Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 922 - 920_1

Chapter 922: Chapter 920_1

"You just say you’ll compensate with grain, and that’s it? With no evidence to back your words, who would dare believe you!" Baozi’s father couldn’t believe how naive Xiao’er was, making such a speculative promise! Well, if she wanted to risk diluting all her property by compensating the villagers for a year’s worth of grain, let her be!

The piercing gaze of Xiao’er landed on him again, carrying an imposing air, she asserted, "What I say, I mean it! Never have my words been hollow! Those willing to trust me may plant, and those unwilling to trust, may simply not plant. I wouldn’t force anyone."

Growing anything comes with its risks, growing the yellow dragon fruit is a choice made willingly by everyone. She gave them an opportunity. If they only thought about gaining without risking a bit, there wasn’t any point in cooperating! She wasn’t the least bit worried that people wouldn’t grow the yellow dragon fruit.

Even if the villagers refused to plant, she felt confident she could find others to do it. But after interacting several times, Xiao’er had faith that these villagers would not let her down.

The village folk weren’t thick-faced either. After hearing Xiao’er’s words, Huzi’s father quickly responded, "We trust you, Miss. Besides, we agreed to plant the yellow dragon fruit ourselves. If we end up failing, it has nothing to do with you. How can we then demand you to compensate us with food!"

"Right, the likes of such ungratefulness is something we’re incapable of doing!" The village chief, apprehensive that Baozi’s father would infuriate Xiao’er, also hurried to show his loyalty.

The villagers indeed aren’t unruly; they were all simple, responsible, and kind-hearted. Therefore, they unanimously nodded, "Indeed, we decided to plant the fruit ourselves. If we can’t grow them, we can only blame ourselves for lacking a wealthy fate. How can we demand Miss to compensate us with food? It’s absolutely unreasonable wherever you go!"

"Exactly, besides, not one of our households chose to grow the yellow dragon fruit in all our farmlands. We’ve already kept some for growing grain. So, how would we die of starvation! Miss, you don’t need to worry. We won’t starve."

"Right, we won’t starve, we will definitely wait until we get rich!"

...

After hearing their responses, Xiao’er laughed. She indeed hadn’t misjudged these folks. Such people were, after all, the ones everyone wished to collaborate and lend a hand to!

"Thank you all for the trust you’ve placed in me. I won’t let you down. Alright, let’s first figure out what’s causing the wilt in the fruit saplings," Xiao’er assured.

The sense of competition within everyone spontaneously resurfaced, and several women were eager to take Xiao’er to their fields right away. "Miss, look at mine first!"

"Why look at yours first, your field is the farthest! Miss, look at mine first, my field is right nearby, not too many of my saplings have died, they seem to have just started wilting. If there’s a chance of saving, ours could be saved."

"Your saplings haven’t died much, why are you in a rush? Mine are almost all dead, naturally it should be mine that gets looked at first. Miss, please, my saplings are waiting for you to come and save them."

"Get out of the way! Each one of your fields is as far as the ends of the earth, want to tire the Miss to death? My field is right here, Miss, please look at mine first! It’s not too far to walk." This woman was bold, fearlessly pulling Xiao’er’s hand toward her field.

This frightened Yang Liu to the point of nearly kicking her away, but fortunately, Xiao’er stopped her with a glance.

"Alright, I’ll go around and look. I will look at everyone’s fields, no need to argue," Xiao’er consoled.

Upon hearing this, the woman finally let go of Xiao’er’s hand.

"Auntie, take me around to look," Xiao’er spoke to Huzi’s mother.

"Alright," Huzi’s mother quickly consented and thus began leading Xiao’er around for a tour. The rest firmly trailed behind them, eager to discover why these saplings that had been flourishing so well, had suddenly begun to wilt.

Just as Huzi’s parents had reported, Xiao’er witnessed that many of the fruit trees were somewhat wilted, as if they had abruptly lost moisture; they seemed extraordinarily dry.

Among them, some saplings hadn’t wilted, and those grew as energetically as expected.

"Yang Mei, dig up a sapling for me to check its roots," Xiao’er, still unable to figure out the cause, suggested.

"Let me do it," someone hearing her request promptly went forward with a hoe and dug up an utterly wilted sapling.

Xiao’er squatted down, picked up the sapling, and examined its root phase—there was no sign of decay! Nor were there pests affecting the tree.

She then looked at the soil around it; on the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Xiao’er put the sapling down, stood up, and dusted off the dirt on her hands, "Let’s continue exploring."

Baozi’s father, worried that Xiao’er might find any clues, had all along been trailing behind everyone. Seeing now that Xiao’er hadn’t discovered anything, he couldn’t resist feeling disdain: she’s just pretending!

Yet his unease remained, continuing to follow the crowd.

Seeing this, someone asked, "Baozi’s father, since you didn’t plant any yellow dragon fruit, why are you following us?"

Baozi’s father gave him a Bai Yan glare and returned, "I want to follow, so I follow. Is it any of your business?"

Silenced by his words, that person didn’t respond. Indeed, the person had no control over this. If he wants to follow, let him follow.

As Xiao’er explored around, seeing no issues with the soil or saplings, she surmised that the problem must lie with the source of water.

Xiao’er held a guess in her heart, but she still needed evidence.

"Where’s the water source, take me to see."

"This way." Huzi’s mother promptly responded.

Everyone arrived at a rivulet.

The stream was quite small and shallow, its depth reaching only to an adult’s knees. The river water was crystal clear with a greenish-brown bottom and small green grass visible beneath the water.

Both banks of the river were covered in grass, and there was a trail smoothed out by foot traffic along the bank. The dirt of this trail was compressed into a smooth and firm surface.

The villagers used a few specific spots beside the river to fetch water, so at those locations, a small trail was paved with bricks to prevent the wet soil from becoming muddy, reducing the risk of slipping.

As Xiao’er walked along the river bank, she carefully observed the bushes and the road surface to see if there was something unusual.

Midway, Xiao’er spotted a slightly yellow crystalline substance in the grass. Some of these crystals seemed to have dissolved after contacting the water. Two larger pellets were still clinging to the leaves of the grass.

If one wasn’t paying attention, they wouldn’t notice them at all.

Xiao’er stopped, squatted down, reached out her hand, and picked up the two light yellow crystals from the leaf.

"What’s this?" Xiao’er placed the two light yellow crystals in her other palm, spread her hand, and presented it before the Village chief and the others, asking.

"It’s salt!"

"Salt!"

"Salt!"

...

The villagers could recognize it at a glance.

Salt was a necessity in every household, and everyone could identify it.

The poor households of this era used coarse salt, which had relatively large grains and was not white, but carried a tint of yellow.

This type of salt was much cheaper than the purified white refined salt.

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