Chapter 301 - 301 Madam Xu Visits Again_l
The quantity of mushrooms produced daily has now increased five times more than before, in addition to being sold in the Xingshan County market, they are also sold in the Government City.
Any mushrooms left unsold each day are all made into mushroom sauce, for sale in a few of Wei Ruo’s still-operating stores.
This has led to the employment of a large number of nearby villagers, solving the problem of feeding many farmers. It has made Qian Magistrate of Xingshan County very happy and he has several times expressed his wish to meet her, the hidden boss behind the scenes.
Then there is the business of the Yusheng Tea Garden. There Wei Ruo is a partner, so she does not need to worry about everything. Each month, Fan Chengxu will give the account book and profits to Wei Ruo for verification.
Although Fan Chengxu is cunning, he is indeed trustworthy when it comes to cooperation, and so far Wei Ruo has not found him altering the account books.
All these shops and businesses have brought Wei Ruo a substantial profit, allowing her to invest in business and develop agriculture without any worries.
So far, deducting the cost of recent expansion of mushroom cultivation and the purchase of Caili Farm, Wei Ruo still has a net profit of more than 1600 taels of silver in the past six months.
This is a very substantial amount of wealth. It is unimaginable for Yunshi, who had been worrying about silver for a long time, that her daughter had such astonishing earning ability.
What Yunshi regrets is not a problem for Wei Ruo at all. With her earning ability and current wealth, she can easily resolve the crisis of the Wei residence.
After checking the account books, Wei Ruo stretched lazily, looking at the sky outside, it was late at night.
Recently, Wei Ruo has been busy until late every night.
Xiumei brought some refereshing tea: “Miss, have some refreshing tea and then go to bed early after eating. If you go on this way, you will lose weight, and the wet nurse will blame me for not taking good care of you.”
“Don’t talk nonsense, you cook delicious food for me every day. You’ve made me gain a lot of weight. Where did I lose weight?” Wei Ruo stood up, gesturing towards her waistline.
“Miss, you haven’t gained weight, but your chest has expanded a lot,” Xiumei said honestly.
Wei Ruo looked down, thought about it carefully, and she seemed to be right.
Well, there’s nothing she can do about it, she’s growing. Doesn’t women’s chest size increase after reaching a certain age?
“This is not a good thing. If it grows further, it will become a problem when I disguise myself as a man.” Wei Ruo was a little worried.
“Miss Wei, as a woman, you have to let your body grow as it should. You can’t think of anything strange for the sake of convenience in disguising yourself as a man!” Xiumei sternly warned Wei Ruo.
When it comes to daily life and other matters, Xiumei will transform herself into a “housewife”.
“Okay, Meimei, I promise not to interfere. At most, I will slightly constrict the chest in the back.” Wei Ruo replied hastily.
Although she has the ability to suppress her physical development through medication, this is not conducive to health. But she still knows where to draw the line between right and wrong.
But now, she still needs the identity of Xu Heyou to do a lot of things, so she needs to dress as a man.
“Miss, just make sure you don’t harm your own body.” Xiumei can only warn her.
“Yes, rest assured, good Meimei. You know I cherish my life and I will never harm my own body.” Wei Ruo sweetly reassured Xiumei by holding both of her hands.
“All right, hurry up and eat something, then go to bed. No more all-nighters!” Xiumei scolded again with a stern face.
“Okay, okay, right away!”
Wei Ruo immediately obeyed, obediently ate something, cleaned up, and went to bed.
###
After thinking for a few days, Yunshi decided to sell the four hundred acres of land purchased this spring.
Firstly, the land is indeed barren. Although some fertilizer was applied before spring planting, it seemed to be far from enough. Moreover, the newly planted seedlings did not grow well and, due to the cold wave, the situation did not look promising.
Secondly, the future weather is still uncertain, and even the already growing seedlings cannot guarantee a harvest in the autumn.
So, instead of that, it’s better to sell it early, get the money, and tide over this difficult period.
Although doing so may damage their image, it is better than doing as her husband suggested and selling the royal gifts.
At the same time, household expenses also needed to be reduced. As it was discussed that day, Yunshi planned to reduce the monthly allowances of all the courtyards to the level before they moved to the Government City.
Wei Mingting did not interfere with Yunshi’s decision, he is often in the army camp and his wife is always the one who handles the farmland, stores, and various incomes and expenditures. He, as a husband, chose to trust his wife’s choices and decisions.
However, although Yunshi had made such arrangements, selling the farmland wasn’t easy.
Given the current situation, everyone was cautious about buying farmland. If the harvest was poor that year, they would lose silver and not gain food crops.
So it’s better to directlybuy food with food, that way there’s at least some security.
Two days passed like this, and then Madame Xu left to pay a visit to Yunshi. Yunshi warmly welcomed her: “Madam Xu, what wind brings you here? I was so busy these days that I couldn’t find the time to visit you in your mansion.” “Madam Wei, there’s no need to be so polite.” Madame Xu smiled, then immediately asked about the Wei family selling their land, “I heard that you are selling some land recently?”
Upon hearing this, Yunshi looked uncomfortable. Of course, she knew that the Wei family selling the land couldn’t be hidden from the people in the city. But it was a little embarrassing when Madame Xu asked about it directly.
Yunshi had to explain, “That land is a little infertile and with this year’s bad weather, I thought it is better to cut the losses and sell it early.”
Yunshi had her pride, and certainly couldn’t admit that she was doing this because the Wei family were currently having cash flow problems.
Madame Xu gave a slight smile and then said, “Speaking of which, I was lucky to have met your daughter. The seedlings in my farm are not growing well at all this year, and that’s the only hope for me to have any harvest.”
Yunshi modestly said, “It just happened to be something my daughter knew how to do.”
Madame Xu continued, “I also heard that His Highness the Seventh Prince recently invited her to help with something?”
Yunshi hurriedly explained, “Yes, there was such a thing, but Ruoruo declined. She, being a woman, saw many inconveniences in helping His Highness. During her time in Xingshan County, she rarely went to the fields in person, and mostly communicated through maidservants at the residence.”
“Regardless of her methods, your daughter made great contributions to the reclamation of Xingshan County. Her abilities are unquestionable.”
Madame Xu’s face was full of a loving smile, while her eyes revealed her admiration and affirmation of Wei Ruo.
“Madame Xu, you are too kind.”
A smile also emerged on Yunshi’s face as she heard someone praising her daughter. Naturally, she was delighted as a mother.
Also, she felt very gratified that Madame Xu did not mind her daughter’s fondness for running to the fields and considered it as a skill.