Chapter 319
Chapter 319
There were many people in the Ji Mansion, and some corn had been given away, so the waxy corn was soon gone.
Enough seed was saved, however. Jiang Yunsui did not even wait until next year before planting a second crop.
Waxy corn was harvested early. With another planting and the energy that escaped while Jiang Yunsui absorbed Moonlight Essence at night, this crop would mature in two or three months.
They planted even more this time, and the old training ground was clearly no longer large enough.
So Jiang Yunsui grandly claimed a large empty plot outside the residence.
There was plenty of open land behind it too.
Naturally, she did not have to dig. Plenty of people competed to do the work.
Before transplanting the corn there, they first had to raise seedlings.
While the seedlings were being raised, the mahjong set Jiang Yunsui had commissioned for the Ji women was completed.
Though wooden, it was not made from ordinary timber. The set was crafted from pearwood.
It was quite beautiful.
Jiang Yunsui packed the mahjong tiles with the rules and gave them to the Ji elders.
Old Madam Ji, Eldest Aunt, and the others had little to do. Life was now so peaceful that their idleness had become boring.
The gift was Jiang Yunsui’s gesture of respect, so the elders naturally would not disappoint her.
They began studying it.
Mahjong required four players, so they brought in two nannies.
The written rules were clear, though at first the four still played in confusion.
After several rounds, they understood the rules and became interested.
Mahjong deserved its modern popularity. Wealthy ladies and ordinary people alike played it when idle, and large families especially enjoyed it during New Year gatherings.
Before long, the women were hooked, and Old Madam Ji smiled much more often.
Jiang Yunsui was smug. As expected of me!
She did not enjoy playing herself.
Once Old Madam Ji and the others had learned, she wandered away.
What she did not know was that from that day onward, mahjong gradually swept through Beizhen City’s circle of noblewomen.
Old Madam Ji and the others naturally did not remain home every day after arriving.
She still had several close friends here.
As military wives, they had made many friends when Old Madam Ji was young.
Though they had rarely met after she returned to the Capital City, they occasionally exchanged letters.
Now that she was here, she naturally took the younger women to visit them.
Those noblewomen were truly delighted by their arrival.
Ji Yan’an now led Mobei, and the heads of their households served under him. Naturally, their women wanted to form ties with his family.
Unfortunately, Ji Yan’an had previously had no female relatives here for them to befriend.
Old Madam Ji’s arrival finally made such visits possible.
Women from other households also occasionally came to the Ji Mansion after sending word to arrange a visit.
When guests arrived, the two nannies left the mahjong table and yielded their seats.
Under Old Madam Ji’s guidance, the visitors began playing too.
Still unsatisfied after returning home, they immediately requested a sample so they could copy a set.
They did not take it for free and sent gifts in return.
Old Madam Ji passed every gift to Jiang Yunsui.
Jiang Yunsui: ???
Had gold fallen from the sky?
The gifts were not gold, but they were valuable.
There were medicinal herbs, fine jade, precious tea, cloth, and more.
“They’re all for me?”
“But mahjong isn’t worth much.”
Old Madam Ji said, “That was merely an excuse to give gifts. Accept what ought to be accepted. It is part of maintaining social ties.”
Jiang Yunsui murmured, “Should I send something back?”
Old Madam Ji said, “If you wish, send a little.”
Jiang Yunsui said, “Then I’ll send watermelons. Mine taste the best.”
Old Madam Ji knew the watermelons she mentioned were cold melons.
She did not know why the little girl called them watermelons, but she was used to it.
They would not send those grown here, but ones from the estate.
The melons here were the finest, and the finest were naturally reserved for family.
The estate had grown fully five times more cold melons than last year.
Though plentiful, they would all be eaten.
Jiang Yunsui did not even need to sell them.
Ji Yan’an bought the entire crop.
Once ripe, the melons would be sent to the army camp as a benefit for the soldiers.
The army accounts paid for them.
The army could afford it because Ji Yan’an had given it the method of making ice with saltpeter.
Selling more ice in summer brought in the necessary silver.
Jiang Yunsui kept some estate melons and sent them to the households that had given gifts.
The recipients were delighted.
“I hear these cold melons were grown on the estate of the Young Master’s little sister. They’re from the batch meant for the army. The soldiers haven’t received theirs, yet we women got ours first.”
“That little girl grew these too. I wonder if it’s true.”
The children were already clamoring to cut them open.
In this weather, they had long wanted cold melon.
“We saved and planted seeds from last year’s melons too, but ours aren’t this large or sweet.”
Even with careful tending, their melons matured a size smaller, and the flesh was less red.
“That is why she’s capable. It isn’t only cold melons. I hear she also grew last year’s peaches and the loquats and bayberries from a month ago.”
“Goodness… when you count it all, that child is remarkable. What astonishing talent.”
The noblewomen chatted about Jiang Yunsui with curiosity and wonder.
They happily ate the cold melon.
A few days later, the army’s melons arrived.
Carriage after carriage left Jiang Yunsui’s estate loaded with melons. Drivers and escorts alike wore smiles.
Who did not enjoy delicious food?
Especially when it was a benefit from their superiors.
The drivers and escorts even received an extra slice.
“This melon is huge.”
He tapped it as he spoke.
“It sounds perfectly ripe.”
Merely imagining the taste made them swallow.
They hurried back so the melons could be divided and they could eat again.
With so many soldiers, naturally not everyone received a whole melon.
Several men shared each one.
But they were already thoroughly satisfied.