The Lucky Heiress

Wei Ruo’s carriage headed north and, when it reached near Manton Mountain north of the city, the manager there had already received instruction from Madame Yun and was waiting.

After arranging for full-time workers to replant seedlings in the vacant areas, Wei Ruo excused herself to take a neighborhood walk and consequently left in the company of Xiumei.

Wei Ruo noticed that the paddy fields were relatively weak along the way, and there were large swaths of crops that were dead.

Some paddy fields were even in worse shape than those of the Wei family.

This was not a good sign; if this trend continued, the autumn harvest would be troubling.

Her nurse had mentioned to her earlier about Xingshan County’s grain conditions this year, but she only understood how severe the situation was after witnessing it herself.

Wei Ruo then accompanied Xiumei to Xiaoyang Mountain.

The majority of the previously uncultivated land had been planted with sweet potatoes, the lush green leaves were thriving.

Even now, they would pick a batch of vine leaves to sell at the market every day.

At the price of two coins per bundle, it’s quite affordable for everyone, from well-off families to common folks.

Consequently, a cartload a day is not sufficient.

Although the price of two coins is not high, there is still some profit to be made.

For ordinary fruits and vegetables, Wei Ruo preferred small profits and quick returns, while only leaning towards high prices for “luxury goods” intended for the upper-class society.

Wei Ruo randomly picked a plot of land, opened a corner, and checked how the sweet potatoes were growing inside.

At this time, the sweet potatoes had not yet reached the ideal size and were still small, each being just a little bit larger than the size of a pinky, far from the standard harvest size. However, it was obvious that the current growth situation was good and there were no pests or diseases.

The seeds in Wei Ruo’s own fields were of excellent quality, showing superior performance in terms of disease resistance, drought tolerance and flooding tolerance. They also grew relatively faster than others. She guessed that in about a month, this batch of sweet potatoes could be fully grown.

By then, she can start selling them gradually. Part of them will be stored in the warehouse. She plans to turn the rest into dried sweet potatoes for storage, with some of the dried sweet potatoes to be sold in the fruit preserves shop.

During her trip out on the Dragon Boat Festival, Wei Ruo had taken the opportunity to inspect several fruit preserve shops, finally selecting one for cooperation intending to sell dried sweet potatoes and sweet potato chips in their shop.

For Wei Ruo, this could save her the risk of setting up a separate shop, and at the same time, it could increase her own sales volume by leveraging the existing customer traffic of the fruit preserves shop.

Wei Ruo stayed on Xiaoyang Mountain until the evening before returning to the Wei family’s Mantou Mountain.

The work of transplanting rice seedlings was nearly over. After briefly checking the situation, Wei Ruo returned home in her carriage.

By the time Wei Ruo returned to the Wei Residence, it was already past the usual dinner time.

The Wei family didn’t have dinner without her. They waited until Wei Ruo came back, and then Madame Yun informed the kitchen to serve the dinner.

After dinner, while they were sitting together drinking tea, Madame Yun asked Wei Ruo about the details of her day.

“The work you’ve been doing to transform the barren land in the south of the city is truly impressive, Ruo’er. I never expected that you could successfully cultivate crops there. I underestimated you before.” Madame Yun said with emotion.

“Hmm.” Wei Ruo made a low sound in response.

“Your decision to transplant seedlings onto Mantou Mountain has indeed greatly aided the family, Ruo’er. This year, rice seedlings in everyone’s fields have been dying off to varying degrees. Ours are actually better than most; the worst cases have lost nearly half their crops. Even though it’s still not autumn, we can already foresee the grain outlook this year. The city’s residents are filled with anxiety. The madams from a few familiar families, inclusive, can’t help but worry about this issue.”

Even for some well-off families in Xingshan County, several consecutive years of poor crop yields could be unbearable.

With so many mouths to feed, if they were to buy grain every day, who knows how much silver they would have to spend.

Besides, if everyone is short of grain, grain prices will inevitably rise. By then, even if they want to buy their own grain, it will become very difficult.

Wei Ruo sipped her tea without responding. What she was thinking now was that if she had known earlier that everyone’s seedlings were dying, she should have secretly sold the extra seedlings. She should have been able to make a lot of money.

“Tell me more about the incident at the south of the city today.” Madame Yun was keen on knowing more details from Wei Ruo.

“The seedlings are growing well. Both Father and Magistrate Qian approved. Also, a young master from the Capital City said he wanted to help, and will send someone over tomorrow.” Wei Ruo answered lightly, glossing over all the situations.

She didn’t have much choice in mentioning Chu Lan’s offer to help. Since the messenger he’s sending will report to the residence tomorrow, and given his status, Wei Mingting would certainly inform the family in advance.

“A distinguished person wants to help?” Madame Yun asked in surprise.

Wei Qingwan also looked inquisitively at Wei Ruo.

In Xingshan County nowadays, the only person whom the Wei family could potentially address as “a distinguished person” was that gentleman of the Han, who had been seen fleetingly on the street.

Although the distinguished person’s identity has never been fully disclosed, the Wei family had mostly figured it out based on the information they have received from the Capital City.

“Yes, he seemed particularly concerned about the hardships experienced by the commoners.” Wei Ruo, somewhat irritated by this man, Chu Lan, didn’t elaborate.

Wei Ruo spoke casually, but to those who listened, it was a momentous revelation.

“Hmm, that indeed should be the case. Since the distinguished person wants to help, Ruo’er, you need to be extra cautious.” Madame Yun immediately instructed Wei Ruo.

“In regards to farming, I’m already doing the best I can.” Wei Ruo replied, this wasn’t something she was doing to impress Chu Lan.

Madame Yun commented somewhat nostalgically: “I originally thought that after Wanwan and Miss Qian offended the distinguished person at Huafa Temple, it would annoy him. However, it seems that he didn’t take it to heart. In contrast, Ruo’er, your work in the south of the city has attracted his attention.”

As Madame Yun spoke, Wei Qingwan, who was sitting beside her with her head slightly bowed, quivered.

Her words felt like a slap across the face.

Moreover, the subsequent comparison with Wei Ruo made Wei Qingwan feel like she was being crushed into the ground.

However, Wei Ruo barely listened to Madame Yun’s words. To her, this distinguished person was hardly distinguished at all. She’d prefer to steer clear from him.

Wei Yilin pouted and glanced at Wei Ruo several times. However much he looked, he simply couldn’t believe that Wei Ruo could pull off such a feat.

How was it possible that Wei Ruo, could accomplish something that even Sister Wanwan couldn’t? Especially when Sister Wanwan was so much more capable than her!

Throughout the whole meal, Wei Qingwan had been lost in her thoughts.

With a heavy heart, she left Cangyun Garden.

Upon seeing her, Wei Yichen caught up to her and asked, “Wanwan, what’s wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?”

“Big brother, am I really useless?” Wei Qingwan asked softly.

“Why would you ask that, Wanwan?”