Chapter 142

142 Gratitude
Zhao Cai said to Chen Yaohui, “Uncle Village Chief, get them to send the coffin and paper money back. The emperor has died. Let’s hurry up and buy white linen. It’ll be troublesome if we’re late.”
“Thanks to your warning, I hadn’t thought of it. I’ll let them go first!”
Zhao Cai and Chen Yaohui hurriedly rushed to the cloth shop. Seeing that there were already more than ten people buying linen, the two of them waited for a while and bought a few bolts of white linen before rushing home.
When Zhao Cai and Chen Yaohui returned to the village, Chen Zhong and the others had already told the village about the emperor’s death. For a moment, every family in the village hung up white linen that reflected the snow on the ground. The entire Phoenix Village was covered in white.
After Zhou Jia hung up the white cloth, he turned around and went to Li Yu’s house. Li Yu leaned against the milling bed and looked at a ledger. After Zhou Jia sat down beside Li Yu, he said, “Yu’er, do you think that Young Master has taken over?”
Li Yu lowered her head and thought for a while. “Xiao Xi, look at how the refugees are causing trouble. There are no soldiers suppressing them. If Young Master takes over, General Shen will definitely send troops to suppress the rioters. If other princes take over, Great Yong will probably be consigned to eternal damnation.”
“That’s right. Shen Wu said that Great Qi’s army is pressing on the border, and Qingzhou is also in turmoil. However, there’s no sign of the Shen family’s army. Let’s see if the officials will step forward to appease the refugees at the city gate before the new year.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu’s lowered head and pondered. He couldn’t help but hold Li Yu’s hand and say emotionally, “Yu’er, let’s get married!”
Li Yu rolled her eyes at him. “It’s still white outside! You just want to get married and don’t want the title! Besides, we agreed that we would get married when I was 18.”
Zhou Jia held Li Yu’s hand and sighed. “Sigh! I still have to wait for almost two years! I want to see you every morning when I wake up.”
Li Yu smiled at Zhou Jia. “We’re just next door. You can see me when you wake up in the morning!”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu bitterly. “It’s different. As long as Ah Qing sees me, he’ll guard against me like he’s guarding against a thief. If you don’t believe me, look. At most, he’ll be here in a few breaths.” Zhou Jia held Li Yu’s hand and smiled sinisterly. “If I marry you, you’ll be my wife. Let’s see if he’ll still guard against me every day.”
Seeing Zhou Jia acting shamelessly like a child, Li Yu couldn’t help but laugh. “You should find a day to settle Ruyi and Xiaoyu’s marriage first! I don’t want to see Xiaoyu’s resentful gaze anymore.”
Zhou Jia calculated for a moment. “It’ll be fine in three months. Yu’er, Ruyi, Ji Xiang, and Zhao Cai are my servants in name. They grew up with me, but they’re actually closer than brothers. Their marriage is also a big matter in my family. I’ll personally go to propose marriage.”
Li Yu thought of their relationship with Zhou Jia and nodded with a smile. “It’s what I should do…”
Before she could finish speaking, Li Qing ran in. He pushed Zhou Jia away and sat beside Li Yu. He smiled at Li Yu. “Sister, are you hungry? I’ve roasted taro and it’s almost cooked. I’ll go get a few for you.”
Zhou Jia pushed Li Qing away again. “You brat, why didn’t you just bring it in?”
Li Qing twisted his head and looked at Zhou Jia. “No, I’ll go to school after the new year. You can see my sister at home every day, so I’ll only be at home these days.”
Li Yu said to the two of them in amusement, “Stop arguing. Let’s all go roast some taro.”
Li Qing looked at Zhou Jia proudly and thought to himself, Hmph! This is my sister. You still want to snatch her from me.
Zhou Jia looked at Li Qing. Brat, I’ll let you be smug for two years.
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve. This year was cold and cheerless. The only thing that comforted Li Yu was that the city gate of Tongzhou City was opened. The officials came forward and settled the refugees in a temple outside the city. They even distributed relief food, cotton clothes, and quilts.
The officials began to mobilize to eliminate the bandits. The area around Tongzhou quickly settled down.
Zhou Jia brought Zhao Cai and sent the dozen or so bandits to the city. When they reached the city gate, they saw a notice that the late emperor’s legitimate son had ascended the throne and pardoned the world. The heinous people were pardoned.
Although Zhou Jia had already expected the Third Prince to take over, he was still relieved to see the notice.
Zhou Jia went home and told Li Yu the news. “Yu’er, your analysis is right. We’re relieved.”
Li Yu also smiled happily when she heard that. “That’s right! Everyone will have a stable life now. You should prepare to participate in the next Spring Quarter Examination!”
Time passed quickly. After spring, the winter wheat planted in Hu Village began to turn green.
When the people of Hu Village saw that the barren mountains of the past had turned into lush farmland, they were so excited that tears fell.
In the blink of an eye, they began to breed rice. Old Hu brought the villagers to Phoenix Village to learn how to breed rice from Li Yu.
Old Hu saw the wild rice that Li Yu had dried in the courtyard and asked curiously, “Miss, is it useful for you to collect some wild rice?”
Li Yu smiled. “I just like to collect these things and want to try all kinds of things.”
Old Hu listened thoughtfully.
After harvesting the winter wheat, Old Hu brought the men, women, and children in the village to thank Li Yu with freshly ground white flour on their backs.
When the villagers saw this, they said, “Hu Village originally relied on thievery to survive. Look, now that we’ve planted food, we’re all thanking Xiaoyu with white flour on our backs.”
While some of the people from Phoenix Village wondered if they should have given tokens of gratitude to Li Yu, those were only fleeting thoughts.
When it was time to harvest new rice, Li Yu brought Zhou Jia to the dozen or so acres of farmland left behind this year.
The two of them walked around the breeding field twice. Li Yu looked at the new rice she had cultivated. Golden and heavy rice ears hung from the rice stalks.
Li Yu pulled Zhou Jia back excitedly. “Xiao Xi, look. That box of land was planted with the best rice seeds. They grow longer than the rest. There are only a few shriveled grains on each ear. This piece here is the rice that was cultivated after crossbreeding with the wild rice. It’s even longer than ordinary rice ears.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu’s excited smile and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat on her forehead. He looked at Li Yu excitedly. “Yu’er, I estimate that these fields will have at least seven to eight grains per acre. The difference is huge compared to ordinary rice.”
“Looks like there’s no problem with the seven-picul rice. The yield should be higher after optimizing it next year.” Li Yu suddenly thought that if he specially cultivated rice seeds to sell, that would be a huge profit!
Li Yu pulled Zhou Jia. “Xiao Xi, I have an idea. Let’s go back and tell you.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu and smiled gleefully. “Alright, I want to hear what good ideas you have.”
When the two of them reached home, Li Yu was sweating profusely. Zhou Jia hurriedly took a fan and fanned Li Yu.
Li Yu said to Zhou Jia, “Xiao Xi, when the rice seeds are selected for another year, those fields will all be planted with new seeds. In the future, we’ll specially cultivate rice seeds. We can also earn a lot by selling rice seeds.”