One hundred and one things to do before marriage (three)

  It wasn't until they arrived at the Zhuangzi that Jiu Si'er deeply understood the necessity of San Si'er letting the people from the mansion take a trip around the village.

  The management on Zhuangzi is indeed chaotic and dark enough!

  However, she was not worried because her stepmother Jiang Shi was a capable person and took this mission very seriously. With the help of Wen San, the chief steward who had followed Li Taijun's name to the mansion, these problems were basically solved in just one morning.

  The manager in Zhuangzi was replaced, the accountant's room was scolded by Wen Zhizhang for a good while, and the land rented by tenants was re-registered.

  A refreshing sight!

  She, who had only tidied up the accounts and dealt with some trivial matters, wasn't tired at all. So at noon, she invited Zhen Shi, who hadn't accomplished much either, to take a walk in the countryside and enjoy the rustic scenery.

  Zhen Shi naturally accepted the invitation from Jiu Jie Er.

  Actually, she wasn't very willing to go out this time.

  She thought about it and didn't go to those prosperous areas, but instead came to this desolate place outside the city, which really made her feel depressed.

  In the past, the Zou family didn't need to come in person to these places. Even if they wanted to clean up, they would only send a few capable managers.

  These fields, although one of the main sources of income for the master of the house, are at best just those barren lands that collect some rent and provide a source of food and vegetables for the household, but they don't have much future prospects like those shops that make a lot of money every day.

  But Jiang actually didn't decline or make excuses, and personally ran this errand, really a businesswoman, never seen the master of a wealthy family handle things like this, taking the words of San Jie's maid as an order.

  Alas, she's in trouble now, being chosen by the Jiang family and getting stuck with this broken engagement, and because of her past, she doesn't dare make excuses to get out of it.

  It wasn't long ago that Old Lady arranged a courtyard for her son, Shui Ge. She had been well taken care of and hadn't been shortchanged in the slightest, with four houses getting an equal share. But now that something has come up, she doesn't dare to speak up, who knows how Old Lady will scold her again?

  She came, but she wasn't helpless either. She just pretended to work with Jiu Sister to sort out the accounts and spent the whole morning doing nothing.

  Uh...

  She didn't refuse to settle accounts with him either. The masters in the mansion who could understand accounting were all highly respected, but she just couldn't do it.

  She is a member of the aristocracy, but as an illegitimate daughter, she was never taught these accounts, so she can only pretend to be knowledgeable.

  However, having been a daughter-in-law for many years, she has some status. The Jiang family is not unaware of this, so after blowing the ram's horn for half a day, she is now somewhat afraid - afraid that the old lady, who is currently favoring the Jiang family, will give her medicine when she returns, so she wants to go to the Zhuangzi and take a walk, choosing this time when everyone else is resting.

  Go take a look around, it's hard work too!

  "Tell the young lady to hurry up, I'll go ahead and wait for her on the other side of the wheat field." Zhen Shi added with a smile, trying to appear more enthusiastic.

  "Ah, okay!" Qing Tao immediately nodded and then hastily returned to report back to Jiu Jie.

  "Let's go!" Zhen Shi said to her trusted maid Qing Ju as she watched the figure of Qing Tao disappear at the door.

  Qingju immediately called out a few wives to bring water and some necessities, and then the master and servant left the door under the escort of several wives.

  The outside is warm and sunny, with the scent of unknown intoxicating flowers floating in the air. The new buds on the green trees are soft and fluffy, looking very beautiful. Far away, the shallow fields of wheat that stretch as far as the eye can see make one's heart feel expansive.

  "Beautiful, truly beautiful..." Even Lian Zhen, a person who is usually not sentimental, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

  "Wheat waves blowing in the wind, and soon it's time for the seedlings to emerge. Watching the ridges where the cicadas are chirping smoothly, pouring out silver milk......" At this moment, a clear and melodious low hum was heard from behind.

  Zhen Shi turned around and couldn't help but smile when he saw the young girl walking towards him with two maids, "Ah, our Ninth Sister is indeed talented in literature, she can recite poetry and songs effortlessly."

  "Fourth Aunt, don't laugh at me, this little bit of literary talent is nothing among sisters."

  The ninth sister wore a moon-white cloud-patterned fine silk jacket on top, and a hundred-pleated pure white skirt with scattered flowers at the bottom. With a white veil on her head, she looked refreshing, elegant, beautiful and lovely.

  When she went out, she had thought of going for a walk in the fields, so she wore this outfit. Nothing else, just thinking that this outfit was suitable for the spring scenery outside the city.

  It's a rare opportunity for her to get close to nature, so she naturally wants to cherish it!

  "Hey, that's nothing. Our little Eleven can't even be mentioned." Zhen Shi continued, not buying the humility.

  "Eleventh sister is still young, besides, eleventh sister's chess skills are unmatched in the mansion, how can it be mentioned?" Ninth sister immediately said.

  Upon hearing this, Zhen smiled and said, "This girl loves to meddle in these things, can't help it." The tone was one of complaint, but her face was full of unmistakable pride.

  "Let's go, Fourth Aunt!" Jiū Jiě naturally smiled again.

  One good word warms three winters; a kind deed is better than a thousand bitter words.

  With this little episode, the two of them naturally harmonized and walked along the wheat field, chatting happily all the way.

  "What's wrong with those fields? Why haven't they all been planted with wheat?" As she walked, Jiuniang's gaze suddenly fell on a patch of yellow-green land.

  In a sea of wheat, there are always some abrupt yellow earth appearing from time to time, which makes this boundless field look extremely inharmonious.

  Zhen looked back and shook her head slightly later, also in a daze.

  "Fourth Aunt, Ninth Girl, you don't know, actually it's not that they didn't want to plant, those fields were planted with wheat last year too, but the seedlings died when spring came, so they've been left empty." A woman on one side spoke up to explain for the two.

  "Dead?" Jiuniang was taken aback and nodded.

  She knew that those wintering wheat seedlings would always fail to survive due to disease or other factors.

  In the past, there were pesticides and various fertilizers, so the situation was naturally better. In this backward ancient times, the losses were more severe.

  It's just...

  "Why don't you plant something else? It's so empty like this." She frowned and asked.

  "It's not that either, just a few more days," it seems the old woman also understands farming, "When summer arrives, we'll directly plant dry rice together."

  In the space-time that Jiuzi crossed, both the south and north had two harvests a year. However, the south had two seasons of rice, while the north had winter wheat in the first half of the year and dryland rice in the second half.

  "What's the point of these empty days?" Jiuniang heard this and frowned again, "Aren't these empty days also a waste?"

  "Hmm..." The old woman was somewhat tongue-tied by her question, and after a moment's pause, she said, "All these tenant farmers are like this, the fields of the mansion are also like this."

  It can't be like this!

  Jiuer said to herself, then looked at Zhen Shi, "Fourth Aunt, I won't turn around, there's something I need to go back and discuss with my mother, I'll leave first." After finishing speaking, she didn't wait for Zhen Shi's response, called the two maids, turned around and walked away.

  "Uh..."

  ……

  "Red Sunset, your grip is getting better and better."

  At noon, after lunch, Jiang sat in a room arranged by the new housekeeper to rest, while Zhou Mama was on one side helping her massage her shoulders and legs. Jiang was very comfortable being served by Zhou Mama and couldn't help but softly praise her.

  "It's okay as long as the lady thinks it's good!" Zhou Mama smiled and worked even harder.

  "Lucky for you." Jiang's eyes narrowed in enjoyment, but he didn't forget to say this one sentence.

  "Where is this place, madam?" Mrs. Zhou hastily said, "What's the hardship in this? This morning I saw you busy running around, not even having a moment to yourself. I can only blame myself for not being capable enough to help share your burden."

  "Alas..." Jiang sighed after hearing this, "What can be done? I just hope it won't all be in vain."

  Indeed, as a concubine-born daughter-in-law, taking on the heavy responsibility of managing the household's major affairs in times of crisis, is naturally extremely stressful. No matter how bitter or exhausting it gets, she can only swallow her tears and worry that she won't be effective, causing the people in the household to laugh at her and disappointing the old lady.

  "Madam..." Upon hearing her words, Zhou Mama immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at her with concern, "You should also take care of your body, don't overexert yourself."

  As soon as he heard this, Jiang's slightly closed eyes immediately opened, and he shook his head, saying, "Hongxia, you don't understand..."

  "Uh..."

  "All these years, you're not unaware of how I've been living. Now that I've finally got this chance to turn things around, I naturally can't afford to hold back or be negligent."

  In this mansion, having been suppressed for so many years, now that there is finally an opportunity to show off one's skills, it is only natural to cherish it and strive to make a good showing...

  "Mother..." Just then, Jiu Jie rushed in through the door.

  "What's wrong, Ninth Sister?" Jiang and Zhou Mama were startled by her.

  "Plant sweet potatoes?" Jiang's family looked at Jiu Si'er with surprise, as if looking at a monster. "I haven't planted fields before, but I know that these sweet potatoes are harvested after autumn. If we wait until after autumn, do we still need to plant the rice?"

  "Mother, it's not... actually, this sweet potato can be harvested in summer as long as you plant it early, because... because it itself likes light and heat, uh... I learned this from my fourth brother's big pile of farming books."

  Otherwise, how can I say it? Should I say that this knowledge was brought from my previous life? She didn't want to be treated as a monster either.

  Many people know that sweet potatoes are planted in spring and harvested in autumn, but few people know that sweet potatoes have already taken shape in summer. Although the yield is slightly reduced during this season, isn't it better than wasting good land?

  To say that sweet potatoes are in no way inferior to these grains and can completely serve as a staple food.

  It just seems a bit difficult to convince Chiang...

  However, it wasn't long before Ninth Sister realized she had worried for nothing. After Jiang silently looked at her for a moment, he nodded his head and said, "Alright, you've always been a clever girl with some insight, I'll go along with you this time!"

  "Thanks, Mother!" The ninth sister was naturally delighted.

  Since it was decided that they would do it, they naturally had to put it into action. On the same day in the late afternoon, Jiang summoned everyone and arranged for this matter to be carried out.

  The people in the village naturally discussed this matter, but they didn't know that their discussions were all heard by a pair of horseback riders on one side.

  "Fourth Brother, what is your future little princess up to now? Anyway, we're not in a hurry, why don't we go in and have a cup of water?"

  The man in red clothes turned his head and smiled at the man in black clothes beside him, asking...

  ……

  Digression

  Don't worry, your wedding day is just around the corner!

  As for those farming knowledge, it's really too true, hehe...

  Sweet potatoes are good for weight loss!