In Anning County, Meng Fangxun, helping with the family's spring ploughing, had been restless ever since returning from Xu Huaiqian's house in the twelfth month.
He kept thinking about Xu Huaiqian's idea of growing ginger. On hand, he felt Xu Huaiqian made sense; on the other, he felt Duan Youyan also made sense.
Growing crops didn't make you rich; growing ginger might not all sell. Carrying a basket of grain to town to sell was easy; carrying a basket of ginger to town to sell— surely no would buy it.
But Duan Youyan had said medical clinics bought ginger. If he grew it and carried it to a clinic to sell, would he still worry about it not selling?
If clinic didn't take it, wouldn't another? With so many clinics under heaven, surely would take it?
His family hstly farming mu of land yielded only two or three dan of grain. Selling this grain in town would only fetch two or three taels of silver. If mu of ginger could earn two or three taels, it wouldn't be a big loss, right?
Meng Fangxun pulled the plough, calculating in his head. Finally, he decided to gamble: "Father, give me mu of land to try this year. I want to try."
Earlier, when Meng Fangxun returned from Xu Huaiqian's house, he had already talked to his family about using their land to grow ginger.
As expected, he faced opposition from the whole family: "You scholar types, understand land? Just because a book teaches you how to farm doesn't mean you can farm. Farming still depends on us experienced farmers."
Hearing his son hadn't given up on growing ginger, Father Meng was also quite helpless: "Farming without growing crops won't do. Besides medical clinics, who wants ginger? Son, if you grow so much, can you sell it all?"
"Whether it sells or not, we'll only know after growing it," Meng Fangxun wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve. "Just mu, mu of land. I won't plant much. If it doesn't work this year, I'll give up next year."
Initially, Meng Fangxun wanted to plant all thirty mu, but after family persuasion, he decided, as Xu Huaiqian suggested, to try with just mu first. Success would be good; failure wouldn't be a big loss.
Seeing Meng Fangxun so stubborn, Old Man Meng and Big Brother Meng looked at each other. Finally, thinking that stubbornness would hurt feelings, they decided to meet halfway, as he said: "Fine. One mu of land for you. But remember, it can't interfere with your studies."
Compared to farming, Old Man Meng and Big Brother Meng felt studying was more important. If Meng Fangxun neglected his studies for farming, it would be not worth the loss.
" Yes, it won't." Seeing they agreed, Meng Fangxun's lips curled up high. Although he hadn't yet g to the academy to study for the Juren exam, he imagined it was not too different from the Xiucai exam, just harder.
If he could pass the Xiucai, why fear the Juren? What he feared was the poorer his family became from his exams, the more books he needed for the Juren—several times more than for the Xiucai. With his family's current situation, how many could he afford?
He couldn't suck blood from his family, squeezing them dry to support his studies. His goal in studying was to make his family's life better, not to live well himself while they suffered.
Fortunately, he had friends willing to pull him up in difficult times. Meng Fangxun felt that when others offered help, he should grasp the opportunity well.
A farmer's son like him, if he didn't seize the opportunity when it came, his hope of making something of himself in this lifetime would be dim.
In Xinghua Village, Chen Liejiu had delivered charcoal to Magistrate Wu twice. Although Magistrate Wu didn't recognize their charcoal as similar to tribute charcoal, having this connection meant that, if nothing else, the land allotted to Xu Huaiqian would definitely be the terrain he wanted.
The day the county office came to measure, every thought that given Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu's current status in the village, the county would surely allot them the village's few best plots.
As a result, Xu Huaiqian only got some shady plots and a few of sunny land—that was it. It was even worse than the land given to ordinary families. It left many villagers unable to process it.
"Has Second Lang somehow offended the magistrate?" The Xu family was also watching closely, observing what land the county would allot to Xu Huaiqian.
Seeing Xu Huaiqian only got a few such plots, Grandpa Xu pondered. Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu must have offended the magistrate somewhere.
"If they offended him, it's not our concern anyway; he's married out now." Xu Dalang was nonchalant. Now that Xu Huaiqian had married into the Chen family, the banquet was held, and his household registration was transferred, he had no relation to the Xu family anymore.
" That's true." Grandpa Xu nodded in agreement. Initially, hearing about the land allotment, he had felt a bit regret about not bringing Xu Huaiqian home last time, thinking that if he had, these ten mu of land would now be theirs.
But seeing Xu Huaiqian only got a few mu of land that couldn't grow good grain, he felt not a shred of regret left.
If they had really brought this sickly person back and he died, what use would the five mu of mulberry land, that no would even buy, be?
Regardless of their thoughts, Xu Huaiqian's land was finalized. Chen Liejiu hired a few brothers to plough the land as Xu Huaiqian instructed, applied a thin layer of farmyard manure, and bought more from the city when their own wasn't enough.
He planted the ginger seeds he bought from various medical clinics.
Don't think five mu is small; the amount of ginger seeds needed was quite a lot. They estimated at least five hundred catties of ginger seeds per mu. Ginger seeds were old ginger, costing a hundred coins per catty.
Chen Liejiu bargained and bargained with the clinics, finally pressing the price down to eighty coins per catty. He managed to buy 1,800 catties of ginger seeds, gave 300 catties to Meng Fangxun, and kept 1,500 catties for themselves.
Fortunately, Xu Huaiqian didn't insist on planting a full five hundred catties per mu. Planting three hundred catties per mu, even if dispersed, was fine.
But the 150 taels spent on ginger seeds and hiring help for planting left Chen Liejiu, who had sold all the bricks made over the winter at spring's start, strapped for cash again.
Since Xu Huaiqian's return from the prefectural city in winter, Chen Liejiu had been organizing a brick kiln. Not knowing how to fire bricks didn't matter; he hired all the people from nearby villages who had worked in kilns before and figured it out bit by bit.
He had patience and perseverance, plus Xu Huaiqian's assistance from the side, and he truly managed to produce bricks.
However, he didn't make red bricks but grey bricks, commonly used in this era. Grey bricks were more durable and popular than red bricks. Xu Huaiqian didn't insist people follow his aesthetic; grey bricks were fine as long as they sold.
The Chen clansmen who made charcoal last year earned quite a bit and wanted to build houses this year. Chen Liejiu sold them the grey bricks accumulated over winter, earning 150 taels, all of which Xu Huaiqian had squandered.
And it wasn't over yet! There were still the five mu of peppercorn trees!
Chen Liejiu could manage the my for ginger, but for peppercorns, he was completely at a loss.
Families with peppercorn trees would never sell them. And growing from seeds would take years from cultivation to planting.
The best method was cutting propagation, but that required cuttings to begin with.
Seeing Chen Liejiu frown repeatedly, Xu Huaiqian felt extremely embarrassed. He brought him a bowl of bird's nest and fed him: "--Ah."
Knowing he had caused a lot of trouble recently, he was very annoyed.
The annoyed Chen Liejiu was caught off guard by Xu Huaiqian feeding him his own bird's nest. Meeting Xu Huaiqian's always emotional eyes now filled with guilt, his irritation instantly vanished.
"You eat; don't just feed me." Seeing Xu Huaiqian about to feed him again, Chen Liejiu waved his hand, indicating he didn't want more.
"If it's really not possible, then forget it." Xu Huaiqian hadn't expected peppercorn trees to be so hard to find here. Seeing Chen Liejiu running around all day with no leads, he also felt heartache.
" It's fine," Chen Liejiu frowned. He wasn't without a solution, but it might be a bit dangerous. But since he promised Xu Huaiqian to get it d, he would. "Don't worry about these. Go pack your luggage. In a few days, I'll take you to the academy to study."
Spring had come; the weather wasn't cold anymore, and the academy gates had opened. Xu Huaiqian was a Xiucai now. He wasn't in a rush for the Juren exam, so he didn't need to frantically hurry to school, but he couldn't delay either.
"I don't have much. I'll just take some medicine and clothes when I go." When Xu Huaiqian returned from the academy last year, he didn't bring much back. His things were still in the dormitory; Pei Wangshu, back studying, would help gather them.
" You still need to pack properly. Don't forget anything." Chen Liejiu glanced at Xu Huaiqian, who still hadn't taken off his cloak even in spring, and sighed. "Especially your medicine."
Xu Huaiqian's medicine now wasn't just the ten-tael-per-month ginseng; it had increased to thirty taels per month. No choice; thirty-year ginseng could no longer meet his body's needs, so they directly switched to hundred-year ginseng.
" Alright." Knowing his husband took his health very seriously, Xu Huaiqian didn't dare cause trouble. He went back to his room to check his clothes and medicine over and over. Finding nothing missing, he saw a discarded piece of red silk in the corner, blushed, dug it out, and took it to the brazier to burn.
"What is Second Brother burning?" In the months at home, Chen Jinhu had witnessed their Second Brother's my-burning capacity—a mountain of gold and silver wouldn't be enough for him to spend, not just on his health but also on other things.
So he didn't dare stay home either, packing his luggage to go on an escort trip again. Every bit earned helps. Moreover, Second Brother, hearing about the places he'd been to on escort trips, had given him a method to earn quick my. He wanted to verify if it would work.
Coming out, he saw Xu Huaiqian burning a piece of red fabric in the corner of the main hall and couldn't help but ask curiously.
In winter, Chen Liejiu didn't mind Xu Huaiqian having two braziers in the room. But now in spring, even brazier in the room made Chen Liejiu unbearably hot.
So Xu Huaiqian simply didn't warm himself by the fire in the room anymore, using the main hall instead. At night, Chen Liejiu would first warm the bed for him before he crawled in to sleep.
Naturally, if he needed to burn something, he had to bring it to the main hall.
Xu Huaiqian shook his head without answering. Chen Jinhu looked at Chen Liejiu.
Chen Liejiu glanced at the red silk in Xu Huaiqian's hand, and his ears instantly felt hot. He said to Chen Jinhu bluntly: "It's your Second Brother's thing. If he wants to burn it, he burns it. Why ask so much?"
Of course he knew what it was! It was the thing Xu Huaiqian had used to tie him up for several nights, tormenting him to ecstasy and agony. Could he tell him that?
Chen Jinhu: "???"