Chapter 813 – Ding Shangjing (Part 2)
Feng Jin fell into an odd silence for a moment before asking, “How good is it?”
Wei Ci smiled and said, “Let General Fu and Meng Xiaowei go to the door and whisper, and the Lord can hear it all clearly.”
Feng Jin: “…”
Now, Feng Jin looked at Meng Hunyun and the others with a hint of sympathy.
They thought they were whispering secrets, oblivious that the Lord was listening in.
“Should we remind them? If we leave them to chat like this, they’re bound to say something careless when drunk…”
If anything goes wrong at the celebratory feast, it could be taken advantage of by those with ulterior motives.
Wei Ci lowered his voice as well, “Naturally, leave this matter to me.”
Feng Jin accidentally looked up and met Jiang Pengji’s gaze, nearly dropping his wine cup in shock—according to Wei Ci, the Lord had extraordinarily keen hearing. She could hear Meng Hunyun’s whispers, so she certainly could catch their conversation.
Just as he was about to warn Wei Ci not to act impulsively, he received Jiang Pengji’s warning look.
Feng Jin silently swallowed back the words on his tongue.
Dead friends are better than dead me.
In that brief moment, Feng Jin unhesitatingly threw Wei Ci under the bus.
Wei Ci was confused as he stepped forward, “Lord, the green melon patch we set up last year has now grown over ten acres. A few days ago, the tenant farmers responsible for the planting brought the ripe fruits to the county office. They’re currently chilling in the well; how about we taste some?”
Jiang Pengji thought for a moment before recalling what Wei Ci was referring to.
The green melon patch, commonly known as “watermelon.”
She had planted a little less than half an acre of watermelon in the county garden last year, yielding just enough for her and her subordinates to share a taste. Later, she thought watermelons could provide a profitable crop for the common people and planned to let some experienced tenant farmers care for them. She hadn’t expected this year’s planting to be successful.
Calculating the time, it was indeed the season for watermelons to ripen.
After Jiang Pengji agreed, Wei Ci instructed the kitchen staff to fetch the watermelons from the well.
When the watermelon was cut open, the bright red flesh released a chilly mist.
Watermelons, you either cut them into slices or split them in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
But both methods seemed too crude; Wei Ci couldn’t imagine Feng Jin, this gentleman who appeared as graceful as the moon, holding half a watermelon in one hand and a spoon in the other, digging out large chunks of pulp to stuff into his mouth… That image was simply too beautiful; he couldn’t bear to imagine it.
Thus, he instructed the staff to peel the rind and cut the flesh into small cubes arranged neatly on a plate for ease of eating and visual appeal.
“How was the yield per acre for the watermelon patch?”
Watermelons were rarely seen outside of small Western nations; had it not been for Gu Xin bringing a few live seedlings to Jiang Pengji, she wouldn’t even have tasted such a fruit.
Among those present, aside from the newcomers, others had only slightly tasted the fruit last year.
Wei Ci reported, “About five thousand jin per acre.”
Five thousand jin?
Everyone gasped at that number; that yield was indeed impressive.
Fu Wang took a bite of a piece and was greeted by the sweet, chilly flesh, instantly refreshing him.
“Why is it all water?”
Seeing the pieces of flesh, he thought it was like any other ordinary fruit, but little did he know that biting into it unleashed a flood of juice.
Nonetheless, it was delicious, and before long, he finished off a whole plate.
“This is how watermelons are; they quench thirst and cool you down in summer.”
Jiang Pengji was quite satisfied with the watermelon yield; given today’s agricultural methods, five thousand jin per acre was considered a bountiful harvest.
If she were streaming live, the audience would surely agree with her thoughts.
In the audience’s world, the yield per acre typically ranged from seven to ten thousand jin, slightly varying by watermelon type.
Jiang Pengji then asked, “The tenant farmers must have gleaned some insights after a year of cultivation. If we give the melons to the common people to plant, will they be able to grow them?”
With high yields and delicious flesh, watermelons should have a solid market.
If the common people can plant them, they would undoubtedly benefit greatly.
But large-scale planting hinged on one thing—these melons couldn’t be too finicky!
Otherwise, if the common people answered the call to plant but ended up failing due to lack of experience, wouldn’t that be a disaster?
Wei Ci was unfazed, seemingly having anticipated Jiang Pengji’s question all along.
He replied earnestly, “The tenant farmers have indeed gathered some experience. This crop prefers dry conditions and doesn’t tolerate moisture well, favoring sandy soil over clay. If the weather is excessively rainy, leading the fields to become too wet, the seedlings are prone to disease, which could impact yields at harvest.”
Jiang Pengji pondered while eating watermelon.
“Let’s discuss this in detail tomorrow.”
She already had a rough plan in mind and intended to meet with a few subordinates tomorrow to discuss it thoroughly and formulate a policy.
Today was a celebration, not the time for serious discussions.
Since Jiang Pengji disliked noise, the festivities wrapped up rather early as everyone avoided lingering too long.
Jiang Pengji instructed for hot soup to be prepared to wash away the sticky sweat and alcohol odor.
Entering the back courtyard, she saw Hui Jun sitting in the room stitching patterns, with two round watermelons placed not far away.
Her brow furrowed; she didn’t remember sending anyone to deliver watermelons to Hui Jun.
Though beneficial for diuresis and detoxification, watermelons are quite cold in nature; pregnant women can eat them but not in excess.
“Who sent these?” Jiang Pengji inquired.
Hui Jun, spotting Jiang Pengji’s arrival, stood up to salute, then asked in confusion, “Wasn’t it Young Master who had someone send them over?”
Jiang Pengji remained noncommittal; after calling a servant to inquire, she finally understood who had sent them.
After the celebratory feast, she had gifted everyone two extra watermelons.
There hadn’t been enough watermelons at the banquet to fully satisfy them.
The two Zhong were handed over by Fu Wang.
“Well, that’s rather clever of him to borrow flowers to present to the Buddha…”
Muttering a few words, she turned to remind Hui Jun not to overindulge.
“Did Young Master come by today? What did he say?”
Hui Jun replied, “The young doctor said the fetus isn’t very stable, probably due to several days of marching; just take it easy and recuperate for a while.”
She had a good constitution, and with proper care, she should stabilize soon.
“The inner courtyard has Ta Xue to arrange everything; you just focus on your pregnancy,” Jiang Pengji said, “Stitching strains your eyes; don’t do that at night anymore.”
Hui Jun smiled gently, “Young Master can be more meticulous than me as a mother.”
Jiang Pengji replied, “After all, I will be the godmother to your child. If you don’t pay attention as the mother, I must be extra careful as the godmother.”
Whether in her past life or this one, she maintained a reverence for new life.
After all, new life is the future.
As the night fell, every household remained brightly lit; no one had gone to sleep.
“Why hasn’t Changsheng gone to sleep yet?”
Feng Jin had a thousand words to discuss with his wife, yet Changsheng, their little ancestor, was stubbornly occupying their room, unwilling to budge.
“Changsheng’s tummy hurts; Mom, please rub it.”
Changsheng lay back in Wei Jingxian’s arms, with her round little belly sticking out while Wei Jingxian’s hand gently rubbed her stomach.
“At her age, she should learn restraint and eat less, right?”
Feng Jin sighed; their daughter, although not yet old, was quite hefty, looking like a little ball from afar.
Though pudgy children are cute, it felt like Changsheng was a tad too plump.
Since Changsheng loved to cling to Wei Jingxian, the couple’s plans for another child were indefinitely postponed.
