Chapter 228 (1/2)

Usually, before the setting sun disappeared behind the West Mountains, the Yu sisters would have already reached home. Today, the sky was already dark, but there was still no sign of them. Yu Hai couldn't sit still anymore and led a horse out of the stable. After putting the saddle on the horse, he rode it out of the village.

Halfway on the road, he ran into the three coming back from the docks. Fang Zizhen, who rode on a high steed, held a torch and led the way in front, while the sisters sat on the donkey cart in the back.

Seeing that the sisters were safe, Yu Hai was relieved and asked with concern, ”Why did you guys come back so late today?”

Xiaolian excitedly chattered, ”Father! Royal Prince Yang, who sailed to the west, has returned. He brought back a lot of things that we didn't have in the Great Ming Dynasty. He also gave Younger Sister some seeds and asked Younger Sister to help him grow them!”

The Yu Family and the Fang Family lived close by, so they usually ate dinner together. Lady Fang was close with Princess Consort Jing, so they naturally knew how much Princess Consort Jing hoped for her youngest son's safe return. When Yu Hai heard that, he nodded and said, ”It's good that he returned safely! Princess Consort Jing don't have to worry anymore! What does the young prince returning have to do with you guys coming back late? Also… the young prince gave Cao'er seeds and asked her to help him plant them? What kind of seeds? Will we be able to grow them?”

Xiaolian had glanced at Royal Prince Yang from the distance, and she was still immersed in the excitement of being able to see royalty in person. Hearing the questions, she replied, ”Royal Prince Yang brought back too many goods from the west, so the dockworkers didn't finish unloading until very late. In order to save time, they rotated to eat dinner. How would they be able to work without eating? We waited until the last batch of workers finished eating before closing our stall.”

After taking a breath, Xiaolian continued, ”Royal Prince Yang gave Younger Sister seeds that we've never seen in the Great Ming Dynasty before. The one that is s.h.i.+ny like a golden bean is called 'corn'. The round one is called 'potato', which is similar to sweet potatoes! Younger Sister can grow green vegetables that were ready two months in advance, so what else can't she grow?”

A new kind of crop that didn't exist in the Great Ming Dynasty was something that even the emperor attached great importance to. It wouldn't be a small matter if his daughter failed to grow them. Yu Hai was slightly worried and asked, ”Cao'er, what do you think? Do you think you can grow them?”

Yu Xiaocao nonchalantly said, ”Don't worry. As soon as I saw these seeds, their planting methods appeared in my mind. It's the same as the usual methods! There definitely won't be any problem! But, Father! The young prince gave me around ten mu of seeds. Our family doesn't have that much land ah!”

”Not enough land? Then buy some ah! I heard that there are several families in the village who want to sell their farmland… However, the land around our village are sandy soil, which isn't very fertile. I don't know if they would be suitable for farming these precious seeds! If we buy them in town, then the far distance would make it inconvenient to take care of…” As he spoke, Yu Hai frowned, feeling somewhat troubled.

Xiaocao thought about it and said, ”Let's first buy the land in the village and see how it is. It's best if the land is connected, or else it would be hard to take care of them. As for buying land in town, let's also ask someone to keep an eye out for it. If there's a suitable place, then let's buy it. Even if we don't farm on it ourselves, we can rent it out to others! Both of these crops are high-yielding crops, moreover, they are suitable to be grown on all sorts of land. After the autumn harvest, we can cultivate them in a large area next year!”

Hearing his younger daughter's firm tone, Yu Hai didn't hesitate anymore. She was able to do business and farm; it didn't seem like there was anything that his younger daughter couldn't do. His family had never grown watermelons before, but didn't they turn out pretty good?

The next day, Yu Hai went to find two of the families, who were selling land. He asked the village chief to be his guarantor and spent thirty-six taels to buy the two families' twelve mu of farmland. Dongshan Village mostly had barren, sandy soil, so except for cheap crops like sweet potato, there was a low harvest of other grain. As a result, the price for land was very cheap. It was already very generous of Yu Hai to pay them three taels per mu!

The two pieces of land was only separated by w.a.n.g Ergou's farmland. When w.a.n.g Ergou heard about Yu Hai buying land, he came over and grinned cheekily, ”Brother Dahai, are you expanding the cultivation of watermelons? Your family doesn't have enough land? If you need more land, my family can lend ours to you for free! But… heh heh, you have to give me priority for this year's watermelons… I need to earn more family property for my son!”

w.a.n.g Ergou's wife had given birth to a chubby son in January, which he was overjoyed about. In the past, he would go drinking and waste some money with several of his bad friends in the village. However, ever since he got a son, he had become an extremely dutiful father and stayed around his wife and child every day. He also came to the Yu Residence many times to ask for advice on how to make meals to be eaten during the postnatal confinement period. He even personally served his wife during confinement period, nurturing her to become fair and plump. Since she had plenty of breast milk, the little guy ate until his tummy was bloated every day.

Yu Xiaocao teased him, ”Why don't you also sell your family's farmland to us?!”

”No, I can't sell it!! I'm leaving this land to my son!” w.a.n.g Ergou waved his hands and firmly refused.

Yu Xiaocao continued, ”Would your son care about that mere two mu of farmland? It's better to earn more money this year, and then buy some good, fertile land for your son in the surrounding villages. If you want to farm on it yourself, then do it. If you don't want to, then rent it out and collect rent!”