Walking towards the fields, Steward Chen pointed to a piece of paddy field and said, "Miss, the best-growing piece is the superior paddy field, and the second is the medium paddy field." As he walked along with Yuxi, he told her about the differences between good and lousy paddy fields.
Since Yuxi stayed in a hamlet for more than a year in her previous life, she also knew a little about farming, so she could not help asking Steward Chen a few questions about it.
The works in the farmstead were the only thing that Steward Chen could handle quite well, so naturally, he was unlikely to be baffled when asked a lot about them. He answered all of Yuxi's questions in detail and saw Yuxi nod, showing her understanding of his answers.
Steward Chen felt strange. Miss had been staying in the boudoir most of the time, so how could she know many things about farming. He mustered his courage asking, "Miss sure knows a lot."
Yuxi knew what Steward Chen was wondering about and responded with a smile, "I know all these from books. It's only an armchair strategist[1]. It can't compare with the experiences handed down from ancestors."
Steward Chen felt relieved as it turned out that Yuxi had just read about it in a book. "This book is indeed excellent. It even talked about farming."
Yuxi just smiled without responding to Steward Chen's words.
It took half an hour for them to see all the rice fields, and then they made their way to the foot of the mountain. On the road, Yuxi asked Steward Chen about the field rent. "How much is the field rent here? Is it fifty per cent of the profits?" Even large families in the capital rented their land with fifty per cent of the profits earned by the land yields. Usually, they would collect half of the land income, but there were some exceptions. Here, for example, a steward couldn't live in such a good house if it was managed according to fifty per cent. Yuxi wanted to avoid making special concessions on land rent. However, she was also unwilling to exploit tenants by increasing their burden.
Steward Chen nodded. "Previously, the Lu family rented the land for sixty per cent of the profits earned by the yield sales. Since yield per
mu[2] is high, even when the tenants are charged with a high percentage, they still have more than enough profits to be shared with their families."
Yuxi said, "I'm not going to follow the Lu family. I will follow the norm, which is an equal distribution of profits between the renter and tenants."
Steward Chen was honest and sincere, so he was very protective of Yuxi's interests. "Then, Miss, we will receive less income." If the rents were collected according to Yuxi's method, it was equivalent to a ten per cent reduction in income. Even if they followed the Lu family's method, the tenants would not have any objection.
Looking at the rice fields, Yuxi said, "I don't need that much money." When she lived in a hamlet in her previous life, she saw the poor life of those tenants, and she was powerless to do anything. Now that the property was hers and she had the right to decide, she tried to make her tenants' daily life as good as possible. Of course, this had to be within a reasonable range. If she gave too much mercy, it couldn't be considered as grace, but instead showed that she was still young and easy to fool. Everything had to be in order.
When Steward Chen saw that Yuxi had already made up her mind, he also had no more objection to the matter.
The group of people soon arrived under a jujube tree. When Yuxi bought this piece of land, she was told there was a big jujube tree and a chestnut tree. Looking at the sparse jujube trees here, she asked, "How many jujube trees are there?" At that time, when she bought it, she felt that there must be some water supply around the area. Instead, she saw that the hundreds of jujube trees had become jujube forests. Sure enough, the statements she had been told were all an exaggeration.
Although Steward Chen had not been here for a long time, he was already familiar with the place. After listening to Yuxi's question, he answered, "There are sixty-five jujube trees here."
Yuxi finally knew that the Lu family had reported an unreliable figure. To cheat the buyers, they even said the value of the land was five times more than its actual value. They wanted the money so much that they didn't even feel that shameful when they told a lie. "Then, how many chestnut trees are there?"
Steward Chen answered, "There are one hundred forty-six chestnut trees in total. Miss, besides the chestnut and jujube trees, there are a few fir trees on the mountain. They grow well and can be sold for a lot after a few years." He thought it was a good deal for Miss to buy this mountain forest.
Yuxi didn't put much hope on this. Even if there were Chinese fir, there would only be a few. She casually asked, "How many are the Chinese fir?"
Steward Chen seriously said, "Well, there is a large area. I roughly estimated that there are tens of thousands of them. These fir trees are all growing well and can be cut down in ten years at most."
Yuxi didn't see this coming. The Lu family didn't give a false report regarding the fir trees, so she didn't lose too much...at least.
The sun was high in the sky, and Yuxi felt so hot that she was wet all over. Zijin cautiously said, "Miss, it's too hot. Let's go back!" She worried that Miss would suffer a heat stroke if she didn't hurriedly go back.
Yuxi nodded. "Then, let's go back!" There was a miasma on the mountain, and nobody dared to go up.
The group of people immediately walked back down to the foot of the mountain. When Yuxi looked at many nearby wastelands, she asked Steward Chen again, "Why aren't these wastelands used?" This type of land could be used to grow crops such as peanuts.
Steward Chen replied, "There are many wild dirty swine at the foot of the mountain. I'm afraid they will spoil the plants that I planted."
Yuxi knew that wild boars would destroy foodstuffs. "If there is wild boar in our business, find some people to hunt it down. It is better to plant this wasteland than to waste it."
Steward Chen hastily nodded, "This old servant will arrange it."
After Yuxi's mind made a big round turn, she finally could guess where the land stood. When she returned to the big house inside the hamlet, she saw Mama Fang and Steward Meng waiting for her in the courtyard.
Yuxi specially called Mama Fang and Steward Meng to come over to negotiate with Steward Chen about planting crops.
Baozi[3] shop and grocery store needed a lot of things, and they usually bought them from outside. Since Yuxi bought the land property, she had sent people directly to pick up all the things the baozi[3] shop needed, such as melon seeds, peanuts, food and various kinds of vegetables that the grocery store needs. However, Mama Fang and Steward Meng felt that if the farmstead were used properly, it would save the operational costs of the shop and store.
Yuxi changed her clothes and said to them as if they had something to say to her, "Let's talk after lunch." It was noon now. She needed to eat her lunch at this point.
Lunch was rich. There was braised chicken with mushroom, braised fish in brown sauce, steamed spareribs with glutinous rice, steamed eggs, and several farm dishes, which set a full table.
In Yuxi's previous life, she had lived in a hamlet of the Jiang family for more than a year, and she somehow had no misgivings. Despite that time, she only ate two bowls of rice and a lot of vegetables.
After lunch, Mama Fang and Steward Meng discussed what kind of crops to plant with Steward Chen.
Steward Chen acted cautiously. Instead of blindly agreeing to the request of Mama Fang and Steward Meng, he told them the actual situation to show which crops could be planted, such as peanuts and sunflowers, but some could not, such as sesame and other types of farm plants.
Yuxi listened nearby and did not interrupt them. She readily promised Mama Fang to open a grocery store at the beginning because she knew about many kinds of fresh food, such as bacon, sausage and pickles, which would circulate in the capital several years later. She had the advantage of selling them at a reasonable price. On this trip to this hamlet, she was originally prepared to let the tenants raise some pigs and then turn them into bacon and sausages at the end of the year. However, when she heard Hongshan tell her that the Old Lady thought she had good luck, she became alert. She might arouse suspicion if she took over the hamlet and suddenly started to provide food. As the saying went, there were evil spirits when things went wrong. Good luck was enviable, but too much luck would arouse suspicion.
Yuxi now had a baozi[3] shop, a grocery store, and farmland. She could only spend a little a year because she earned less than a thousand taels yearly. There was no need to take risks for just this little money. It was not cost-effective. After thinking about it, she gave up making sausage and bacon.
The three people discussed for more than half an hour before finally reaching an agreement. Yuxi had been listening in and did not interrupt. She, as the host, was equivalent to a witness for the deal.
After the three people had finally negotiated, Yuxi said, "Although all the three shops are mine, you still have to pay the same price for your goods as you did before, even when they are coming from this hamlet."
Steward Chen didn't understand. These three properties all belonged to Miss. She even requested the money earned by the hamlet be returned to her. Doing it that way would be pretty troublesome for him to do so.
Yuxi had an excellent impression of Steward Chen and found him to be a down-to-earth kind of person. She also did not feel it was too troublesome for her to explain what she meant, "Although these three industries are all mine, if you don't separate the accounts, there will be a quite big kind of a mess, and I will not know how much money each of you has earned." If the financial affairs of the three properties were not separated, then everything would be a total mess.
Steward Chen still didn't understand.
Yuxi smiled. "It doesn't matter if you don't understand. You just do as I say." Honest people had their own advantages.
When Meng Xiaofeng listened to Yuxi's words, he secretly felt quite apprehensive. He didn't expect Miss to think this clearly. "I will listen to Miss, then the store will settle accounts with the hamlet once a month."
Yuxi nodded. "The same goes for the baozi[3] shop. In the future, separate accounts will be set up, and I will look at them at the end of the year." She trusted her Mama, but since they were all doing their own things, she had to treat everyone equally and favourably[4], regardless of their close relationship.
Mama Fang's face froze instantly, not because she felt dissatisfied with Yuxi's request but because she did not know how to write and make accounts. Only that, since they were in this situation, she would not dare to lose Yuxi's face.
Looking at the sky, Mama Shen came in and urged Yuxi to hurry back. Otherwise, she would be the first one to be punished by the Old Lady.
Yuxi looked at Mama Fang and others. Then said, "You all go first. I have something to say to Steward Chen."
After everyone went out, Yuxi turned to Steward Chen, "Steward Chen, my aunt chose you to take care of the hamlet for me. I also trust you. As long as you are doing good, I will not mistreat you. But if you mess up, don't blame me for being merciless." She had a good impression of Steward Chen, but it was difficult for her to look at his eldest daughter-in-law. She thought it was necessary to knock some sense into Steward Chen's mind regarding his eldest daughter-in-law.
Steward Chen hastily said, "Don't worry, Miss, I will take good care of the hamlet." He would certainly work hard. Otherwise, losing this job would make it difficult for the future marriages of his two younger sons.
Yuxi felt helpless. Honest people had their good side, but this reaction was too slow, and sometimes words were not good enough to point out the problem. Enough was enough. Her performance today was already out of line. Now it was time for her to sit back and take it easy.
When Yuxi left the house and prepared to go back home, she looked at the three people who managed her properties and said, "If you have a discussion with each other in the future, let me know the result of your discussion."
They nodded their heads.
Footnotes Full List
- Chinese idiom: people who engage in idle talk but are unable to act on their high-minded theories. There is a true story behind the idiom. You can click here to read it. The story is written in English.
- a traditional unit of area, equal to 60 square zhang [平方市丈], and equivalent to 6.667 acres or 0.165 acres
- steamed stuffed bun
- Chinese idiom: not to discriminate between people
Noob Translator's Musing
This chapter was supposed to be posted yesterday. Sorry, I miss my deadline. I was not feeling well these few days and was seriously overwhelmed by my work. I'm very sorry.
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi