Chapter 113: Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Regarding the toxic soil, Yueqian thought that the tools she had might be able to help. Of course, not right now, as she hadn’t encountered the actual situation yet. Assessing the soil conditions was the priority, rather than making assumptions.
The two siblings carried in the specially ordered jars. They were not as thick as typical water jars, making them lighter. At 50 centimeters tall, the children could easily carry them inside. Yueqian herself took care of the mung beans that had been soaked in water. She brought them in to work with the children in front of the house. With over five jars, the backyard would look cluttered, especially since there were people currently building a shed there.
Many young men hired from the city were diligently working on their tasks. If Yueqian and the children were to work around them, wouldn’t that be like seducing?
Leaving Yueqian alone at home with the children made Mu Heng so worried that he didn’t want to go check on his vegetable plots. It was only after Yueqian told him that people from the Art Institute were helping her that Mu Heng finally agreed to go about his own work.
"Sister-in-law, will this method really grow what you call bean sprouts? Why don’t we plant them in the ground?" Huan’er was curious. Normally, she only saw one method of planting crops, it was to plant them in the soil, but now she saw her sister-in-law planning to grow vegetables in jars.
Huan’er felt it was somewhat unsuitable. The jars, which couldn’t hold water and were specially ordered by her big brother and sister-in-law, seemed strange. It contradicted all her thoughts and experiences.
Yueqian smiled at the two children. In this era, there had been no innovations in agriculture. They didn’t plant vegetables in pots. People still thought pots were only for the rich to grow ornamental flowers, not for vegetables, let alone the idea of planting vegetables with aeroponics method, vertical farming and many more planting methods. They were so surprised just by how she planted bean sprouts in the jars. Yueqian found it even more fun to teach the children various planting methods.
"Huan’er, that’s a great question. Normally, planting in the ground is a good method, but it doesn’t work in all areas. In the city where we are moving, the soil is toxic, making planting unsuccessful. Growing without relying on soil helps solve the problem of scarce arable land," Yueqian explained.
"But isn’t it expensive to order jars like this? If the soil in the city we’re moving to is really toxic, can the villagers, who already have little money, afford to make these jars?" Huan’er was thinking along. The intelligent child quickly realized that Yueqian intended to teach this method to the villagers.
"You’re right. The villagers won’t have money to hire potters to make these jars. But what if the villagers knew how to make pottery themselves?" Yueqian said, gently stroking the child’s hair.
"So, Sister-in-law, you want the villagers to make the jars themselves?" Huan’er’s eyes widened. She knew that making jars by oneself was extremely difficult, yet her sister-in-law was suggesting that they do just that?
"Sister-in-law, pottery is very difficult to make, isn’t it? There’s only one shop in the city that does it, and I saw that they have a huge kiln and need many workers." Xiao Long also didn’t agree. The idea of having the villagers make their own clay jars seemed even more daunting than growing vegetables.
"That’s the method for making beautiful pottery. Actually, there are other ways. Mmm... when your big brother returns, how about I teach you to make pottery for fun?" The jars she wanted the villagers to make were not the beautiful one; she just needed them for growing bean sprouts.
As for how to make pottery, she knew an ancient method of pottery firing, thanks to the knowledge she gained from the Ban Mo community in Mueang District, Maha Sarakham Province. It involved arranging wood in horizontal rows, then adding straw as fuel and setting it on fire. It didn’t take long to fire the pots. While some pieces might break, it wasn’t an issue. If too many broke, they wouldn’t be used, but the usable ones could be employed for growing bean sprouts.
In truth, there were many other methods for planting, but Yueqian interested in using jars the most because it did not require an investment from the villagers who had little money. She knew other methods used glass bottles, pots, basins, and so on. However, jars could be made by the villagers themselves, which is why she chose this method to teach them.
In the future, once they learned this simple pottery firing technique, they could also adapt it to make bowls and dishes for their own use. This skill could be very beneficial for adaptation.
When they heard what Yueqian said, the children looked at each other in disbelief. They had only mentioned how difficult it was, and now their sister-in-law was already planning to teach them how to do it!
If someone told them that this sister-in-law was a representative of the gods sent to help humanity, they would probably believe it without question.
"Alright, before we move on to pottery, I’ll first show you how to grow bean sprouts. Remember this well, as it’s not difficult, but in the future, you might need to help teach others," Yueqian told the two children.
She moved her hands slightly, pouring the mung beans, which had sprouted a bit after soaking overnight, into the jar. She gently spread them evenly at the bottom and then explained how to water them.
The children followed her instructions carefully, making sure not to dislodge the roots as their sister-in-law had advised. Upon seeing the children behaved this way, Yueqian found them endearing. She knew they were good kids who always took her teachings seriously. She couldn’t help but think that if she had children of her own, she would want them to be as lovely as these two.
Lost in thoughts about having children while working, once she realized what she was thinking, she couldn’t help but blush. Recently, even though Mu Heng came home exhausted every day, he still fulfilled his duties as a husband well. It seemed he, too, wanted to have children soon.
The beauty’s blushing face caught the attention of someone nearby. Yueqian was unaware that a man had been secretly watching her. His gaze was filled with greed and lust. Yueqian generously hired them, even providing a meal, making her one of the kindest employers.
Humans are never satisfied. The more kindness they see in a woman, the more they think she is weak. Hired by a couple who seemed better off than most, he knew that Yueqian had a handsome and strong husband. However, his greed for the beauty of this woman appeared in the mind of an evil man.
He smirked slightly, watching the slender figure with snow-white skin. Her beauty was quietly admired by the people in town. Though no one spoke openly about it due to her close association with the governor and her origins from the capital, seeing her every day sparked countless vile plans for assaulting her in the mind of the wicked man.
It was their break time, and everyone else was happily eating the food she had prepared for them. He quickly finished his meal and seized the opportunity to sneak away while the others were enjoying themselves, to secretly watch her. To him, she was like an angel, an angel he could never possess.
In truth, he had once been considered a potential husband for her. However, at that time, his parents and siblings vehemently opposed taking in a woman known as a villainess as his wife. Otherwise, he would have been the one to savor her beauty now.
It was truly a pity to lose such a beauty. If he could turn back time, he would defy his elders and accept the 100 silver taels and the beautiful woman as his wife!
His coarse tongue involuntarily licked the corner of his mouth as he watched her roll up her sleeves, revealing her smooth white arms. His rough hands ached to touch her.
The rugged man hid by the wall of the house, secretly watching the beautiful woman every day. He knew she would spend her mornings indoors, meticulously copying texts like an aristocrat with Mu Heng’s younger siblings, and her afternoons doing small tasks outside. Today was no different, so he came to spy on her as usual.
But today, he suddenly saw an opportunity to do something despicable!
Yueqian told the children to try working with the remaining jars, while she stepped away to clean some duck eggs. She intended to make salted eggs, another method of food preservation. Although she knew it was simple, she still wanted to test it herself as usual.
She knew that salting the eggs required salt, which was very expensive. She wanted to test if using varying amounts of salt on these duck eggs to see whether it would affect the preservation time. If it didn’t..., she aimed to use the least amount of salt possible for the curing to share this method and help reduce the villagers’ costs. She didn’t care how much she had to invest herself.
However, stepping outside to carry the duck eggs made it easy for the rough man to approach Yueqian!
His calloused hand from years of labor, reached out to grab her and pull her into his arms, ready to silence her. But before he could even touch the beauty’s skin, his body collapsed.
The young man’s face was filled with confusion. He couldn’t understand why he had suddenly lost all his strength. Looking up, he saw the beautiful woman raising an eyebrow at him, her gaze as if she were looking at a dead man.
"So, it’s been you sneaking around these past few days." Yueqian did not scream or show any sign of fear. She talked as if she already knew, which only intensified the man’s shock.
It was clear that his sudden loss of strength was her doing!
"Hmm? Not going to answer? Oh... right, you can’t. With the effect of the energy depriving poison, you probably don’t even have the strength to move your mouth." Yueqian shook her head as if just remembered.
The man lying at her feet just realized the truth. He tried to move his mouth to check, but found it was as she said. He couldn’t even move his lips. It felt like only his breathing and eye movement were under his control. The rest of his body was no longer his, since no matter how he commanded, it wouldn’t move accordingly.
"Actually, you startled me too much by sneaking up on me like that. I should have used the strength reduction poison instead of the energy depriving poison. The former would have immobilized you for a few months, but the poison I used... sorry, but it will leave you paralyzed like this forever." Once she finished her words, the beauty smiled maliciously, her expression far more sinister than the man’s when he had planned his vile act toward her.
This made him truly understand why this woman was known as an evil or a fearsome villainess. It was because she could be this cold-blooded. She had pretended not to know that he had been watching and following her, only to use this moment to deal with him in such an amusing way!
Of course, the vile man didn’t realize that he was just another pawn of hers. If Yueqian had wanted to deal with someone with ill intentions towards her, she didn’t need to handle it herself. But... she saw him as a pawn that would bring her greater satisfaction.After all, he was the one who harbored malicious intentions first! So, she would have him become a character that would show someone, who had sent people to spy on her, that she possessed the skill of using poison. Perhaps this would reveal the "true identity" of the one who used "that drug," leading to an embarrassing situation!
