Chapter 45: Si Yuheng Takes the Blame Once Again

Fang Ning nodded. “Exactly. If you want to get rich, you must build roads first!”

Yu Dong sighed. “Labor isn’t the problem. The problem is that our Futian Village can’t afford that much silver. I just asked Jiang San about it, and cement isn’t cheap!”

“You don’t need to worry about the cement, Uncle Yu. All you have to do is mobilize the villagers to provide the labor for building the road.”

“How can that work? Why don’t you calculate roughly how much the road will cost? I’ll see if everyone can contribute some money.”

“No need. You only have to provide the labor. I’ll find a way to deal with the cement. But Village Chief, our Fang family can pay for the road, on one condition.”

“What condition? Tell me!”

“After the summer harvest, lease all the fields in Huangnituo to me.”

Yu Dong drew in a sharp breath, thinking he had misheard. “Ningning, say that again?”

Old Man Fang stared at her in shock. “Ningning, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you want that stretch of land for? That’s nearly sixty mu of fields!”

“I want to breed rice seeds.” Fang Ning did not hide anything from them. “At present, harvesting three or four hundred jin of grain per mu is already considered an excellent yield. No matter how much land we cultivate, we still can’t eat white rice at every meal.

“If the rice seeds I’m talking about can be successfully bred, the yield will be at least a thousand jin per mu! Uncle Yu, are you willing to take a gamble? Besides, after I lease the fields, I’ll need people to help me work them.”

Everyone except Si Yuheng and the married couple, Fang Cinian and Liang Anrong, stared at her in disbelief.

“Ningning, you can make rice yield over a thousand jin per mu?” Jiang San asked hurriedly.

“Yes.” Fang Ning nodded, her face full of confidence.

“It isn’t even dark yet. Ningning, are you dreaming?” Fang Yu said bluntly. “We can’t even grow five hundred jin, and you’re talking about a thousand!”

“Second Brother, if I really breed rice like that, will you work for me for three years without pay? How about it?” Fang Ning raised an eyebrow.

After what had happened with the waxberries, Fang Yu had grown wiser this time. He looked left and right, pretending not to have heard her.

Old Man Fang frowned slightly. “Ningning, don’t make wild claims. An old farmer like your grandfather knows that farming depends on the weather. Where would you get the ability to breed seeds with such a high yield? You’re still young. Don’t aim too high.”

Old Madam Fang continued, “Your grandfather is right. If we can build the road, then we’ll build it. As for breeding seeds, don’t bring it up again.”

Fang Ning shook her head. “No. I have to try. If I fail, we’ll discuss it then. At worst, I’ll pay the rent for the fields in Huangnituo. But if I really manage to breed rice like that, none of us will ever have to go hungry again!”

“Ningning, if you were able to come up with something as remarkable as cement, then I believe you can breed high-yield rice as well. I’ll do this with you!” Jiang San immediately declared.

He had been firing bricks for so many years, yet he had never produced anything like cement. Fang Ning had done it.

So what if the breeding failed?

When he had first learned to fire bricks, he had ruined several kilns himself!

“Father, Mother, I believe Ningning. I’m willing to help her with this. Whether it succeeds or not, at least Ningning has the determination. The money is being earned by Eldest Brother and the others, so let’s support her this once!”

Unexpectedly, the first person in the Fang family to support Fang Ning was the taciturn Fang Wenchang.

Seeing that her husband had spoken, Madam Chen followed suit. “Mother, I’ll listen to Wenchang.”

“Since Third Brother has said so, I, as her second uncle, won’t hold Ningning back either. Ningning, Second Uncle will help you too.”

“I’ll listen to my husband.”

Old Man Fang and Old Madam Fang exchanged a glance, then looked unanimously toward Fang Cinian and Liang Anrong.

Fang Cinian hurriedly said, “Mother, let Ningning give it a try.”

Liang Anrong added, “You two don’t need to worry about the money. A Nian and I can earn it.”

With the family’s main earners saying that, what could Old Man Fang possibly object to?

He sighed. “Since all of you are willing to believe in Ningning, can I, as her grandfather, dampen the child’s enthusiasm? But Ningning, breeding seeds is neither a major matter nor a trivial one. Don’t go announcing it everywhere, or who knows how people will criticize you!”

Fang Ning understood that Old Man Fang was worried she might fail and be unable to endure the villagers’ gossip.

“Grandfather, don’t worry. Even if we fail this year, we can succeed next year! I’m not afraid of what others say. I only hope that, in the future, all of us can have enough to eat!”

“In that case, I’ll go talk to them. But I can’t promise they’ll agree. I can only do my best to persuade them.” Seeing that no one in the Fang family objected, Yu Dong accepted.

Still, he felt as though none of this were real.

First there was road construction, and now rice seeds yielding a thousand jin per mu.

Perhaps he really was dreaming.

“By the way, Uncle Yu, tell them that even if they don’t lease the fields, they mustn’t plant rice there in the second half of the year. I’ll pay them according to their harvest from previous years.”

“Wouldn’t that put you at a great loss?”

“No. If anyone is willing to work those fields for free, I’ll teach them how to breed seeds. But I can also pay them wages. Let’s see which they choose.”

“Ningning, do you really mean that?” Jiang San could barely contain his excitement.

“Yes. I always keep my word. But I doubt there will be many people willing to help me as Uncle Jiang is.”

“Just for those words, our entire Jiang family will do this work for you!”

If they truly bred such high-yield seeds, the Jiang family could make a fortune through seed breeding alone in the future.

Jiang San was a far-sighted man. Fang Ning’s cement had astonished him, so he was willing to take a gamble.

At worst, they could simply treat this year as a year spent doing nothing but having fun!

“Uncle Jiang, you’ll definitely be glad you made this decision today!” Fang Ning said playfully.

But Old Man Fang said, “Ningning, they have to eat too. Have your fun if you must, but you should still give them some wages.”

“No need, Uncle Fang. I believe in Ningning.” Jiang San refused.

Si Yuheng had been watching Fang Ning the entire time.

Back in Donglin County, she had said she wanted to trick him into buying land. So she had already been planning all this!

First, she had produced cement to win the villagers’ trust. Then she proposed building a road, and afterward brought up leasing the fields for seed breeding. If the villagers trusted her, perhaps she would not even have to pay the rent for the land!

Fang Ning discussed a few more matters concerning the lease with Yu Dong before he left with Jiang San.

Only then did Old Man Fang say, “Ningning, if you want to breed seeds, couldn’t you just use our family’s fields? Why waste money?”

“Grandfather, the rice I’m breeding cannot flower at the same time as other rice, or the varieties will cross-pollinate. That’s why I want all the fields in Huangnituo. This way, I can prevent the pollen from mixing with other rice. Otherwise, I won’t be able to breed the seeds I want.”

“There are such particular requirements?”

“Yes. Every field in Huangnituo has to be left vacant to ensure that my rice seeds remain pure.”

“Ningning, where did you learn all this?” Madam Zhao asked, her face filled with confusion.

“On the way to Donglin County yesterday, the young master told me that when fruit trees flower, the blossoms must be pollinated for them to bear more fruit. I thought rice might work the same way!”

Si Yuheng remained completely unmoved inside.

He was already accustomed to taking the blame for Fang Ning.

“Then how could you promise Jiang San that it would work?” Old Madam Fang grew anxious. “If it fails, people will tear you apart with their gossip. Don’t you know that?”