"Husband," suddenly, An Jing noticed a concern, "This grafting also requires time, and to avoid running back and forth, we better buy a house in the county. Our family can temporarily live there."
"Hmm," Xiao Changyi had no objections.
Compared to staying at the rice shop or the Agricultural Institute, buying a house was indeed a better option.
A house of their own would make it convenient to cook and do everything else.
"Then tomorrow, let Meng Zhuqing go to the county to buy it. If it’s possible to buy it tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow, when we go to the county, we could stay there."
The next day, An Jing indeed sent Meng Zhuqing to the county to buy a house, and before Meng Zhuqing could return to report whether he had managed to buy the house, Li Wuyu came and said she would be returning home the next day.
Li Wuyu had previously mentioned she would only remain for a few days, so An Jing was not surprised at all when she heard that Li Wuyu would be going back home the next day.
And An Jing did not try to detain Li Wuyu, but only warned her to take care on her way home.
At the quarter-hour of the period, Meng Zhuqing finally came back from the county, reporting that the house was bought and furnished; it was ready for people to move in at any time.
Only then did An Jing and Xiao Changyi start to pack their things, planning to move to the county the following day.
The house was a two-section courtyard; when An Jing and Xiao Changyi moved in, it just so happened to be a quarter past noon the next day.
The house was not far from the Agricultural Institute, just three streets away.
Xiao Changyi told An Jing to look after the children, while he went to the kitchen to quickly prepare a pot of vegetable and egg noodles.
These noodles were their lunch.
After eating, they spent a while in the house accompanying the children before An Jing and Xiao Changyi went to the Agricultural Institute.
As for Meng Zhuqing, she stayed back at the house to look after the four children.
The moment Clerk Jiang saw An Jing and Xiao Changyi arrive, he respectfully said to An Jing, "Official, I have already made inquiries, and indeed crops are planted in the same plot year after year."
An Jing had anticipated this result and said nothing, but simply nodded and instructed, "Take me to the experimental fields to have a look."
"Yes!" Clerk Jiang immediately led the way, guiding An Jing and Xiao Changyi to the experimental fields.
The fields were located at the back of the Agricultural Institute, covering a vast area estimated to be over a thousand acres.
A wide array of crops was cultivated in the experimental fields, all of them studied by the officials of the Agricultural Institute.
It wasn’t until they arrived at the section where vegetables were grown that An Jing stopped.
Then, she gazed intently at the newly sprouted cucumber seedlings, a frown of contemplation creasing her brows.
After a long while, An Jing asked, "Do you have pumpkin seedlings?" She remembered that pumpkins were commonly used as rootstock for grafting.
"Yes, right over there," Clerk Jiang pointed to a nearby patch where pumpkins were planted.
Upon seeing this, An Jing immediately strode over to inspect them. Seeing that the pumpkin seedlings had also recently sprouted, she was overjoyed, "I should be able to use the seedlings here freely, right?"
Clerk Jiang replied, "This fruit and vegetable area is managed by Official Li and was also planted by him. If you want to make use of the seedlings here, you should speak to Official Li first."
Then, gripping her husband’s arm, she walked back, happily saying to him, "Husband, let’s go find Official Li. As long as he agrees, we can start grafting."
Clerk Jiang followed behind, and though he did not understand what grafting meant, he engraved the term in his mind, planning to secretly report it to his master, Official Liu, whenever he had the opportunity.