Chapter 304: 312: What is it?

This time, Su Wenyue generously bought the spices without haggling and even gave him two large bags of sweet potatoes. The shopkeeper felt grateful, and a spark of inspiration led him to dig out these seeds. After all, keeping seeds that nobody wanted would just waste space. If seeds were kept for too long, they became useless and unsellable. It would be better to give them to Madam Han as a favor, who knows, she might even become his future master.

“Seeds from the outer domain?” Su Wenyue, upon hearing that the Spice Shopkeeper had sent seeds from the Western Foreign Clans, was somewhat interested but not very surprised; after all, she had seen that the shopkeeper’s store dealt not only in spices but also had various items from the outer domains. It showed that the shopkeeper was flexible. She hadn’t expected seeds from the Western Foreign Clans, which might bring her a surprise.

Seeing the look of anticipation on Su Wenyue’s face, Aunt Li immediately understood her master’s intentions, “Madam, shall we have someone bring the seeds over for your inspection?”

Su Wenyue faced several large bags of seeds, and she couldn’t deny her surprise. Seeds were small in size, so to have so many was indeed a lot. The Spice Shopkeeper was truly generous. She had merely shown kindness by giving two extra bags of sweet potatoes and received so many seeds in return; it was a bargain no matter how one looked at it.

However, Su Wenyue also understood why. In those days, it was not easy to have enough to eat, and these seeds from the outer domains were unrecognizable to many. Who knew what they would grow into, whether the yield would be good or not? Moreover, cultivating vegetables was never as reassuring as growing food that could fill one’s stomach. Not to mention, these seeds were not cheap, so they had accumulated. If the Spice Shop couldn’t continue next year, these seeds would indeed be even harder to sell. Besides, the longer seeds are stored, the lower their germination rate becomes, so it was better to present them as a favor rather than let them spoil in storage.

Realizing all this, Su Wenyue felt even more that the shopkeeper was a smart person, knowing how to exchange what was useless to him for the greatest benefit, unlike those petty-minded ones who, even if they sold the seeds for a meager sum of silver, couldn’t make much of a difference.

“Open the bags and let me have a look,” Su Wenyue said, staring at the bags with keen interest to see what seeds they contained, feeling quite expectant. After all, the seeds her mother’s family had collected for her were also from foreign lands but in a different direction from the Western Region; the seeds collected from different places naturally varied.

Upon opening the bags, many were packed in separate small pouches, sorted and arranged neatly. Each pouch was labeled with the scientific name of the seed and some vague planting instructions. Having some guidance was better than none at all. Entrusted to experienced farmers, they could likely figure out how to cultivate them.

Su Wenyue didn’t want to trouble herself and looked at each one; the more she looked, the more delighted she became. The Spice Shopkeeper truly gave her a great surprise; many of these seeds were ones she didn’t have. Even though the variety of foreign products had increased in her previous life due to Imperial Consort Li, there were many here she had not seen before. These seeds indeed greatly outnumbered those collected by her elder brother from the outer domains, although they didn’t include a few varieties such as sweet potatoes and corn.

Aunt Li, curious, joined Su Wenyue in examining the seeds, her aged face filled with questions and wonder.

“Madam, what is this carrot? This old woman has only heard of white radish and pickled radish but never carrots. I wonder how they differ, these foreign items are indeed strange,” Aunt Li remarked with a click of her tongue.

Su Wenyue shook her head; she too had not heard of carrots and didn’t know what they were or whether they were similar to the local white radishes. She then roughly understood after reading the description written on the bag.

“These carrots seem to be good stuff. Apart from whether they taste good or not, just their color alone is festive. If we can manage to grow them early in the greenhouses at Zhuangzi, that would be great.” Su Wenyue felt increasingly pragmatic, finding it vulgar that her first thought about a food item was not how delicious it could be, but what benefits it could bring. However, given her circumstances, there was no helping it.

“Madam, look at these; each name seems stranger than the last. This old woman has never even heard of them before,” Aunt Li confessed. She considered herself quite knowledgeable having seen various foreign items, but now realized her own arrogance; the world held endless wonders, and she should never again be complacent.

Su Wenyue nodded, as she had heard of most of them but didn’t want to show it too openly. How could she explain her knowledge since these were foreign items? Even though Aunt Li was her confidant, Su Wenyue still didn’t want to reveal anything unusual about herself.

“The Spice Shopkeeper really did something to my liking. With so many varieties of seeds, it must not have been easy for him to collect them. Two bags of sweet potatoes could surely not offset the effort, although these seeds might not sell well here. However, this does not detract from the value of these seeds,” said Su Wenyue before turning to Aunt Li.

“Aunt Li, convey my thoughts to the Spice Shopkeeper, and also take some food from home to give to him, insisting that he accept it as it’s his due.”

“Yes, I’ll see to it right away,” Aunt Li responded, feeling even more fortunate to serve such a kind-hearted master. Although sometimes frugal to the point of doing things herself to save, she was never stingy when generosity was called for and didn’t like to gain an unfair advantage. Such a character was truly precious, and they, the servants, were lucky to serve such a master.

After Su Wenyue instructed Aunt Li to handle the matter with the Spice Shop and summoned Xiao Xi from Zhuangzi, now that she resided in the prefecture, Zhuangzi was much closer. Although one was in the city and the other outside, by horseback, it was only a little over half an hour’s journey.

Xiao Xi was thrilled to see so many seeds. Su Wenyue had entrusted Xiao Xi with full authority over the affairs of Zhuangzi, which deepened Xiao Xi’s sense of responsibility. She thought of how much trust her madam placed in her by giving her such an important task; she had to prove herself and earn the trust of those who harbored doubts about following her madam’s orders.

“Madam, where did you get so many seeds? This is wonderful! I was just worrying about the limited variety of seeds. We had set up so many greenhouses, and it would be such a waste to plant them all with the same crop. These seeds have come just in time to solve my urgent need. However, I don’t seem to recognize any of these seeds,” Xiao Xi said with a mixture of excitement and frustration.

“These are seeds gathered from the Western Region’s outer domains, which is why you don’t recognize them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered calling you over.”