Union

Chapter 101 100 comes to pick you up
Yunying didn't want people to see her make a fool of herself, but these old men, women, aunts, and uncles wouldn't listen to her orders.

Fortunately, the terraced fields will be promoted in the future. To reduce the difficulty of promotion later, it is better to involve the people now.

There's strength in numbers.

With more people involved, she can not only learn from these experienced farmers what she lacks, but also make the people less resistant to terraced fields, increasing the chances of successful promotion in the future.

In the blink of an eye, Yunying thought of all these things.

When she spoke again, she had regained her composure, and her voice even carried a hint of calm: "Everyone is welcome to come and see. If you have any constructive opinions, please feel free to share them with me. The terraced fields are just an experiment by the county magistrate. The purpose is to increase arable land with limited available land, and further improve the people's food income. Please don't be shy, gentlemen and ladies, and feel free to share your thoughts with me."

Yunying was too kind, and the elderly men and women who had been arguing so loudly just moments before became embarrassed to speak loudly.

They were just taking advantage of the fact that there was no one in charge here before. Now that the person in charge has arrived, and I heard that he is a close associate of the county magistrate and is acting on the magistrate's orders, how dare they cause trouble?

Just don't get singled out and thrown in jail.

Many elderly people backed out, no longer wanting to watch the spectacle, fearing that something might happen and involve them.

But Yunying took off her veil and had people announce to the whole place, "As long as the suggestions are pertinent and useful, you will be rewarded with five, no, two taels of silver."

Two taels of silver is a lot of money. Many families work hard all year round and still can't earn more than a few copper coins.

To put it bluntly, among the people present, very few had actually seen silver before.

Now that they hear that they can get money just for offering suggestions, the people are initially skeptical. They say one after another, "Is this a scam? Maybe it's like Chang Shun, deliberately setting a trap for us. In the end, we won't get any money, and we'll end up losing everything."

The steward shouted loudly again, saying that this matter was under the jurisdiction of Miss Yunying, and that there was no need to question Miss Yunying's words. After saying this for a long time, the people finally let down their guard and looked at Yunying with anticipation.

"I don't think it's possible to fake it. This fairy-like person is probably a bad guy."

"Let's trust this girl this once, and try to give her some advice so we can make some quick money."

"Is this girl the magistrate's wife or his concubine? Oh my, she's so beautiful, how could the magistrate bear to let her out to do these farm chores? Isn't that an insult to her?"

There were all sorts of opinions, and the scene became increasingly noisy.

However, this time the noise turned for the better, as everyone chatted idly while keeping a close eye on the people building the terraced fields.

As the sun rose higher, the terraced fields slowly began to take shape.

The old farmer, who had lived there for many years, looked thoughtful. "This kind of farmland seems feasible."

"The problem is how to water them. It's fine if there's a lot of rain, but if it's a dry season, you can't just carry them up bucket by bucket."

“What’s wrong with carrying water? We have plenty of streams around here. As long as we can harvest two more acres of crops, I’d be happy to carry water every day, even if it’s my grandson carrying water to irrigate the fields.”

"Oh, you old taro, you really don't care about your grandson."

The people seemed oblivious to hunger and thirst, sitting under the shade of trees not far away, intently watching the movements of the terraced fields.

It's only because it's currently the off-season for farming that Yunying would be urging them to go home and get back to work.

However, the late rice has already been planted, and all that's left in the fields is weeding, so there's no rush.

Yunying couldn't stand the heat any longer, so she got into the carriage and asked the driver to take it to a shady spot.

She was hungry and thirsty, but none of the people had lunch, and she was too embarrassed to eat anything. Now that she was in a secluded place, she could at least grab a bite to eat.

Yunying ate something and then went to supervise the construction. They worked until almost dark, and one terraced field was completed.

Given that the problem of how to irrigate the terraced fields has not been completely solved, planting rice is clearly not suitable. This time, we will plant dry rice first.

Sow the seeds tomorrow morning, water them in the afternoon, and then wait for the dry rice to sprout and grow over the next few days.

In any case, Yunying no longer needs to worry about this desolate mountain.

Because Yunying laid the foundation here, the terraced fields on those barren mountains can be built according to this template of strip-shaped steps or wave-shaped cross sections. However, it cannot be said that they should be completely built according to this template. In the end, one should be flexible and make improvements at key points.

Of course, Yunying didn't need to remind her of these things. After all, when it came to farming, Yunying was just a theorist, spouting theories learned from books. The steward assigned to her by the Second Master, on the other hand, was an official in charge of agriculture in Yun Gui County. He was just as knowledgeable as her and had far more practical skills.

In short, she felt very reassured leaving this matter to him.

As the sun began to set, Yunying prepared to return to the county government office.

Just then, two elderly men, around fifty years old, hunched over and slowly approached.

Their steps were hesitant, and their faces showed difficulty and fear. It was clear that although Yunying looked like a fairy and the supervisor had not shouted or punished anyone all day, the people were still afraid of her because of their deep-seated fear of the powerful.

Yunying had already gotten into the carriage, but the steward quickly ran over and relayed a few words before she got off the carriage again.

When the two ragged old men saw Yunying walking towards them, they unconsciously bent over. They also awkwardly tugged at their tattered clothes and sniffed their own body.

But it was summer, and to avoid ruining their clothes, and because it was so hot, the old men were only wearing thin, sleeveless shirts, revealing their dark, bony frames. And because they didn't have good hygiene habits, they smelled of tobacco and sweat... In short, the smells were complex and quite pungent when mixed together.

Yunying, however, seemed oblivious to the embarrassment on the two elderly men's faces and the strange smell emanating from them. She asked them kindly, "Do you two gentlemen have something to say to me?"

"Yes, yes."

"The young lady said that as long as you offer a reasonable suggestion, she will give you money. Is this true?"

Yunying nodded, "Of course it's true."

She asked again, "Does the old man have some good suggestions? Sui'er, quickly bring down two stools for the two old men to sit on."

"No, no need, miss. We'll leave as soon as we're done talking."

The two old men didn't hesitate and immediately spoke up.

One of them said, "You can't build that terrace foundation. The soil is too loose. It will leak badly. It's best to build stones on top, then add a layer of soil and tamp it down. Do this two or three times to prevent the terrace from leaking."

Yunying's expression grew more and more serious as she listened. Suddenly, she curtsied to the old man and said, "Thank you for teaching me, sir. I really hadn't thought of the problem you mentioned. You've helped me a lot."

"That, silver, silver..."

Yunying quickly took out two taels of silver from her purse and handed it to the old man.

The old man's dark, thin hands still bore small wounds and dirt. He seemed unable to believe that Yunying had given them the silver so easily. He stood there stunned, unable to recover for a moment.

Yunying said, "Uncle, please take this money. It's rightfully yours. Your advice was helpful to us, and we thank you very much."

As if waking from a dream, the old man took the piece of silver from Yunying's hand with trembling hands. These days, silver is minced in small quantities, only what is needed at a time. The piece in Yunying's hand was probably two and a half taels, but the old man didn't know. He only knew that he had earned the silver through his own abilities, that his wife's illness could finally be treated, and that they could afford a doctor.

Another old man with a scar on his face, seeing that his companion had actually received the silver, couldn't wait to speak up, "Auntie, young lady, it's inconvenient to irrigate the terraced fields, I, I have a way."

"What's the solution? Please don't rush me, tell me slowly."

"Sigh, sigh."

Then the old man told Yunying that he had a skill: he could find springs.

According to the old man, Yungui County has abundant water resources, and there are usually springs in the mountains.

If a spring is found in the mountains, it's much easier. Bamboo can be made into bamboo weirs, which can then be inserted into the mountainside to transport water between fields. This project is very simple, but it enables gravity-fed irrigation and is a solution to the problem of water scarcity.

If there are no springs on the mountain, but only springs are found near the mountain, that's not a problem. You can build a reservoir over the spring and then find a way to divert the water to the terraced fields.

The old man was initially hesitant to speak, but the more he talked, the more eloquent he became.

Clearly, when the conversation turned to the old man's area of ​​expertise, he became increasingly confident and felt more and more that he could earn those two taels of silver through his own abilities.

Sure enough, the old man eventually took two taels of silver from Yunying.

Not only that, Yunying also specially hired this old man, and then he worked with the construction team building the terraced fields.

His task was to find the spring.

He received a wage for his work, and Yunying would give him an extra tael of silver for every useful spring he found.

The old man with the scar on his face turned red with excitement when he heard Yunying's offer of payment.

However, he was already dark-skinned and thin, so even if his face turned red, it wasn't very noticeable. But the old man was trembling all over, which showed just how shocked and overjoyed he was by this windfall.

Finally, the two old men, arm in arm, staggered away from the grove and went back to their own homes.

Even after they had walked away, Yunying could still hear the first old man saying to the second, "You're really capable. This way, you can earn money for a long time. Now that you're able to support yourself, your nephew and niece-in-law will never dare to mistreat you two old folks again."

It was already completely dark, and the distant mountain peaks had a bluish-black hue.

The birds fluttered their wings and returned to their nests, the chirping of cicadas and the humming of insects echoed in my ears; this night seemed too beautiful.

"Slap! Ouch, Sui'er, quickly give me the mosquito repellent ointment. There are so many mosquitoes here, they're about to eat me up."

"Here you go. Oh dear, I knew I forgot something. It turns out I forgot to prepare a mosquito repellent sachet for you, miss. Please remind me next time you go out so I can prepare a mosquito repellent sachet for you. Mosquitoes love your delicate skin."

Of course she liked it. Once inside the carriage and the lights were on, Yunying saw that her arms and fingers were covered in more than a dozen large mosquito bites.

Not only that, she also felt itchy on her face and neck.

When Sui'er saw it, she screamed and cried out. As expected, her face and neck were covered in bite marks.

Sui'er was frantic. "What should we do? What if Second Master sees this...?"

Yunying was about to comfort Sui'er when she asked, "How could Second Master have seen this?"
By the time they returned to the manor, it would be quite late, and she wouldn't dare disturb the Second Master then. By the time she saw him tomorrow or the day after, the bag on her would have long since disappeared, and he wouldn't have noticed it anymore.

Before Yunying could finish speaking, the coachman outside called out in a panic, "Second, Second Master, is that Second Master here?"

Yunying paused for a moment, then suddenly pulled back the curtain on the car window next to her.

Under the bright moonlight, three horses could be seen galloping rapidly towards them from not far away.

The clatter of hooves was particularly clear in the quiet night.

There were only three horses, but it felt as if a thousand troops had arrived. Their hooves trampled on Yunying's heart, making it feel soft and broken.

Sui'er exclaimed from the other side, "Second Master, it really is Second Master! Second Master, Suiyun, and Moxue have come to pick us up."

Yunying impulsively lifted the carriage curtain and stood on the high carriage shaft.

The coachman jumped off the carriage to greet her, and Yunying was wondering whether she should jump off as well, but the Second Master had already driven his horse to her side.

With a "whoosh," the horse raised its front hooves high and stopped just two steps away from Yunying.

Under the moonlight, the Second Master's face was handsome and dashing, and his demeanor was elegant and graceful.

He looked down at her and said, "Don't get out. Just stay in the car."

The Second Master couldn't help but furrow his brow and ask Yunying, "Why haven't you returned to the manor yet at this hour?"

Yunying's heart was still pounding. At this moment, the Second Master seemed to her like a god descending to earth.

She was so dazed that she couldn't believe what she was seeing was real, but the person so close to her, and that familiar tone and deep, magnetic voice, all told her that it was real.

Everything couldn't be more real.

Second Master came looking for her.

Yunying's eyes sparkled, and a dreamlike smile graced her fair face.

Her tone was gentler and more dependent than ever before. She said, "Something happened, which delayed us a bit, but it's been resolved, and we're getting ready to go back now."

The second master seemed to notice her unusual behavior. He even stopped breathing and kept his gaze fixed on Yun Ying for a long time.

After a long, long time, the Second Master finally said, "It's getting late. Let's go back to the manor first. We can talk about anything else when we get back."

"it is good."

Yunying got back into the carriage, while the Second Master drove his horse on her side.

As we drove along, the curtain of the car window was lifted.

Yunying turned her face away uncomfortably, "It's too hot, I need some fresh air."

Her response was a hearty, cheerful laugh from the Second Master, who gently said, "Okay."

The sweltering summer breeze seemed to cool down at this moment, but Yunying felt restless and her face flushed red...

There won't be a second update today, so please don't wait, everyone. Yes, just one update today! Hahaha. I need to stockpile some chapters because I have errands to run in the next two days. If I don't stockpile today, I'll have to skip chapters later, so I have no choice but to update less today. 4000+ words today, la la la la…

(End of this chapter)