The Favorite of the Sick and Weak Lady - Chapter 28

“My wife, we’ve gathered almost all the rice. It’s time to give this a try.” Xiao Yu carried the harvested rice to the side yard.

Following behind him, Song Luoning frowned, feeling a bit anxious. She wasn’t sure if what this scoundrel was doing would actually work.

Xiao Yu poured the unhusked rice into the feed opening of a clay mill. As he pushed the mill’s handle, the husks and grains spun out together, falling into a wooden bucket below. In just a moment, the bucket was full.

He then poured the hulled rice into a winnowing fan. With a shake of the handle, the fan’s blades spun, and the wind blew the husks away, separating them from the grains.

The final step was to remove the bran layer.

This was also the most crucial step. The hulled grains were ground in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle, and in no time at all, they transformed into glistening, translucent grains of white rice.

He actually did it!

Song Luoning’s eyes showed a flash of surprise as she looked at the pearly white rice grains. Then, she fell into deep thought. Is this person really the same wasteful scoundrel Xiao Yu?

Can a person really change this much in such a short time? Or is he just hiding his true ability?

Why would he do that?

No, that doesn’t make sense either.

What if she’s not Xiao Yu?

Song Luoning didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits, but the changes in Xiao Yu recently, from the “miracle medicine” to the rice-hulling tools in front of her, were beyond her understanding.

It seemed that only this most illogical explanation could possibly be the truth.

Song Luoning felt like she was going insane.

“My wife, what are you thinking about? I’ll take this rice to the grain store to sell tomorrow.” Xiao Yu packed the processed rice into a sack and turned to speak to Song Luoning.

In just a short time, they had milled one hundred pounds of rice. After removing the husks, it weighed 62 pounds. Based on this yield, one thousand pounds of unhusked rice could produce six to seven hundred pounds of white rice.

Xiao Yu was full of energy.

“Is my husband going to sell it?” Song Luoning asked, her eyebrows lowered.

“Of course, I’m going to sell it. We can’t eat all of this ourselves. I’ll take a hundred pounds to test the waters at the same grain store we went to last time. Although the price at the store is definitely lower than selling it in the market myself, they buy in bulk, and if we sell a lot, we can still make a good profit. And since we’re the only ones with this hulling tool, no one else can compete with us.” Xiao Yu replied.

The scoundrel was right. This tool was so much more efficient than doing it by hand. In just a short time, they had already milled a hundred pounds of white rice. It was a speed that manual labor couldn’t even compare to.

If this tool were to be widely used, everyone could eat soft white rice, and people wouldn’t have to worry about getting stomach ailments from long-term consumption of brown rice.

Song Luoning hesitated. “Has my husband ever considered offering this to the imperial court so that more people can eat white rice?”

Offer it to the imperial court?

Xiao Yu stopped and turned to look at Song Luoning in confusion. Why would she offer it to the court? Would the court give her money?

She wasn’t stupid.

“If I mill it and sell it, others can eat it too,” Xiao Yu said with a serious expression.

Song Luoning was speechless and didn’t bother to argue with her anymore.

This scoundrel really only cared about money!

Song Luoning pursed her lips, picked up a book, and sat down on a nearby chair. She would occasionally glance up, her mind completely focused on the scoundrel.

Before long, Xiao Yu had finished milling her hundred pounds of rice and loaded it onto the ox cart.

They could have used the horse-drawn carriage, but for now, the carriage was their temporary bedroom, so they had to make do with the ox cart.

Song Luoning put down her storybook. “Is my husband going tomorrow?”

Xiao Yu continued tidying up. “Yes. Is there anything my wife wants to buy?”

Song Luoning pursed her lips, staring at her for a long time. “No, Luoning would like to go with her husband tomorrow.”

Go with her?

Xiao Yu’s face lit up with joy, but then she remembered the young lady’s health. Her head drooped. The young lady’s health was so poor. Although she really wanted her to come along, she couldn’t not consider her well-being.

She truly wanted her to come, but she couldn’t.

Pursing her lips, she said glumly, “My wife, please wait at home for me tomorrow. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done selling.”

The young lady’s health was the priority.

“It’s fine. Luoning gets bored staying at home all day. Going with my husband might even help him out.”

“But your health…”

Xiao Yu was about to continue when Song Luoning cut her off. She put down her book and stood up, walking over to Xiao Yu. She placed a hand on Xiao Yu’s wrist and said softly, “Luoning knows her husband’s concerns. I know my own body, and I also want to help my husband with his worries.”

A slender, pale jade-like finger lightly rested on her wrist. Xiao Yu’s heart suddenly tightened, and it skipped a beat. Unconsciously, she grabbed the other’s hand. Song Luoning tried to pull it back but couldn’t.

You bastard scoundrel!

Taking advantage of her again.

“Husband, Luoning is thirsty. Could you please pour me a cup of water?” Song Luoning turned her face away, hoping the scoundrel would get her hint.

“I’ll go get water right away, my wife. Please wait.” Xiao Yu let go of her hand and supported her wrist instead, helping Song Luoning sit on the chair. She then knelt on the ground, looking up at Song Luoning, her peach blossom eyes overflowing with joy.

Normally, the young lady was reserved and didn’t show her feelings, but she had just taken the initiative to hold her hand. This showed how important she was becoming to the young lady.

Xiao Yu held Song Luoning’s hand, her fingertips caressing it repeatedly. It was smooth and soft, even more so than warm mutton fat jade. She used to have a piece herself that she would play with every day, loving it dearly.

“Husband,” Song Luoning’s voice grew colder.

“Hmm?” Xiao Yu came back to her senses. “My wife…”

“Are you still not going to pour water for Luoning?” Song Luoning pulled her hand back.

This scoundrel was going to drive her crazy!

If it weren’t for…

Forget it. She’ll tell her father about the situation here and deal with her later. For now, she was still useful.

“Then, my wife, I’ll go…” Xiao Yu was reluctant to let go. She squeezed her hand slightly with a bit of force before letting go unwillingly.

“…”

You bastard!

What just happened?

It happened so fast she couldn’t even react. When she came to her senses, Song Luoning gritted her teeth.

Maybe keeping her wasn’t so useful after all!

Xiao Yu went to the kitchen and poured a cup of water for Song Luoning. “My wife, please drink.” Her peach blossom eyes were sparkling.

Song Luoning’s heart skipped a beat.

Again?

“My wife, if you want to go tomorrow, that’s fine. It can be a nice change of scenery. But you have to promise to tell me if you feel uncomfortable at all,” Xiao Yu said seriously.

“Okay. Luoning will not hide anything from her husband.”

Song Luoning closed her eyes. Just be patient for a little longer.

Tomorrow, she’ll meet with the person her father left behind to protect her and then make a decision.

Xiao Yu’s eyes were filled with a smile. She moved closer, rubbed her hands together, and her gaze fell back on Song Luoning’s hands, still craving the feeling she had just experienced.

Song Luoning instinctively felt the danger and placed the teacup in Xiao Yu’s hand, standing up. “It’s getting late. Let’s have dinner and rest early so we don’t delay our trip to the county town tomorrow.”

Xiao Yu bit her lip, a little disappointed that she couldn’t touch her. The young lady was so shy. She wondered when this habit would go away.

It couldn’t keep going on like this.

But for now, there was nothing else to do. She would just have to touch her more in the future. With that thought, Xiao Yu’s mood inexplicably brightened.

“Then, my wife, wait for me. I’ll go make dinner now.” Her voice was cheerful.

Song Luoning didn’t say anything, just nodded.

After Xiao Yu left happily, her gaze fell on the sack of hulled white rice, her eyes clouded with an unreadable expression.

The two of them had dinner and went to bed early in the carriage. Worried that the young lady wouldn’t get enough rest and would be too tired for the journey the next day, Xiao Yu didn’t cause any trouble.

The next day, after breakfast, Xiao Yu moved the rice from the ox cart to the horse-drawn carriage. Taking the young lady to the county town in an ox cart wouldn’t do.

The carriage had to be soft, the road couldn’t be bumpy, and it was best if she could lie down and rest if she got tired.

The carriage had soft cushions and bedding, which was perfect for the young lady.

After they made some money, she would buy a more spacious carriage. For now, this one was barely suitable for the young lady. If they wanted to travel in the future, they would need a proper vehicle.

Xiao Yu lowered the horse stool and helped Song Luoning into the carriage.

The inside of the carriage had been tidied up by Xiao Yu. There was a small carved table with a plate of pastries and tea. The blanket they used at night was neatly folded, so she could lean on it if she was tired.

Song Luoning pursed her lips.

This scoundrel actually put some thought into this.

“My wife, you can have some snacks if you’re hungry. There’s also tea. There’s a storybook under the table, but you shouldn’t read while we’re moving, it’s bad for your eyes,” Xiao Yu said.

“Okay,” Song Luoning replied as she sat down.

Xiao Yu folded up the horse stool, led the carriage out of the courtyard gate, hopped on, and headed toward the county town.

Xiao Yu chose the main road, which was flat. The carriage also moved slowly, so Song Luoning didn’t feel any bumps along the way. Instead, she felt drowsy and wanted to fall asleep.

Xiao Yu stopped the carriage in front of the same grain store where they had bought rice and flour last time and helped Song Luoning get off.

When the two of them entered the store, the shopkeeper was stunned. It wasn’t that he couldn’t forget them, but this gentleman who loved brown rice so much had left a deep impression.

Was he back to buy more after finishing his previous supply?

The shopkeeper smiled and asked, “You’re back, sir. What would you like to buy this time? Still brown rice? You’ve come at a good time. We just got a new batch of brown rice a few days ago. Would you like to take a look?”

Xiao Yu smiled and glanced at the brown rice, but this time, she was here to sell white rice.

She nodded. “Shopkeeper, your brown rice is indeed good, but I’m not here to buy brown rice this time.”

Not here to buy brown rice.

The shopkeeper was startled and smiled. “What kind of rice do you want, sir? I have everything here.”

Xiao Yu smiled and shook her head. She took the sack of rice from the carriage and opened it.

“This is…” The shopkeeper was surprised. “White rice.”

“This is indeed white rice.”

The shopkeeper came back to his senses. “Sir, this is…”

“To be honest, I’m here to discuss a partnership with you, shopkeeper. I’m sure you’ve seen my rice. The quality is excellent,” Xiao Yu said.

The shopkeeper reached out and grabbed a handful. The grains slid through his fingers, each one plump and glistening, truly a high-quality product.

“Sir, what kind of partnership do you have in mind?” the shopkeeper asked.

Xiao Yu saw the glint in the shopkeeper’s eyes and smiled.

“Shopkeeper, what do you think this rice is worth?” Xiao Yu didn’t state a price directly but asked the shopkeeper instead. First, she didn’t know the market price of rice, and second, she could raise the price based on what the shopkeeper said.

If she had set the price herself, the shopkeeper’s bargaining would have been a completely different matter.

After thinking it over, the shopkeeper offered a price: “How about fifteen coppers a pound?”

It was one copper more than flour, so the price was reasonable. Her own cost for the hulled rice was only about three coppers a pound.

Xiao Yu told the shopkeeper, “To be honest, I can provide as much rice of this quality as you need.”

“Really?” The shopkeeper was secretly surprised, and his mind began to race.

Xiao Yu smiled. “How about I sell it to you for twelve coppers a pound?”

Even though she was giving up three coppers, Xiao Yu knew that the price the shopkeeper offered her was likely the lowest. The actual selling price would definitely be more than fifteen coppers.

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