Chapter 458: Chapter 445: The Task is Too Difficult

If the results aren’t good and the seeds are planted, the yield might not be as good as that of the previous wheat seeds. Wouldn’t the villagers be up in arms then?

For safety’s sake, it would be better to have Enji Village try one type first. They could wait until around Dragon Boat Festival next year, check the harvest of Enji Village, and make a decision accordingly, which would give them some peace of mind.

Upon this consideration, the village chiefs weren’t so panicked anymore and nodded in agreement, “Village Chief Zhuang does make some sense…”

After Zhuang Jingye touched on this point, the village chiefs were less insistent, mostly mentioning this year’s need for wheat seeds as something for next year.

But if there were any surplus this year, every little bit would help.

Seeing these few were willing to give room for negotiation, Zhuang Jingye gladly agreed. As for whether or not he could fulfill this year’s request and how much, Zhuang Jingye left it ambiguous.

All of them were experienced people who were used to dealing with matters outside the village. They understood Zhuang Jingye’s tactics and didn’t overly expose his words. They chatted idly for a while before thanking and leaving.

Zhuang Jingye politely sent them off, letting them take back all the wine, tea, and other things they had brought with them.

Helping people while accepting their gifts was a way to reward oneself and quell the unease of owning someone. However, the current task didn’t truly help anyone, so it was obviously not appropriate to accept any gifts.

Even if it might help, that’s a matter for next year, so there’s no rush.

Everyone tacitly abided by these customs without insistence, regarding Zhuang Jingye’s refusal. The village chiefs thanked him and left with their things.

Zhuang Jingye sent the village chiefs to the outskirts of the village, then he began to head home, humming a small tune.

Indeed, it’s remarkable!

There aren’t many as upright as him in this world.

—-

Zhou Daya’s illness of typhoid came on strong, but it receded noticeably after a few doses of medicine.

Now that Zhao Ziping’s matter had been resolved, Zhou Daya felt more relaxed, which helped her recover even faster.

As soon as she was almost healed, Zhou Daya quickly returned to bustling about in the tofu skin workshop.

With the essential helper in position, everything went smoothly as usual. Even though production was constantly increasing, everything remained orderly.

The same was true for the sweet potato glass noodle workshop in Miao Village. As new sweet potatoes arrived, the output of the workshop gradually increased, and the production process improved with increasing proficiency.

With Zhuang Jingye orderly distributing seed wheat, the task of planting wheat was gradually being completed.

It could be said that everything that needed to be attended to was going smoothly at the moment.

Of course, as for finding the kids’ future spouses…

This task is too difficult; it will be discussed later.

Zhuang Qingning marked a cross next to this task in her small notebook, intending to focus on the making of incense instead.

“Moon Incense” was the incense formula she received from completing Mission Benignancy.

This Moon Incense was a historically well-known fragrance, which Zhuang Qingning had heard of in modern society.

It’s an influential historical fragrance, created by Xu Xuan, a master of incense making in the Song Dynasty. On nights with a moon, he would sit in the courtyard, burning a stick of Moon Incense to calm his mind.

This Moon Incense had a light and elegant fragrance, lasting and calming, ideal for placing in a study, Zen room, or living room.

As for the era in which she now found herself, which had clearly never existed in history, she didn’t even know if it had ever experienced the Song Dynasty or if Moon Incense existed in this era.

But whether or not people know or whether or not Moon Incense existed in the world, what Zhuang Qingning needed to do now was to follow the fragrance formula to try and make the Moon Incense.

So, Zhuang Qingning went to the county town one day, looking for a spice shop, to buy all kinds of spices used in making Moon Incense, and to purchase the basic tools and equipment for making spices.

“If you’re going to buy spices…” Upon learning Zhuang Qingning’s intention, Zhuang Yutian smiled, “You should go to Cheng’s spice shop.”

“Our county town is not big and the spices are considered precious goods. There are only four spice shops in total. Two of these are small storefronts selling substandard goods, suitable only for common people using them to burn incense. Only Cheng’s and Su’s can sell you the good quality spices you want.”

“Originally, the two shops were competitive. Some time ago, Manager Cheng’s shop encountered some trouble and he had to compensate everyone’s money. Just as we said, once Manager Cheng took action, Cheng’s spice shop became famous. Many people said that Cheng’s was a good and honest shop, and Manager Cheng was a good man. Cheng’s business is now even better than before.”

“In one fell swoop, Cheng’s has outclassed Su’s. Manager Cheng has bought a lot of spices from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area. The variety and quality surpass that of Su’s. If you want to buy good quality ones, Cheng’s is the place to go.”

“Cheng’s isn’t far from here. Go straight down the street and take a turn to East Street.”

Zhuang Yutian said, “The shop isn’t busy now, I’ll take you there.”

“Uncle Yutian, there’s no need. You take care of your things.” Zhuang Qingning gently refused. “I know the county town quite well. I can find my way around. I plan to take a stroll around.”

She was so busy dealing with all kinds of things at home these days, she hardly had any leisure time. Today, since she had the opportunity to come to the county town, it would be a shame not to walk around.

At the same time, she wanted to find some fun and delicious things for the children at home.

Zhuang Qingsui, Chu Jinzhou, and Zhuang Mingli were diligent and studious. For such thoughtful and obedient children, a reward was definitely in order.

Zhuang Yutian saw Zhuang Qingning’s point, laughed, “Alright, you go yourself then. If you’re free at noon, come home for lunch.”

“Your mother has been staying at our house these days and she’s been talking about you every day.”

Zhuang Qingning had been living with her father for over twenty days now. Zhuang Qingning missed her mother a bit.

“Alright, I’ll go home after I’m done.” Zhuang Qingning accepted with a beaming smile. After shooting the breeze for a bit, she left the cloth shop and went toward Cheng’s Spice Shop.

All along the way, she looked around to see if there were any interesting and playful things, treats, or newly opened shops.