PDLP Chapter 213: Meeting New Friends and Starting a Potato Relationship (2 Chapters in 1)
Chapter 213: Meeting New Friends and Starting a Potato Relationship (2 Chapters in 1)
When everyone saw the two people were on the verge of a fight, they quickly separated them.
Seeing this, Qi Xinrui quickly pulled Zhou Sisi behind her. Elsewhere, the girl in red and the girl in a goose-yellow skirt also pulled Zhuang Xinyan away.
After everyone left, Qi Xinrui said, "You're in trouble! She's got her eyes on you! Do you remember what I told you before?"
Zhou Sisi shrugged and said nonchalantly, "What's there to be afraid of? It's just a competition, come on." What a joke! She had participated in so many competitions in the modern era, and she was still afraid of this little arena? Just compete. Even if she lost, the important thing was to participate.
A girl in a light blue dress agreed:
"That's right! She gets all worked up when someone is better than her. If you keep caring about that, you'll be exhausted." She introduced herself, "My last name is Yuan Youyou. Nice to meet you."
Zhou Sisi smiled and responded, "Hello, Miss Yuan, I've heard a lot about you. My name is Zhou Sisi."
Yuan Youyou was surprised, "You know me?"
"Yeah! During the exam today, the teacher said that I was the only one of the two students who got into Class A right away. So I guessed that person must be Miss Yuan. I heard from Zheng Rui that you are always targeted by Zhuang Xinyan."
Qi Xinrui hurriedly explained to Yuan Youyou, "I was just standing up for justice, don't misunderstand me."
Yuan Youyou waved her hand nonchalantly. "It's okay, everyone knows it. It's not a secret. I took five of the same courses as hers, and my scores were all slightly higher than hers. How could she not be angry? It's normal for her to target me."
Speaking of this, Qi Xinrui asked Zhou Sisi, "Have you registered for all your subjects? If not, you must think twice and try not to register with her."
Zhou Sisi: "Not yet, but I don't plan to look at other people's faces. I only want to report what I am interested in."
Qi Xinrui glanced at Zhou Sisi helplessly. "Don't underestimate Zhuang Xinyan. Her family is powerful and vindictive. You've provoked her this time, and she won't let you off the hook."
Zhou Sisi spread her hands. "So, now that it's already like this, there's no need for me to care about her. The relationship has already been torn apart. As for whether she's willing to give up or not, I can't care. The worst that can happen is that I can just fight back."
"That's how it should be!" Yuan Youyou clapped her hands and agreed, "She's narrow-minded, and it's not our fault. Why should we avoid her? Shouldn't she change?"
Qi Xinrui… "Okay, I'm speechless. I can't persuade you two anymore. She doesn't like me anyway, so it's just right for the three of us to be together!"
……
Elsewhere, Chen Xiuying sent her daughter off and didn't go to the store herself. Everything was basically stable now, so she didn't have to go. Today was the day to hand over the potatoes to the Ministry of Revenue, so she had to lead someone to the farm.
Originally, the potatoes should have taken another ten days or so to be ready, but the person from the Ministry of Revenue said that they hoped to harvest them now so that they could have a batch by November.
Since the imperial court had such a strong demand, she had no choice but to comply. So, she arranged for the date to be the day her child went to school.
The man who came was Qi Yuanwailang. Honestly, this matter had nothing to do with the Ministry of Revenue, but after all, he was the son of Qi Shangshu. Qi Shoucheng thought, "My brother Zitao is not at home, so I have to help him get more motivated. I can't let him work hard and not get any reward. That would be in vain, wouldn't it?" So, he volunteered to come.
Coming with him to harvest potatoes were Lord Hu, the second-in-command of the Ministry of Revenue and the Left Vice Minister, and Lord Zhuang, the Minister of Rites.
When Lord Hu came to the Zhou family and agreed on a date with Chen Xiuying, he didn't mention that anyone else would be coming. So when Chen Xiuying saw three lords and six carriages, she was stunned.
Seeing this, Qi Shoucheng hurried over to explain to her, "I came here because I was worried that Zitao wasn't home, so I came to cheer you up. That person is the Minister of Rites, Mr. Zhuang, and he's here to supervise."
As soon as Lord Xiao Qi mentioned the Minister of Rites, Chen Xiuying understood. Zhou Dajiang had come to their house to learn about this person.
"That old man, the Minister of Rites, didn't believe that the potato yield was a thousand kilograms per mu and even said I was bragging. It's just that I wasn't home when the potatoes were harvested. Otherwise, I would have let him know whether I was bragging or his eyesight was poor."
Chen Xiuying thought of this and went to see Master Zhuang again. Well, her husband was right. This Master Cui's eyesight is not very good. He squints at people. This is obviously nearsighted! When Datong Commercial Bank's glasses are out, I can ask someone to go to his house to recommend a pair.
After learning about the situation from Master Xiao Qi, Chen Xiuying expressed her understanding. After all, they all had the same goal: to dig potatoes. One more person was just one more helper. Even if they couldn't do the work, they could still count.
So, let's not waste any more time, let's go! Let's all take a car to the village. Just like that, with our own car, there were seven of us in total, and we went to the village in a mighty procession.
Chen Xiuying had already informed Yu Quan at the farm, so early in the morning, Yu Quan, his son Yu Fuan, and Guo Long were waiting at the edge of the field. Mrs. Yu, Guo Long's wife, and Zhenzhu were busy dealing with the meat products in the shop, so they didn't come.
Qing'er and Chunxi also followed Chen Xiuying over. Seeing that there were only three people in the field, they also decided to go down to help. Including Sun Dashan, there were a total of six people on the Zhou side.
There were only nine people in the Ministry of Revenue, including the coachman and three adults.
Chen Xiuying thought about it. There were fifteen people on both sides. To dig up thirty acres of potatoes, that meant each person had to work two acres. From pulling out the seedlings to transporting them out, they had to work quickly, otherwise they wouldn't be able to finish the job.
Moreover, they arrived late, arriving at 9:00 AM, and worked until 5:00 PM, which was only eight hours. And they had to take a break for lunch, so if we calculate it as half an hour, that's only seven and a half hours. With so few people, they couldn't finish the job.
So, Chen Xiuying suggested to Lord Hu, "Can the Ministry of Revenue send more people? With so few people, we probably won't be able to finish the work today."
Before Lord Hu could express his opinion, Minister Zhuang snorted coldly, "You're saying it can't be done before we even start, and you're sending more people. I think there are more than enough of them!"
Chen Xiuying... Mr. Zhuang must have been a nagging idiot in his past life. I only said one thing, and he had a few words to say. If I kept going, I'd probably keep going. Okay, I'll stop talking. Just do what you want. At worst, we can do it another day tomorrow. Besides, there aren't enough trucks here today. So many potatoes? Six trucks? That would be fun, wouldn't it?
Just looking at the number of people and vehicles, it's clear that they've underestimated the number of potatoes. Let's just work slowly for now. Once the potato yield per mu is known, we can send more people.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiuying did not argue with Minister Zhuang. She just pointed out the place to everyone and walked to Minister Zhuang with a pen and a notebook.
"Sir Shangshu, it takes a long time to dig potatoes. Why don't you do the record?" She is old and doesn't want to get hurt by overworking herself. She should go to the fields herself and let the old man keep record.
Zhuang Shangshu had come to watch the fun, but who would have thought Zhou Dajiang's wife would ask him to record the weight? Fine, he'd record it, since he also wanted to see how much she could produce.
After Chen Xiuying arranged things for Minister Zhuang, she put on a pair of homemade gloves and formed a female trio with Qing'er and Chunxi, and started pulling potato seedlings together.
Actually, pulling out the seedlings could have been done two days ago, but Yu Quan said the potatoes weren't fully grown yet. If the seedlings weren't pulled out, they would continue to grow. Regardless of how big they were, they would definitely be heavier than they were the day before. So, Chen Xiuying followed his advice and didn't pull out the seedlings for the first two days.
As a result, the group spent the entire morning pulling out the seedlings, and Qi Shoucheng was so tired that he regretted it. If I had known it would be so tiring, I would not have joined in the fun.
Lunch was prepared by Mrs. Yu according to Chen Xiuying's request. To save time, everyone had chicken burgers. It was quick and easy, with meat, vegetables, and a staple food. After a quick sip of tea, it was time to get back to work.
Finally, after another hour of hard work, all the seedlings were pulled out. Next, Yu Quan demonstrated to everyone how to peel potatoes without bumping the skins.
I saw him holding the shovel tightly, then gently inserting it into the soil, and then prying it upwards with force. The soil was turned over, revealing the round, yellow potatoes underneath.
Yu Quan demonstrated while explaining the precautions. The potatoes, in particular, broke easily when touched, so everyone was extremely careful when digging, fearing they would damage these hard-earned fruits.
Yu Quan demonstrated on one side, while his sons Yu Fuan and Guo Long started working on the other side. In a short while, the potatoes had piled up into a small mountain.
Lord Hu touched the newly peeled, round potatoes and asked, "The skins of these potatoes are so delicate, I'm afraid they won't be easy to transport, right?"
Yu Quan smiled and replied, "Your Excellency may not know that we can use hay to separate them and put them in baskets or boxes. As long as they are not shaken violently, they will remain intact." After hearing this, everyone said they had taken note of it.
The rest of the time, everyone was on their own, digging up potatoes, picking up potatoes, and putting them into baskets.
When Minister Zhuang saw the potatoes unearthed, he went over to touch each one. It turned out that the potatoes were quite large, each one as big as an apple.
Afterwards, everyone worked together to put the dug potatoes into baskets and then transported them to the field.
The fields on the farm were about three ridges per mu, so after Master Xiao Qi finished digging three ridges, he asked the servants to help him fill the baskets and weigh them. They used large baskets, each weighing several hundred kilograms, so the three ridges alone filled eight large baskets.
Looking at the several large baskets full of potatoes, everyone's face was filled with the joy of the harvest.
Lord Zhuang also became alert at this moment. He had to keep an eye on the scale and make sure not to let Lord Xiao Qi and the others mix other things into it to weigh it down.
After the weights of the baskets came out, Minister Zhuang was stunned. The weights weren't right! How could these eight baskets of potatoes weigh over 2,000 kilograms? Didn't Zhou Dajiang say they weighed over 1,000 kilograms? It was obvious there was water in them! He seriously doubted the authenticity of the weights.
When Master Xiao Qi heard him say this, he was not happy. "You're not right. The weight reported to you after the potatoes were loaded into the baskets and weighed was the weight minus the baskets. Moreover, you wrote these numbers yourself. How did you get the weight wrong?"
Minister Zhuang's face flushed, but he still stiffened his neck and said, "There's no way the difference is that big. You must have been playing tricks."
When everyone heard this, they immediately started talking about it.
At this time, Chen Xiuying, who had been silent, stood up and said, "Minister Zhuang, the potato yield is high, firstly because Yu Quan takes good care of it, and secondly because our land is fertile.
If you don't believe me, you can find another place to dig again." Minister Zhuang snorted coldly. Although he still had doubts in his heart, he looked at the crowd and they didn't seem to be faking it.
Master Xiao Qi also said, "Minister Zhuang, if you are still worried, you can take some of these potatoes and ask someone to examine them carefully when you return."
Minister Zhuang thought about it and decided that this plan was feasible. He ordered several baskets of potatoes to be loaded onto the carriage. He then decided to find a place to weigh them.
When everyone heard him say this, they all breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, the facts were before their eyes and there was no need to worry about being checked.
After Minister Zhuang and the driver drove away with the potatoes, Yu Quan said with a smile, "Our potatoes will definitely stand the test."
Everyone laughed after hearing this, and then continued to pick up the remaining potatoes in the field. This good harvest also filled the whole village with laughter and joy, and everyone looked forward to the next potato harvest to be as good as this one.
******
In the Imperial Study
Minister Zhuang handed the results to Emperor Jiayou, "Your Majesty, this is the latest potato acceptance data.
Emperor Jiayou took it and saw that it was only 2,300 to 2,400 kilograms. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "How many acres of land are these? Don't tell me that this is the only yield from 30 acres of land."
Minister Zhuang quickly replied, "Your Majesty, this is only the yield of one acre of land. I would like to present some of the data for your review first."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jiayou's eyes lit up. "So, the yield from the thirty acres of land far exceeded my expectations?"
Minister Zhuang lowered his head. "Your Majesty is wise. Based on this yield, we can certainly produce 2,500 kilograms of potatoes per mu. The yield per mu is very impressive. What Zhou Dajiang said about a 1,000 kilogram per mu is not an exaggeration."
Emperor Jiayou was overjoyed and immediately ordered a reward for Zhoujia Farm and asked the Ministry of Revenue to increase the promotion of potato planting.
After the Ministry of Revenue received the imperial edict, Minister Qi became extremely busy, looking everywhere for a suitable manor.
When Zhuang Xinyan learned about this, she became even more jealous of Zhou Sisi's family's prosperity. She hatched a plan to slander Zhou Sisi's potatoes as poisonous.
So, she secretly bribed a few scoundrels to pretend to be poisoned by eating potatoes and cause trouble in front of the Hanbaobao restaurant opened by Chen Xiuying.
For a time, people were in a panic and many people were afraid to buy the potato chips they had bought before. Chen Xiuying did not panic after learning about this. She asked the government to investigate the matter thoroughly and clear the Zhou family's name.
Officials sent undercover investigators and quickly discovered that the rogues were acting under orders. Following the clues, they tracked down Zhuang Xinyan, who was ultimately punished by the authorities and her reputation tarnished. Zhou Sisi's family's potatoes were once again a popular commodity, and the village was once again bustling with activity as it prepared for a bountiful harvest.
Of course, these are things to follow.