The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 423 - 412: Everyone’s Plan

Chapter 423: Chapter 412: Everyone’s Plan

Old Zhou felt Ms. Qian was being utterly unreasonable. This was the Bai Family’s business, their surprise, so what had it to do with the Zhou Family?

It was one thing for Manbao to get involved; after all, she had a good relationship with their young master, but why were these two adults putting so much heart and effort into it?

But Old Zhou was timid, and he didn’t dare say anything.

Manbao hadn’t yet told Old Zhou the final price until Bai Shanbao told her that their grain was almost at Luojiang County, and it was only then that Manbao happily went to find her father and told him the Bai Family was willing to exchange at a rate of one catty and two taels for a catty.

Previously somewhat lethargic, Old Zhou immediately perked up, his eyes shining as he asked, "Really?"

Manbao nodded.

"Did they say how many catties they want?"

"They want all that comes from the seeds planted in our fields, but Dad, they also need to keep some seeds for themselves, right?"

"Not only did they keep enough for themselves, but they also saved some for their relatives. They plan to deliver those once they finish up with the current business," said Old Zhou, unbothered, for it was common to exchange seeds that grew well among relatives.

Old Zhou decided to take time to visit the Qian Family and see if their harvest of winter wheat had improved this year, to determine if they needed to get more seeds from him.

Old Zhou planned a bit. He figured that Two and the others’ in-law families would probably need a visit as well, so they should keep some extra seeds. After doing the calculus in his mind, he said to Manbao, "Then let’s exchange for sixty bags, and keep nine. How does that sound?"

Manbao was taken aback, "Our family is going to exchange too?"

"Of course, we are. One catty for one catty and two taels, remember? We father and daughter negotiated it," he said. He probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he didn’t take advantage of such a good deal.

Manbao: ... She’d need to have a serious talk with her mother to keep an eye on her father so that he wouldn’t trade away all the wheat at home.

Old Zhou had already gleefully gone out to spread the great news throughout the whole village.

Last year, aside from a few families, the vast majority of Qili Village had exchanged their wheat for seeds from the Zhou Family.

Originally, those who exchanged seeds saw a much higher yield of winter wheat in the spring than those who hadn’t, and now, with the offer of one catty for one catty and two taels, the few families who hadn’t exchanged were nearly green with regret.

Laizi’s family didn’t make the exchange.

Laizi thought it was too much trouble, and besides, his family had carefully selected their wheat seeds last year, feeling they were no worse than the harvested wheat from the Zhou Family.

Yes, the Zhou Family’s harvest last year was better than everyone else’s, but no matter how good, surely it wasn’t as full and carefully selected as theirs, right?

Little did they know, all those who had switched seeds last year had reaped a bountiful harvest.

Laizi was somewhat downcast.

His father sat on the threshold, taking a while before muttering, "Let’s also exchange some seeds with Uncle Jin’s family this year. I think their seed is really good."

"If you knew it was that good, why didn’t you exchange last year?" Laizi couldn’t help but yell, "Now we’re a year behind, and we can’t even make that extra money."

Laizi’s father sat on the threshold, silent.

Irritated, Laizi threw a temper tantrum before storming off, kicking and stumbling.

There were several other families in the village filled with regret like Laizi’s, but they had no influence over the Zhou Family, let alone the collective joy of the whole village.

Even the village chief was so pleased that he ordered someone to buy a slab of meat from the market to invite Old Zhou to stay for dinner.

An additional two taels for each catty! In the case of a thousand catties, that was the equivalent of earning an extra two hundred catties. Just the thought made the village chief so elated he could devour a basin of meat.

The village chief also invited several elders from the village to join them. Since they couldn’t afford alcohol, they all relished chomping down on steamed buns, and one asked Old Zhou, "When do they plan to come to exchange?"

"Manbao said it would probably be in these next two or three days. I suppose everyone’s wheat is about dry by now," replied Old Zhou.

One of the elders spoke to the village chief: "You’d better keep an eye on it. Make sure their wheat is dried properly and let the wind blow through it. We don’t want any damp, empty husks getting in there."

He continued: "Old Master Bai is also from our Qili Village, we’re all fellow villagers, it would look bad if this got out."

"Indeed, if life gets better in the future, we might need to rely on Old Master Bai even more. We can’t let such a small matter ruin our good relations," another chimed in.

Old Zhou repeatedly nodded. His family still owed Old Master Bai quite a few favors. Although they had raised the price in business negotiations, ensuring the quality and quantity had to be done properly.

Old Master Bai had no idea that his name was being used so liberally; meanwhile, he carefully observed the children’s movements after speaking with them.

To his observation, the children went to school and came back as usual each day, sometimes even teaming up to head to the mountains to "wreak havoc" on the wild grass and flowers—well, supposedly they were going to look for wild mushrooms, and they even held a small campfire cookout.

They lit a fire in the Bai Manor’s garden, trying to roast the mushrooms they’d found, but they nearly set the garden ablaze, earning a scolding from Ms. Zheng.

Just as Old Master Bai was beginning to wonder if they had forgotten about the serious matter at hand, he sent someone to bring his son back home, but his son nervously indicated he wouldn’t betray his little companions.

Well, Old Master Bai then knew they had not forgotten about the serious business; however, he was clueless as to what they had been up to.

He saw that Bai Er was staying at Bai Shanbao’s place, attending school and coming back as usual every day. Not only that, but he was even praised by Mr. Zhuang twice for his homework and was said to be reading books after class now.

Old Master Bai was so emotional he nearly wept tears of joy; thereafter, he calmly awaited their next move, in no rush whatsoever.

However, he was indeed interested in the seeds from the Zhou Family.

These past few days, he’d not only talked to Old Zhou but also to the village chief of Qili Village, and only then did he confirm that the Zhou Family’s seeds were truly their own variety, except that they had changed after last year’s flood.

No one could be sure whether it was the flood waters that did something or it really was the blessing of Taishang Laojun, but their wheat had indeed changed.

Beyond that, the way the Zhou Family farmed was just like everyone else’s. At most, his sons were numerous, so they plowed the field twice; his daughters-in-law broke up the clumps a bit more; they fertilized a bit more generously; they planted the seeds a couple of days earlier than the others...

In summary, Old Master Bai analyzed and concluded that the source of the improvement was, indeed, the seeds.

Thus, he was genuinely interested in buying seeds.

The soil and water conditions of Qili Village had been tested, and these seeds were deemed suitable. The conditions in Dali Village were similar, so there should be no problems there either.

Therefore, after the autumn harvest, all these places could plant the new wheat variety. As for other areas, he planned to select ten to twenty mu of land to test it out.

If the seeds didn’t suit the local soil and water conditions, then only about ten to twenty mu of land in one place would be lost, a loss he could afford.

Old Master Bai’s plan was quite sound: he intended to "buy" a batch from the three children at a "low price" first, and if that wasn’t enough, he’d go to the village to buy from others.

Still, he was more inclined to buy from the Zhou Family because, as it was said, their wheat was still the best in the village this year, so the seeds they produced should also be the best.