The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 1670 - 1664: The Terror of Being Chased by Geese

Chapter 1670: Chapter 1664: The Terror of Being Chased by Geese

The men had been waiting for a long time, their sickles eager for the task.

At the command, they chose their positions, bent their heads and backs, and wielded their gleaming sickles, beginning the harvest.

Meanwhile, the officials from the Ministry of Agriculture were also busy. First, they took a measure and gauged the area of the chosen wheat field.

Two of them walked along the field ridge to prevent wheat from other fields from getting mixed in.

Then, someone else entered the wheat field, inspecting around, while another took up a sickle and began harvesting personally.

Under the watchful eyes on this piece of land, several tenant farmers were so nervous that they almost forgot how to handle their sickles.

However, once they entered the field and saw the plump, solid wheat ears, everyone quickly set aside their discomfort, focusing solely on the harvest.

This plot of land was originally an experimental field established by Wang Yongzhu, measuring only about one mu.

There were several such fields, all intended for weighing after the harvest.

These tenant farmers were skilled in tending the fields, their sickles moved as if guided by a divine hand, swiftly harvesting one mu of land through collective effort.

While the front was harvesting, others were bundling the wheat ears and transporting them to the roadside carts.

Officials personally entered the field, wandering several times, until they had picked every wheat ear cleanly.

Then, they drove the carts to the grain drying ground, intending to thresh by hand.

Wang Yongzhu led people to the edge of the field and left them to their tasks.

She first summoned the steward’s wife to inquire about the state of the manor during this period.

The steward’s wife reported everything in detail and asked Wang Yongzhu if lunch needed to be prepared for all the people she had brought.

Wang Yongzhu nodded: "Prepare lunch and dinner for these people first. You may also need to prepare accommodations for them. Be careful, they are from the Capital City."

The steward’s wife nodded quickly and went to make arrangements.

It was originally planned to slaughter a lamb for mutton soup for lunch.

The lamb meat, offal, and bones were all considered delicacies.

Especially the local specialty lamb tripe soup was exquisite.

The steward’s wife gritted her teeth, spent money to buy a few big carp, and prepared some vegetables from the manor, feeling it was barely enough.

At lunchtime, the freshly ground wheat flour was steamed into freshly cooked buns, fragrant and soft. The women cooking opened the steamer and, smelling the aroma, could only swallow their saliva.

They couldn’t help but sigh how fragrant the new flour was and how much better the texture was.

In addition to buns, there were two large basins of lamb sauce noodles.

The broth was cooked from lamb bones, and the sauce was made by frying lamb meat and some offal, fragrant and spicy, making everyone’s mouth water.

There was also a big rooster raised by the peasant family. Slaughtered and cut into pieces, stewed with vermicelli, it smelled amazing.

The fish were carp from Linshui City, large and plump, stewed with lamb meat, which truly brought out the freshness.

The women cooking were quick and skillful, and their cooking was excellent.

When these dishes were served, not only the workers but also Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang had their appetites whetted.

The officials from the Ministry of Agriculture only had one scale in their hearts. Having personally visited the fields and weighed the wheat ears, they could more or less estimate the yield.

At this moment, they were very excited, circling around the transported wheat ears, reluctant to leave.

Wang Yongzhu ordered that two baskets of buns, a basin of noodles, and a large pot of stew with vermicelli, chicken, fish, and lamb be sent specifically for them.

Such a feast clearly required significant expense. Even if the officials from the Ministry of Agriculture were eager, they couldn’t resist putting down their work to enjoy a meal in the shade.

Not to mention the other peasants.

A bite of bun with a sip of fish and lamb soup, a slurp of noodles with spicy, fragrant sauce—truly an offering even a deity would be tempted by.

After lunch, the men napped in the shade for a while. Seeing the sun not as intense, they busily returned to the fields to continue harvesting.

The Ministry of Agriculture officials didn’t need the manor’s help. They were skilled and well-versed in farming tasks themselves.

Wang Yongzhu left them to it, only instructing the steward to attend to their needs.

She then took Old Granny Zhang for a walk around after the sun had lowered a bit.

The manor originally consisted of just a few acres of dry land and a small hill with only a few withered trees, very barren.

It wasn’t until Wang Yongzhu took over the manor that it began to demonstrate its potential, with wheat trials, tree planting on the hillside, and a pond dug at the base of the hill, nearest the river.

Utilizing the rainy season, water was diverted from the river.

Now, three to four years later, while the trees on the hill were still somewhat slender, they were quite impressive. During the summer, the lush greenery of trees and shrubs created the image of a verdant mountain.

In the pond with a half-filled lotus leaves, a breeze would stir, reminiscent of the landscapes in Jiangnan.

Old Granny Zhang, seeing the scene before her, felt a sense of pride: "We’ve put good effort into these years. Remember when we first bought this manor along with the mountain? It was so broken and poor that back home, no one would want it even if for free."

"It’s all thanks to my daughter’s skill, this manor compares well even with those in the Capital City!"

Wang Yongzhu laughed: "I couldn’t have done it without Mother’s guidance to reach this day. Mother, what else do you think is missing in our manor?"

Old Granny Zhang pondered for a moment, "With the pond, we could raise some ducks or geese. Geese are treasures—they guard the house and the yard, and their meat is delicious."

"Around the manor, so open and unguarded, having a few geese would be reassuring."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yongzhu’s scalp tingled, immediately recalling when she was still Ming Zhu and visited a farmstay. Accidentally provoking a flock of geese and being chased all around, resulting in bruises on her legs—a dreadful memory.

It left her with a psychological shadow.

She intended to refuse, but seeing Old Granny Zhang’s enthusiastic planning, she relented.

With her current strength, she couldn’t believe she would lose to a bunch of geese.

Perhaps it would be a chance to avenge past humiliation and teach the geese a lesson!

Thus, after a moment’s hesitation, she agreed.

They also discussed not leaving the mountain bare, suggesting planting some Chinese medicinal herbs like goji berries or astragalus.

The mother and daughter walked halfway around the manor, having a plan in mind.

As they headed back, halfway there, they saw the guard assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture officials running towards them, accelerating his pace as he spotted them.

When he reached them, panting heavily, he said: "Old Madam, Madam, please come back quickly! The yield from the one mu of land those people from the Capital City harvested has... come in..."

Wang Yongzhu, already having a sense of it, remained calm: "What’s there to worry about?"

The guard, with a face full of joy, responded: "The officials said it’s twelve catties higher than our previous yield! They are overjoyed!"