Chapter 11 Part I
"Ah, this is my howork. Baihu, give it back, please. Or else, Teacher Li will punish . Don’t bite! How many tis do I have to say, don’t bite!" He Yu’s struggle to retrieve his howork from Baihu made her smile.
Teacher Li had been teaching here for almost a week. He ca every day, teaching for one shichen and a half each evening after martial arts practice. Despite his kind appearance, Teacher Li was strict. He disciplined He Yu whenever the boy lacked focus or failed to do his howork, which pleased her as it prevented He Yu from becoming spoiled or willful.
Teacher Li’s salary was equal to what he would receive at the Yongyuan Kuaile School. Regardless of circumstances, having been a teacher at a renowned school in the city before, his knowledge and abilities were extraordinary. One benefit of working here was that he did not have to teach all day like at the school. He only taught in the late afternoons until evening and sotis even took ho fresh spirit vegetables for his family. Teacher Li was very content with this arrangent, offering great respect to He Lei and Miss Wang and teaching with full dedication. The fruits of the good karma from parents had thus fallen on He Yu and the other students, although He Yu did not seem too keen on inheriting this good karma.
So days, Teacher Li would bring along his four-year-old son, Yande, providing He Yu with a new playmate and making the study sessions less dreary.
As for He Ming, he had already been studying with his father but often asked Teacher Li for clarifications on words he did not understand. Over ti, Teacher Li beca quite close to the He family, he told them that he even shared with his colleagues at Yongyuan Kuaile School how he was teaching the son of Master He and receiving a salary equal to that of the school’s teachers. Sotis, Miss Wang generously gave Teacher Li fresh spirit vegetables to take ho to his family. His colleagues were all green with envy, a stroke of luck amidst misfortune indeed.
Zhenzhu woke up earlier than usual to water the vegetables because the He family is planning to harvest the new crop for the market today. Their vegetables had grown enough to be harvested and sold. Everyone woke up early to help gather the vegetables, including Feng Yi and Feng Xian, who had significantly recovered and could now do light work. Today, they also ca to help.
The He family’s vegetables were not planted all at once but were staggered based on growth tis to ensure a continuous supply to the market. As the first round of vegetables was sold, the second round would mature just right, and as the second was sold off, the third would be ready, and so on. This ensured that their vegetables would continuously enter the market without gaps, planting various types according to the season.
"Alright, everyone, that’s enough for today. We’ve filled the cart. Clean them, tie them up neatly," He Lei ordered.
"Understood, master."
"Yes, master."
Everyone complied and began diligently carrying the vegetables baskets.
“Father?” Zhenzhu frowned before calling He Lei over.
“What is it, Zhenzhu?”
She pointed towards the base of the waterfall. “What do you think about constructing 3-4 water retention ponds below the waterfall? That way, we can channel the spiritual energized water to irrigate the vegetables without needing to dip the golden fish scales all the ti. In the future, workers could direct the water into irrigation channels,” she proposed, since every morning she had to wake up and went to dip the golden fish scale into the water while He Ming assisted her with alternating the water channels. So, if they had water retention ponds, along with a new water distribution system which solved the previous struggle of having to switch the water channel manually, then she could just dip the fish scale in there and finish the task. She proposed this idea, not out of laziness, but for convenience.
"Hmm, that’s a good idea. I’ll hire so craftsn from town to take a look soti later," He Lei agreed, always impressed by his daughter’s thoughtful and inventive ideas.
"Thank you, Father," she said, smiling broadly. They say lazy people find ways to make life easier for themselves, but she wasn’t lazy; she was practical. Really.
She walked back to the house to help her mother bundle the vegetables.
"Miss, you’ve received a letter. A man nad Mi Fan delivered it," Peipei approached from the front of the house, handing her a crumpled letter.
"Eh?" Zhenzhu quickly took it and began to read.
The letter, written by Xincheng, stated that his mother had recovered. The leader was so grateful he wanted to express his thanks in person. He kept saying that such a debt of gratitude needed continuous repaynt, but Xincheng had advised him to focus on taking good care of Hui Furen instead. Currently, the Water Dragon sect was celebrating Hui Furen’s miraculous recovery. He asked for a bit more ti to deliver the remaining deposit and promised to bring Hui Lin to apologize to Xin Xi with the tea ceremony.
"Is sothing the matter, Zhu’er?"
"Oh, it’s just a friend expressing thanks for helping find the dicinal herbs that cured his mother, Father."
"I see."
"Hurry up and wash, hurry up and bundle, or it will be too late," everyone quickly lent a hand, each doing their part. In no ti, they managed to wash and bundle the vegetables neatly, arranging them in baskets before lifting them onto the cart that He Lei was ready to drive. Today, it was Miss Wang and Zhenzhu who were going to sell the vegetables.
Their cart stopped in front of Miss Zhou’s usual vegetable stall. The first issue they encountered today was Miss Zhou had already set up her stall, leaving no space for them to sell their vegetables.
"What should we do, Husband?"
"Big Lei, co here. You can share the space with mine and slowly bring out your vegetables to sell. There’s no need to lay them all out at once and waste space."
"Thank you, Auntie Zhou. Father, let’s sell here for today. Next ti, we’ll find our own spot," Zhenzhu said, acknowledging their oversight in not securing a space for their vegetable stall.
He family unloaded their vegetables then lay them down beside Miss Zhou’s,
"Wow, these vegetables have spirit energy!" Before they could even finish setting up, a passerby comnted, attracting the attention of many others.
"Really? Is this the vegetables from Master He’ garden? Last month, the Master He’s vegetables were sold here too."
"Yes, indeed. Today, we’re back selling the vegetables from Master He’s garden. The sa price as before, one tael per bundle, and now we also have dark blue-tier spirit vegetables, only two taels per bundle. Feel free to choose as you like," Zhenzhu, seeing the curious custors, promptly invited them.
"Here they are! The Master He’s vegetables are here. Co quickly before they’re all gone like last ti!" a custor shouted, drawing even more attention.
Before long, Miss Zhou’s vegetable stall was surrounded by nurous custors. Many people ran back to their hos to invite others to join the queue as well because each person could only buy three bunches of each type of vegetable from Master He.
Miss Zhou’s stall inadvertently benefited from the crowd because when people couldn’t get enough of the Master He’s vegetables for their large families, they bought so of her regular vegetables too.
He Lei, who had parked the cart and was walking back, was astonished to see the crowd around the vegetable stall, resembling a giveaway event. Why were there this many people standing in line?
The people at the end of the queue, fearing they wouldn’t get any vegetables, grumbled,
"I told you to hurry. You were too busy dressing up. See how many people there are? Not sure if there’ll be any left for us," a young man murmured to a young woman behind him.
"I hurried as much as I could. How can I, being a lady, dress as quickly as you?" the woman retorted irritably.
"See, if you don’t get the Master He’s vegetables, the butler will beat you."
"If he beats , he’ll beat you too. Stop nagging."
Zhenzhu, who was now hurriedly taking money, looked from the front of the queue to the end, amazed at how well the Master He’s vegetables were selling. If it continued like this, she and her mother wouldn’t be able to handle the stall alone; they’d need to bring soone else to help, or they’d be exhausted.
"Zhu’er, move over. Let father help sell," He Lei, having returned, told his daughter.
"Yes, Father."
"Eh, who is that man? He looks quite formidable."
"I’ve never seen him before either. Ah, maybe he’s the Master He?"
"Really? That must be him. He looks so distinguished."
The gossiping sound from won custors began once soone pointed out. Many looked at He Lei again, more closely. He was a middle-aged man, robust, broad chest, strong shoulder, befitting a masculine man. His face, and tanned skin made him looked like soone who work outdoor, yet, when he was talking with the woman and that little girl who selling vegetables with him, his eyes expression was so heartwarming, which made all middle-aged, single won’s heart fluttered like young girls.
“Could he be Master He?”
“Really?”
"The Master He is so handso."
"Is the Master He still so young? I thought he’d be an old man."
"You’re imagining too much. Just ask if you’re curious."
"Ah, ahem, um... Sir, may I ask if you are the Master He?" a woman, sending a coquettish glance at He Lei without concern for the young girl shaking with indignation after hearing their conversation for so long.
"Yes, this is the Master He you’re talking about. He has been married to his furen for a long ti, has three children, boys and girls, and does not intend to take any more consorts," another intervened, because these ladies overstepping bounds. He was her father. Enough already! Too much!
"The Master He is truly a figure of authority."
"He looks really good."
"He’s so handso."
"I want to warm his bed."
"Cough, cough, what did you just say? Don’t say it so loudly, others can hear!"
Zhenzhu trembled slightly, "Father!! You wait at the cart. Mother and I will handle the sales," she said, wishing those dreaming of taking her father so easily better luck waiting for monkeys to lay eggs.
"Zhu... Zhu’er, why are you shouting so loudly? You scared ," her father said, increasingly finding his daughter lacking the deanor of a lady. Maybe he needed to hire a tutor to teach her proper manners.
After that day, Zhenzhu refused to let her father drive the cart to sell vegetables anymore and had Xin Xi take over the driving duties instead. They would alternate selling days, renting a stall not far from Miss Zhou’s vegetable stall, and took turns to go sell vegetables as per convenience. Today, He Ming and Miss Wang went to sell the vegetables, with Peipei assisting.
Zhenzhu watched the cart leave then frowned.
"Father, should we open a vegetable shop so we don’t have to rent a stall from others?"
"We need to take it slow and steady. Shop rents in the city are high. It’s not too late to save so more before we consider buying," her father explained. The money they made from selling the dinsional stones went into buying this land and building their ho, fences, buying equipnt, hiring workers for the water channels, soil flipping, worker’s quarters, buying seeds, cows, and carts. They were planning to buy equipnt for the water storage pits next. Their remaining funds weren’t sufficient for purchasing a city shop, which could cost thousands. Their financial situation was not ready for this.
"Who said anything about buying in the city?"
"Where else would you sell, then?"
"How about right in front of our garden? We don’t need extra land. We just build a shop near the main road outside our fence. It keeps our ho private. Our land is already close to the street, people might not pass by often, but if they want our vegetables, they’ll co. Father, you’ve seen how well our garden produces sells. Let’s try it; if people want to buy, they’ll definitely co."
"That’s a good idea," her father conceded. Why hadn’t he thought of it? Their produce was in demand, if people wanted to buy, a thirty-minutes’ walk from the city might be quite far but not too far. If the product is of great quality, then they did not have to be scared whether people would buy it or not.
"Let’s build it, right there." Zhenzhu said.
"Okay! I’ll hire workers as soon as possible. Soon, we won’t have to haul our veggies far. Buyers will co to us." Today he would go to the city to buy equipnt, and hire workers to construct the water retention pits, so, to not waste ti, he would also hire so to build the shop.
"Great," Zhenzhu said.
After the conversation with He Lei, she was going to inspect the mushroom cultivation area for setting up the formation she had designed. But before she could leave, several ox carts stopped in front of their house.
"Is anyone there?" a voice called out.
Stepping forward, Zhenzhu asked, "Yes, how may I help you?" only to find several workers waiting.
"Sorry, young lady. Are you the one who ordered these flowers? Here’s the purchase agreent."
Ah... finally, the eight elents immortal flowers had arrived. Many days before, she went to the nursery, turned out it was hard to gather these many eight elents immortal flowers. The nursery had to delay the delivery because they could not gather up to that quantity in ti, from ten days that they first agreed on, delay to over a month, but, finally, they were here.
"Yes, that’s . Please bring them in," she let them park a cart in her land, then directed them to unload the plants in the specified area.
"Rember to prune the leaves before planting. It helps them recover faster," one worker advised. Decided to buy these many expensive flowers, this young lady really was extravagant.
"Thank you," she said, walking back in the residence to fetch money and pay the balance, did not forget to tip them for their help.
“Thank you, young lady.”
After they left, Zhenzhu inspected the eight elents immortal flower, excited to finally start her formation.
"What’s all this flowers, Big Sister?" He Yu ran over, followed by Xiao She. Xiao She happily radiated its energy, intrigued by the eight elents immortal flowers.
"Yu’er, go quickly and fetch Feng Yi and Feng Xian to see ."
"Understood."
He ran off, and soon, the twins followed him back. Their condition had almost fully recovered, allowing them to handle tasks that weren’t too physically demanding.
"Take these flowers and plant them in the holes that my father and brother have prepared, just as I’ve instructed," she said, pulling out a piece of paper with a diagram she had drawn then pointed for them to see.
"The red flowers go here and here, fill them all, and these sharp-leaved ones go at this, this, and this spot, got it?" She explained simply, knowing their education hadn’t been extensive, which might make reading the diagram challenging.
"Alright, let’s get started."
Feng Yi and Feng Xian began to plant the trees in the designated spots, diligently following Zhenzhu’s instructions, who closely supervised their work. Originally, she had planned to set up a formation in the mushroom cultivation area today. Still, with the arrival of the eight elents immortal flowers, she decided to prioritize this larger formation.
"No, not there. The yellow flower goes in that hole, not the red one."
"Yes, that’s right, put the red one here."
"Ah, right there should be the sharp-leaved ones."
"You’re putting it in the wrong hole."
She had to run around correcting mistakes until she was out of breath, her forehead and neck slick with sweat, her shirt soaked. Yet, her small hands and feet continued their diligent work.
"Ah, Younger Sister, you got the eight elents immortal flowers?" He Ming approached upon returning from selling vegetables and seeing the newly arrived plants spread out across their yard.
"Big Brother, please help for a mont. Take this diagram and tell them. I need to rest," she handed him the paper and walked off to lie down under a large tree, exhausted from working under the hot sun.
"You’re drenched in sweat, miss. Here, drink so cold water to refresh yourself."
"Thank you, Peipei."
Zhenzhu rested for a while before taking a sip of water. She then watched He Ming from a distance as he was standing near the fence while directing the planting. Considering the size of their field, completing the planting and setting the characters in certain areas would take at least a month. She had to prepare herself for that kind of exhaustion.
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Read ‘Rebirth: This Farmgirl Has Spirit Fish Scales’ before anyone else with more Chapters at sjinovel/en
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