Even with a big belly, my daughter-in-law has to manage the farmland and still needs to plant and harvest rice. It feels normal; marrying into a farmer’s family means one must work. In a farmer’s family, the rich work harder and give birth to healthier children.
This saying was always on Mrs. Lai’s lips, and with people relying on her and her son, she let go.
My daughter-in-law has been in our family for ten years. In those ten years, besides carpentry, we only helped briefly with harvesting rice and planting seedlings. We never interfered with other duties; often our meals were served to us, and neither of us can cook or do laundry.
In the past, everyone who faced this was from a farmer’s family, and everyone had the same mindset—we’d depend on others if we could!
Now, rendered speechless by questions from the Old Masters of wealthy families, we felt ashamed and blushed crimson, not knowing how to explain; it seemed the more we said, the more mistakes we made.
But these Old Masters from wealthy families, for the sake of their estates, did not let us off the hook.
"Hongji, we mean no offense, we just want to ask for some advice on managing an estate, nothing more. You wouldn’t keep it a secret from us, would you?"
"Right, since we’re all sitting here together enjoying a feast at the Tang Family’s, it means we have fate on our side and we’ll become friends. Though managing an estate is a farmer’s concern, we’ve invested money hoping for a return, and we’re thinking about the tour group organized by the Old Master this year, all to increase crop yields."
"Exactly, all we want is an increase in crop production, not to compete for your money. We do our work, you mind your own; after all, the selling price of grain is the same."
As this man spoke, others nodded along, yet they thought to themselves that the selling price of grain was not at all the same!
It was self-deception. Even they didn’t eat the rice harvested from their own estates, preferring instead to buy the more expensive rice from the Ye family.
They had been doing this for the past two years because they had no other choice; once they had tasted the rice grown by the Ye family, they no longer liked their own.
It wasn’t a matter of pride; eating rice from the Ye family’s crops somehow whetted their appetites, tasted more aromatic, and they felt much healthier than before, as if their bodies were speaking for themselves—comfortable and pain-free.
These thoughts were seated in the hearts of those from wealthy families; they had discussed at gatherings why crops and vegetables from the Ye’s Mansion seemed to strengthen and invigorate one’s body.
Whereas eating the produce from their own estates didn’t produce any changes or have such a fresh taste.
It was like an addiction; once these people started purchasing products from the Ye family, even meals at home became more delightful. If they couldn’t enjoy such delicious food at a restaurant, they would directly embarrass the restaurant owner.
"I understand you have no ill intent, but if you don’t believe what I say, then I can’t do much. Now, the estate is managed by my daughter-in-law, with the personnel being my Uncle and Young Uncle. Honestly, I don’t manage the estate. But from what my wife has told me about the daily management of the estate, it’s all as I’ve said."
Would they believe Hongji’s explanation?
Thinking he must be hiding something and not willing to give up, they eventually moved on to talk about the wood factory with him.
Seeing these men shift the conversation, Hongji’s nerves relaxed a bit, and he talked with them about the wood factory.
However, he only discussed carving wood and didn’t reveal how to market the products—that was another subject.
He was responsible for teaching his apprentices to carve; all the operations of the products were handled by the Tang Family, which marketed the crafted items throughout the country in their jewelry stores.
The products they carved, once finished, were shipped out and many orders were immediately received.
Although they constantly innovated and competitors imitated their products, they could only rely on innovation and increasingly exquisite craftsmanship to win more customers.
This strategy also brought them more profits. On the surface, it seemed like he was the talented one, but unknown to anyone, the truly gifted person wasn’t him, but his little two-year-old daughter.
Now, as these wealthy men praised him, he didn’t dare divulge his little daughter’s secret.
He let these rich men lavish him with praise, red-faced, silently accepting the adoration.
Hongji’s father, hearing his son being praised, felt as joyful as if the praise were for himself, his face lit up as if he had found gold.
The men from the wealthy family, initially curious about the father and son, later found no valuable information to extract and ignored them, turning instead to discuss matters of interest to the affluent.
Having been excluded, Hongji and his father didn’t feel uncomfortable. Being out of the spotlight actually allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Hongji missed his mother, Mrs. Li, and his siblings. He wondered if they were enjoying themselves at the Tang Family’s banquet.
They were separated from the female guests by a distance, unable to see or hear the women’s conversations clearly.
He could only hope that his mother wouldn’t cause any fuss at the banquet and that his wife wouldn’t be put in a difficult position.
With time on his hands, Hongji’s father felt a craving for his bamboo pipe, smacking his lips, too embarrassed to go outside and bring it in for a smoke. Not used to snacking much, he could only pick up some snacks from the table to curb his craving.