called Wei Ruo over to her side.

“Ruoruo, I need your help with something..”