Exile after Divorce? Empty the Scumbag Husband First!-Chapter 230 - 227: "Tomorrow, I’ll Go to the Garrison to See Aunt and Settle the Shop.
"Thank you for your hard work, Xi’er. I might need to put some thought into my brother’s matters, so the ready-to-wear shop has to be entirely in your and sister’s hands for the next few days."
"I understand, Miss. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure everything you said gets done well. We’ve hired quite a few women from the village to weave cloth, and I’ve already taught them the weaving methods."
"Also, I noticed that many women’s embroidery skills are quite good. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you something important."
"Miss, a shopkeeper from Runing City brought several boxes of duck down to the post station shortly after you left Wuheng. General Huo specifically sent someone to deliver it to us."
"I didn’t expect that shopkeeper to be so trustworthy!"
"With that duck down, when the weather gets colder, we can make some thick clothes to sell in the shop."
Even though Ruan Mian had been away from home for a long time, everything was managed well there. Whether it was Lady Wang managing the orchard or Xi’er in charge of the weaving workshop, they handled everything excellently. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
With their help, things will definitely get better and better.
"Tomorrow, I will go to the garrison to meet my aunt and finalize the shop."
That night, Ruan Mian wanted to talk to Mrs. Zhang. However, she inadvertently saw her elder sister sitting alone on a small stool outside the house, holding something and staring at it intently.
Ruan Mian walked over and called out to her. She was startled and instinctively hid the object.
Seeing Ruan Mian’s curious gaze, she felt a bit embarrassed.
This expression made Ruan Mian realize something and she smiled, asking, "Did General Huo give you that?"
She hadn’t expected her to guess so quickly.
Qing’er awkwardly rubbed her nose and nodded softly.
"Sister, the day after you left Wuheng, General Huo also left. He said he was going to the Capital City to report, and it would be some time before he returned. Moreover..."
She hesitated for a moment, then gathered the courage to tell her, "Moreover, General Huo said he wanted to marry me when he returned."
"I only told our brother about this. He said General Huo is a good man and will surely keep his word. But our brother has been missing, and I’m very worried!"
"Sister! Our brother won’t be in trouble, will he?"
Ruan Mian looked at her reassuringly, "No, I won’t let anything happen to him."
The birds and beasts sent out had been gone for a day and a night without any news. Ruan Mian was also a little worried and planned to make another trip to Xingjia tomorrow.
"With me here, don’t worry. General Huo is indeed someone you can trust. I’m sure our parents will agree."
Qing’er shyly lowered her head, too embarrassed to meet her eyes.
However, early the next morning, the birds and beasts suddenly returned.
She quickly reached out her hand, letting the creature perch on her palm. "Is there news from our brother?"
The bird flapped its wings and landed in her palm. Ruan Mian was momentarily puzzled by its intent, as it didn’t seem inclined to guide her to someone.
Just then, Mrs. Zhang suddenly ran over joyfully to find Ruan Mian, "Mianmian, Mianmian!"
"Mianmian, a letter from your brother has arrived. The neighbor Wang Ma returned from the post station and someone gave it to her. Look, it’s a letter from your brother."
The letter contained only two short lines, stating that he encountered a storm on the way to Xingjia, causing some delays.
He mentioned he had reached Xingjia and would return after some time, asking them not to worry.
All is well, do not worry.
Seeing these words, Mrs. Zhang’s worried heart finally settled. Her eyes turned red, and she quickly shared the good news with the rest of the family.
Mrs. Chen would finally be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight.
No wonder those birds and beasts didn’t intend to guide her; could it be that they also saw our brother was safe?
It seems our brother will return in a few days.
If that’s the case, she wouldn’t need to make a special trip to Xingjia, relieving the family from worry.
Luckily, there were urgent matters at home to deal with. Besides settling those women, there was the shop in the garrison, and the family’s Mulberry Silkworm Forest and other breeding ventures needed time to manage.
This included the village school; with her brother gone, she feared wasting time would deprive the children of a conducive learning environment.
Meanwhile, Ruan Xiu had produced all those spinning wheels and other tools. She still had to go to the Mulberry Silkworm Forest and instruct those in charge of breeding on how to increase silk cocoon production.
Tomorrow she had to finalize the ready-to-wear shop at the garrison. She planned to set off early in the morning to find her aunt.
However, upon leaving early that morning, she saw several villagers piling a large amount of corn on a vacant lot.
In fact, Ruan Mian had noticed when she returned that every household in the village now harvested a lot of corn.
These corn seeds were originally given by Ruan Mian.
Because they were taken from the space, perhaps imbued with some of its properties, their yield was much higher than regular corn, and there were fewer pests.
Now the harvest was in, and every household had plenty more.
She specifically went up to greet the villagers, wanting to ask about the taste of the corn. Aunt Gui next door smiled wryly and couldn’t wait to speak.
"Ah, in the past, we barely scraped by, it was tough just to have food to eat. Now, thanks to you, Miss Ruan, look at how good this corn harvest is! But with such a good harvest, it’s also become a bit troublesome."
"Troublesome?"
"Isn’t that so? The yield is so high that a family can’t finish eating it all. Recently, every household in our village has been having corn for every meal, and even the latrine is filled with corn kernels!"
"Thinking everyone can’t finish it all, we thought of drying it out and storing it in cellars when it’s dry, so it won’t go to waste."
"But the weather hasn’t been good these days; it’s been continuously cloudy and rainy with little sun, and the corn picked has rotted. It’s such a pity!"
As Aunt Gui spoke, others began to express their complaints too.
Ruan Mian looked in the direction they pointed, gently turning over the corn piles, seeing the fresh corn underneath either moldy or nibbled by rats.
If this continued, it would truly be wasteful.
"I don’t know when so many rats appeared in our village, scurrying about in all the cellars, ruining our stored grains! It makes me furious," Aunt Gui’s husband gritted his teeth with frustration. Ruan Mian listened, thinking the rat problem was relatively easy to solve.
She planned to find some wildcats in the garrison, feed them spiritual spring water, and release them in the village, surely solving the rat problem.
But having so much excess corn in such weather wasn’t conducive to storage, and even if preserved, it wouldn’t hold much value.
The cellars were only so large, and families couldn’t rely on corn for every meal.
She had an idea and decided to pick some of the good corn from the pile, "Folks, don’t worry, I might have a solution. Let me use some of this corn first."
Since it was surplus, they allowed her to take as much as needed.
