Chapter 644: Reporting Back with Victory (1/2)

Due to his relationship with the Yu Family, no one in Tanggu and the capital dared to mess with him. His business operated smoothly, and with the ice making technique that the Yu Family had mastered, there was no need to worry about the freshness of the seafood. The famous restaurants in the capital had established a stable client-supplier relationship with him. In addition to fresh seafood, Zhuang Xiaomo had also opened a dry seafood store in the capital, and the business was very good.

After more than a year, Zhuang Xiaomo had made quite a lot of money. With the money he earned, he bought a small courtyard in the capital. After they got married in the future, if Xiaolian wanted to live in the capital, then they could live in the capital for a period of time. If she missed home, they could live in Tanggu for some time. Uncle Yu and Xiaolian didn’t look down on him even when he had nothing. Over the years, Uncle Yu and Auntie Yu had treated him like their son and helped him a lot. Even this seafood business was arranged by Younger Sister Xiaocao. It could be said that the current Zhuang Xiaomo wouldn’t exist without the Yu Family!

Zhuang Xiaomo remembered this gratitude deep in his heart. After they got married, he treated her twice as well, and they never got into conflicts. When they had disagreements, Zhuang Xiaomo always took Xiaolian’s opinion as the most important. Even when he monopolized the marine goods industry in the capital and its surrounding area and became an influential magnate in the capital, he still treated her in the same way.

At that time, the two most envied girls in the capital were the Yu Sisters. One married a powerful prince who no one dared to offend, while the other wedded a famous and rich merchant. The two men were loyal to the Yu Sisters and spoiled them to the skies. Both emotionally and physically, they were able to stay devoted to one person for a lifetime. This should be recounted later…

The Yu Family celebrated many happy occasions, and their business of improved varieties was becoming more and more prosperous. The seeds of high-yield wheat had been popularized in the north and gradually expanded to the central regions. There were more and more seed merchants relying on the Yu Family’s breeding farm. At the Yu Family’s farm, no matter if it was seeds for corn, potato, or winter wheat, there was no need to worry about the sales because there was excessive demand for them.

During the summer and fall harvest seasons, seed merchants lined up overnight in front of the farm, for fear that they wouldn’t be able to get the improved varieties. It should be noted that the people in the northern region only accepted the seeds from the Yu Family’s farm and the Imperial Plantation.

As soon as the improved varieties were in stock, all of them would be sold out immediately. Even if the imperial court suppressed the price of the improved varieties, seed merchants still made a considerable profit. One must grasp the opportunity to make money in their hands. So what if it took some hard work?

The Yu Family’s lives were becoming increasingly prosperous, and Xiaocao’s business grew bigger and bigger. However, even the growing numbers on the account book couldn’t suppress Xiaocao’s longing for a certain person.

It had been nearly two years since Zhu Junyang left the capital with his troops. They maintained contact during this period of time, but he wasn’t physically by her side after all. Since he appeared in Xiaocao’s life, he had never been away for such a long time. She was used to his company, his care, and his doting love. No matter how busy Xiaocao was, she still couldn’t ignore the empty feeling within her heart. It felt as if it could never be filled up, making her anxious.

In the past year or so, Xiaocao deliberately kept herself busy. She could have been a master who only ordered others to work at the Imperial Breeding Base, but from time to time, she would run over there to provide some suggestions. It caused the officials and stewards in charge of the breeding farm to think that their work ability had declined due to the overly comfortable work environment recently. In order to keep up with Miss Yu’s pace, all of the officials and tenant farms of the breeding farm worked even harder and diligently. By the time of the fall harvest, the yield went up slightly, which was a pleasant surprise.

The annual output of the high-yield winter wheat increased each year, so with fertile soil and meticulous care, an output of six to seven hundred catties per mu definitely wouldn’t be a problem. Compared to the previous two hundred catties per mu, the yield had increased two to three folds. The successful breeding of the high-yield winter wheat had benefited the people in the central regions and the northern regions. They were able to live in a time when they didn’t have to worry about food and clothing.

As a result, the officials in the southern regions couldn’t sit still anymore. They submitted a joint memorial to request the emperor send Official Yu to the south to investigate and help them improve the rice yield.

If Zhu Junyang was around, Xiaocao would have travelled to the south at public expense without any hesitation. If a certain person was free, he would accompany her on the trip and made proper arrangements for all the matters of the trip so that she didn’t have to worry about anything. She only had to enjoy the trip and sightseeing.

But, since Zhu Junyang left, she hadn’t been in the mood to attend the gatherings hosted by her good friends, let alone a long and arduous journey to the south. However, since the emperor had summoned her into the palace to discuss the matter of the high-yield rice, she couldn’t disregard the face of the biggest boss.

As a result, she opened up around ten mu of experimental rice paddies near the water source in the breeding farm to grow rice. For the selection of the rice kernels, she deliberately asked the tenant farmers to pick kernels that were full and large one by one. They had to be careful and meticulous. When preparing the paddy, they made sure to use enough farmyard manure. After sowing, they specially added a layer of plastic film to help with incubation.

This layer of plastic film had high efficiency in preserving moisture, soil, and fertility. It could increase the temperature and accelerate the growth of the rice seedlings. Of course, when cultivating the rice seedlings, she definitely wouldn’t forget to add diluted mystic-stone water to ensure that the seedlings were robust, resistant to diseases and pests, and high yielding.

As for the water in the paddy field, she also altered it a bit. Many officials of the imperial court were keeping a close eye on the experimental fields, and the emperor also attached great importance to this matter. However, Xiaocao knew that ‘one must learn to walk before one could run’. Thus, when she used her cheat, she made sure to control how much was used.