The Comeback of the Charming Farmer's Wife

Ms. Wang then laughed again and said, "Your father has thought about this too. This year we will build just one room, and next year we will plant sugarcane. He plans to buy two small estates in advance specifically for growing sugarcane. Usually, estates have houses, right? He’s thinking of buying two to rotate the crops."

"Dad’s idea isn’t bad."

The estates owned by the family were those that Yang Dachuan had bought when she got married; he gave her two and kept two for himself, but those were leased out.

"Actually, next year I’ll take back one of the estates and use it exclusively for growing sugarcane."

The sugarcane planting was never extensive. After the harvested sugarcane was given away as gifts, and a portion was kept for making sugar, only three acres of sugarcane remained as seed.

Moreover, there were many things happening this year, and Mu Shaofeng had not sent anyone to the south, so he could not bring back any sugarcane seedlings for her. Hence, there were no extra seeds left, which is why she didn’t plan to plant with the villagers this year – there simply weren’t enough seeds.

It seemed unlikely even for the next year; if she were to plant on the estate, there would be even less to go around.

Nobody came knocking on her door or went to Land Officer Yang to request planting together with her, probably because they felt a bit guilty and embarrassed about the incident before the New Year.

"Aren’t all your estates leased out?" asked Ms. Wang. "You might as well buy new ones."

"No need to buy any more. What would I do with that many estates? Besides, you’ve forgotten, Brother An still has four estates. The deeds to his estates and ours at home are all with me right now. I’m managing them. There’s one coming up for lease renewal, and if it’s not renewed, that’s that."

It was the first time Ms. Wang heard that Ye Zi’an had entrusted all the estates to Yang Chuxia, but thinking of her son-in-law’s affection, it seemed entirely normal to her.

"Ah, Brother An is a good man. If he could become an Advanced Scholar again this time, he would be an official Old Master. He treats you well, and mother only hopes you can give birth to a son this time. No matter how Brother An’s status changes, your position will remain secure."

In fact, what Ms. Wang was really worried about was that once a man achieves success, he might start looking for other women. It’s well known that many men begin taking concubines and buying maidservants once they become officials.

"Mother, you’re thinking too much."

Yang Chuxia thought to herself that Zi’an had promised her he wouldn’t take any concubines. She believed in Zi’an and in herself as well.

"Alright, let’s just say I’m overthinking. You rest for a while. I’ll go check the kitchen. Li’s mother has stewed a pigeon for you."

Upon hearing about the pigeon, Yang Chuxia finally started to look forward to the daily soups.

No more tedious chicken and duck soups.

Seeing her eagerness, Ms. Wang laughed. This girl was getting pickier by the day.

Once Ms. Wang went to check on the soup, Yang Chuxia comfortably pinched off a piece of pastry, eating it while thinking contently to herself that life was indeed quite good.

Of course, life would be even more pleasant if Ye Ziping could be caught or show up earlier.

She had figured that if Ye Ziping really headed south, he should have arrived by February, but now it was March, and there was still no sign of him.

~~~~

What Yang Chuxia didn’t know was that the man she wanted to capture had indeed entered Funan Prefecture.

After spending over two years in exile, Ye Ziping had become very cautious. While escaping from Shandong, he disguised part of his appearance.

Especially upon entering Funan, when he saw the wanted posters for him in a small town, he was even more careful not to show himself.

However, he soon joined a gang called the Rake Gang. The name was quite suggestive...rakes...thieves. It was a gang that specialized in theft.