The Lucky Heiress

“Meimei, contact the nanny, I have something I need her to help me buy.” Wei Ruo said enthusiastically.

Firstly, Wei Ruo needs to prepare all the necessary materials, which are sawdust, wood shavings, rice bran or wheat bran.

These are the main components of the mushroom cultivation bundle.

Among them, sawdust and wood shavings form the major part, each constituting about forty percent.

Both of these can be purchased at a low price from the carpenters in town.

The remaining rice bran and wheat bran are also not difficult to obtain, and their prices are not expensive.

The initial purchase doesn’t have to be in large quantity, wait until the practice has proven successful and feasible, before considering expansion.

The purchasing tasks should be given to the nanny, while Wei Ruo herself needs to investigate the caves in Xingshan County to see if there are any suitable for her requirements in terms of temperature and humidity.

Wei Ruo put her plan into action once she had it set.

For this trip, Wei Ruo still brought Zhang’s nanny along.

Being with Wei Ruo, Zhang’s nanny has not only increased her status, but also received many good things from Wei Ruo, especially food, benefitting greatly as a result.

Wei Ruo didn’t involve Zhang’s nanny in the other things she was doing, but she would have Zhang’s nanny help with cover, facilitating her access to the Military Prefecture.

Zhang’s nanny is quite generous, not saying much about taking advantage from Wei Ruo.

She was naturally afraid of trouble, as long as Wei Ruo didn’t create any problems, she would be too lazy to reveal Wei Ruo’s secrets to Madam Yun.

The mountains in the west area are desolate and precipitous.

If the mountains to the north of the city still have the potential to be cultivated into terraced fields, then these mountains to the west are out of the question. They are barren, precipitous and full of stones; only suitable as firewood hills, and only nearby firewood gatherers and huntsmen would visit.

The carriage couldn’t go up the mountain, so it had to stop on the nearby path. Seeing that Wei Ruo was planning to head up the mountain, Zhang’s nanny anxiously advised, “Miss, I suggest you not climb this mountain. There’s nothing valuable on it, it’s really not worth it.”

“It’s okay, I’ll just take a stroll. This mountain is rugged, who knows, there may be a lot of valuable medicinal herbs. This trip won’t be wasted,” assured Wei Ruo.

The nearby villagers didn’t recognize medicinal herbs, so Wei Ruo thought that her chances of finding medicinal herbs on these rugged mountains were quite high.

Of course, her main goal was to personally see the number, size of the caves on these mountains, and whether the temperature and humidity inside really made them natural incubators for mushroom cultivation.

Seeing this, Zhang’s nanny didn’t continue to dissuade her, she just wasn’t willing to climb the mountain herself: “Then Miss, I will wait for you down here with the carriage. This mountain is too dangerous and I can’t handle it with my old legs.”

“Yes, it’s okay, you just wait for me down there. If you’re tired, you can take a nap in the carriage.” Wei Ruo didn’t plan to take Zhang’s nanny with her up the mountain anyway, otherwise she wouldn’t know how to explain when she found the caves.

Wei Ruo and Xiumei went up the mountain together, an activity they had done many times before.

For Xiumei, as long as her young miss didn’t secretly climb the mountain alone, she was grateful.

What she was most afraid of was her young miss sneaking into the deep mountain forest alone. This always worried her to death.

Just as the two were about to climb the mountain, a group of people approached from another trail. Wei Ruo recognized them from a distance and confirmed who they were as they approached.

It was the Xie siblings.

Xie Ying also recognized Wei Ruo and accelerated her pace, jogging towards Wei Ruo.

“Ruoruo!”

“Slow down, be careful not to fall.” Wei Ruo cautioned.

Xie Jue, who was following close behind Xie Ying, echoed the same, “Yingying, did you hear? Miss Wei also said you should be careful. The path here is full of weeds, dead branches, and broken stones. It would be dangerous if you fell!” “I’m fine, you guys don’t need to worry about me.” Xie Ying didn’t think she would fall – she was agile!

Next, Xie Ying asked Wei Ruo, “Ruoruo, what brings you here?”

“I’m here to collect herbs from the nearby mountain.” Wei Ruo replied, choosing not to mention her mushroom cultivation plan to the Xie siblings yet. Hearing this, Xie Ying’s eyes lit up, “The herbal remedy you gave me last time, I gave it to my mom, and she said it worked!”

“As long as it’s helpful.” Wei Ruo said with a smile.

“So, I’ll come and pick the herbs with you this time! Once I find it, you can tell me how to use it!” Having had a successful experience the last time, Xie Ying was fully energised this time.

Hearing this, Xie Jue was confused and asked, “Little sister, what kind of medicine did you give to our mother? Is mother sick? Why does she need medicine?”

“This is a women’s issue, it’s none of your business!” Xie Ying pulled Wei Ruo aside to prevent Xie Jue from hearing their conversation.

Xie Jue was exasperated, “Little sister, our mother is my mother too, can I not be concerned about her health?”

“No!” Xie Ying refused.

Seeing that Xie Ying couldn’t be persuaded, Xie Jue turned to Wei Ruo, “Miss Wei, please tell me, is there anything wrong with my mother’s health?”

“Your mother is fine, Mr. Xie, please rest assured.” answered Wei Ruo.

Xie Ying said with a triumphant look at Xie Jue, “Brother, you might as well give up. Ruoruo and I are on the same boat.”

Xie Jue sighed helplessly, “Alright then.”

Xie Ying, holding Wei Ruo’s hand, started to walk up the mountain, chatting idly along the way.

Wei Ruo asked Xie Ying, “What brought you here, by the way?”

“Don’t you remember, we have a second house nearby. Brother and I just dropped by after visiting there and decided to stroll around the neighborhood.”

Xie Ying is restless by nature and she always feels bored staying at home.

Now that she had Xie Jue with her, she would seize every opportunity to let him bring her out.

After a short walk, Wei Ruo found some Paris Polyphylla, also known as Polygonatum.

Wei Ruo carefully picked them up like treasures.

“What’s this?” Xie Ying curiously inquired.

“This is called Paris Polyphylla, also known as Polygonatum, it’s good for treating snakebites. It’s easy to recognize – usually a stalk has seven leaves, but some have six. It’s actually quite hard to find, I didn’t expect to be so lucky today to find it on the mountain.” explained Wei Ruo.

Xie Ying diligently took note while Xie Jue listened with interest.

Xie Ying then spotted the same plant nearby and quickly called for Wei Ruo to identify it.

“Yes, this is Paris Polyphylla.”

Upon receiving Wei Ruo’s confirmation, Xie Ying carefully began to dig it up.

Once she successfully dug up the whole plant, she proudly showed it off to Xie Jue, “Brother, see how well I dug it up.”

“Yes, my sister’s plant is the most beautiful.” Xie Jue gave his unprincipled compliment.

Anything his sister did was naturally the best, there was no doubt about it.

Even if it was just simply digging up a plant, it must be more beautiful than what others have dug up.

After digging up the Polygonatum, Xie Ying ran over to examine the dry weed that Wei Ruo was picking up from the ground.

“What’s this Ruoruo? Isn’t this just some dried up wild grass? Why are you picking it?” Xie Ying asked..