Silver, naturally, is always better the more you have.

Wei Ruo took Xiumei and went out to her wet nurse's place. The wet nurse had already procured a batch of wheat seeds for Wei Ruo, which were currently stored in the warehouse where the sweet potatoes had previously been kept.

Over the past few days, due to the large quantities of sweet potatoes being transported away, a lot of space had been freed up in the warehouse.

Wei Ruo had Xiumei guard the door and lingered inside the warehouse for a long time before finally coming out.

"Meimei, take Agui and Xiao Ba to bring these sacks of rice seeds to the south of the city, and distribute a little to every household. Give them special instructions that these are high-quality seeds, and this quantity might not be enough to plant all the paddy fields. The remaining shortage can be made up with the ordinary grain seeds over there," Wei Ruo instructed.

In such a short time, this was all the spatial rice seeds Wei Ruo could produce. She was afraid that if she waited any longer, the patience of the people in the southern part of the city would run out.

Wei Ruo deeply understood their anxious feelings. Missing this year's planting season meant they would have no food supplies to rely on for the coming year.

"Understood." Having received Wei Ruo's instructions, Xiumei told Agui and Xiao Ba to help load all the grain seeds onto the cart.

Both Agui and Xiao Ba appeared somewhat reluctant. Agui, being slightly older, stopped after loading for a while and said indignantly, "Lady Xiumei, our young miss has worked so hard and devoted herself entirely to the matters of the south city, yet when rewards are handed out for contributions, there's not a single share for our young miss. It's too infuriating!"

As it turned out, Agui and Xiao Ba had already learned about the imperial court rewarding merits for the land reclamation in the south city. Having followed Wei Ruo these past days, they had earned wages, gained recognition, and received quite a few benefits.

Naturally, they were unhappy to see Wei Ruo wronged.

Xiumei sighed, "One thing is one thing. When the young miss started the land reclamation, she didn't do it to claim credit, but to ensure that more suffering commoners could have enough to eat. Even if someone treats the young miss unfairly, we shouldn't implicate the innocent people of the south city, right?"

Agui and Xiao Ba exchanged glances, both convinced by her words.

Xiumei continued, "Don't worry too much either. You care so much for the young miss, and she will certainly be very glad to know it. Since others fail to understand the young miss and even mock her for ending up with nothing, we, as her people, should understand and support her."

Agui said, "I understand. Xiao Ba and I will work diligently for the young miss."

With no more objections, the two of them neatly loaded all the rice seeds from the warehouse onto the cart.

The ox cart carrying the rice seeds followed Wei Ruo's carriage out of the South City Gate.

Outside the city gate, Magistrate Qian was also present. Upon seeing Wei Ruo appear, Magistrate Qian felt both pleasantly surprised and awkward.

After hesitating for a moment, Magistrate Qian still led some people to Wei Ruo's carriage. Through the carriage curtain, Magistrate Qian said to Wei Ruo, "Miss Wei, are you here to deliver rice seeds to the people in the south city?"

Wei Ruo replied, "Not to deliver, but to sell."

Originally, they were going to be given away, but since Magistrate Qian had asked, it turned into a sale.

"This..." Magistrate Qian's smile stiffened slightly.

"I heard that Magistrate Qian has received quite a few rewards this time, and it is said that you are expected to be promoted upon next year's harvest," Wei Ruo said calmly from inside the carriage, speaking leisurely through the curtain.

"Thanks to Miss Wei's blessing," Magistrate Qian knew very well in his heart that if it weren't for the Eldest Young Miss of the Wei family stirring up this matter, his promotion would not have come so quickly.

"Since that is the case, why doesn't Magistrate Qian do another good deed for the people of Xingshan County? Buy these grain seeds from me and give them as a gift to the people reclaiming land in the south city. What does Magistrate Qian think of this idea?"

After hesitating for a moment, Magistrate Qian bit the bullet and said, "It is only right. Whatever silver Miss Wei wants to sell them to me for, I will take them all."

Magistrate Qian felt apologetic toward Wei Ruo. Having benefited from her, it was indeed improper to let her spend her own money and effort just to add luster to his political achievements.

Without wasting words with Magistrate Qian, Wei Ruo stated her price directly: "Two hundred taels of silver."

"Two hundred taels?" Magistrate Qian was clearly startled by the sum.

Selling a few carts of wheat seeds for two hundred taels was simply too expensive!

"If Magistrate Qian feels it is too expensive, you do not have to buy them. However, I would like to remind Magistrate Qian that the usual time for planting wheat has already passed, and coupled with the early arrival of cold weather, successfully growing this batch of wheat will not be very easy..."

Wei Ruo left her sentence half-finished, leaving the rest for Magistrate Qian to imagine on his own.

Hearing this, Magistrate Qian's heart skipped a beat.

If the wheat could be successfully grown, he could report to his superiors by the middle of next year. Conversely, if the wheat failed and the subsequent rice crop was also affected, ultimately failing to achieve a large-scale harvest, his hopes for promotion might vanish completely!

Magistrate Qian quickly changed his tune: "Two hundred taels is not expensive! I will have someone go back to the residence to fetch the silver right now!"

"I believe Magistrate Qian is a man of his word. Then I shall thank Magistrate Qian on behalf of the people of the south city, and I will have someone distribute these wheat seeds first," Wei Ruo said.

"Very well, Miss Wei has worked hard," Magistrate Qian said with a face full of grateful smiles.

Naturally, he didn't need to worry about the Eldest Miss of the Wei family reneging on her word, because the two hundred taels he was paying was not just for the grain seeds, but also for the capability of the Eldest Miss of the Wei family.

After Wei Ruo and her group had gone some distance away, Magistrate Qian let out a long sigh: *Alas, this matter truly cannot be blamed on the Wei family's young miss; if I were in her place, I wouldn't be happy either.*

Yet regarding this whole affair, he remained completely baffled, having no inkling of what was happening at the higher levels.

Wei Ruo, accompanied by Xiumei, Agui, and Xiao Ba, distributed the wheat seeds to the land-reclaiming peasants in the south city, explained the relevant planting procedures to them, and instructed them to use the dibbling method, concentrate the fertilizer, and maintain a consistent planting depth.

This sowing method required a relatively large amount of labor, but it was beneficial for increasing crop yields.

The peasants in the south city remembered Wei Ruo's instructions firmly, and no one dared to show the slightest negligence.

Whether they would have a bountiful harvest next year depended entirely on the Eldest Miss of the Wei family! Whatever the Eldest Miss of the Wei family told them to do was absolute.

Once everything in the south city was settled, Wei Ruo received the two hundred taels of silver sent by Magistrate Qian.

Finishing her business in the south city, Wei Ruo returned to the city. Seeing that it was still early, she decided to visit the Four Treasures Studio first.

The wet nurse presented a new ledger and shared some good news with Wei Ruo.

Although Wei Ruo had expended quite a few supplies during this period to relieve the disaster-stricken populace, the business was still turning an overall profit.

Those luxury items procured in advance specifically to be sold to the nobility still commanded high prices, earning Wei Ruo a handsome sum of wealth.

"Miss, this is the ledger for the Xu Family Grain Shop. During this period, the grain shop's business has been much better than that of the Four Treasures Studio, with sales of rice and charcoal being particularly brisk. As for the sweet potatoes, apart from the ones you took to relieve the disaster victims and the portion you requested to be kept as reserve food, the rest have all been sold out."

Under recent circumstances, even formerly wealthy households had begun to tighten their belts. The daily necessities sold at the Xu Family Grain Shop were more practical than the luxury goods at the Four Treasures Studio, so it was entirely natural that its business outperformed the latter.