Union

Chapter 95 Who Else But You
Mu Jin was so embarrassed that she wouldn't even step out of her room, which was clearly unexpected by Yun Ying.

After all, in her opinion, anyone who could shamelessly follow her out and hitch a ride with Second Master must not have much shame.

But how could a hibiscus feel shame?
Yunying couldn't help but chuckle, "I thought she had already forgotten about propriety and morality."

"Hey, Yunying, how come you're so good at swearing? I never knew you had such a mischievous side!"

Yunying winked at Qiu Ning, "I have something even more mischievous to tell you, do you want to see it?"

Yunying and Qiuning chatted about trivial things, and their mood improved considerably.

She put all those unpleasant and overly mentally taxing things behind her, and her mood became cheerful.

However, "You can laugh in private, but don't go to Mulan's place and make fun of her."

"Why? She did something ridiculous, wasn't it just to be laughed at? If she doesn't want people to laugh at her, she shouldn't be so shameless and scheming."

Yunying said, "You know that Mujin is very calculating. I'm afraid that one day she will use those calculations on you."

"Use her against me? Humph, do you think I'm afraid of her? Let her come, I've been looking for an excuse to teach her a lesson."

Yunying: "You'd better tone down your arrogance. It's not that I'm underestimating you, but you're no match for Mujin."

"Yun Ying, which side are you on? Why do you look down on me so much? Are you even on my side? What is it about Mu Jin that caught your eye?"

"She doesn't catch my eye. I'm just reminding you not to mess with her if you don't want to..."

After arguing with Qiu Ning for a while, Yun Ying returned to her room, her mouth dry.

Because she was so mentally exhausted, she actually fell asleep very quickly, even though she thought she would have insomnia.

The next day, after waking up, Yunying went to the front yard after having breakfast.

Yesterday, Second Master told her to come over every day to check the land register.

Fortunately, this is not a troublesome task, and the Second Master has obviously been busy with pearl raising these days, so he should not be at the mansion.

The plan was well thought out, but little did they expect that the Second Master was in the study at that moment.

Yunying was a beat slower as she walked over and bowed. The Second Master, without taking his eyes off the book in his hands, casually told her to get up and asked her, "Yunying, do you think it's possible to grow three seasons of rice in Yungui County?"

How did we end up talking about three-season rice again?
Modern three-season rice does exist, but its cultivation area is relatively limited, mostly in Hainan Island, Leizhou Peninsula, Guangxi, southern Yunnan, and parts of Fujian.

These regions are mostly characterized by warm climates, abundant sunshine, and moderate rainfall.

However, Yungui County is located in Guangdong Province on modern maps. Only Zhanjiang in Guangdong is known for its three-season rice production due to its unique hydrothermal conditions; other areas in Guangdong likely don't have this advantage.

Yunying said, "It probably can't be planted."

The second master looked up from the book at her. "Why do you say that?"

“Because…” Yunying carefully considered her words before saying, “Because nowadays, the basic growing time for rice is about four months. The winter temperature in Yungui County is low, and I feel that the rice cannot survive the winter here.”

The second master looked thoughtful. "What you said makes sense."

"Second Master, how did you come up with the idea of ​​three-season rice?"

Second Master looked at her and said, "The land in Yungui County is mostly barren. Even if a lot of wasteland is cleared, it will take several years to catch up with the standard of ordinary land." The people are suffering too much. He doesn't want to wait a moment longer. He just wants them to be free from worries about food and clothing right now.

He couldn't conjure up more farmland, so he could only try to increase his income from crops.

He didn't know how to improve seeds or farming methods; all he could think of was increasing the frequency of crop cultivation to increase food production.

The second master showed the book in his hand to Yunying, "I saw the three-season rice in the book my senior brother gave me. But this is just a guess of a wandering monk, and the possibility of it being implemented is not high."

Yunying spoke up fairly, "It's just that Yungui County isn't suitable for growing three-season rice. Perhaps if we go further south, where the water and heat conditions are more suitable, it would be suitable for growing it."

Yunying's words made the Second Master feel regretful, "It's a pity that Yungui County is a bit far to the north..."

"That doesn't mean that planting three rice crops will guarantee a higher grain yield than planting two rice crops now."

"What do you mean by that?"

Yunying organized her thoughts and said, "This is what I'm thinking, Second Master. Three-season rice means completing three growth cycles in the same piece of land each year. But the nutrients in the field are limited. If planting two seasons of rice can guarantee sufficient nutrition, can planting three seasons guarantee adequate nutrition? Won't the ears of rice be small and flat, or suffer from insufficient nutrition? Under such circumstances, is the harvest from planting three seasons of rice really more than that from two seasons?"

Second Master once again showed a thoughtful expression, clearly Yun Ying's question had hit the nail on the head, something he really hadn't thought of before.

However, if we really want to solve this problem, the solution is readily available: simply apply fertilizer in a timely manner.

But where can we get fertilizer?
Nowadays, most fertilizers are farmyard manure, which is accumulated by farmers day by day, and the amount is very limited. As for other fertilizers, such as compost or silt from rivers and lakes, people either can't get them or dare not risk their lives to obtain them.

So the same question remains: blindly pursuing three-season rice when water and fertilizer cannot be guaranteed is meaningless.

Second Master seemed to be discouraged, his brows furrowed.

He seemed to be still pondering a solution, or perhaps thinking of other ways to increase his income. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't pay any attention to Yunying for the moment.

Instead, Yunying spoke up again, "Second Master."

"what happened?"

"Yesterday you asked me at Crescent Pond whether it was feasible to raise pearls there. Why did you think of asking me this question?"

Second Master's memory was suddenly pulled back, and he couldn't help but chuckle, "Didn't you say that I was deliberately making things difficult for you?"

Yunying looked embarrassed. "I already said that I was just joking with you. Second Master, you're not that kind of person."

The second master was moved, and his gaze became complicated.

He gazed intently at Yunying, noticing her nervously twisting the handkerchief in her hand. His heart overflowed with tenderness, yet he had no outlet for it.

Second Master said in a deep voice, "I just felt I should ask you. My intuition tells me that your answer is very helpful."

"Like when you asked me about the three-season rice program today?"

"Yes." The Second Master's eyes were bright. "Didn't you give me a very helpful answer?"

……

The second master left the study after only a short while, leaving Yunying staring at the field register in front of her, her thoughts wandering far away.

She frowned from time to time, chuckled softly from time to time, and after a moment, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Yunying's attention span was short, so her calculation speed was a bit slow today.

By morning, she hadn't calculated as much as she had yesterday afternoon.

Yunying felt extremely guilty and ashamed, so she secretly resolved not to let her mind wander like that in the afternoon. She should do her job properly when it was time to get to work, and not let the Second Master misunderstand her as being lazy or unhelpful.

Yunying stood up to have her meal and take a short rest in the backyard. She didn't know if it was because she moved too much or because the floor was too slippery, but when she got up, she moved the armchair she was sitting on, and the chair slid and crashed into the bookshelf behind her with a bang.

The bookshelf shook a few times, the books on it wobbled, and two of them fell off.

Yunying complained that the bookshelf was too flimsy, while quickly bending down to pick up the two books on the ground.

One of the books was about geography and humanities, which Yunying didn't pay much attention to and put back in its original place. But the second book had two creases, and when she picked it up, the book automatically flipped to the creases, and Yunying could directly see the contents written on the folded pages of the book.

In the afternoon, Yunying was even more absent-minded than in the morning.

She kept getting up to check the situation outside, but unfortunately, the Second Master was out again today and had not returned yet.

Mo Xue came back once to retrieve some official documents.

Yunying couldn't help but ask him, "When will Second Master return to the manor today?"

Mo Xue glanced at her with surprise, "Why are you concerned about the Second Master's affairs again, Miss?"

A simple, unassuming sentence caused Yunying's face to turn completely red.

She was somewhat at a loss and felt even more embarrassed. She waved her hand awkwardly, "I'm not concerned about Second Master's affairs. I... I have something important to tell Second Master."

"Then let's wait for Second Master to return, and then Miss can talk to him about it."

"When exactly will Second Master be able to return?"

Mo Xue shrugged. "I have no idea about that. However, Second Master didn't say he would be staying out tonight, so he should be back before dark."

In fact, Second Master did not return before dark.

It was only after Yunying had finished washing up and was about to go to sleep that the Second Master returned to the manor.

But it was already quite late, and Yunying didn't want to disturb the Second Master, nor did she want any more idle gossip to spread in the mansion.

Therefore, she didn't go looking for the Second Master, but only thought that she would go there early the next day and talk to him about this matter.

However, it seems that even God is against Yunying.

The next day, she went to the front yard very early, usually around the time when the Second Master had just finished breakfast. But today, the Second Master had already gone out, and Suiyun said that he left at the crack of dawn.

Sui Yun looked at Yun Ying and said, "I heard from Mo Xue that Miss has something important to tell Second Master?"

"Yes, it's important."

"Then come over tonight, young lady. Second Master has gone to inspect the land reclamation below. He'll be going quite far today, and it will be nighttime when he returns. You can come after nightfall."

Yunying had no choice but to sigh dejectedly and agree.

Yunying's work efficiency improved that day, but because she was too focused on checking the field area, she worked at her desk all day, and not only did her back ache, but her neck also hurt a little.

After returning home, Yunying took a hot bath and had Sui'er massage her to relieve her soreness.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep under Sui'er's gentle touch, the old woman from the second gate came again. "Miss, are you asleep? The second master wants to see you."

The entire quiet backyard became noisy again because of this sound.

Yunying hadn't even left the house when she heard the door of the neighboring courtyard open.

She thought there must be a lot of people lying at the door right now, watching the commotion.

Yunying had a headache, but she didn't have time to worry about that right now.

She changed her clothes with Sui'er's help.

Seeing that she was only wearing plain clothes, Sui'er looked disapproving. "Miss, the Second Master is calling you over. You should at least dress a little brighter. This is the first time the Second Master has asked you to serve him..."

Yunying didn't understand the deeper meaning of Sui'er's words at first, but when she did, her face flushed. She couldn't help but turn back and glare at Sui'er, "It's not what you're thinking."

"What is it?" "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Yunying spoke seriously, but Sui'er thought she was just being shy and trying to fool her.

She then smiled and said, "Alright, alright, I don't understand, that's fine. As long as you understand, that's all that matters."

"But young lady, it's still a bit chilly at night. Wearing just a single layer of clothing is too thin. You should put on a cloak."

Without saying a word, Sui'er took a peach-colored cloak and draped it over Yunying's shoulders.

The bright pink dress accentuated Yunying's cool and aloof demeanor, adding a touch of allure and making her appear radiant and beautiful.

Sui'er pushed Yunying out the door, "Miss, let's hurry up and go, don't keep the Second Master waiting."

As the two stepped out the door, Liu'er's cheerful voice rang out behind them, "Miss, are you coming back tonight? Would you like me to leave the door open for you?"

Yunying almost tripped over the threshold. She stumbled forward twice and only managed to avoid embarrassment by grabbing Sui'er.

"Come back! If you don't leave the door open for me, I'll be sleeping on the street tonight!" Yunying said, both annoyed and amused.

"Is it possible that you neither have to come back nor sleep on the streets, you..."

"Stop, stop! If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll deduct your monthly allowance."

Liu'er was so frightened that she covered her mouth and dared not talk nonsense anymore.

However, silencing Liu'er doesn't necessarily mean silencing everyone else.

As Yunying walked past the gate of the Hibiscus Courtyard, she heard whispers behind the gate, "Are they going to serve the Second Master?"

"I heard that Miss Yunying and Second Master reconciled a couple of days ago."

“Our girl will be furious when she finds out about this.”

"What can we do? Second Master doesn't like her. We can't just carry her to his bed. Even if we did, he'd probably just throw her out, hehehe..."

Yunying walked to the gate leading from the second courtyard to the front courtyard. When the two old women guarding the gate saw her, their smiles became even more obsequious than before.

They kept calling her "Miss Yunying" and even asked if she needed them to carry her across.
The fawning and obsequious manner of the woman gave Yunying goosebumps.

Yunying naturally declined their offer and then quickened her pace.

Finally arriving at the entrance of Second Master's courtyard, Yunying breathed a sigh of relief.

She went inside and looked at Sui'er, who was being kept outside the courtyard.

Yunying said, "It's a bit cold, why don't you go back first?"

Sui'er then said, "Miss, are you really going to stay at Second Master's place tonight...?"

"What are you thinking! I'm just worried about you, Sui'er, don't be ungrateful."

Sui'er stopped laughing and said seriously, "Then this servant will not go back. This servant will wait for you here, so that no one will take you back and you won't be scared."

"That's okay too."

Yunying was ultimately worried that Sui'er would get cold, so she took off her cloak and offered it to Sui'er.

How could Sui'er possibly agree?

She ran off in a few steps, waving for Yunying to go inside quickly.

Yunying had no choice but to put the cloak back on and quickly walk into the courtyard.

The lights were on in the Second Master's study and in the flower hall.

Yunying glanced at the flower hall once, then resolutely walked into the study.

A moment later, the study door was pushed open, and the Second Master walked in from outside.

He must have taken a bath; he smelled faintly of soap. His hair was half-dry, his face was cool, and he looked even more handsome than usual.

"I heard from Suiyun and the others that you have something important to tell me. What is it?"

Yunying stood up and bowed to the Second Master. The Second Master said, "Don't be so polite. It's getting late. Hurry up and finish what you need to do so you can go back and rest."

Yunying thought it was because the Second Master was impatient.

If it were her, she might also get impatient.

After all, you have to be busy outside every day. When you finally get home, you can't rest. You still have to meet people and deal with things. Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

If it weren't for the urgency of the matter, Yunying wouldn't have wanted to come here at this time and become an eyesore. However, this matter was indeed quite urgent.

Yunying pointed to a book on the bookshelf and said, "This servant accidentally bumped into the shelf and knocked that book to the ground."

Second Master was a very clever man; just by listening to her tell a story, he knew that the book must be related to what she was going to talk about today. "That book?"

Yunying stepped forward and took out the travelogue from the second shelf.

When Second Master saw the book cover, he had a vague idea of ​​what Yunying was going to say. But he didn't speak, waiting for Yunying to reveal the answer.

Yunying turned to the page with the folded corner of the Second Master's book. "I also saw this page by chance, and then I saw that you had made annotations in the corner. I thought you must care about this matter, so I rushed to see you."

Second Master took the book from Yunying's hands.

This collection of travel essays was also a gift from his senior, but it originally belonged to his mentor, Grand Secretary Tong.

My mentor felt that although the book was titled a travelogue, it was very beneficial for local officials in charge of governing the region.

When my senior brother was sent away to work elsewhere, my mentor gave him this book, and now my senior brother has given it to him in return.

The page with the folded corner was filled with his observations and experiences in Lingnan Prefecture.

The author of this book mentions a particularly interesting idea called "terraced fields".

Second Master pointed to Yunying's armchair, "Sit down and let's talk."

He then called Suiyun and asked her to bring tea.

Yunying wanted to say that she should do the serving of tea, since Suiyun didn't seem like the type of person who would do such a thing.

But the Second Master had already sat down opposite her, waiting for her to speak, so Yunying swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

Sui Yun quickly brought over the tea, served it, and then left. Yun Ying, however, hadn't yet figured out how to start the conversation.

Second Master said, "Say whatever you want. Don't worry about me criticizing you for saying the wrong thing, and don't worry about me laughing at you for saying something inappropriate."

Yunying glanced at the Second Master, thinking to herself, "Second Master, you've guessed wrong this time. I'm not afraid of your criticism, nor am I afraid of your laughter; I'm afraid that you'll doubt my background after hearing this."

After all, what she was about to say was something a girl raised in the yard with little worldly experience would never know.

Yunying coughed lightly and said, "Second Master, you want to try out terraced fields in Yungui County, right?"

Second Master nodded, "I have this idea, but whether we'll try it out or not is still uncertain."

What are you worried about?

Second Master looked at Yunying and said, “I’m worried that the project will be too large and will consume too much labor. I’m worried that it will delay the farming season and make the people work for nothing.”

"So, you preferred to let the people clear the land first rather than rush them to build terraced fields?"

Second Master nodded, "After all, this is still unknown, and it's just a suggestion. No one has ever tried it before."

"But under realistic conditions, this should be feasible."

Yunying talked about the Shetian system, which is actually a farming method that uses the She mountains as fields.

This farming method is rather simple and brutal. In short, it involves cutting down and burning all the brambles on the mountain, and then sowing dry rice after the rain. The brutality of this farming method goes on: neither tilling the land nor building any furrows is done.

Imagine this: all the trees and firewood on the mountains have been cut down and uprooted, leaving only bare hills. When heavy rains come, there will be severe soil erosion, so it is necessary to find new hills and cultivate new farmland.

The She-style farming system is naturally not encouraged, but this method of cultivation is the prototype of terraced fields.

Yunying said, "If we can harvest from the She fields, wouldn't the harvest be even greater if we carefully cultivate the land and build terraces? As for the water problem, we can both block rainwater and find ways to divert river or lake water to higher ground, thus solving the irrigation problem properly. In this way, wouldn't the terraced fields also become arable land?"

Yunying felt that her words were too bland and disorganized, and that she had not fully expressed her meaning at all.

But she felt that Second Master would definitely understand what she was trying to convey. That is, terraced fields are indeed feasible! Compared to clearing wasteland, terraced fields create more land and have the potential to become sustainable fields.

Now it all depends on whether Second Master dares to do it.

Yunying stared longingly at the Second Master, who rested his chin on his hand and looked straight at her.

At first, there was nothing wrong with this eye contact, but gradually, Yunying began to feel awkward.

She coughed lightly. "What I mean is, terraced fields are feasible, Second Master, what do you think?"

"I think it's feasible. However, I believe small-scale trials are essential before it can be widely applied."

Yunying nodded, "Of course."

"Now there's only one question left."

"What's the problem?" Yunying felt she shouldn't have answered that question, because she had a feeling that the Second Master's words had set a trap. If she fell for it, she would be completely caught in his trap, and whether she could escape smoothly afterward would be a question.

But Yunying was too curious, so she suppressed her unease and asked what was on her mind.

Her eyes darted around, somewhat unfocused, but she dared not look at the Second Master.

Second Master truly lived up to her expectations and set a trap for her. "The problem is that terraced fields have never existed before, so naturally no one knows how to build them. The people I sent to supervise the construction of the terraced fields may not be dedicated to their duties, and the people like Suiyun who are supposed to follow my instructions all have important matters to attend to and cannot take care of the terraced fields."

"So what?" Yunying's voice became even more elusive.

"So I was thinking, if you have time, you can take care of this."

"But...why me?"

"Because you persuaded me to oversee the construction of the terraced fields, because you will carry out my orders without hesitation. It is also you who will perfect the parts of this project that I haven't thought of, and be able to do it independently. Yunying, who else but you can do this?"

Two chapters combined today. My darlings, where are the monthly tickets? I want monthly tickets, monthly tickets, monthly tickets!!

(End of this chapter)