Chapter 314: Seed Selection
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling rubbed the seeds in her hands as she looked at Great-aunt. Great-aunt nodded slightly at her, and the shopkeeper said with a smile, “Miss Mu, don’t worry. The seeds here are all top-notch. Not to mention anything else, I guarantee that they are all first-generation. The most supple wheat seeds have been chosen and have been fully basked in the sun. You can take them back and hang them on the beam. It won’t be a problem for you to keep them for two winters.”
“If we plan to keep the seeds for two winters, we wouldn’t be buying it at this time.” Great-aunt said unhappily, “Your seeds are fine, but the price is too expensive.”
“Geez, Madam, it’s not expensive at all. Why don’t you take a look at the price of grains this year? Considering the price of grains has increased day by day ever since April, the price of my seeds is not high.” The shopkeeper complained. “If not for Miss Mu, I wouldn’t even have offered this price.”
Great-aunt sighed. This year’s grain prices were indeed very high. She thought for a moment before saying to Mu Yangling, “Ah Ling, let’s plant wheat next year. I know you like to eat rice, but rice is not easy to grow. Look at our ten acres of rice fields this year. We only collected a total of 108 catties. One acre only yielded slightly more than a catty of grains. And that’s even before grinding them into rice…”
When the shopkeeper heard this, he smiled and said, “Gosh, that’s considered a huge harvest. My family planted rice on more than eight acres and only harvested a total of three catties.”
Embarrassed, Mu Yangling asked, “Did your family harvest all the grains?”
“Who has the time to do that?” The shopkeeper said, “We took a scythe and walked in the fields, then only cut off the grains with ears. Who has the time to cut them all? Later, we just let an ox into the fields and let it eat all the rice without ears. When I harvested the grains, my wife even said that I was wasting my time.”
“You can’t say that. Three catties of grains can fill our stomachs for a day. Although we have food now, we can’t waste it.”
“My sentiments exactly. Look at those refugees outside. They can even kill someone for 0.2 catties of rice, let alone three catties of grains. Moreover, I don’t dare to say that every single one of these three catties of grains are supple, but they’re all puffed up. It just makes me feel bad to look at them. Back then, I planted more than three catties of seeds.”
Mu Yangling was originally listening with interest at the side, but when she heard this, she could not help but be surprised. She asked, “Shopkeeper, have you eaten the three catties of grains?”
“Nope. My family is used to eating noodles. Moreover, how can we eat three catties of grains? I plan to grind them together the next time I buy grains.”
Mu Yangling’s eyes lit up. “Then can you sell it to me?”
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment before he replied with a smile, “Miss Mu, are you joking with me? What’s the use of these three catties of grains? If you want to buy them, I have plenty here. I can give you a good price for it.”
“No, I want the three catties that grew on the drought-affected land.”
The shopkeeper was suspicious, but he did not question her. He only said, “I’ll send someone back to get it now.” Then, he asked casually, “Miss Mu, is there anything wrong with my grains?”
Mu Yangling only thought for a moment before confessing, “There’s nothing wrong. It’s just that I suddenly remembered that since these grains managed to grow on such dry land, perhaps they can adapt to the arid climate. Thus, I’m thinking of doing an experiment.”
If this method was spread, someone might be able to produce drought-resistant rice faster.
When the shopkeeper heard this, he shook his head and smiled. He felt that Mu Yangling was thinking too simply. He’d originally thought that there was some secret behind this.
Great-aunt sighed and didn’t say anything. She knew that Mu Yangling had always wanted to improve the quality of seeds and planting technology. She had spent quite a bit of effort on this during the past two years. In that case, she would just let her continue doing so.
Mu Yangling obtained the three catties of grains as she wished. When she returned, she compared them to her own 108 catties. The shopkeeper’s grains were even fuller than hers. She guessed that the bad grains had been removed during the harvesting.
Mu Yangling poured out the 108 catties of grains, planning to screen them and keep the plump grains as seeds. Dumbfounded, Great-aunt asked, “Are you really planning to use these as seeds?”
Mu Yangling nodded. “Great-aunt, I still want to buy more. Later, go to the village and ask if anyone has any grains left behind this year. Buy the supple ones. Remember, they must be from this year’s harvest.”
Great-aunt looked at the grains on the ground and saw that they were orange-yellow. Considering they were indeed plump enough, and they came from her own land, she felt that it would be good to use them as seeds. Therefore, she didn’t object. Nodding, she said, “Alright, I understand. Then should we go to the grain store to buy some rice seeds?”
Mu Yangling thought for a moment and said, “Let’s buy some. When the time comes, we’ll plant them separately and compare the effect. If there’s no basis for comparison, there’s no way to tell if this method will work.”
“Are you planning to plant so much rice?” Great-aunt was still more inclined to plant wheat because rice was too low-yielding. Although corn was high-yielding, it was too coarse.
“Great-aunt, didn’t I tell you? I just rented 65 hectares of land in Hanzhong Prefecture.”
“How much rent does it cost to rent so much land?”
“Not much. I just need to support those little land owners.”
“Huh?” Great-aunt didn’t understand.
Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “Brother Haoran brought back a group of children and drafted them into the military households. However, those children are still young. Although they have a large plot of land under their name, they can’t farm it, so I took over the land. Qi Haoran said that he’ll only take half of the taxes levied every year. The remaining money will be used to raise the children.”
Great-aunt immediately felt uneasy. “Well, since you’re doing this via the back door, how can you pay less taxes? Later, tell Little General that we’ll pay the proper amount of tax. As for the children, we’ll continue to raise them. Since we’re renting their land, it’s only right that we pay the rent.”
With a smile, Mu Yangling said, “Great-aunt, forget about paying more tax. Though, we can give the children more things. If Qi Haoran doesn’t rent the land to us, not only will they not get a single grain, but they will also have to pay for the grains to feed those children.”
“But we can’t make Little General suffer a loss,” Great-aunt muttered. “We’re law-abiding people.”
Mu Yangling couldn’t help but purse her lips and smile. She didn’t dare to tell her great-aunt about the expenses of the nursery. Otherwise, her heart would ache again.
When Shu Wanniang came in, she heard Great-aunt teaching Mu Yangling to be a good person. She couldn’t help but purse her lips and smile. She said to Mu Yangling, “Ah Ling, listen to your great-aunt.”
Mu Yangling thought for a moment and agreed. “Then I’ll discuss it with Brother Haoran later.”
Only then did Great-aunt give the mother and daughter some space. Shu Wanniang tapped her daughter’s forehead. “I don’t care what you’re doing outside, but you have to remember not to take advantage of others. It’s a blessing to suffer a harmless loss.”
Mu Yangling said helplessly, “Mother, I know. Don’t worry. I won’t take advantage of those children just because they’re still insensible. I will give them what they rightfully deserve.”