The Lucky Heiress

Chapter 518: Don’t Look at Me Like That, Second Brother_1

He knew that Wei Ruo didn’t only invite him over to hear about the changing dynamics in the court today.

“Brother, I recently shipped quite a few things to the Capital City,” said Wei Ruo, her eyes gleaming with cunning. She grinned, revealing a playful smile.

Recently, her rice and flour from the Jiangzhe region had had a bountiful harvest. As the rice and flour she had harvested in the past two years were still in storage, she arranged for a large quantity of this year’s fresh produce to be shipped north. She’d filled the two large warehouses in her recently-purchased estates in Hejian Prefecture entirely.

The warehouse she’d opened in the city with the money the Qi and Lu families paid for her medicine was also full.

“Hmm,” Wei Jinyi responded, waiting for Wei Ruo to continue.

“I want to store some supplies in the backyard of the Wang Residence,” said Wei Ruo.

“I’ve said before that you’re in charge of the backyard of the Wang Residence. Do whatever you like,” Wei Jinyi said.

“And also, I’m thinking about setting up a poultry farm outside of the Capital City…” Wei Ruo continued.

“You make the decision,” Wei Jinyi offered no opinion.

“But, I need your help with this…” Wei Ruo said.

If she simply wanted to start a poultry farm, she could do it on her own without involving Wei Jinyi, as she had both the manpower and resources.

“The Government Office has strict control over the areas around the Capital City. It’s fine for farmers to raise chickens and ducks, but they won’t agree to my starting a large-scale poultry farm. And I also need to buy a large piece of land from the village,” Wei Ruo explained, then pleadingly looked at Wei Jinyi.

In this sort of situation, Wei Ruo had to make use of Wei Jinyi and openly operate in the name of the King Rui Residence.

“Alright. Let’s do it,” Wei Jinyi agreed without further inquiry.

“When will you be free?” Wei Ruo quickly asked.

“I’m free right now.”

“Let’s depart immediately, then.” Privy to this, Wei Ruo stood up and pulled Wei Jinyi towards the door.

It was only when they stepped outside that Wei Ruo realised she’d been holding Wei Jinyi’s hand.

She turned to look back at him, giving an awkward smile and slowly released her grip.

She silently berated herself: Wei Ruo, Wei Ruo, what in the world are you doing? Even in the modern world, where she hailed from, she knew better than to casually take a man’s hand!

How could she unconsciously take his hand now?

Even if she still considered him as her brother, there should be some boundaries!

Wei Ruo didn’t know what had come over her, acting so recklessly in front of Wei Jinyi.

She’d never acted this way around Xu Zhengyong!

Weij Jinyi felt a tinge of disappointment as he looked at his hand that Wei Ruo had released.

But he also knew, even if Ruoruo held his hand, it was only because she subconsciously considered him as her brother. There was no ulterior motive.

“We should change our clothes before going out,” Wei Jinyi initiated the conversation to ease the awkwardness.

“Right, in my rush, I almost forgot about that. Go change. I will do the same. We’ll meet at the west gate.” Wei Ruo quickly said.

“Hmm.”

Both of them then parted ways to change their clothes.

This time, Wei Ruo went out in her role as the Queen Rui, but she still chose a relatively casual outfit.

Wei Jinyi, on the other hand, had to apply some makeup to maintain his feigned sickly appearance.

After dressing up, the duo rode a carriage to the outskirts of the city. On the way, Wei Ruo explained her reasons for wanting to open chicken and duck farms to Wei Jinyi.

Her delicatessen shop needed a stable source of goods. Back in Taizhou prefecture, she sourced her chicken and duck meat from nearby villages. This not only saved her the trouble of running a poultry farm herself but also provided income for the villagers – a win-win situation.

However, since she moved to the Capital City, the situation had changed somewhat.

First, her sales volume had increased.

For common folk, eating chicken and duck was rather a luxury. But in the Capital City, the nobility consumed chicken, duck, or fish in every meal.

Some families, finding the food at the delicatessen to their taste, had arranged for daily deliveries to their homes.

At present, Wei Ruo had received delivery orders from more than a dozen such families.

Additionally, the daily sales at the shop had increased significantly.

Second, the supply is becoming unstable.

The citizens near the Capital City were different from those outside Taizhou prefecture. Many people wanted to buy the chickens and ducks they reared – the palace, various royal residences, those of influential officials, and the city’s major restaurants.

Moreover, due to poor harvests in the past two years, fewer households were raising chickens and ducks.

As a result, Wei Ruo’s delicatessen wasn’t able to secure a stable supply of chickens and ducks, and the purchasing cost had also increased.

In this situation, Wei Ruo decided to open chicken and duck farms herself to ensure a stable supply and reduce costs.

Wei Ruo then explained her plans in detail to Wei Jinyi.

She intended to buy two plots of land, one for chicken rearing and the other for duck rearing.

For the chicken land, Wei Ruo had her eyes on a small hill and a large flat plot of land at the foot of the hill.

Once the entire hill and open land was fenced off, it would serve as the breeding base. During the day, the chickens would be released onto the hill, allowing them to feed on insects, grass, and seeds.

In addition to insects, they would need to provide other food such as rice bran for the chickens and ducks daily.

Many people in Wei Ruo’s manor needed to eat rice daily. This consumption generated a lot of rice bran, which was used as compost and pig feed back in Taizhou prefecture.

Nowadays in the Capital City, Wei Ruo didn’t let anybody keep pigs in her manor. So, all the rice bran produced could be used to feed chickens and ducks.

As for the duck farm, Wei Ruo had her eyes on a piece of land next to a rice field. She intended to lease the land together with the rice field.

During the day, the ducks could be driven into the rice fields, allowing them to peck at insects and weeds, which not only increased the ducks’ activity but helped the rice grow better.

But like the chickens, the ducks would also require additional feed; feeding off insects in the rice field would not be sufficient.

However, Wei Ruo believed she could keep these costs under control.

An important aspect was that raising chickens and ducks would stabilise the production of chicken and duck eggs, an excellent source of high-quality protein for people.

After Wei Ruo finished explaining the reasons and layout of her plan to Wei Jinyi, she suddenly turned her head to see him looking at her with adoring eyes, so tender it seemed like he could melt.

Yes — it was a look of adoration.

“Brother, don’t look at me like that,” said Wei Ruo.

“Why not?”

“Because when you look at me like that, I always get this illusion…”

“What illusion?” Wei Jinyi furrowed his brows slightly.

“It’s just…it’s just…” Wei Ruo tried to find the right words, “Just don’t look at me like that.”

His gaze made her heart beat faster. It was strange.

So, as per Wei Ruo’s request, Wei Jinyi turned his head away.

Wei Ruo looked at him and felt a bit too forward, so she said, “I don’t mean any hatred. It’s just when you look at me like that, my heart beats faster.”

Wei Jinyi was taken aback, and he instantly turned to look at Wei Ruo once again…