Maxim quietly moved closer, gently stroking Yaelle's hair with love in his eyes. He softly kissed her forehead, then quietly left the room.
When he opened the door, Attendant Sean, Attendant Sam, and others were waiting quietly nearby. Seeing this, Maxim sighed, thinking they truly understood.
He greeted Attendant Sean and the others and told them to take good care of Yaelle. Then he prepared to say goodbye to Michael.
At that moment, Attendant Sam stepped forward respectfully and said, "Young Master Maxim, the young lady specially prepared a food box with today's dishes, all in small plates. She asked you to take it back for your father to try."
After speaking, he quickly went inside and brought out the food box, handing it to Maxim. Maxim said thank you and took the box.
He then walked to Michael's courtyard. After greeting Michael, he said goodbye and left.
After returning to his mansion, Maxim immediately ordered the kitchen to reheat the dishes. The cooks were stunned when they saw these familiar dishes, but they quickly started reheating the food as requested.
The hot food was packed into boxes. Maxim personally carried the box to where his father worked. After reporting, his father quickly invited him in.
"Maxim, you come at this time. Is there something important?" his father asked.
Maxim respectfully bowed and said, "Father, I brought some small dishes from the Xia family for you to taste."
"Oh? What kind of dishes are these? They specially brought them for me to try?" His father showed some surprise and expectation.
"These are new dishes developed by Yaelle and her team. Father, please try them and tell me how they taste," Maxim said with a smile.
His father thought they were new dishes from the Xia family restaurant. When he opened the box, he found many unfamiliar ingredients. Under Maxim's expectant gaze, he sampled each dish.
The taste was indeed good, fresh, and unlike anything before. "What are these? I don't think I've seen them before. Are these new cooking methods from the restaurant? They taste quite good. I think customers would want to order them," his father said honestly.
"Father, these are not from the restaurant. Yaelle developed them. These ingredients are imported, from foreign lands, not local. You might not believe it, but this dish is called potato. One acre can yield about 5,000 jin," Maxim said, pointing to the shredded potato dish.
"How much?" Luckily, his father was not drinking tea or he would have spat it out.
"5,000 jin. Yaelle said they only planted about twenty plants this year and harvested eighty-two jin. All these dishes and the potato cakes are made from potatoes. They can be main food or side dishes. They fill you up well. I didn't eat rice at lunch but only a few cakes and was full," Maxim explained while pointing to the potato dishes and cakes.
"There is also this yellow one called corn. These buns are made with corn flour mixed with white flour, about a 1:1 ratio. You can add more white flour if you want. The buns are soft and sweet, even better than pure white flour ones. These other dishes are made with corn too. Corn yields over 1,000 jin per acre. This year, Yaelle and her team planted half an acre and harvested over 500 jin," Maxim said, pointing to the corn dishes.
He also pointed to the sunflower, saying, "This fragrant and crispy one is sunflower. It goes well with alcohol and can be stewed, fried, or boiled. I heard you can even press oil from it. It yields over 800 jin per acre."
Maxim kept giving information rapidly, almost making his father's mind stop working.
"Oh, there are still some crops not yet harvested. I heard there is a melon that yields over 10,000 jin per acre. Also, this one has roots like potatoes and yields over 3,000 jin per acre. They can be stored in a cellar for a long time without spoiling," Maxim continued. He wanted his father to feel the shock he had experienced today.
His father was so surprised he could not speak for a long time. After calming down, he asked, "What do these siblings want?"
Since they let him try the food, it must mean more than just tasting.
"They know they cannot keep these good seeds. They want to offer them and ask for your help. They have no connections or power and are afraid others will steal credit or worse, cause them harm."
"Their worry is justified. How much do they have now and how much land can the seeds plant?"
"Now, they have 500 jin of corn, 280 jin of sunflower, at least 2,000 jin total. Potatoes are less, only about 70 jin, so they need to keep growing more. Sweet potatoes too. The watermelon I gave before can provide 2 jin and about 20,000 seeds. Father, you can offer the watermelon and corn first and say the others are still growing."
"I will go and see for myself later. If this is true, I will help them offer the seeds. After all, this is good for me too. The current emperor loves the people and rewards great achievements. They might get a big reward."
The county magistrate acted quickly. In the afternoon, he took Maxim to visit the Yaelle residence.
When the servants reported that Master Xiao and his uncle had arrived, the siblings hurried out to welcome them.
"Today we are in plain clothes, no need for formal greetings. Our families don't have to go through those empty rituals," Elder Xiao said before they bowed.
They then gave him a respectful younger relative bow and called out, "Greetings, Uncle Xiao."
"Come in and speak. I want to see your fresh produce."
The two led Elder Xiao to the main hall and let him sit in the seat of honor. The others sat down in order. Since they had already eaten, only some snacks were served. There was also watermelon that Yaelle had secretly preserved in a space. It was cut and placed on plates before each person.
"There is still watermelon now?" Elder Xiao looked at the melon flesh in surprise.
"Yes, I kept it in the cellar," Yaelle replied with a smile.
Elder Xiao took a piece and tasted it. His eyes brightened. "Mmm, it tastes good and is very sweet. This preservation is excellent. The cellar must keep things from spoiling easily."
The siblings then began to introduce other fresh food. Elder Xiao listened with interest. Even though he had heard Maxim describe it once and was prepared, hearing confirmation again still made him excited inside.
Yaelle also showed him the warehouse where this year's harvest was stored. She introduced the seeds of the green beans as well. The corn in the warehouse looked just as abundant as they said, without any exaggeration.
The potatoes in the cellar were fresh with no sign of rot. They looked like they could be stored for a long time.
"Uncle Xiao, I forgot to tell you before. Potatoes can be planted again in August or September and harvested by the end of the year," Yaelle suddenly remembered. The internet said that potatoes grow best when planted in March to April or September to October, when the climate and temperature are right. This means they can be grown twice a year. Since the fields are empty after harvesting corn and beans, the land shouldn't be wasted.
One acre needs 80 to 120 jin of potatoes as seed. I have about seventy jin, so the harvest could reach two thousand jin easily.
"Really? So if one acre can be planted twice with potatoes, that means a total harvest of about ten thousand jin?" Elder Xiao couldn't believe what he heard. This was an amazing variety. He was sure the emperor would be very pleased and reward them greatly. If this spread, every family could grow more food, and no one in the country would starve anymore.
"That's right, it can be done. I'll also show you the back fields. The sweet potatoes aren't ripe yet. They need two or three more months before harvest," Yaelle led them to the vegetable garden behind the fields and introduced each crop she grew.
The two siblings from the Xiao family looked at the crops with excitement shining in their eyes. The half-acre of sweet potatoes was said to yield up to fifteen hundred jin, just as high-yield as the potatoes. The other plants with large leaves were taro. There were only a few stalks, but they could harvest dozens of jin.
After careful thought, the Xiao siblings decided that when the sweet potatoes and autumn potatoes were harvested this year, Maxim would ask his teacher—the governor of Yizhou—to submit a memorial to the emperor reporting these excellent varieties.
At that time, Yaelle would need to contribute eighty percent of the seeds. They promised to fight for the greatest benefits for her. This plan ensured government control over the seeds while giving Yaelle fair rewards. It was a win-win solution.