The Lucky Heiress

“This is taro bubble milk tea, not fermented glutinous rice balls with wine.”

After a careful look, Wei Ruo confirmed that she hadn’t made a mistake.

We Jinyi regained his composure and continued to eat his taro bubble milk tea hurriedly.

“Second Brother, don’t eat so fast. If you get full on bubble milk tea, you won’t have room for barbecue. I’ve prepared a lot of delicious barbecue ingredients.”

“Um.” Wei Jinyi stopped, but he didn’t dare to look at Wei Ruo again, and turned away.

On the other side, Xiumei and Xiaobei were busy happily.

Xiaobei looked at the seafood on the barbecue grill and couldn’t help but ask Xiumei, “Lady Xiumei, where did the young lady get all this seafood? I heard that the Japanese pirates have been causing trouble again lately, and the government has prohibited the seaside fishermen from going out to sea, but your seafood is all fresh, it looks like they were just harvested in the past two days.”

Xiumei gave a mysterious smile. “I won’t tell you, it’s my lady’s secret!”

Then Xiumei asked Xiaobei, “What has your master been busy with? He had the rare opportunity to study with the Tibetan layman, but he has been busy for half a year.”

Xiaobei smiled, “That’s my master’s secret too!”

Xiumei hummed softly, not asking further. She had just asked casually without expecting to learn anything. If her lady didn’ t necessarily want to know something, she naturally wouldn’t ask more.

“Lady Xiumei, has your lady been in a poor mood recently?” Xiaobei continued to inquire.

“Why should my lady be in a bad mood?” Xiumei countered.

“Isn’t there all sorts of gossip going around outside? They even said that your lady was rejected by the Xiu family.”

“What nonsense is that? My lady and the Xiu family have no marriage contract. Where did this talk of breaking off an engagement come from? I don’t know who has such a loose tongue to spread such wild rumors.” Xiumei said irritably.

Xiaobei echoed, “Exactly, they really do like to fabricate stories. What does the Xiu family’s refusal have to do with this matter? Their refusal is clearly because of our young master…”

“What about your young master?” Xiumei turned her head and looked at Xiaobei with a puzzled face.

“I mean, our young master was quite happy for the young lady when they refused because he knew the young lady didn’t want to negotiate a marriage with them.” Xiaobei quickly explained.

“Naturally.”

“Our young master came back early this time for this matter concerning the young lady.” Xiaobei added.

“The second young master does care a lot about our lady. But his worry this time was unnecessary; our lady is not upset at all.”

“That’s good.”

While the two were talking, they continued to barbecue, and brought the cooked food to the table once it was done.

Garlic scallops, garlic oysters, grilled fish, grilled chicken wings, grilled chicken legs, grilled chicken gizzards, grilled eggplants, and grilled sweet potatoes.

The aroma of the meat was mouthwatering.

Xiumei specially introduced, “Our young lady made different sauces for different ingredients and they all have been marinated to enhance their flavors. Second young master, please try them. Anyone who comes here does not get this treatment, only you, the second young master, can taste so many different flavors of barbecue that our young lady personally mixed.”

“Mhm.” A warm smile appeared on the corner of Wei Jinyi’s mouth, as if he could already taste the deliciousness of the barbecue without even eating it.

We Ruo asked Xiumei and Xiaobei to sit down, as before, everyone ate together, it was lively.

Having a barbecue should be this lively.

###

The following day Wei Ruo had to leave early in the morning to visit the wasteland outside the city. When she arrived at the gate, she saw Wei Jinyi was already there.

“Second Brother?”

“You mentioned last night that you were going to the wasteland today. I happen to be free, so I’ll accompany you.” Wei Jinyi said.

“Okay!” Wei Ruo was happy to have Wei Jinyi’s company.

It was a long ride, and having the second brother along would give her someone to talk to on the way.

Wei Ruo got on the carriage, and Wei Jinyi rode alongside it.

In the carriage, Wei Ruo leaned against the carriage wall, have a casual conversation with Wei Jinyi.

Just like in the past at the Bamboo Garden in Xingshan County, Wei Ruo talked, Wei Jinyi listened carefully, Wei Ruo spoke more, Wei Jinyi spoke less, but he responded to everything Wei Ruo said.

After a long conversation, the carriage arrived at its destination.

When Wei Ruo got out of the carriage, she found that Wei Jinyi had changed his appearance, disguising himself with a very ordinary face, only those eyes were unchanged, deep like the sea full of stars, unmistakeable.

“Why did you disguise yourself, Second Brother?” Wei Ruo asked curiously.

“To avoid some troubles.” Wei Jinyi explained.

“Oh.” Although Wei Ruo felt that his answer was a bit vague, she didn’t inquire further.

After more than a month of tilling and ploughing, the wasteland had changed from its previous desolation to artificially reclaimed flat land.

Field ridges separated the land into segments, and wild grass and stones had been cleared away.

As they came closer, a smell that was not very pleasant hit them. Wei Ruo didn’t show any distaste, but instead smiled more broadly.

This unpleasant smell was from fermented farm manure. It could make soil unsuitable for growing crops become suitable, and make barren soil fertile. It was the hope of countless reclaimers, a smell that farmers couldn’t detest.

Not far away was a row of newly built huts, where the reclaimers lived temporarily. Despite it being simple, it can provide some shelter from the wind and rain.

Wei Ruo, Wei Jinyi, Xiumei, and Xiaobei all walked around the newly reclaimed field ridges.

During this, Wei Ruo crouched down several times to check the condition of the soil. In the process, she inevitably soiled her clothes and skirt, even though she had deliberately worn simpler and more convenient clothes that day.

“How is it, Miss?” Xiumei asked worriedly.

“It’s pretty good and meeting my expectations. In just over a month’s time, this soil can be irrigated.” Wei Ruo said.

“That’s great!” Xiumei said happily.

“Let’s go check if the water source problem has been solved.” Wei Rou continued.

When Wei Ruo initially planned this area, she considered the irrigation issue for the future. Whether for wheat, rice, or other crops, irrigation was mandatory.

Not to mention that the previous soil improvement process also needed water infiltration.

So while they were reclaiming land, they also had to solve the water source problem.

Luckily, there was a river nearby. As long as a canal was dug to connect it, and the water was pumped into the canal with a water wheel, the water could be channeled into the newly reclaimed fields for irrigation.

The group went to the river, where Wei Ruo saw the government officials and workers digging the canal. She also saw a person she disliked — Chu Lan.

When Wei Ruo saw Chu Lan, Chu Lan also saw Wei Ruo.

Chu Lan took the initiative to walk over to Wei Ruo…