Chapter 350 Bumper Cotton Harvest

Chapter 350: Bountiful Harvest

"How did it go? Did you manage to buy land in Wuwei County?" Sui Yu asked at the dinner table.

Sui Liang nodded. "I've scouted it out. I came back this time to get the money."

"Inside or outside the city?" Sui Yu pressed.

"Inside, near the east gate." Sui Liang paused, then corrected himself. "You misheard—I didn’t buy land. I found two shops I liked. Both have courtyards in the back. I plan to buy them, open up the space between them, and run a food business there. We were a step too late—Wuwei County already has two new inns. I stayed at one of them this time. They’re similar to ours, with guest rooms, storage, and livestock pens, but they're just not as diligent about cleaning as we are."

"Built by locals?" Zhao Xiping asked.

Sui Liang nodded. "Local merchants from Wuwei County. They’re likely old acquaintances of ours."

"Then forget it. We’ll stick to food and fodder business," Sui Yu said. "Did Song Congzu buy land in Wuwei County?"

"He did. Paid a high price for fifty acres of cultivated wasteland. He plans to grow Golden Grass on all of it," Sui Liang replied. "I talked to him about partnering on the fodder business once our food shop is up and running. He’ll sell Golden Grass to merchant caravans through us, then use the profits to buy fodder in Dunhuang for his camels—saves the trouble of hauling grass around."

"Buy low, sell high—don’t broker deals for him," Sui Yu said, instantly sharp when it came to trade. "He’s not like Xiaomi. We can’t look after his business the way we did hers."

"I understand," Sui Liang agreed.

Zhao Xiping handed Sui Yu a bowl of chicken broth with the fat skimmed off. "See if you can manage this."

"I can. My brother’s back, so I’m in a good mood. Good mood means good appetite." Sui Yu drank half the bowl in one go.

Sui Liang smiled, then turned to Zhao Xiping. "Ask me nicely, and I might stay longer."

Zhao Xiping ignored him and said instead, "Remember Yang Qianhu? Father of Yang Erlang and Yang Sanlang? He came to see me yesterday—wants to matchmake for you..."

Sui Liang deflated like a punctured balloon. "Brother-in-law, I was wrong," he surrendered.

Zhao Xiping snorted.

"Really? Why didn’t you tell me?" Sui Yu turned to ask.

"It wasn’t a good match, so I turned him down outright. Didn’t see the need to mention it," Zhao Xiping said, scooping her some fried beans. "The girl Yang Qianhu suggested is his eldest niece. I’ve heard she’s stunning but haughty. I figured Sui Liang isn’t bad-looking himself, but he’s never been hung up on looks—their personalities wouldn’t mesh. You’re not into beauty, are you?"

"Not at all, not at all," Sui Liang said, handing his brother-in-law a bowl himself.

"What kind of woman do you like? Tell me, so if anyone else tries to matchmake, I can keep an eye out," Zhao Xiping said, accepting the bowl.

Sui Liang pointed at his sister. "Someone like my sister—you’d know best what that means, brother-in-law."

Zhao Xiping lowered his head to drink his soup and didn’t respond.

Young Liang glanced left and right. Only when the table fell silent did he finally get a chance to gnaw on his chicken leg, chewing intently while keeping his ears perked.

Sui Liang sensed something off. "Brother-in-law, say something. What do you mean?"

"Pipe dream," Zhao Xiping scoffed. "Figure it out yourself. I don’t have that kind of pull."

Sui Yu realized Sui Liang hadn’t even begun to understand love. He had no clear ideal—no fiery passion, sharp wit, or easygoing generosity—just his sister as a template.

"I’ve had enough," Sui Yu said, setting down her chopsticks and ending the aimless conversation. "Liang Ge, once you’re done eating, go to your room and rest properly. How many days did it take you to get back from Wuwei County?"

"Ten."

Sui Yu frowned. "Traveling day and night? Don’t push yourself like that in the future. Out of thirty days, twenty are on the road—next time, stay until the food shop is properly settled before coming back. No need to come back every month without fail."

The boy nodded along. "Uncle, even coming back every couple months would be okay."

Sui Liang didn’t respond. He put down his bowl, stretched, and said, "I’m going to sleep."

The boy wiped his mouth and ran after him.

Only Zhao Xiping remained at the table, still eating. Sui Yu sat down to keep him company.

"Now that your brother’s back, your little follower is gone," Zhao Xiping remarked.

"I’m not jealous. It’s just giving back what I borrowed—I’ve had him on loan this past month," Sui Yu laughed. "How was the cotton harvest from the rented fields?"

"Not bad. About two hundred jin per acre," Zhao Xiping said, serving himself another bowl of rice. "This afternoon, I’ll go see Commandant Qu and ask him to assign a patrol at night. There’s been cotton theft."

The patrols were arranged smoothly, with three teams rotating shifts. Their presence freed the cotton farmers from having to guard the fields.

Sui Yu sent Xiao Chunhong and Xiao Xi to spread the news in the military and civilian settlements: after finishing their own work, cotton farmers could come to her for additional jobs.

"Half a day picking cotton pays one qian. Removing seeds from a pound of cotton earns one copper coin. A person can remove seeds from about twenty to thirty pounds in half a day—not as much as picking cotton, but it’s easier work without the sun beating down. There’s also the job of removing cotton seeds—two coppers per pound," Sui Yu explained. "Take your pick of these three jobs. Only cotton picking has fixed hours; removing seeds and ginning can be done anytime."

"I’ll pick cotton in the fields. I’m free tomorrow morning."

"I’ll remove seeds from cotton. Heavy farmwork is too much for me."

"I’ll pick cotton too. What time do we start?"

"..."

Sui Yu had A’shui and Huaniu come over to register the workers.

With their help, the backlog of cotton at home was processed in five days. Three thousand three hundred seventy-eight jin of cotton lint were sold to Brocade Weaving Workshop.

This year, Sui Yu controlled most of the cotton supply, selling it at last year’s price of twenty qian per jin. The first batch of lint earned her sixty-seven thousand five hundred sixty qian.

Sui Liang stayed home for ten days, watching as household affairs ran smoothly. On the tenth day of the seventh lunar month, he announced his departure.

This time, Sui Liang was carrying ten thousand coins to Wuwei County. Sui Yu had wanted to arrange for Qingshan to escort him, but Sui Liang refused. Instead, he took Da Zhuang and ten family servants from Song Congzu’s household. The twelve of them set off with twenty camels following behind them, carrying chests of coins.

Sui Yu and the boy saw them off like always. On their way back, mother and son cheerfully headed to the clinic.

"Congratulations. I detect signs of pregnancy," the old physician said. "Judging by the pulse, the pregnancy is about two months along. The baby's due around the second or third month next year."

Sui Yu smiled. "Is the pregnancy stable? When I was pregnant with my first, I didn’t feel sick or sleepy, but this time I’m exhausted and nauseous."

"That’s normal—nothing’s wrong," the physician assured her, withdrawing his hand. "Just take it easy. Sleep when tired, eat when hungry, and don’t worry about it if you have no appetite."

Sui Yu agreed and left with the boy.

"Next year’s second or third month? That’s so far away," the boy sighed outside the clinic.

"Time flies by. In two months, you'll start seeing my bump," Sui Yu said, buying two straw hats and two fans from a stall. She and the boy walked back, hats on and fans waving, with two camels following behind them.

A month later, the second batch of lint—four thousand one hundred jin—sold for eighty-two thousand qian.

By the end of the eighth month, the cotton harvest was coming to an end. The third batch yielded only one thousand five hundred eighty jin.

In total, the seventy-two acres Sui Yu had planted produced just over nine thousand jin of lint and roughly the same in seeds, averaging two hundred fifty jin per acre. Forty of those acres belonged to the government, requiring a tax of four thousand jin of cotton.

On the second day of the ninth month, under the escort of patrol soldiers, the cotton farmers brought their harvest to the northern part of the city to sell.

The kid, A’shui, Huaniu, and Aqiang brought out the account books registered in late spring. Five cotton seeds covered the cost of one cotton seedling, and the cotton growers returned the seeds, wiping the debts from the books.

One cotton plant could produce twenty to thirty bolls, and the seeds from just one boll were enough to repay the debt owed for a seedling. After handing over the owed seeds, the cotton growers still had plenty of surplus seeds left.

"Fifteen coins per pound for cotton floss, three coins per pound for cotton seeds," Sui Yu announced, sitting at the entrance of the teahouse with a sheepskin scroll. Er'hei and five servant women stood guard on either side, responsible for weighing and settling accounts.

"Don’t gripe about the seed prices. I sell them to you cheap too. Unlike cotton, these seeds can’t cross the border, so they can’t fetch a high price," Sui Yu explained. "Cotton’s pricey now just ‘cause there ain’t much of it. In another two or three years, the price of cotton will drop, likely to match that of grain."

The woman up front crunched the numbers. At this price, after paying grain taxes and rent, one acre of cotton could yield about 750 coins. Since most of them worked two or three people per acre, each person could earn around 250 coins—plenty to get by.

"Forty-three pounds of cotton floss, forty pounds of cotton seeds," Er'hei reported.

"That’s 765 coins total," Sui Yu quickly calculated. "How many people worked on this?"

"Three."

"You can plant more next year," Sui Yu said. "Next!"

"Forty-one pounds of cotton floss, thirty-eight pounds of cotton seeds," Er'hei called out.

Sui Yu glanced up and asked, "Why are the seeds and cotton three to four pounds less than others?"

"Got stolen."

"No luck catching ‘em?"

"No."

"Next," Sui Yu called.

Took ‘em ten days to collect all the cotton. From 558 acres of cotton, Sui Yu received 23,500 pounds of cotton floss, which she then sold to the Brocade Weaving Workshop, pocketing nearly 120,000 coins in profit from the price difference.

As for grain taxes, she submitted the 1,500 pounds of cotton from the third batch and supplemented it with 2,500 pounds of cotton seeds. Zhao Xiping, the person in charge, didn’t bat an eye.

By mid-September, Zhao Xiping had organized the collected cotton taxes. He assigned Horse Agricultural Supervisor to lead a team, escorted by the military, to transport 48,360 pounds of cotton to Chang'an.

With that, this year’s cotton planting came to an end, leaving only the cotton stalks still stuck in the ground.

The autumn harvest season arrived, and traders from both sides of the pass gathered in Dunhuang.

The Brocade Weaving Workshop had amassed 30,000 pounds of cotton floss—enough to make 3,000 quilts. Master Du worked day and night, pushing for top quality, but faced a shortage of labor.

Sui Yu recommended the cotton growers to him. Though they couldn’t weave, they could learn to fluff cotton.

As a favor to her, Master Du took in a group of strong cotton growers to handle the fluffing.

"Jade Merchant, mind asking which trader’s got dyes? We’re running short on three colors," Master Du sought her out.

"I’ve got some—hauled from Chang'an," Sui Yu said, standing up. "Let me show you."

Seeing her pregnant belly, Master Du instinctively reached out to support her but thinking better of it, quickly withdrew his hand. "You should rest. Just send someone to show me."

"I’m only a few months along—I can walk just fine," Sui Yu replied, rubbing her belly. She walked around the inn daily and controlled her diet, so even at five or six months, she hadn’t gained much weight, and her belly wasn’t too large.

Opening the storeroom door, Sui Yu let Master Du inspect the goods himself. "They’re all in the crates against the wall."

Master Du’s face lit up like he’d spotted an old pal. After eyeballing ‘em good, he emerged and said, "Jade Merchant, I’ll take all eight crates of dye. How’s 200 a crate sound?"

"230 coins."

"Done. I’ll have ‘em picked up," Master Du agreed. "Next time you acquire dyes, just deliver them directly to the workshop."

Locking the storeroom, Sui Yu walked out with him. Outside, she pointed to a nearby warehouse and said, "I’ll likely have plenty of dyes in stock from now on, Master Du. Swing by anytime—I’ve got many good things."

The warehouse was complete, its doors and windows left open to air out the dampness. Through the open entrance, wooden shelves and dividers all over could be seen inside.