The Lucky Heiress

After completing soil improvement, Wei Ruo instructed Zhang Mama, Agui, and Xiaoba to level the land, then hold water.

Once the land was prepared, Wei Ruo came to the southern wasteland again, this time bringing a large bag of rice seeds.

When Wei Ruo handed over the bag of rice seeds to Zhang Mama, instructing her, Agui, and Xiaoba to sow them, Zhang Mama showed a hesitant expression, deliberating a while before trying to persuade Wei Ruo again:

“Miss, allow an old servant to speak out of turn. Is it really possible to plant rice at this time? Shouldn’t we switch to other crops? As long as they can survive, other crops will suffice too.”

“We will plant this. Rest assured, these are late rice seeds that I brought back from Huzhou Prefecture. People over there have already planted them. Planting at this time is just right, they will grow,” Wei Ruo replied with conviction and confidence.

“Really? There’s such a variety of grain?” Zhang Mama asked in surprise.

“It’s true. However, for now, don’t spread the news, just plant the seeds. Once the seedlings are well-grown, reporting it then will be more persuasive.”

Had this happened in the past, Zhang Mama would certainly not have believed it. But the situation was different now. She had gained some amount of trust in Wei Ruo, although she still felt that their young miss’s ideas were too fanciful. Even old farmers who’d been planting for a lifetime wouldn’t agree to her ideas.

Agui and Xiaoba, on the other hand, didn’t think too much about it.

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Agui said, “If the young miss says it’ll work, then it’ll work. We listen to the young miss!”

Xiaoba also chimed in, “Yes, whatever the young miss tells us to plant, we’ll plant!”

Nothing else mattered as long as their young miss treated them well, provided them with delicious food, and ensured they and their families were well-fed. They thought it right to follow their young miss’s orders!

Wei Ruo instructed the two, “You both should learn and remember well. After this piece of land becomes productive, there will be more wasteland to be developed. Many more laborers will need your guidance since you two will have had hands-on experience by then. Additionally, you will have to manage and lead them in their work.”

Didn’t that mean they would become foremen in the future?

Agui and Xiaoba excitedly agreed, “Young Miss, rest assured, we will work hard!”

Both of them took the rice seeds and began working earnestly.

The sowing process wasn’t troublesome, but the task would be more demanding when the seeds grew into seedlings and needed transplanting.

If the seeds could successfully grow into seedlings, it would mean that Wei Ruo’s soil improvement project was more than half successful.

So now, they just had to wait about half a month to see if Wei Ruo’s soil improvement had worked.

###

After Wei Ruo had been busy in the field for a few days, she had just gotten a day’s rest when Lady Yun summoned her for a talk.

The topic of discussion was still the same old stuff. Lady Yun urged Wei Ruo to delegate the wasteland project to her subordinates and focus on studying at the magistrate’s office instead.

Since Lady Yun had already prompted her once before, Wei Ruo found it harder to delay this time, especially after Lady Yun gave her no opportunity to do so. Lady Yun instructed her to prepare herself as she would be making arrangements in the next couple of days.

Knowing it was impossible to procrastinate any further, Wei Ruo didn’t say much and agreed to Lady Yun’s arrangement.

By nightfall, Wei Ruo joined everyone in the dining hall for dinner.

After dinner, everyone sat together as usual, enjoying tea and casual conversation.

Wei Yichen, as per his custom, reported his daily progress in studies to his mother. Wei Yilin also shared with Lady Yun what had occurred at his school. Although Wei Qingwan didn’t talk much usually, today she hesitantly brought up a topic, “Mother, the Xie family has hired a female scholar, the widely-known Mr. Wang Caiwei.”

Lady Yun’s eyes widened, “Is that true?”

Both Wei Yichen and Wei Yilin displayed surprised expressions.

Wang Caiwei was a famous talented woman from Jiangzhe region, born into a family of scholars and very well-educated, but unfortunately, her family had fallen into hard times.

Even after losing her family’s support, many well-born young men pursued Wang Caiwei, although they all aimed to make her their concubine instead of their official wife.

Being proud, Wang Caiwei, of course, was unwilling to be a concubine, and eventually chose to marry a poor scholar.

Due to their humble living conditions, Wang Caiwei began to teach wealthy families.

Even though she had fallen on hard times, Wang Caiwei was famous and incredibly talented. There were numerous families who wished to hire her as a private tutor.

Rumor had it that Ruan family from Qiantang, whose late patriarch used to be a chief minister, had been Wang Caiwei’s previous employer!

And now, the Xie family in the north of the city had managed to hire her!

It seemed the rumors about the Xie family’s rise weren’t baseless, and different signs had started to emerge.

“Yes, it’s true. Zhilan told me,” Wei Qingwan answered firmly, “Zhilan also said…”

“What else did she say?”

“Zhilan said, her mother now wants to send her to the Xie family to study with Miss Xie,” Wei Qingwan replied, lowering her head.

“If Lady Qian really has such an idea, and the Xie family has indeed hired Wang Caiwei, I should consider sending you there too!” Lady Yun said.

The female scholar at Magistrate Qian’s house now also had some talent but only relative to ordinary people. She was incomparable to the widely renowned Wang Caiwei.

Being a student of Wang Caiwei, when they would return to the capital city, it would certainly make others envious!

Upon hearing this, Wei Yilin hurriedly said, “Mother, you should go talk to Lady Xie, let Qingwan go there! Qingwan is very talented and has great potential. Her teacher will definitely love teaching her!”

Wei Qingwan also looked at Lady Yun expectantly, hoping that Lady Yun would help her negotiate with the Xie family so that she could attend Mr. Wang’s lessons.

“I’m just worried… the Xie family will not agree…” Lady Yun muttered.

Their relationship with the Xie family wasn’t particularly deep. They had only met a few times during events like blessing ceremonies and boat trips.

“Mother, why don’t you help sister ask, or we can send more gifts to the Xie family?” Wei Yilin suggested innocently.

“Of course, I’ll ask. As for sending gifts, it’s not that simple. The presents need to please them. They might not care for common items,” Lady Yun pondered.

Four out of the five people in the room were racking their brains about how to persuade the Xie family to allow Wei Qingwan to attend classes at their house. Only Wei Ruo was sitting on the side, calmly sipping her tea.

When she put down her teacup, Wei Yichen suddenly turned his head to look at her.

Meeting her gaze, Wei Ruo detected an apology in Wei Yichen’s eyes.

An apology? What was he apologizing for?

After tea, Wei Ruo left the dining hall and headed towards Tingsong Garden. Wei Yichen followed and apologized for the earlier matter, “Ruoruo, I’m sorry.” “Sorry for what?”

“We only brought up the matter of Qingwan attending classes under Mr. Wang…”

“Oh.”

“Ruoruo, it’s not that we didn’t consider you, it’s just that Mr. Wang’s requirements for her students would definitely be higher than other scholars…”

“So, I’m not qualified, right?” Wei Ruo finished his sentence for him..