Chapter 21: The New Wheat Seeds

The Jiang family had not split up—everyone still lived together as one big family.

And in daily life, it’s only natural for tongues to clash with teeth, just as spoons bump into pot rims.

If it weren’t for the eldest sister-in-law, Qiao-shi, who was skilled at mediating conflicts, it’s likely that they too would have become like many large households—with everyone living under the same roof but feelings quietly growing distant.

Shen-shi and Qiao-shi not only prepared new cotton-padded clothes for Jiang-shi’s children, but they also gave Jiang-shi an extra gift, leaving both her and Xia Youtian pleasantly surprised.

Qiao-shi’s maiden family was from Bangchui Island, near Bohai Bay.

Because it was close to the sea, rich in mineral resources, and produced ginseng and sika deer, the area was relatively prosperous.

When good things arrived from outside, they would quickly spread to that region.

Recently, Qiao-shi’s hometown got hold of a new variety of wheat seeds and two new kinds of vegetable seeds.

Her mother, thinking of her daughter, sent her a letter about it.

Qiao-shi acted immediately, bringing all her personal savings to make a trip back home. After seeing the benefits of the new wheat, she bought thirty jin (15 kg) of it in one go, along with two jin (1 kg) of the vegetable seeds.

Upon returning, Qiao-shi only said that her family helped front the money.

Her mother-in-law Shen-shi was generous and straightforward—she paid her back on the spot.

Qiao-shi handed over the wheat and vegetable seeds to the communal household, and even suggested that Jiang-shi and the other married daughters of the Jiang family should each get a share. The elderly couple and the brothers of the Jiang family were all delighted by this.

Now that Jiang-shi had returned to visit, the Jiang family not only hosted her and her husband to two hearty meals, they also bought new clothes for the children. They even deep-fried yellow croaker and meatballs in generous oil, letting the children eat them freely with their hands.

Worried about traveling at night on the mountain roads, they insisted Jiang-shi and Xia Youtian stay the night.

On the morning of the third day of the New Year, as the couple prepared to leave, Qiao-shi packed five jin of the new wheat and two liang (100g) of the new vegetable seeds for them. The vegetables were rapeseed and red amaranth.

These vegetables hadn’t been grown in Beiguan Town before, so they were considered novel.

As for the new wheat seeds—this was something worth discussing in more detail.

It was said that the new wheat had been developed by high-ranking officials in the capital, by crossbreeding local wheat with exotic strains from overseas. The process had taken many years.

Once it proved successful in the capital, it began to spread southward.

However, the wealthy landowners in the south, after obtaining the seeds, were reluctant to send any up north. People in the north who had heard the rumors hadn’t even seen what the seeds looked like.

This particular batch of wheat made its way to Bohai Bay purely by accident.

According to intel from Qiao-shi’s family, the ship carrying the wheat and vegetable seeds had been blown off course by a violent storm and landed in Bohai Bay.

The storm had wrecked several ships, and the ship owner himself became so ill he couldn’t get up. In desperate need of money for fresh water and hired help, he reluctantly sold off some of the wheat seeds to raise silver.

Qiao-shi’s family lived near the sea, where the soil wasn’t as fertile as that in Liushu Tuozhi and Beiguan Village.

Yet, the new wheat grew remarkably well.

In good-quality fields planted with the new wheat, each mu of land produced about 100 jin more than the old varieties.

Qiao-shi’s family had grown the new wheat for two consecutive years. Although the second year’s yield was slightly lower than the first, they still harvested 80–90 jin more per mu than with the old seed.

Jiang-shi and Xia Youtian were overjoyed to hear this news.

Even if the wheat grown on their own land only produced 50–60 jin more than the usual yield, that alone was an incredible blessing!

Not to mention, the soil in Beiguan Village was so rich it seemed to ooze oil—it was far better than the salty, alkaline land of Qiao-shi’s hometown!

Because the amount of wheat seeds was limited, Qiao-shi urged Jiang-shi and Xia Youtian to keep it quiet and not spread the news around.

They could ask the Xia family if they wanted to plant it—but the real issue was that both Qiao-shi and Shen-shi knew Jiang-shi and her husband were honest to a fault. They couldn’t lie even if taught, and they certainly couldn’t keep secrets.

So even if they wanted to share, the seeds would have to come from Jiang-shi’s own portion.

No one knew when or if another batch of seeds would come—after all, the ship last time had been blown over by a typhoon. Events like that don’t happen every day!

That’s how Qiao-shi put it, and Jiang-shi and Xia Youtian believed it wholeheartedly.

On the road back home, they excitedly discussed how they should use the new wheat seeds.

Even the children joined in the conversation.

Lihua was the first to speak up, full of thoughtfulness:

“Well, since we don’t have that much wheat, how about we plant a portion of it first and test it?

If it turns out well, we can share the rest with Grandpa and Grandma. If it doesn’t, then we won’t mention it.

That way, we won’t cause them any stress if the harvest turns out poor.”

“Mm, Sis is right. We shouldn’t worry Grandpa and Grandma.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“I think Sis is right too!”

Xia Youtian and Jiang-shi exchanged glances and sighed helplessly at their selfish children.

The couple themselves weren’t selfish people, yet all their children turned out to be calculating, stingy, and incredibly good at coming up with excuses…

Still, they did share some concerns.

After all, the soil in Qiao-shi’s hometown wasn’t like that in Beiguan Village. If the new wheat performed worse than the usual crops, wouldn’t they be doing harm with good intentions, causing trouble for their elders?

Jiang-shi thought about her tricky sisters-in-law, and Xia Youtian pictured his cheerful older brother, his gloomy second brother, and the third brother who smiled while speaking in sarcasm. They both shivered at the thought.

At that moment, they silently agreed—better not to complicate matters. They would test the new wheat first and go from there.

After reaching a consensus, the family felt more united than ever—there was even a secret thrill in “doing something sneaky together,” a feeling of delight in sharing a special secret.

Along the way, Xia Daohua tried her best to memorize the roads and landscape—but she only managed to remember about a third of it.

After all, it was winter, and several heavy snowfalls had blanketed the mountains before the New Year.

Every direction she looked, it was the same—winding mountains and a vast world of white. It was difficult to tell one path from another.

Most of the vegetation had withered too—only the pines and cypresses remained, and they too were coated in frost, creating a beautiful, silver-white, biting-cold scenery.

When the Fourth Household finally returned home, the house was silent. No one was there.

(End of Chapter)