Hearing this, A Zhi hesitated and asked, "Madam, do you mean that this new rice might grow better?"
Lin Yi was slightly surprised that he caught on so quickly. "How did you think of that?"
A Zhi smiled. "In my years of growing and harvesting rice, I've seen a lot. Some grains are plump and full, others are shriveled and thin; some ears have hundreds of grains, while others are sparse. When you said this sterile plant could borrow another as the father, I thought if it mated with a plant that has plump grains and full ears, the new rice might combine the best of both."
Lin Yi felt a shock in her heart and couldn't help but feel a deep respect. She had only briefly mentioned the principle, not yet explained its specific uses, yet A Zhi, from his years of farming observations, had directly grasped the key to hybrid breeding.
Lin Yi looked at A Zhi approvingly. "You're right. But for now, let's set aside grain plumpness and focus on yield first. Once we find the male sterile plant, let it cross with the rice plant that has the most grains and densest seeds. The new variety cultivated this way will have a good chance of inheriting high-yield traits."
"Good, good!" A Zhi's eyes lit up, and his energy seemed to overflow. "It's the season when rice flowers are blooming. I'll go to the fields and search carefully! If we can really make the rice yield a few more percent, then the world... the world might never see hunger again."
Well, saying no more famine might still be wishful thinking. But Lin Yi didn't want to dampen his spirits and only said, "This male sterile plant is one in ten thousand, extremely hard to find. Why not put up a notice, asking all rice farmers to search their own fields carefully? Whoever finds one will be rewarded with ten taels of gold. With such a heavy reward, everyone will do their best."
"Excellent, excellent!" A Zhi bowed deeply to Lin Yi, his voice a little choked. "Madam is virtuous. I... on behalf of the countless people, thank you in advance."
"Get up quickly. What are you doing?" Lin Yi hurriedly helped him up. "We haven't even started yet. Finding the male sterile plant is already difficult, and hybrid breeding is a long journey. It won't show results in just three to five years. Saying thank you now is too early."
"Ptoo, ptoo!" A Zhi waved his hands anxiously. "Madam must not say such unlucky words! I believe Madam's insight is extraordinary. Since you said it, there must be a reason. Besides—" He raised his head, his eyes reflecting the bright sun outside the window. "Madam previously worked hard to study the methods for beans and grains, wasn't it to give the people more food in their bowls?"
Hearing him mention the promotion of beans and grains, Lin Yi remembered that she had entrusted that matter to him, and hesitated. "Searching for the sterile plant can only be done during these two months when rice flowers bloom. If you're going to devote yourself fully to this, can you still manage the promotion of beans and grains?"
A Zhi's smile faded. He thought for a moment, then honestly said, "If I really find that rice plant, I'll be guarding the fields day and night from then on. Promoting beans and grains is a good deed, but I'm afraid I'll need to find someone else to take over."
"Alright, I understand." Lin Yi said warmly. "Then let A Fu find another suitable person. You just focus on finding that male sterile plant. Whether it succeeds or not, this effort itself is already a great kindness."
A Zhi nodded heavily, and when he turned to leave, his footsteps were quicker than when he arrived, as if the endless waves of rice fields were already swaying before him, and among them, one special rice plant was quietly waiting for him to discover.
After A Zhi left, Lin Yi got up to find Gu Fang. He had left in a hurry earlier and hadn't said where he was going, but as usual, he was probably in the study.
Sure enough, when Lin Yi reached the study door, she heard A Fu reporting the income and expenses of the mansion's various industries last month. She stood outside the door for a while, catching a rough idea—the income had been quite substantial, the numbers making her secretly gasp. She couldn't help but think: in the past, I always lamented why there were so many rich people and not one more of me; now that I've transmigrated, I've finally become one of the rich!
After A Fu finished reporting and left, Lin Yi pushed open the door. She casually mentioned that A Zhi had taken on the task of finding rice and needed someone else to promote beans and grains. A Fu accepted the order and left, gently closing the study door behind him.
The room quieted down, with only the faint chirping of cicadas outside the window. Lin Yi pulled up a round stool, sat close to Gu Fang's wheelchair, leaned her head on his shoulder, and gently held his hand. Her fingers unconsciously traced the thin calluses on his tiger's mouth from years of holding reins. She chattered about her conversation with A Zhi, about the male sterile plant, about the blazing light in A Zhi's eyes, and finally sighed softly, "He truly takes the goal of a world without hunger as his lifelong wish."
Gu Fang listened quietly. After a long while, he spoke softly, "Back then, after the narrow victory in the Imperial City battle, the court decided to counterattack. His Majesty ordered me to retake the cities seized by the Northern Frontier, one by one."
He paused, his gaze falling on some void. "I led the army north. Every city I recaptured, I saw the same: the people were slaughtered, the streets empty, leaving only the Northern Frontier soldiers and a few... captured women." He spoke slowly, each word as if ground on gravel. "At that time, I swore revenge—for the people of Great Qian."
Lin Yi was stunned, her heart feeling as if something gently knocked against it. She straightened up, turned around, and met Gu Fang's calm eyes. "Then, husband, would you also hope that one day there will be no more war in the world?"
Gu Fang answered without hesitation. "Of course."
Lin Yi smiled, her eyes curving. "Then I'll work hard to help you too."
Gu Fang turned his head to look at her, the sharpness in his eyes quietly melting into a warm smile. He raised his hand and gently touched Lin Yi's cheek. "Alright. Thank you, Xiaoyi."
In the afternoon, Huang Xining, who had been absent for a long time, finally appeared, holding a thick stack of paper scrolls. Lin Yi's eyes went wide, and she couldn't help but stammer, "This... this much?"
Huang Xining raised an eyebrow casually. "I was being restrained. I even left out the designs for the electric drill."
Lin Yi: "..." Thank you so much for considering me.
She took the stack of scrolls and flipped through them page by page. Actually, the number of tools wasn't that many; the thickness was because each tool was drawn in meticulous detail, with dimensions, curves, blade angles, and even grip patterns all annotated, taking up a lot of silk. Though not as many as she had imagined, there were still a few ingeniously crafted items, especially the various screws and hooks. Lin Yi mused to herself: Tomorrow I must personally go to the blacksmith workshop and ask if the craftsmen can perfectly replicate them one-to-one.
Lin Yi handed the drawings to Gu Fang, then turned to Huang Xining with a serious expression. "Brother Huang, how confident are you?"
Huang Xining frowned slightly and said thoughtfully, "Without opening the wound and seeing the bone, no one can be sure what's inside. Besides," he paused, "during the surgery, I need a capable assistant."
"I'll do it." Lin Yi almost didn't hesitate. "I'll memorize all these drawings and won't hand you the wrong thing."
Gu Fang, hearing this, interjected softly, "Brother Huang, is being an assistant difficult?"
Huang Xining thought for a moment and shook his head. "Not hard. Just knowing the sequence of instruments, handing them at the right time, and occasionally wiping my sweat."
Gu Fang's expression clearly relaxed, a gentle smile curling at the corners of his lips. "That's good. Then I'll entrust Xiaoyi to you, Brother Huang."
Huang Xining raised his eyebrow, a hint of teasing in his eyes. "Brother Gu is quite calm. It'll be you lying under the knife."
Gu Fang turned to look at Lin Yi, a faint smile spreading. "Since Xiaoyi recognizes you as her fellow disciple, I trust her. And since she trusts you, then naturally, I trust you too."
Hearing this, Lin Yi lifted her chin proudly, looking so much like a peacock spreading its tail that if Huang Xining hadn't known she was a girl, he would have thought it was one.
Huang Xining was both amused and exasperated by the couple. He quickly waved his hand. "Stop, stop. Nothing is absolute. I'm not pouring cold water, but Brother Gu's leg injury inside is unclear. We can only prepare as best as possible. Limited by current conditions, even if the surgery goes smoothly, the injury is unlikely to fully recover to its original state. Brother Gu must be prepared: even if successful, there will still be unavoidable pain on rainy days or when overworked."
"I understand." Gu Fang nodded, his voice calm. "Just having a glimmer of hope is good. Besides, both of you have done your utmost. I am only grateful."
Huang Xining waved his hand to indicate no need for courtesy, then turned to Lin Yi. "I left my distillation equipment in Jiangnan. I've sent word for the craftsmen to make a new set and send it over. For now, we wait for your surgical instruments to be finished. During this time, I'll stock up on aspirin. You also need to hurry up and make your alcohol and garlic extract. As soon as the surgical tools are ready, we can arrange the surgery."
"Okay, I'll remember that." Lin Yi nodded solemnly.
"Also," Huang Xining pointed at Gu Fang, "although he's in a wheelchair now, you still need to massage his legs daily to prevent muscle atrophy."
Lin Yi immediately tensed. "I massage his legs every night before bed, but I just randomly knead them. I don't know the specific method or how long to do it."
"Once a day is enough, about five minutes per leg." Huang Xining stood up and patted the nonexistent dust on his sleeves. "Don't be too nervous. Such injuries inevitably cause muscle wasting. We can only try to slow it down."
"Alright, alright. Thank you, fellow disciple!" Lin Yi said sincerely.
Huang Xining waved his hand again and turned to leave—probably rushing to make his aspirin.
After Huang Xining left, Lin Yi still leaned against Gu Fang, pondering, "Since the distillation equipment is settled, maybe we can start collecting some wine and garlic in advance."
Gu Fang nodded. "Later, when I see A Fu, I'll tell him."
"Garlic is cheap, so that's easy." Lin Yi leaned lazily on his shoulder, looking up at him. "But if we buy up a large amount of wine, can the General's Mansion's finances handle it?"
Gu Fang looked down at her, his tone calm. "In the short term, it won't affect the mansion's foundation. But if we need to supply the army long-term, it will indeed be tight."
"Eh? Just tight?" Lin Yi was slightly surprised. "Wine is already quite expensive. If we buy it up in bulk, the market price might rise even more."
"Silver is not the hardest part." Gu Fang smiled faintly. "The hardest part is the source of the wine. If we buy up all the wine on the market, merchants, seeing profit, will drive the people to brew wine from grain. If this trend grows, the granaries will be empty. In times of war or disaster, that would be a major calamity."
Lin Yi was startled and sat up straight. "That's right! Why didn't I think of that! If the grain is gone, not to mention war, even an ordinary year would cause chaos. What can we do?"
Gu Fang raised his hand and gently stroked her hair, soothingly saying, "Don't panic. We won't buy up all the wine on the market. We'll only buy eighty percent. We'll brew the rest ourselves."
"Brew ourselves?" Lin Yi breathed a little easier. "Does the mansion have a wine-making business?"
"Originally, no." Gu Fang's lips curled slightly. "That day when you mentioned alcohol, I thought of this. I had A Fu secretly acquire a winery. As for grain, we only buy eighty percent on the market; the rest comes from the mansion's clan fields. Apart from daily consumption by the mansion's people, the rest can be used for brewing."
"Your planning is so thorough!" Lin Yi looked at him with bright eyes, her heart filled with both admiration and shame. She always measured everything with modern thinking, forgetting that in this era, grain was the lifeline. Every extra measure of yeast might mean one less measure of food for survival.
Gu Fang chuckled softly, his fingertips lightly tracing the outline of Lin Yi's ear. "Then, Xiaoyi... won't you give me a reward?"
Lin Yi's eyes widened abruptly, as if she had seen some extraordinary spectacle. This character break was too sudden!
Seeing her shocked expression, Gu Fang's eyes deepened with amusement. "Does this count as... 'one takes the color of one's company'?"
Lin Yi: "..."
Right, very good. Playing this game, huh? Let's see who begs for mercy first.
Author's note:
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If you're a transmigrator trying to make alcohol, you must pay attention to this issue: try to produce and sell it yourself. Otherwise, buying up large quantities of wine from the market will cause merchants to use all their stored grain for brewing, which is very bad for a country. Even if there's no war, ancient times still had many natural disasters and needed grain badly.