CH 134

Chapter 134 – Wang Si

Yu Tang looked towards her father.

Yu Wen clearly realised the problem as well.

He smiled bitterly towards his daughter and said, “Mr. Shen is really a man of his word!”

If someone else were to encounter such a situation, they might just leave it at that, but Shen Shanyan tried everything he could to help them get the sea buckthorn saplings.

They could only remember this kindness in their hearts and pay it back slowly.

Yu Tang reflected on this and said to her father with a smile, “Father, let Ah Cam take Wang Si back to the countryside estate quickly. The saplings spent almost two months travelling on the road, and this is not a good season for replanting, in case ……” In case, they don’t survive, won’t it be a huge disappointment to everyone’s efforts?

The same thought ran across Yu Wen’s mind and he hurriedly called for Ah Cam to come over and gave him some instructions.

Yu Tang, meanwhile, thoughtfully asked Old Aunty Chen to prepare some food, so that Wang Si could eat something before heading off.

Wang Si only ate dried food on the way here, and sometimes he only ate a few bites of biscuits a day to save money. Now that the saplings were delivered and he could have a proper meal with a hearty soup, he was extremely thankful. Without even sitting at a proper table, he immediately squatted down at the door of the kitchen and voraciously wolfed down the food, causing Shuang Tao, who had gone to the kitchen to fetch hot water for Madam Chen, to look on in amazement.

Wang Si saw that a pretty servant girl was staring at him, and his face turned red, as he hurriedly explained, “I, I came on this trip, and the boss only gave me two taels of silver, so I have to save a little, and I don’t know if the owner here will want to hire me.”

If the saplings did not survive, why would the owner want to keep him?

It was said that in Jiangnan, where land was scarce, most of the people would study, or go out to do business, or become apprentices in a shop and find a way to become a shopkeeper. Those like him who were illiterate and could only do hard labour would not only be looked down upon, but it would also be very difficult to find work.

When Shuang Tao saw that he thought so little of the Yu family, she got a little upset and said defensively, “My master is not that kind of person. If you don’t want to stay, my master will certainly not let you return home without paying for your travel expenses.”

Wang Si seemed to be a thick-headed and stoic man, but in fact he was an intelligent and perceptive one, otherwise he would not have taken this job. From Shuang Tao’s words, he immediately knew he had erred in his speech and backtracked, saying “I know master is a good man, but I am afraid my work may not be up to his standards.”

He was an eloquent talker.

Shuang Tao nodded in satisfaction and said, “Just do a good job, my master never treats anyone unfairly!”

Wang Si grinned with what appeared to be gratitude, but in his heart he was thinking that he would have to work for some time before ascertaining the true nature of this family’s master. However, if a maid of this family could speak for the master in such a way, it was clear that this family was not as bad as it could be, so it would depend on whether he could establish himself here or not.

He didn’t dare to delay, and he along with Ah Cam rushed to the Yu family’s countryside residence after they had finished their meals.

After sending them off, Yu Tang took her father’s arm as they walked back, “How’s the business in Suzhou?”

Yu Wen’s eyebrows raised in delight, “I’ve made a deal with Master Wu and we’re leaving first thing tomorrow.” At this point, he blurted out, “Oh, I forgot about that! I’m going to Suzhou tomorrow, and the countryside estate is ……”

It’s only the planting of trees, it doesn’t have to be under her father’s watch.

Yu Tang smiled, saying “Is brother also joining you in Suzhou? The business at your side is more important. I’ll go by myself tomorrow. After planting the trees, I’ll talk to Wang Si and see what kind of person he is, and if we are to keep him, we’ll see what else he can help with.”

As they already had hired a caretaker for the forest, so if both of them were doing the same tasks, they could only keep one of them, given the low profitability of their forest land.

Thinking of Wang Si’s sturdy physique, Yu Wen said, “I think that if the management of the forest land only requires one person, we can still keep Wang Si on to run some errands for our family. I’ve heard that life is not easy in the western region. Since he came such a long way to find work, if we can keep him on we should. In time, he may be able to find another job in Lin’an, and we would be considered as doing a good deed.”

Yu Tang knew this would happen.

Both her parents were very kind-hearted.

Since their family made a small fortune with the selling of the nautical chart, so it would be a kind gesture if they were able to use it to assist others as well.

“I understand.” Yu Tang answered with a smile.

Yu Wen was pleased with his daughter’s response and said, “Your elder sibling will be coming with us to Suzhou tomorrow; Ah Cam will stay at home and you can instruct him if you need anything.”

If Wang Si stayed behind, there would be another person at home who could run errands and carry things if her father had to go somewhere.

Yu Tang nodded repeatedly, thinking that as long as Wang Si was an honest and willing worker, she would keep him.

The next day, after sending Yu Wen and Yu Yuan away, she went back to the countryside estate.

Wang Si had already planted the trees during the night and was staying with the forest caretaker the Yu family had hired. However, the forest caretaker’s expression wasn’t good. Clearly, Wang Si’s arrival gave him a sense of crisis.

Yu Tang disliked conflict, so she said to the caretaker straightforwardly, “I hired Wang Si specifically to plant these sea buckthorn trees, and the rest of the mountain forest land is still your responsibility. You should also assist Wang Si to keep these trees alive and well. Otherwise, there is no need to hire anyone to care for this forest land.”

The caretaker did not anticipate this, but upon hearing Yu Tang’s words, he changed his mind and reassured her, saying “I’ll definitely help Wang Si to keep the trees growing well.”

If the sea-buckthorn trees survived, the forest would gradually be replaced with sea-buckthorn trees. There were 40 to 50 acres of forest land, so they would not remain idle for the next three to five years. When the sea-buckthorn trees bear fruit, the Yu family will still have to harvest the fruits, so they will still have work to do. The two of them will certainly not be able to finish it all, and they may have to hire others. However, if the trees failed to survive, both he and Wang Si would be out of jobs.

When Yu Tang saw that he had understood, she stopped speaking. She also asked Wang Si about the trees planting, and Wang Si answered all her questions, and it sounded quite logical. From what he said, he could also plant crops and fruit trees. However, in the western region, the crops grown were mostly barley and wheat, while rice was grown more commonly in Lin’an. Yu Tang thought that if one could recognise the rice and wheat grains, one could learn to grow anything if one had the desire to do so.

She said to Wang Si straightforwardly, “Do you see the large paddy field over there? That belongs to our Yu family too. If you finished your work in the forest, you can take a look at the fields over there and you can learn how to cultivate rice.”

Wang Si respectfully acquiesced.

Yu Tang went to speak to fifth uncle to inform him of the changes.

Whether it was the Yu family’s ancestral home or the paddy fields, Fifth Uncle was only helping to look after them, and he was not really in charge. Therefore, whether Wang Si learned to cultivate paddy fields or not did not seem to have much of any impact on him, but when other people in the village asked, he answered as best he could told them that it was the Yu family’s instructions, and he had no problem with it.

Yu Tang then urged Wang Si, saying “My fifth uncle lives by himself, so you should come and visit when you are free to help collect firewood and water, so that when you encounter something in the village in the future, you will also have someone to assist you. “

Wang Si was pleasantly surprised, as he did not expect Yu Tang to be so kind and advise him how to establish himself here, so he thanked her repeatedly and looked forward to settling down with the Yu family.

Yu Tang returned home the same day.

Madam Wang came sometime later and was busy in the store room with Madam Chen.

Yu Tang was perspiring all over and asked Old Aunty Chen as she was washing up, “What are Mother and Eldest Aunt doing on such a hot day?”

Although it was said to be a store room, it was only a small space at the back of Madam Chen’s inner room, which did not even have a window, and in this weather, it could cause people to suffer from heat stroke.

Old Aunty Chen grinned knowingly and said, “I don’t know. You can ask her when she comes out later.”

Yutang thought that she was playing a trick on her, so she didn’t ask further. She changed her clothes and drank two bowls of green bean soup consecutively. After feeling somewhat refreshed, she went to greet her eldest aunt.

Eldest Aunt and Madam Chen had already stepped out from the store room and were standing at the veranda chatting. When eldest aunt saw Yu Tang, she smilingly greeted her and asked about the mountain forest land.

Yu Tang replied to her eldest aunt’s questions as she looked on curiously at the bundle she was holding in her arms.

Madam Chen explained, “Your eldest aunt came to our house for some fabric.”

Why would she come to their house to get some fabric?

Yu Tang wanted to ask, but her eldest aunt was already leaving.

She couldn’t say anything, so she just accompanied Madam Chen to see her aunt out before she asked, “Mother, what kind of fabric does eldest aunt require?”

Madam Chen said vaguely, “Nothing, just a few yards of fine cloth.”

At this time of the year, it was a good idea to wear cloth that was easily washable and cooling.

Could it be that Eldest Aunt wanted to make some inner clothing?

Yu Tang didn’t ask further and spoke to her mother about her father’s trip out, leaving this minor incident behind.

Yu Wen and Yu Yuan returned five days later.

Both of their faces were radiant with joy, so it was clear that things had gone well.

Because of this, Master Wu’s family and theirs had become a lot closer. At the Mid-Year Festival, Mrs. Wu even came to the house and invited Madam Chen and Yu Tang to go together to set off lanterns at the river, and even tried hard to find a suitable marriage for Yu Tang. But as Yu Wen expected, those who were willing to be recruited as a son-in-law either had one or shortcoming or another or were not good looking. Madam Chen went in person to see them twice, but nothing came of it.

The good thing was that Yu Tang wasn’t in a hurry, so Madam Chen wasn’t too anxious.

After drinking Zhang Qing’s first month’s wine and after Yu Tang sent a package of peanuts to Pei Yan, the osmanthus blossomed and various families began to prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Yu Tang then discussed with Madam Chen about sending some mooncakes to the Pei family. “Can we make other types of mooncakes besides crispy puff pastry skin ones?”

In her previous life, she had eaten mooncakes at Li’s house that were said to be from the capital, with a biscuit-like skin and filled with nuts.

She wondered if her mother would be able to make them.

Madam Chen laughed and said, “What kind of mooncakes are there that are not crispy puff pastry skin ones?”

Yu Tang couldn’t say much more but wondered if she should go to Hangzhou to buy some capital-style mooncakes for her mother to try, and then see if she could make some.

As she was thinking about it, Yu Yuan came over to deliver mooncakes. He said that the Xiang family had asked someone to bring over some from Fuyang as a gift to the Yu family for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and that one of them was for Yu Wen’s side.

When Yu Tang opened it, she saw that it was a box of mooncakes from Guangzhou.

Guangzhou mooncakes were similar to the mooncakes in the capital, in that they were made with biscuit dough, but the difference was in the filling. Guangzhou mooncakes were filled with lotus seeds and egg yolk.

She said to Madam Chen, “Look, isn’t this a mooncake here that isn’t made from crispy puff pastry skin?”

Madam Chen was not impressed and said, “Can you still call a mooncake a mooncake if it’s not crispy? If you eat mooncakes, you have to eat them with crispy puff pastry skin!”