BDSMST -Chapter 14 Buying Chicks and Piglets — The Farming Plan Begins

As soon as Jiang Suisui finished speaking, the crowd parted on its own.

A young scholar in a blue lanshan robe stepped forward. He looked to be in his early twenties, with refined features and a gentle demeanor. In his hand he carried a bamboo case filled with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone—clearly a student who had come into town to purchase supplies.

He cupped his hands respectfully toward Jiang Suisui in greeting, his manner courteous and without the slightest hint of impropriety.

“Madam, my respects. My name is Shen Wenxiu, a tutor here in Qingshi Town. I had heard just now that your cabbage was said to be extraordinary and assumed it an exaggeration. But after smelling its fragrance and seeing its quality, I realize I was the shallow one.”

His gaze fell upon the half cabbage on the ox cart, eyes filled with curiosity and appreciation.

“However, I do have one question, if I may. With the current drought, the greens in ordinary farmers’ fields are shriveled and yellow. Yet your cabbage is so fresh and sweet. Might you possess some unique cultivation method?”

His question voiced the doubt in everyone’s heart.

Jiang Suisui met his gaze calmly. “Sir jests. I am but a woman—what secret method could I have? I’ve simply been fortunate. The well water on our estate is clear and pure, and the soil perhaps a bit more fertile than elsewhere.”

Naturally, she would not reveal the secret of the spiritual spring. She attributed it all to good fortune and favorable land.

Shen Wenxiu nodded thoughtfully and did not press further. He was an intelligent man; he understood that some matters were not to be probed too deeply.

He cupped his hands again, his tone sincere. “In any case, Madam’s cabbage is indeed a rare treasure. My mother has been weak lately and has little appetite. If she could taste such crisp and sweet vegetables, it would surely lift her spirits. Might you spare one for me? The price… I will pay as you said—one hundred wen.”

As he spoke, he withdrew a heavy string of copper coins from his purse.

“Of course.” Jiang Suisui took down another whole cabbage from the cart, tied it carefully with straw rope, and handed it to him.

This small commotion, thanks to the scholar’s appearance, became the best advertisement. If even the town tutor praised the cabbage, how could it be false? Those who had hesitated now found themselves tempted.

Yet Jiang Suisui raised her hand and smiled apologetically at the crowd.

“Dear neighbors, I’m truly sorry. The cabbages I brought today are already sold out. They are precious and grow slowly. At the next market day, I may only bring a few. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”

She understood well the principle that rarity increases value. The first trial had achieved its purpose; now she needed to maintain the sense of mystery and scarcity.

Though disappointed, the crowd only became more convinced that this cabbage was something extraordinary.

After dispersing the onlookers, Jiang Suisui counted the coins—one thousand three hundred wen in total. To an ordinary farming household, this was already a fortune.

Chunxing held the pouch with trembling hands. “Ma—Madam… we really exchanged just a dozen cabbages for this much money?”

“This is only the beginning.” Jiang Suisui patted her hand reassuringly. “Come, let’s take care of our real business.”

She first brought Chunxing and Gu Xuan to the grain and oil shop, buying a small bag of fine salt, a jar of rapeseed oil, and two jin of pork. Nearly two hundred wen were spent.

As Gu Xuan watched the white salt and golden oil, he gained a tangible understanding of what “money” meant. So the meals he ate every day required these copper coins. And those coins had been dug out of the soil, hoe by hoe, by that “bad woman” who worked the fields with him.

After purchasing necessities, Jiang Suisui did not stop. Instead, she led them straight toward the innermost part of the market—the area with the strongest smells: the livestock section.

A heavy odor of animal manure and fodder hit them immediately. Gu Xuan wrinkled his nose instinctively and covered it with his hand.

“So smelly!” he complained in disgust.

This place was completely different from the lively stalls before. The ground was wet and muddy, filled with the clucking of chickens and ducks and the grunting of pigs and cattle.

Jiang Suisui, however, paid no mind to the smell. She pulled Gu Xuan along and stopped in front of a stall selling chicks.

Dozens of fluffy, pale-yellow chicks crowded together in a large bamboo basket, chirping nonstop. They were so adorable it melted the heart.

Though Gu Xuan kept complaining about the stench, his eyes were irresistibly drawn to the tiny creatures. He had never seen chickens so small before.

“Boss, how much are the chicks?” Jiang Suisui crouched down and casually picked one up, gently feeling its claws and wings with practiced ease.

“Madam has a sharp eye!” The stall owner, a dark-skinned man, noticed her knowledgeable movements and responded respectfully. “These are the first batch of speckled hens of the spring. Easy to raise, good egg layers. Three wen each. If you buy more, I’ll give you a discount.”

“I’ll take ten. And pick out two lively young roosters for me,” Jiang Suisui said decisively.

After selecting the chicks, she led Gu Xuan to the neighboring piglet stall.

Two pink piglets were enclosed in a small wooden pen, snorting and rooting through wilted vegetable leaves on the ground. They still carried a faint milky scent, their black eyes bright and innocent, looking rather endearing.

Gu Xuan’s expression shifted from disgust to curiosity. He couldn’t resist reaching out a finger to poke one of the piglets on the back. The startled piglet squealed and scurried away, but the other curiously stepped forward, nudging his finger with its damp snout.

A warm, moist sensation brushed against his skin. Gu Xuan jerked his hand back as if electrocuted, yet his face inexplicably flushed.

“I’ll take both piglets,” Jiang Suisui said, having already negotiated the price. The two cost a total of one hundred and fifty wen.

By the end, the ox cart carried ten chicks, two piglets, and the earlier purchases. Of the thousand-plus wen they had earned, nearly half was gone in the blink of an eye.

On the journey home, the cart was lively. The chicks chirped noisily, and the piglets grunted. Gu Xuan sat squeezed in the middle, utterly uncomfortable—afraid of stepping on the chicks one moment, then being nudged by a piglet the next.

He wanted to lose his temper, to complain—but as he watched the fluffy little creatures circling at his feet, a strange, indescribable feeling rose in his heart.

That feeling lingered all the way back to the estate.

Jiang Suisui had Li Si herd the piglets into a small enclosure prepared in advance and asked Chunxing to settle the chicks into a makeshift coop built from wooden planks.

When everything was done, she walked up to Gu Xuan, her expression serious.

“From today on, these chickens and pigs are your responsibility.”

Gu Xuan froze. He pointed at his own nose, disbelief written all over his face. “Me? You want me to raise pigs?!”

“Yes.” Jiang Suisui nodded. “The meat we eat and the eggs we collect will depend on them. If you raise them well, we’ll have meat to eat. If you let them die…”

She paused, glancing at the two piglets happily rolling in the mud.

“Then we’ll just have to eat you first.”

Looking at her calm face, Gu Xuan knew she wasn’t joking. He glanced again at the chirping chicks and grunting piglets, his head spinning.

He—the dignified heir of the Marquis of Yongning—reduced to raising chickens and pigs?

This was simply… the greatest humiliation!

He was so angry he nearly stamped his foot. But when Jiang Suisui handed him a bundle of clean, dry straw and fixed him with an unyielding gaze, for reasons he himself couldn’t explain, he finally reached out and took it.