Creating Greater Returns

Besides a larger and sturdier bed, the room was furnished with two more wooden chests and some low stools. There was also an additional earthenware pot and several rough earthenware bowls for eating.

Qian Duoduo volunteered, "My sons are all grown up and have moved out of the family. They've all built their own houses. My eldest son has many children, so his two sons come to live with us."

Zhao Ruxi nodded, crawled out of the house, and looked at the low, damp house, asking, "Why build a house like this?"

"Mud walls can only be built this far. Any higher or wider and they'll easily collapse."

Zhao Ruxi still had many questions in her mind, but she wasn't a native and her understanding of rural areas in this era was limited to Little Banyan Village. There were some things she couldn't ask Qian Duoduo; she had to wait until she understood the situation from Wu Zong and Lady Zhu before making a decision.

She looked into the distance. All around were fields, the terrain was relatively flat, and the paddy fields planted with rice were crisscrossed with paths. She could see a few people working in the fields.

"We're weeding now," Qian Duoduo explained. "The rice will be ready for harvest in a while."

Zhao Ruxi then learned that the rice here is only grown for one season.

"After harvesting the rice, will you plant winter wheat?" she asked.

Qian Duoduo shook his head, looking somewhat nervous. "It's not that we're lazy, it's just that the soil isn't fertile enough. If we plant winter wheat, the yield of rice per mu will be very low."

Zhao Ruxi frowned.

However, she didn't know much about these things, so she changed the subject and asked, "Didn't you say there were over a thousand acres of forest? Where is that?"

Zhao Ruxi looked around and saw mountains in the distance, some near and some far, but she didn't know which direction the mountains of this manor were in.

"Over there," Qian Duoduo pointed to two low, connected mountains to the east. "Those two mountains are ours. This side of the mountain is ours, and the other side belongs to someone else. There's a stone marker on the mountain to mark the boundary."

Zhao Ruxi glanced at the distance to the mountain; it would take at least 45 minutes to walk to the foot of it, so she gave up the idea of going up the mountain.

There's no rush. This estate belongs to her; she can come and visit whenever she wants.

"What's planted on the mountain?" she asked.

"They're all trees, all kinds of trees."

"Is this farm all about planting trees and rice?" she asked again.

"Yes, we also raise some chickens, ducks, and pigs, which will be delivered to your residence at the end of the year," Qian Duoduo said. "There are accounts for everything at the house; I'll give them to you in a moment, young lady."

Zhao Ruxi nodded, not expecting much from Zhuangzi's profits.

With such a limited product range, how much future can this village possibly have?

She asked again, "Can you read?"

"Yes." Qian Duoduo perked up. "It was my father who taught me. My father used to be the village head."

How many literate people were there in Zhuangzi?

Qian Duoduo shook his head. "I only taught my two sons and grandson a few words each night before bed; the others haven't learned anything."

Zhao Ruxi didn't say anything more, took the account book, and left the estate with Wu Zong.

Qingfeng and Ma Sheng had brought back a lot of flowers and trees, piling them up so that there was only enough room for two people to sit in the carriage. When Zhao Ruxi saw this, her lips twitched.

Once seated in the carriage, she asked Wu Zong through the window, "Senior Brother, are all manors like this? Do the servants all live like this?"

Wu Zong himself did not manage household affairs. The Wu family was a large family, and it was the uncles and cousins without official positions who took care of things.

But he visited many farms while investigating the case.

He said, "That's about right. Because houses require timber, if so many households were allowed to build houses on the open hillside, half the trees on the hillside could be cut down. It's easy to cut down trees, but it's difficult for them to grow back. If the homeowners want to use the trees to build houses or make furniture, then there won't be any left. Even if they don't build houses or make furniture, the timber can still be sold for money, so the homeowners don't allow them to cut down the trees."

"These farms look quite large, but they don't bring in much profit in a year. They work all year round, and after handing over grain and livestock to their masters, they can barely survive on their own. Youyu to buy trees and build houses? They can only build houses by plastering mud with bamboo strips. The roofs are also made of bamboo, and they have to be replaced every two or three years, otherwise the whole roof will collapse."

He shook his head. "Some landlords are very demanding, or there aren't even any bamboo trees on their estates, so they can only dig out the ground and then build thatched houses on top, with half the house above ground and half underground."

Zhao Ruxi felt a heavy weight in her heart upon hearing this.

However, she quickly cheered up.

If she can successfully implement ecological circular farming and increase the farm's profits, not only will her own income increase, but the income of the farm servants will also increase. Their lives will definitely improve.

It wasn't that she couldn't be kind and allow them to cut down trees on the mountain to build houses. But the servants also had dealings with other people; what if she did this and other servants protested? What if the servants on the Earl of Suiping's Residence's estate also demanded the same treatment?

And if she does this, won't she receive gratitude, but instead be seen as kind-hearted and asked for more?

Therefore, the best solution is a win-win situation. She provides the ideas, the servants work hard, and together they create more benefits. With money, the servants' lives will naturally improve over time.

These things cannot be accomplished in a short time; it will take at least one or two years to see results. There's no use worrying now; the time isn't right yet.

She should just stick to flower arranging.

Although the three bamboo baskets she had just seen weren't particularly exquisite, they possessed a rustic beauty. She realized it had been a long time since she'd seen Xiao Ruotong, and wondered if she had recovered from her illness, or how things were going with the Duke of Ying's son. She planned to visit her on her way back to the city.

It wouldn't be right to visit a patient empty-handed. Prince of Zhennan Town doesn't eat the food sold in small shops outside, and there's no way to prepare other things for the time being. Xiao Ruotong also looks down on these mundane things, so she simply made a flower arrangement for Xiao Ruotong.

Her master and senior brother were busy taking care of her. Since she was going to give flower arrangements to Xiao Ruotong, she decided to make one for her master and senior brother as well. Maybe they, being men, didn't like these kinds of things, and they weren't worth much, but it was still a small token of her affection.

Inside the carriage were scissors, knives, and other tools that Qingfeng usually used for needlework while waiting for her. Zhao Ruxi used the short time on the carriage's return trip to arrange flowers in two bamboo baskets.

Qingfeng was greatly impressed when she saw her daughter skillfully planting things here and there. Ordinary roadside grasses, after being handled by her, were transformed into something wonderfully harmonious and beautiful when combined with flowers and trees.

Her daughter truly deserves to be taken as a disciple by the Layperson Kumu; not only is she good at painting, but she can even arrange a few flowers with great skill.

When we got back to the art academy, it was already dinnertime, but the group of people who were engrossed in painting were still there.

Zhao Ruxi took out the flower arrangement and gave it to Kang Shilin and Wu Zong respectively.