Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 879 - 877_1

"Aunt, don’t bring your child to such dangerous places in the future, especially during the flood season. Huzi, hurry up and go home with your mother!" Xiao’er said at this time.

"Mother, let’s go home. I want to feed Sister Tang!" Huzi raised the bag of candy in his hand.

"Huzi, we can’t accept these candies!" Having their child’s life saved was one thing, not being able to repay them was another, but how could she accept their lifesavers’ gifts?

Huzi reluctantly glanced at the bag in his hand, hesitating whether to return it to Xiao’er. After all, they are just kids and the temptation of candy is irresistible.

"It’s fine, it’s just to comfort the child! Huzi, go home and share some candies with your sister!"

"Why don’t you guys come over to my place for a meal?" Having her son’s life saved, and receiving such valuable candies, she felt she needed to at least invite them over for a meal.

Although she didn’t have much money to take them to a restaurant, she was worried about inviting them to her humble home and offending the nobles.

Just look at the grand ship; even the clothes they were wearing were extravagant.

Huzi remembered what his mother had told him about reciprocity. Since they had offered so many candies, it was only right to invite them over for a meal. "Sister, brother, come to our house for dinner! I’ll treat you to the lychees my father grows. They’re very delicious! You should know, my father is the best at growing fruit, all his fruits are very tasty."

Xiao’er originally wanted to decline the invitation so as not to disrupt their lives. But hearing that Huzi’s father was good at fruit farming, she changed her mind.

This time she returned to Zhenyang County, she was looking for someone to plant the yellow dragon fruit.

Someone who knows how to grow fruit is naturally better than someone who doesn’t.

And seeing that Huzi had remembered to save his share of the candy for his parents and sister, it can be assumed that his parents were decent folk as well.

Xiao’er decided to visit Huzi’s home to verify whether Huzi’s father really knew how to grow fruit. So she nodded, "Then forgive our intrusion, I happen to be hungry."

Jingrui was about to refuse when he was surprised to see Xiao’er accept the invitation.

Shangguan Xuanyi knew Xiao’er was looking for someone to plant yellow dragon fruit, so he was not surprised that she accepted.

"What?" The woman was taken aback. Does this mean they have agreed to have dinner at her house? Wouldn’t they feel awkward in such a humble home?

Huzi tugged at his mother’s sleeve, "Mom, sister said she was hungry. Let’s go home and cook quickly!"

"Ah, yes, yes, I will go home and cook right away. Please follow me." The woman came back to her senses and quickly gestured for them to go ahead.

One couldn’t go empty-handed for their first visit to someone else’s home, so Xiao’er gave Yang Mei a signal.

Yang Mei understood and quickly ran back to the cabin to pick up the gifts.

Huzi’s home was somewhat far from the pier, so Huzi’s mother led them to the village. She turned back and said to Xiao’er, "Miss, our house is a bit far from the town. Let’s take a carriage back."

She originally wanted to suggest a bullock cart, but considering they were nobles, they probably had never ridden in one before.

Fortunately, this year’s fruit harvest was good. Their family managed to sell a bit more than in previous years. Thus, they had the money to hire a carriage.

"Zhao Yong, you rent two carriages. Aunt, we happen to need carriages in town too during this period, so I’ll let our people rent the carriages. You don’t need to rent any extra ones." Xiaoer knew that a bullock cart ride costs one coin a person, but a carriage ride requires at least a hundred coins.

If she let Huzi’s mother pay for the carriages, those hundred coins might be equivalent to their family’s overall expenses for a month or two.

"That works too." Managing to save a hundred coins was a relief for Huzi’s mother.

Her family only has an orchard, and no farmland; they depended on the summer fruit harvest for their annual living expenses.

Years of bad weather, with the fruiting season being replete with rain, resulted in poor fruit harvests. This meant that they had a hard time making ends meet for that year. Therefore, in years when the harvest was good, she was very frugal, saving money in case the following year brought poor harvests and made food scarce.

Zhao Yong quickly rented two carriages; each costing six hundred coins per day.

Yang Liu, Yang Mei, Zhao Yong, Huzi, and Huzi’s mother each rode in separate carriages.

Xiao’er, Shangguan Xuanyi, and Jingrui took another carriage together.

The group got into the carriages and headed towards Rongshutou Village.

On the carriage, Jingrui asked Xiao’er about things on Zhan’er Island. Xiao’er explained everything, including how Zhan’er Island was obtained, and the difficulties faced after taking over the island.

"That Nangong Second Prince is nothing but shameless scum! I wonder if he’s caught the plague!"

Xiao’er shook her head: "The villain gets away with it. He escaped luckily!"

The spies from Nangong sent news via Pigeon Post, saying that the Nangong Second Prince is still alive and kicking, with no issues at all.

She had purposely spat a mouthful of saliva on his face, even using her inner strength to ensure maximum effect when sneezing. Probably no one in the world would have the audacity to do the same!

"We can’t dispatch too many soldiers to guard this radioactive island for the next three years!"

"We won’t send many. Just fifty soldiers, but we plan to transport twenty cannons over there."

Having fifty soldiers means supplying fifty pills a year, so three years equals one hundred fifty pills. That would significantly eat into her pill supply!

"This Zhan’er Island seems like a hot potato." Jingrui couldn’t help but comment.

"The situation will improve after enduring these three years. Without a winter season, we can cultivate rice three times annually. Plus, planting fruits there is a good idea. Indeed, it can be troublesome now, but in three years Zhan’er Island will be a treasure island. It would be a worthwhile investment in spite of the current difficulties." Xiao’er is really looking forward to Zhan’er Island after three years.

The two of them talked about future plans for Zhan’er Island, then the carriage turned off the main road.

Rongshutou Village got its name from the three hundred-year-old banyan trees in the village.

It was Huzi’s first time riding in a carriage, leaving him excited as he looked around.

Upon reaching the village, he lifted the curtain and said to Yang Liu and the rest: "Sister Yang Liu, Sister Yang Mei, look! Our village has three large banyan trees. The oldest man in the village said that when he was my age, the trees had already grown this large. They’ve been growing for more than a hundred years and have been blessing us village folks!"

"It indeed is massive!" Yang Liu took a glimpse outside, and indeed, the tree was gigantic. However, she had seen larger banyan trees, so she didn’t find it particularly spectacular.

Soon, they arrived in front of Huzi’s house.

"We’re here," Huzi’s mother announced.

The carriage stopped in front of a run-down courtyard.

Everyone disembarked from the carriages. freēnovelkiss.com

The coachman then drove the carriages to park in a more spacious area nearby to wait.