The Overachieving Little Husband of the Top Scholar’s Household - Chapter 20: Soil and Agricultural Fertilizer

On the heated brick bed in the left side room, Jiujiu carefully spread out several feet of cotton fabric that Qiu Huanian had bought in the county. Holding the scissors, she measured and aligned for a long time but didn’t dare to make the first cut.

Qiu Huanian encouraged her, “Don’t be nervous. Start by practicing with the clothes we already wear. Everything has a first time, and your sewing skills are much better than mine.”

Even after hearing that, Jiujiu still didn’t look reassured. Having better sewing skills than Brother Hua was nothing to be proud of—after all, what Brother Hua made with needle and thread now couldn’t even be called sewing!

Seeing her struggling to make a move, Qiu Huanian didn’t push her. “If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll just hire someone to make the clothes. It’s not that expensive anyway.”

Qiu Huanian had looked into it: hiring someone to sew a piece of clothing cost twenty wen. If embroidery was needed, the price increased based on the complexity of the pattern, ranging from an additional five to thirty wen.

In rural villages, every household sewed their own clothes, so it was rare to hire others for the task.

Jiujiu shook her head like a rattle drum. “That’s too expensive! Four sets of clothes would cost eighty wen—that’s almost enough to buy a dou of white rice! I’ll try again.”

Seeing her once again circling around the cotton fabric, Qiu Huanian could only sigh helplessly and step outside to chat with Hu Qiuyan, who had just come by to drop off Yun Kang for school.

“It’s a pity my sewing skills aren’t great either, otherwise I’d take on the task,” Hu Qiuyan said. “But honestly, Huage’er, you’re good at so many things, it’s fine. Jiujiu, on the other hand, should really practice her needlework at her age.”

Back when Widow Li was seriously ill, she had no energy to teach Jiujiu needlework. Everything Jiujiu knew now, she had learned on her own. She could make small items well enough, but when it came to larger pieces, she was completely at a loss.

Qiu Huanian thought about it and agreed with Hu Qiuyan. Needlework was an important skill, and since Jiujiu was interested, he should find her a good teacher.

If he was going to hire someone, he’d hire the best. Qiu Huanian asked Hu Qiuyan, “Auntie, who has the best needlework in our village?”

“If you’re asking that, it’s definitely Baoquan’s eldest daughter-in-law, Wei Liuhua. Not only can she sew trendy clothing styles, but she’s also excellent at embroidery. Baoquan’s eldest daughter, Qiaoxing, who married into the county, often takes on sewing jobs and brings them back to the village for her to do. It’s said she earns around one or two qian of silver per month, though all the money gets taken by Zhao Shi, and she doesn’t get to keep a single cent.”

Hu Qiuyan enthusiastically shared this bit of gossip with Qiu Huanian.

Qiu Huanian hadn’t expected it to be Wei Liuhua. Most of the villagers could be convinced to teach Jiujiu, but the Zhao family would be tricky.

“After Wei Liuhua, there are some young wives and girls in the village who sew neatly, but their skills are just typical village handiwork. They can’t compare to someone like Wei Liuhua, who takes on work from the county.”

After Hu Qiuyan left, the household settled into studying. The seedling trays were all finished, and there were still no leads on the single-person plow. With nothing to do for the moment, Qiu Huanian decided to go to the back mountain to pick some wild vegetables.

As he walked along the mountain path with a basket in hand, carefully identifying seasonal wild vegetables, he suddenly spotted someone up ahead, dawdling as if trying to avoid him.

Qiu Huanian narrowed his eyes and recognized the person—it was Du Baoquan’s niece, Li Gu’er.

He recalled Hu Qiuyan telling him that rumors in the village about Du Yunse’s mentor being imprisoned might have originated from Li Gu’er. What a coincidence to run into her here.

“Gu Jie’er, you’re done picking wild vegetables so early?”

Li Gu’er cast a jealous and resentful glance at Qiu Huanian’s handsome, smiling face and hid her hands behind her back. “I’m just wandering around. You pick your vegetables, don’t mind me.”

Qiu Huanian sensed her hostility. His gaze swept lightly over her concealed hand, guessing that she must be holding something.

Beyond the back mountain of Du Family Village was a road leading to the outside. If someone wanted to meet someone in secret without the villagers knowing, that was the best place to do it.

Qiu Huanian deliberately said, “I thought you were going to visit your family.”

By “family,” he naturally meant the Li family, where Li Gu’er’s father was.

Qiu Huanian had only casually tested her, but her face immediately darkened further.

“You’re talking nonsense! I’ve had no contact with that family for a long time!”

She hurried down the mountain, bumping into Qiu Huanian’s arm as she passed. In that brief moment, Qiu Huanian caught a glimpse of a paper package in her hidden hand.

Frowning, he felt a sense of unease and decided that the next time he had a chance to see Wei Liuhua, he would warn her.

Back at home, Zhao Shi was assigning tasks to Wei Liuhua. “These were sent by Qiaoxing through a contact—five garments in total, three of which need embroidery. They must be finished by the end of the month, so get to work!”

Wei Liuhua frowned. “Mother, Yunhu and I need to plant our fields this month. With twenty mu of land and this extra work, I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish everything.”

“You’ll do as I say! Sleep less if you have to—it’s better than missing out on business. Our old clients specifically sought out Qiaoxing for these orders. You think she can afford to turn them down?”

Wei Liuhua felt frustrated but dared not argue. Her sister-in-law Qiaoxing only took orders and split the money with Zhao Shi, never considering whether she could handle the workload. To the two of them, she was just a mule that worked as long as it was fed!

But even a mule needed rest!

After assigning the sewing work, Zhao Shi continued, “Yunjing is taking the scholar examination this year. The prefectural city is far away, and he wrote saying he wants to go early and rent a place. You’ll accompany him to take care of him.”

Wei Liuhua panicked. “Mother, You Ge’er is still too young. I can’t leave him for so long.”

Zhao Shi’s face darkened. “A rural boy doesn’t need such delicate care! Leaving him here for a month won’t kill him!”

Wei Liuhua thought, If it were any other household, maybe. But if I leave him with you, I truly fear he won’t survive.

She had worked so hard to nurse You Ge’er’s health back up—she absolutely couldn’t let that effort go to waste!

Li Gu’er, seeing Wei Liuhua’s reluctance, was secretly pleased and said to Zhao Shi, “Aunt, I think Sister-in-law really doesn’t want to go. Why don’t I go instead?”

Zhao Shi glanced at her but didn’t agree. She knew exactly who was capable of working and who wasn’t. If she sent Li Gu’er, she wasn’t sure who would end up taking care of whom.

“This is settled—no more discussion!”

Zhao Shi then went into her room to rest. Li Gu’er shot Wei Liuhua a vicious glare before leaving as well.

Wei Liuhua pondered Li Gu’er’s behavior—it seemed off. Given Li Gu’er’s lazy nature, always avoiding work, why was she suddenly so eager to take care of Du Yunjing?

At Qiu Huanian’s house, he and Du Yunse were discussing their trip to the prefectural city for the provincial examination.

“Aunt Fuyue said yesterday that Yun Cheng passed the county exam, ranking eleventh. The village head’s family is overjoyed. He plans to take the prefectural exam in half a month. What do you think?”

The scholar examination had three stages: the county exam, the prefectural exam, and the provincial exam. Yun Cheng only intended to take the prefectural exam this year—if he passed, he’d become a tongsheng and return home. He wasn’t confident enough for the provincial exam yet.

“I heard from the village head that many students stay in the prefectural city one or two months in advance to prepare.”

Du Yunse, who had passed the prefectural exam at ten years old as the top scorer in two subjects, only needed to take the final provincial exam.

Meng Fuyue suggested that if Du Yunse wanted to go early, they could travel together with Yun Cheng’s family.

Du Yunse set aside the Compilation of Provincial Exam Essays gifted by the county magistrate and shook his head. “I’ll go a few days ahead. Staying in the prefectural city is too expensive. I’d rather stay home and help you with work.”

“Are you sure? Don’t skimp on important expenses!”

“No need.” Du Yunse saw that Qiu Huanian still wasn’t convinced and could only chuckle helplessly. “It’s just an exam.”

Qiu Huanian smacked his lips, recalling that this person had promised to become the top scholar in the imperial examination. Since he dared to aim for the number one spot in the entire country, a mere municipal-level exam was clearly nothing to him.

He picked up Compilation of Academy Exam Questions from Du Yunshe’s side and flipped through it, once again realizing how difficult it would be for him to take the exam himself.

This book, in Qiu Huanian’s words, was akin to a collection of real exam questions complete with excellent sample essays. It recorded the exam questions from the Xiangping Prefecture Academy Exam in recent years, along with the answers of the top three candidates.

The academy exam was divided into two rounds. The first round, the main examination, required writing two essays and one poem. The essay topics were drawn from the Four Books and Xiao Jing (The Classic of Filial Piety), one from each, while the poem was a regulated five-character six-rhyme verse. The second round, the re-examination, involved writing one essay and one poem, with the essay topic taken from the Four Books.(Note 1)

Simply put, a candidate needed to thoroughly read the Four Books and Xiao Jing, possess strong analytical skills to craft essays in the rigid eight-legged style, and also have the literary talent to compose poetry.

These requirements were child’s play for Du Yunshe, who had traveled far and wide for his studies and possessed extraordinary intelligence. But just as in literature, where there is no definitive ranking, academic exams could be unpredictable. Just like how even a PhD in Chinese language and literature might stumble on a modern college entrance exam if they were unfamiliar with its format and scope, studying Compilation of Academy Exam Questions was essential for securing a stable victory in the academy exam.

Du Yunshe watched Qiu Huanian flipping through the book and, with a smile, asked, “Hua ge’er, do you want to study with me?”

Qiu Huanian quickly shook his head. When Du Yunshe returned, he had brought around twenty books, most of which he had hand-copied himself. Qiu Huanian had curiously glanced through them, but not a single one had managed to hold his interest.

Although he could recognize traditional Chinese characters, the vertical, right-to-left layout combined with pages filled with archaic zhi hu zhe ye phrasing and dense classics and histories instantly killed any desire to read further.

Seeing his reaction, Du Yunshe regretfully withdrew his invitation, thinking to himself that he should find some books that Hua ge’er would enjoy in the future.

A few more days passed, and the weather grew warmer. Estimating that the time was right for cotton seedling cultivation, Qiu Huanian specifically invited Meng Fuyue and her husband, along with Hu Qiuyan, to his home.

“Hua ge’er, what are you doing with all this soybean dreg?” As soon as she stepped inside, Hu Qiuyan saw Qiu Huanian stirring a basin full of soybean residue.

Qiu Huanian looked up. “I’m making some agricultural fertilizer. I’ll use it to soak the seeds—cotton sprouts faster and grows better this way.”

The first step in cotton seedling cultivation was treating the seeds with a soaking solution to improve germination rates and seedling survival. In modern times, potassium dihydrogen phosphate was commonly used for this purpose. But in the ancient era, where he couldn’t buy ready-made chemical fertilizers, Qiu Huanian had to come up with an alternative solution himself.

Potassium dihydrogen phosphate was essentially a combination of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Soybean residue contained a high amount of phosphorus, while plant ash was rich in potassium, making them suitable substitutes.

Qiu Huanian had purchased a large amount of soybean residue from the Meng family’s tofu shop. He had conducted multiple controlled experiments with small batches of seeds and finally determined the optimal ratio.

Following this formula, he mixed the soybean residue with plant ash, added water, and pounded the mixture with a wooden mallet to extract the juice. After fermenting it for several days, he filtered out the solid residues, leaving behind a pure liquid solution.

Next, he placed the cotton seeds into the liquid and soaked them thoroughly. This step required careful timing—the seeds couldn’t be left in the solution for too long. After about half an hour, he removed them and coated them with a mixture of dry soil and plant ash. Then, he carefully placed the seeds one by one into pre-prepared willow-woven seedling trays filled with moist, fertilized soil, one seed per small compartment. (Note 2)

Watching from the side, Hu Qiuyan and the others clicked their tongues in amazement. “Hua ge’er, is this how cotton seedlings are grown?”

Qiu Huanian dusted off his hands and stood up. “That’s right. They’ll sprout in three to five days and will be ready for transplanting into the fields in about twenty days. Cotton seedlings can’t withstand the cold, so we need to bring the seedling trays indoors at night. If the weather turns bad, we can keep them warm by heating the kang inside the house.”

Author’s Note:

Note 1: The academy exam process is based on online research.

Note 2: The cotton seedling cultivation technique is sourced from online video tutorials.

(Side note: I haven’t tested the agricultural fertilizer method myself, so it’s probably not entirely reliable.)