PUGPF – Chapter 267

Chapter 267: Cotton planting

Raws: https:// book. qidian. com/info/3391187

All credit to original author: Yi Yi Lan Xi

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Lian Fang Zhou was just an inexperienced country girl, why didn’t she know how to flatter the right-hand maid of the young lady in charge of the Zhao Manor? Actually, it didn’t matter if she didn’t flatter or fear her, how could she run against her at every turn!

She was a close servant of a young lady, didn’t she understand? With just a movement of her finger, that young lady could halt any progress Lian Fang Zhou made in Yuhe county! She really didn’t understand where she had the confidence!

Seeing her aggrieved expression, Zhao San leaned forward to whisper with a laugh: “Miss Xi Que, don’t be familiar with this vulgar country woman? When she cries in the future, we can… should we go home first?”

Go back to the manor and report to the young lady that the cotton seeds were ready to be planted.

The young lady had said that there was no need to expand the cotton planting, just the ones from the officials was fine. However, then she had secretly ordered them to quietly purchase a lot of seeds. Now there was a total of 1,670 catties of seeds in the house!

It seemed that the young lady was struggling to compete with Miss Lian Fang Zhou, and they couldn’t ruin her efforts.

If she knew that they had received valuable information but they had delayed and not reported back as soon as possible, she would be very annoyed.

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As for Brother Ah Jian, she would just come visit again next time!

“Let’s go back!” Xi Que grit her teeth, flicked her handkerchief, and reluctantly got into the carriage.

When Ah Jian and Lian Ze returned to an empty street, they could not help but breathe a sigh of relief that Xi Que and Zhao San had left.

Lian Ze said: “Is that girl really from a big family like the Zhao family? Why is she so shameless? Miss Zhao doesn’t care about her, she doesn’t watch what she says, and she is not afraid to lose face!”

Lian Fang Zhou and Ah Jian exchanged a glance.

Why did Miss Zhao not care? Naturally, they knew it was to grow cotton!

Xi Que was just a maid, not the respectable master of the Zhao family. Even if she did something shameless, Miss Zhao just needed to put on a noble attitude to deal with her in a distressed and charitable manner and everyone would praise her. Her Zhao family was strict and well-mannered while Xi Que was just a little girl who didn’t know how high the sky was or how thick the earth was, so how could she loss face for the Zhao family?

Ah Jian couldn’t help but move closer to Lian Fang Zhou and ask in a low voice: “You sent her away so easily?”

What did that mean! Lian Fang Zhou suddenly felt tired. She tilted her head to look at him, smiled, and said faintly: “Are you disappointed ‘Brother Ah Jian’?”

Hearing ‘Brother Ah Jian’, Ah Jian couldn’t help but shiver and hurriedly said: “No! I, I’m just wondering why it was so easy this time…”

Whenever he heard Xi Que call out ‘Brother Ah Jian’, his heart was full of disgust. However, it was fine when Lian Fang Qing or Lian Che called him ‘Brother Ah Jian’ and when Lian Fang Zhou had called him just now, for some reason his heartbeat seemed to skip a little, a bit panicked.

He tried his best to look serious, as to conceal his sudden discomfort.

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Seeing his attitude, Lian Fang Zhou felt a little guilty, so she quickly changed her tone and smiled slightly, telling them the story of what had happened.

Hearing it, Ah Jian suddenly understood. He nodded and said: “So that’s it, they’re rushing back to report!”

“This is not a secret that can’t be told,” Lian Fang Zhou explained with a faint smile, “I won’t let them inquire about the important things! By the way, should I consider putting all the cotton fields together and surrounding them with barbed wire?”

“What?” Ah Jian was taken aback. Dazed, he said: “This, isn’t that too much? The cotton is promoted by the Yamen’s order and they will send people to inspect it. Who would have the courage to destroy it and be arrested? They would be convicted of a felony!”

Lian Fang Zhou was well aware of the importance of the cotton and valued it very much, which was why she felt that other people would also value it.

Seeing Ah Jian’s reaction, she couldn’t help but laugh.

That said, there would be countless households growing cotton but none of them would have the numbers she did.

In her eyes it was precious but in others, it was just a weed that encroached on the fields! If it was going to be sabotaged, the suspects would be taken care of with a single slap.

“I made a fuss!” Lian Fang Zhou smiled, dismissing the subject.

When Xi Que and Zhao San returned to the Zhao Manor, Xi Que immediately rushed to find Zhao Ru Jun and tell her the news.

After listing, Zhao Ru Jun did not have the reaction that Xi Que had expected. She just smiled faintly and nodded, saying: “It is true that you plow in the spring and harvest in the autumn, isn’t this normal? Go on, our family will also prepare!”

“Ah? Yes, Miss…” Needless today, Xi Que was a little disappointed, she had thought that she would be praised by her.

Zhao Ru Jun glanced at her and said casually: “This time you did a good job. If you hear anything in the future, remember to tell me as soon as possible! You should find out clearly: how do you plant cotton, what’s the difference between it and other crops?”

Xi Que, who had fallen into a low mood, immediately had her spirits lift. Half a smile was exposed on her face before she quickly hid it. She hurriedly bowed and said: “That Lian Fang Zhou is so slippery and tightlipped! She is a master who has firm control. They will notice a maid, but may not notice a maidservant*, could I send a maidservant to look at it? After she takes a look, she will immediately report to me.”

“I agree.” Zhao Ru Jun nodded. “You are not a farmer, even if you see something you may not be able to understand it. Moreover, its not convenient for you to walk around a field in embroidered shoes. If you can find someone reliable, wouldn’t it be better for them to inquire?”

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‘Finding someone reliable’? Xi Que was startled but immediately understood: Miss, this was suggesting that she bribe some people from Lian Fang Zhou?

Zhao Ru Jun looked at her and knew that she had understood her meaning. Smiling, she said: “Spend what you need to spend, as long as its worth it!”

Xi Que’s waist straightened, feeling relied on. She hurriedly bent her knees and laughed: “Miss, don’t worry! This servant girl knows what to do!”

Smiling, Zhao Ru Jun nodded and waved for her to leave.

The next day, Lian Fang Zhou began to process the cotton seeds.

A total of eight thousand catties of cotton seeds needed to be spread out and exposed to the sun for a total of three days. After drying, they treated one thousand catties at a time. The seeds needed to be soaked in 50 to 60 degree water for seven to eight hours to allow them to fully absorb the water.

This was done in the seed processing room, where there was a long, specially built pond made out of smooth blue bricks.

After the seeds were soaked, the seeds were drained and put into sacks, each one only half full. The sacks were transported to another room for storage and dried with four or five big charcoal braziers to invigorate the buds.

They needed to turn the sacks once every half a day so that all the seeds were evenly dried.

In the future, the seeds would have needed to be disinfected after soaking but where would she find the tools to do so in this era? Lian Fang Zhou could only do so much.

When the seeds began to spout, they would be sprinkled onto the prepared nursery grounds.

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TN:*I believe this is referring to a lower class servant. If I had to guess, she’s either talking about the servant class below her or the servants who do hard labor.