After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Many people are grateful to Su Tai. If it weren't for Su Tai's suggestion to grow crops, they would probably be in a panic right now.

Although this year's grain yield is not high, it is still a bumper harvest compared to previous years. Even with the increase in grain tax, the remaining grain is enough for them to eat comfortably for a whole year with a surplus.

During the autumn harvest, the weather was overcast for another half month, with a faint trend of early temperature drop.

The villagers rushed to harvest the crops, as if they had returned to the days when they could not even get enough to eat.

Dongfeng came over to help Shen Ying's family with the harvest and mentioned the situation in Shenjiazhuang, "Uncle Wei's apples have ripened, but they're small, sour, and very hard. They're tough and don't taste good at all. Uncle, do you think we can really make money growing fruit?"

He had never eaten strawberries or watermelons before. No matter how well others described them, nothing beats seeing them with your own eyes. Now that he had tasted apples himself, he had mixed feelings.

Shen Ying took a moment to look up, somewhat confused. "How could this be? Xiao Tai clearly said that the apples were fragrant, sweet, and crisp. Could it be that they don't know how to grow them and that's caused the problem? I'll go ask them in a bit."

This so-called "a while" was postponed until the end of the autumn harvest.

Su Tai was settling the bill with Huang Xinghua and the others when the village chief came running over, all excited.

Everyone quickly greeted him.

Shen Ying sat happily to the side watching Su Tai calculate the bill and pay, without saying a word.

After Su Tai finished her work, he praised her, "In all my years, I've never seen anyone who knows accounting better than you. From now on, you'll be our village's accountant!"

"Hahaha!" Huang Xinghua and the others were in high spirits after receiving the money and burst into laughter.

Su Tai was quite embarrassed. "Village Chief, please don't tease me. What kind of skill is this!"

Shen Ying, unusually serious, said, “Who says this isn’t a skill? Go to town and see those accountants. They all have to be over thirty to be able to work independently. They all have thinning hair, are serious and intimidating, and are slow and tedious in calculating accounts. I asked the town’s shopkeeper, and he said that the accountants usually have to check the accounts from the first day on the second day, which often takes most of the day, and sometimes they still can’t make up the difference. Everyone is in the same situation, even the county government is no exception.”

“Village chief, stop bragging! The officials in charge of finances and grain in the county government must be really capable, otherwise how could they have caught the eye of the county magistrate!” Cao’s daughter-in-law, Qian, refused to believe it no matter what.

Shen Ying got anxious, "Why would an old man like me lie to you about something at his age! I don't even want to say it, but the officials who came to collect the grain this year couldn't even calculate the quantity. What should have been done in four days took them seven days, and they barely managed to get away with it."

I'm wondering how they're going to explain this to the county magistrate when they get back!

Speaking of this, Shen Ying felt frustrated. Although taxes had increased last year, it wasn't by much, and he hadn't realized how bad the officials were at math. But this year, the tax changes were much bigger, and their poor math skills were immediately exposed.

Of course, these were all things he had seen and heard from the town official, which he hadn't originally planned to mention, but it just so happened that he happened to be there!
The Qian family members were stunned. When they turned to look at Su Tai, they were filled with respect for her. "Xiao Tai, you are really amazing! If I can't figure out the accounts in the future, I will definitely come to you."

“Yes, yes, my family is too!” Huang Xinghua quickly chimed in.

Su Tai: "."

Worried that if they continued talking, they would force her to take over as their leader, Su Tai quickly changed the subject, "Village Chief, what do you want with me?"

Huang Xinghua could tell at a glance that the village chief was busy, and tactfully led the others away. After they left, Shen Ying asked anxiously, "Do you know about the apple fruit? Dongfeng came from Liujiazhuang and said the apples are small, hard, and extremely sour, and not tasty at all. Do you think they were cheated?"

If that happens, things will get complicated.

Su Tai also found it strange, and even asked Shen Ying to bring a few over for her to see.

Upon seeing the fruit, Su Tai was both amused and exasperated. "Village Chief, these crabapples aren't ripe yet!"

"That's not right! Dongfeng said some of the fruit has rotted on the ground." Shen Ying said, confused.

Just then, Ma Xingteng and Bai Shi suddenly arrived anxiously. Upon seeing the apples on the table, the couple, without bothering with pleasantries, hurriedly asked, "Madam Shen, do you know what's wrong with the apples? Everyone's apples are like this, which is completely different from what my father said. I asked my father, and he insisted that they were apples. What exactly is the problem?"

Seeing Ma Xingteng's anxious look, Su Tai felt a little sorry for him. "Young Master Ma, this is indeed a crabapple tree. Master Ma is not lying. I suspect that in the past two years, everyone has not taken good care of the fruit trees and let them grow like wild fruits, resulting in insufficient fertilizer for the fruit trees."

Secondly, the weather this year has been really bad, with very few sunny days throughout the year. The fruit trees have not received enough sunlight, which is making matters worse. Now there are signs of an early winter, and I'm afraid the fruit trees are sensing the weather changes and causing the fruit to fall off prematurely.

Of course, these are just my guesses, and I don't know the specific reason. You should give this explanation to the public for now and see how the weather is next year. Also, you need to take good care of the fruit trees yourselves and see the difference in the fruit produced by trees that have been tended and those that haven't been tended. Only then will it be convincing.

After being reminded of this, Ma Xingteng's mind became much clearer, and he quickly thanked him.

Bai Shi warmly took Su Tai's hand and kept saying nice things, "My sister is so clever. My husband and I don't know anything about farming, and now our father-in-law doesn't care about anything. He knows nothing when we ask him. We're really worried to death!"

"Has Master Ma not recovered yet?" Su Tai asked, raising an eyebrow.

Madam Bai sighed and shook her head. "My brother-in-law is also troubled by the loss of his father-in-law, and he might even hold a grudge against us. But none of that matters. Anyway, his father-in-law can only rely on our branch of the family now, so let him think what he wants. It's my family that's harder to explain."

Su Tai was somewhat surprised. "What do you mean?"

Bai now has a very good impression of Su Tai and wants to befriend her, so she told her the situation: "Outsiders envy me because I come from a wealthy family, but only I know the bitterness in it."

After all, I wasn't born to my stepmother, so I've always lived cautiously since I was little. Fortunately, my father took care of me out of consideration for my aunt, otherwise my life in the Bai family would have been even more difficult.

A marriage like the one with the Ma family was something my aunt and I planned for a long time before my father agreed.

My father didn't send me to marry into the Ma family so I could enjoy a life of luxury. He hoped to expand the business to various parts of Lizhou or to gain some benefits from my husband's family. Over the years, we haven't brought any benefits to my family.

My father's attitude towards me is not as good as before. Ever since he learned that our family grows a lot of apples, he made an unprecedented trip to inquire about apples.

Now my father is waiting for news from us. If the apples really bear delicious fruit, my father will definitely talk to my husband about buying and selling them. It may not be a good thing for us, but my husband's status in my father's heart will definitely rise.

In the future, if anything happens, I'll have a voice in front of my father, and even my stepmother will treat me more politely. If the Ringo business fails, my family will probably laugh at me to death, and my father might not even want me to step foot in the door. (End of Chapter)