Little Qingyu changed into her Hu outfit, mounted the splendid pony, and under the guidance of Shuqi, rode back and forth twice along the village road, surrounded by the entire clan’s children watching with admiration, looking ever so spirited and lively.
This evening, she was the brightest star of the clan.
"Little Qingyu, little Qingyu, can you let me ride for a bit?" Daya, who plays with Little Qingyu every day, couldn’t take it anymore and cheerfully cried out after chasing the pony’s rear a few times.
Little Qingyu turned her head, seeing a string of followers behind her, pretended to ponder and said, "Hmm, then line up, and listen to my instructions!"
"Okay, okay! Let’s line up!"
"I want to be here; you go to the back."
"Move aside, I want to be second."
The group of children, hearing that they could also ride, suddenly became chaotic, noisy, and jostled around.
Little Qingyu loudly shouted while sitting on the pony, "Don’t push! Line up properly! Listen to me, girls go first! No pushing! Those who push won’t get to ride!"
Shuqi looked utterly hopeless; he was sent by his lord to accompany Little Qingyu riding, and he had to stay vigilant and protect her.
Now, it was not only Little Qingyu; it had turned into a whole crowd! It was like hundreds of ducks quacking noisily in his ears, his head nearly bursting.
Owning a pony, Lin Qingyu had taken her love for new things to the extreme. Now her eyes were full of the pony, with no sight of the elephant!
Although the elephant was cute and peculiar, it couldn’t be ridden like the gentle and adorable pony! The rıghtful source is 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝕟𝕖𝕥
On one side Shuqi and Yun Shang were watching over Little Qingyu and the group of clan children playing the horse riding game, while on the other, Xiao Chong was inspecting the spinning wheel in Lin Wanwan’s warehouse, trying to persuade her to divulge its technology.
Lin Wanwan just replied with a "haha", thinking this guy was obsessed with milking her dry. Even if the first to get rich should help others, her family, Hou Tao Lin, should be rich first!
However, she wasn’t someone who would hoard everything; she was willing to share cotton seeds, as long as Xiao Chong could provide suitable gold — no copper coins, no textiles, only gold.
The two moved from the warehouse to the study, and Lin Wanwan said, "Cousin, in fact, if you’re willing, we can band together to establish a cotton guild; it’s possible. Whether it’s under the name of the county government or the Xiao family, or just in your personal name, it’s fine. As for us Lin clan, the whole family would participate.
Look, my idea is this, you send people to persuade the farmers around your allocated fields who grow mulberry and hemp, gather at least one or two thousand mu of land, turn it into a big piece, and then have them all plant cotton.
Cultivation needs to be done meticulously, managed and taught by personnel appointed by the guild. The cotton harvested would be bought entirely by the guild, eliminating the farmers’ risks in switching crops.
Having a large amount of cotton, we can weave it into cotton cloth or fluff it into cotton quilts, to sell as luxury products across various major towns in the Great Tang.
Of course, the end sales mainly would be handled by your people, dear cousin. The preliminary work would be more painstakingly handled by me, how about it?"
Xiao Chong smiled bitterly, "Your idea is wonderful, yet the future is fraught with difficulties. Do you know what’s the hardest part within this?"
Lin Wanwan puzzled, "What?"
Lin Wanwan looked at Xiao Chong without speaking, waiting for him to continue.
"Everyone’s land was seized after painstakingly following the court from the landlords of the former Sui Dynasty, and now you want to collectively manage and plant, will they hand over their lands willingly?
Nonsense! Asking for land is like asking for the farmer’s life; they would fight to the death.
Do you know why the promotion of the new grain seeds obtained from you was so sluggish? Changing is very hard, changing the farmers’ fixation on their lands is especially tough.
Growing hemp ensures they can pay their annual taxes, but switching to cotton means selling cotton first before buying hemp and cloth, altering the farmers’ self-sufficient lifestyle.
The farmers may not understand and may not accept it.
Something as rare as Gaochang cotton is hardly known among Mao County’s populace. Convincing them to accept it is extremely difficult."
Lin Wanwan stroked her chin and said, "That shouldn’t be the case; they are supposed to grow hemp, but we’re offering them to switch to the more valuable cotton, what’s not good about that? Income can increase, even if they need to buy silk and hemp at the workshop, it’s still a no-loss venture."
Xiao Chong laughed, "Cousin, you’ve been absorbing wisdom from various books since childhood with the teachings of your master, thus your ideas are unrestricted, but most of the world’s farmers are illiterate, narrow-minded, and difficult to educate."
Then he turned his tone, "But it’s not entirely unworkable, just need to not rush things too much."
The two continued to discuss for quite a while, until the sky completely darkened, and the "boom bang" of fireworks started ringing out, only then did they end the discussion, still longing for more.
Outside the study, Little Qingyu had already returned to the hall, guarding the table full of twice-heated dishes, waiting eagerly.
"Mom, I’m hungry." Little Qingyu grimaced, touching her tummy, glancing at Lin Wanwan and Xiao Chong.
This is why Little Qingyu disliked her long-legged cousin, even though he gifted her a pony today, she couldn’t be happy. Whenever he came over, Mom only focused on talking to him and ignored her.
Lin Wanwan looked outside the courtyard, realizing how late it was, suddenly feeling hungry as well, "Oh dear, my little darling must be starving! We’ll start dinner right away, Hua Nong, serve the dishes!"
The New Year’s Eve dinner was naturally an exceptionally sumptuous meal, with venison, beef, lamb, seafood, cured fish, and also the wild chickens and fresh venison brought by Xiao Chong, among other delicacies, paired with champagne bought by Lin Wanwan from modern times, it was truly a feast.
Xiao Chong’s favorite was Lin Wanwan’s family’s dishes and wine, one of the reasons he came to find Lin Wanwan on New Year’s Eve. The flavors cooked by Lin Wanwan’s family chef were something the entire Great Tang could hardly taste, truly unforgettable.
While the two continued to enjoy drinks, the courtyard outside was bustling.
New Year’s Eve night, every household had fire pits burning at their doors, the exorcism festivities were underway.
With starlight paving the way and flames swirling, everyone wore various masks, plucking and singing, dancing merrily, driving away evil spirits.
Having already eaten to her heart’s content, Little Qingyu had thrown several sticks of firecrackers into the central courtyard fire pit to play. This year, she had ten young male servants and one female servant playing firecrackers with her, couldn’t be happier.
These firecrackers weren’t modern gunpowder-powered firecrackers, but real bamboo being tossed into the fire pit, producing crackling sounds, hence called "firecrackers."