Farm Girl Turns Everything Around: Sly Husband, Let's Farm

Chapter 1236: Chapter 1235: The Tragic Sun Family_1 Chapter 1236: Chapter 1235: The Tragic Sun Family_1 Qiao Xiaomai interjected, “You have no idea how good this watermelon is, just wait, I’ll sell it for an exorbitant price.”

Xiaomai hadn’t managed to make money, so she set her sights on this batch of watermelons.

There wasn’t much watermelon, only five acres worth, which had to satisfy both Bailu Town and the entire Capital City–scarce goods are prized, after all.

Having taken some orders, Qiao Xiaomai stopped chit-chatting with Tong Sanlang and asked him to buy roses in town.

In the countryside, no one grew such flowers, so they had to be bought in town.

Tong Sanlang made a trip to town and bought not only roses but also some flower seeds.

To raise bees, one must plant flowers.

With the fresh roses in hand, Qiao Xiaomai got busy; making Floral Dew was simple, and in one day, she made ten jars.

The next day, Tong Sanlang delivered these ten jars to the Taste Supreme restaurant, and at the same time, the beekeeper He Zhanggui had found also arrived.

To raise honey bees, one needs a honey source, which refers to the plants the bees need for nectar collection, such as Jujube Trees, Black Locust Trees, and rapeseed around here.

Jujube Trees, Mulberry Forest, apples, grapes, and other common fruit trees were planted on the earthen slope, which would be convenient when needed.

However, Qiao Xiaomai also wanted to plant roses. When the manor was originally designed, space had been left for planting flowers, but who knew she would suddenly take on such heavy debt, necessitating all the land be planted with crops.

The beekeeper brought beehives and a queen bee; Qiao Xiaomai and Tong Sanlang didn’t need to prepare much, only to care for the bees as he instructed.

This was simple, as Qiao Xiaomai hadn’t planned to keep too many bees anyway–producing a few dozen pounds a year would suffice.

She took out paper and pen and had Tong Sanlang write down all the instructions; after handing over some silver, the matter was settled.

However, to prevent any mishaps, Qiao Xiaomai had the beekeeper stay at the manor for a few days, since she and Tong Sanlang lacked experience with bees–which can sting–and needed someone experienced to oversee things for a while.

The Jujube Trees on the slope were blooming, so Qiao Xiaomai placed the beehives right on the slope, where hundreds of flowers were in full bloom and didn’t require much effort.

“Get ready to enjoy the honey!”

Qiao Xiaomai was very satisfied.

Tong Sanlang was also very satisfied.

Finally, everything they wanted to raise and plant at home was in place; this was the kind of life he wanted to live.

In the afternoon, Shopkeeper He came with his men to collect the wheat.

This batch of wheat was to be used only at Bailu Town and the Taste Supreme restaurant in Capital City. Now that the bluestone road between Bailu Town and Capital City had been repaired, transportation was very convenient.

The long-term workers and the restaurant’s helpers worked together to move the wheat onto the carts, while Shopkeeper He sat down on a little stool at the manor’s entrance with a cucumber in his hand, munching as he said, “Speaking of which, I saw the Sun Family during those days the road was being repaired.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao Xiaomai, who was originally leaning against the wall eating sunflower seeds, immediately turned to look at him, “You saw the Sun Family?”

“Yes, you should have seen her, it was terrible. Besides the commoners working as temporaries, the rest were all prisoners from the big jail, all of them with shackles on their hands and feet, wearing ragged prisoner uniforms, eating sweet potato mixed with bran steamed into cornbread and boiled wild vegetables.”

“There were also jail guards with whips keeping watch; if someone was too slow, they would be whipped.”

“The Sun Family has always been used to farm work, and even with shackles, she was nimble. However, her son, Sun Junyan, was also locked up; she worked alongside him. Sun Junyan, being a scholar, had little strength, so she helped him work, allowing Sun Junyan to rest more.”

“But she’s old and can’t keep up with the young men; she gets fatigued from overwork, and sometimes she moves slowly, then she would be whipped by the jail guards.”

“Whips as thick as one’s finger, whipping her until she cried out in pain–it was such a sight, tsk, she would have been better off dead.”