Farming in the Magical World

June 15th, Kingdom Calendar 287

It was an ordinary day throughout the entire Kingdom of Andrew.

There were no major holidays, no royal birthday celebrations, and no foreign wars; the entire kingdom was peaceful and tranquil.

But for Caster Ridge and the Wells family, it was a very important day that profoundly influenced the following decades.

On this day, the basic management structure of Castel Ridge was formed, and on this day, the tradition of high-level meetings that would continue for decades to come was also established.

Of course, at this moment, the attendees were unaware of this; to them, it was just an ordinary meeting that Lanny had convened on a whim.

Tim, Cody, and Frank sat across the desk, ready to await the lord's orders at any moment.

Tiffany, as the hostess, was sitting on the left side of the desk, while Melissa was sitting on the other side. The two beauties stood like door gods guarding the empty chair in the middle.

The two beautiful female doorkeepers would occasionally exchange glances, smile slightly, nod in acknowledgment, but not speak, and then naturally look away.

The three men naturally noticed that the atmosphere between Tiffany and Melissa was not quite right, and they all lowered their heads, looking deep in thought. This made the study very quiet, and the atmosphere was somewhat dull and oppressive.

"Everyone's here?" Lanny, who had just entered the study, was slightly taken aback when he saw the group sitting there silently.

Upon hearing Lanny's question, the men breathed a sigh of relief and shifted their stiff bodies, instantly bringing the study to life with a burst of noise.

"We're here. What's up?" Tim was always so direct. He had been holding it in for so long and just wanted to get to the point so he could get back to camp.

As Lanny approached the desk, he noticed the beautiful door gods positioned on either side of him, and his heart skipped a beat.

What's going on here?

However, since he was going to have a formal meeting, he couldn't possibly waste his energy on these trivial matters. He silently reminded himself to be careful what he said later, and then quietly walked to his desk and sat down.

He cleared his throat lightly, solemnly setting the tone for the meeting.

"Everyone, the main reason I've called you all here today is that there are quite a few things going on at the castle right now—some completed, some not yet finished, and some still in the planning stages. It's all rather chaotic!"

“Some things involve multiple aspects, multiple people, and may even require multiple people to work together to complete.”

"So, today's meeting has two purposes!" Lanny glanced at everyone's reactions, paused, and then continued.

"First, I hope you will all introduce what you are working on and what the progress is, so that others can have a rough understanding!"

"Secondly, if there are any problems with the things we are dealing with, we can raise them here immediately for everyone to discuss. It would be best if we could come up with specific implementation methods and make a decision!"

"I hope that this will become a regular practice, and that we can hold such a meeting every month if necessary!"

"Does everyone understand?"

Hearing Lenny's serious tone, the group's initially casual attitude gradually became more serious, and they even straightened their backs a bit. They had initially thought it would be just an ordinary meeting, but they hadn't expected Lenny to elevate it to such a level.

The group looked at each other, unsure how to begin the meeting, and for a moment the study fell into an awkward silence.

Melissa, as a former prodigy of a noble family, reacted faster. Seeing that everyone was silent, she spoke first, "Yes, I understand. It means the Royal Court meeting. Am I right?"

After saying that, she smiled sweetly at Lanny.

Melissa's words startled Lanny, who waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, you can't say that. At most, it's just a, well, a castle council!"

Seeing his nervous reaction, Melissa giggled. "Haha, look how scared you are! I was just giving an example. Everyone here is an important member of the castle. No one will go around talking about it, right, everyone?"

Everyone was still a little confused, but she interrupted them and they came to their senses. They nodded repeatedly to indicate that they wouldn't talk nonsense. Only Tiffany didn't say anything, but instead glanced at Melissa across from her.

Seeing that everyone seemed to understand his meaning, Lanny no longer stood on ceremony. "Since everyone understands, I'll go first."

After a pause, he spoke with a hint of excitement, "Today, we reached an agreement with Mr. Ford of the Locke Chamber of Commerce for 50 jin of tea, and the delivery date is next week today!"

Worried that some people might not understand the tea business, Lanny explained in detail what tea is, where it comes from, and the tea order he had reached with Ford that day. He then described his visit to Black Mountain Village the day before to check on the tea trees.

Since only Melissa accompanied us to Black Mountain Village yesterday, and the others were unaware of the details, it is necessary to explain them in detail. As for the speculations and the subsequent trip to Dragonfall Ridge, there is no need to discuss them at this time.

"Really?" The first to speak was Frank, the head butler. As the person in charge of income and expenditure, he naturally knew that the castle didn't have many gold coins left. When he heard that Lanny had actually made another deal, he quickly asked, "Approximately how many gold coins can you collect?"

Tiffany, who knows tea making best, was concerned with, "Honey, is there enough time? A week is a bit tight!"

Melissa reacted much calmer, merely pursing her lips and muttering, "They're quick on the uptake. Did this guy have a plan all along?"

Lenny gestured for Frank and Tiffany to calm down, and only spoke again after everyone had quieted down.

“We’ll talk about the income later,” he reassured Frank before continuing, “but the problem we’re facing is, who will lead this harvest? Let’s discuss it!” He then glanced at everyone, waiting for their reactions.

To preside over this matter, one needs to be meticulous and patient, interact with the villagers, and even organize them.

Yes, it's to organize the villagers to pick the fruit.

Lanny didn't plan to complete the harvest directly at the castle, mainly because the castle couldn't send many people at the moment. But having too few people wouldn't work either, since time was very tight.

He can't possibly send his security detail to help, can he? He sees his security detail as professional soldiers, not babysitters; this is a taboo subject that absolutely cannot be opened.

Frank was actually the most suitable candidate, as he had both organizational and management experience and was very familiar with the villagers of Black Mountain. However, Lenny had his own considerations and was not entirely willing to let Frank handle the matter.

The reason for this is related to some rumors he heard.

It is said that some tea mountains and tea factories never allow the elderly to pick or process tea, as if they are worried that the elderly's body odor will interfere with the aroma of the tea, causing the tea to become dull and lifeless. Some connoisseurs can taste this and are very averse to it.

Regardless of whether this claim is valid, or whether Frank actually needed to handle the tea—perhaps it was just a gut feeling, or perhaps it made sense—Lanny didn't know, but that wasn't important. What mattered was that this tea transaction marked the beginning of the castle's future tea business, and naturally, he wanted everything to go smoothly and didn't want to take any risks.

Especially in a world with such a magical thing as magic, who knows if someone will come up with some superstitious theories? Wouldn't that be a loss?

But his worst fears came true. After he finished speaking, Frank actually stepped forward and said, "Young Master, I'll go. I know Black Mountain Village well, so it shouldn't be a problem!"

This made Lanny hesitate, unsure how to refuse, so he could only keep glancing at the others.

Judging from the expressions of the others, it was clear that everyone thought Frank was the most suitable, and no one even thought of taking the initiative to try. For a moment, Lanny was at a loss.

In truth, if it weren't for those inexplicable rumors, even Lanny would have thought he was the most suitable candidate, and it wouldn't be surprising if others thought so too. But the reason was hard to say; it was simply impossible to say it to Frank, an old man who had dedicated almost his entire life to the Wells family.

It was Tiffany who noticed his predicament. Although she didn't know why, she still spoke up to help her husband out of the predicament.

Moreover, Melissa had spoken first, which had left her somewhat resentful, so she was naturally more proactive now.

"Or... I... I'll go..."

"Why don't you just leave the tea-frying to me? I'm familiar with the frying process you taught me, so I won't have to bother another person!" At first, she seemed a little nervous speaking in such a formal setting, but she gradually got used to it and became more and more confident as she spoke.

“Okay, Tiffany, you go.” As soon as Tiffany finished speaking, Lenny immediately nodded in agreement. “From now on, I’ll entrust the tea business to you. It’ll be a good opportunity for you to get familiar with it!” After saying that, he looked at Frank apologetically.

Although Frank remained expressionless, he felt a little sad. He could see Lanny's predicament, but he was unaware of Lanny's concerns. He simply thought that the young master was worried about him going to Black Mountain Village alone.

Logically, the young master should be happy that he is worried about his health, but what saddens him is that he seems to be no longer young. He followed Claudia, and then August, and now the third generation of the Wells family is growing up rapidly, while he... ...is already old and frail.

However, Lenny mentioned him again soon after, which made him look up in surprise.

"However, Frank, you still need to go and assist the lady. She's not familiar with the village." Looking at Frank's somewhat sad expression, Lanny felt apologetic and said softly, "Once she's settled in, you should return to the castle. There are too many things to do at the castle right now, and we can't do without you as the treasurer!"

Hearing his young master say that, Frank felt much better. Although he didn't know what the finance minister was, he was still very happy and quickly bowed in agreement.

“Okay, then it’s settled for now,” Lanny nodded, then turned to Tiffany. “However, there’s still one problem you need to solve, and that’s the villagers’ method of tea picking…”

When Lanny mentioned that the villagers picked tea leaves by simply cutting down the tea trees and then pulling out handfuls of leaves, he noticed that no one seemed to mind at all.

"What, you all think it's okay?" Lanny looked at everyone in surprise, but even Frank shrugged. "Young Master, isn't that how it is? I've seen those tea trees too, they're so tall, how can we harvest the tea if we don't cut them down?"

“If we cut down these old trees, what will we do next year? Will we still be able to sell tea?” Lanny looked at Frank, then swept his gaze over the crowd, and said with a pained expression, “This is a crime!”

"Lanni, aren't you exaggerating?" Tim couldn't help but speak up when he heard Lanni's serious tone. "Although I don't know the exact number of tea trees, there are more than enough trees on the mountain to cut down, so don't worry!"

The others clearly agreed with this statement and were quite puzzled by Lanny's overreaction.

Frustrated, Lanny slapped his forehead, unsure how to change everyone's perception. He feared it would be difficult to make them understand the seriousness of the problem in just a few words.

After thinking about it, he decided not to try to persuade everyone anymore and could only force Tiffany to do as he asked.

Lanny's idea was for Tiffany to go to the village, organize all the women in the village to pick tea leaves, and at the same time force them to do everything according to his requirements.

The tenderest leaves at the very top and the slightly smaller leaves must be stored separately, and each leaf must remain intact... ...The castle will then purchase them at two prices: 2 copper coins and 5 copper coins per pound.

This time, Tiffany needs to personally guide them, but next time, the villagers will naturally be allowed to pick the fruit themselves. They only need to wait at the castle for the villagers to come and sell it!

“Just say it’s my request, otherwise we won’t accept it.” Worried that Tiffany might encounter the same problem as him, Lanny even prepared a good reason for her.

To his surprise, after he finished speaking, it was Tiffany who frowned first.

"Honey, aren't your demands too high?"

"I understand that only the tender, bright green leaves at the top can be picked, the very tenderest parts must be separated, and each tea leaf must be intact and not crushed!"

"But you can only pick half of each tree. You can't cut down the tree or break off branches. And you can't press the tea leaves after picking them. I don't understand why?"

"Also, if we can't cut down trees or break off branches, how can we collect the tender leaves at the top?"

Before Lenny could speak, Frank across from him also spoke up, his focus being on the price: "Five copper coins a pound, just leaves, isn't that too much?"

In his mind, all the trees and forests in Caster Ridge belonged to the lord, and he was just asking them to help with the harvesting. Why would he charge such a high price?

Lenny didn't immediately explain their question. Instead, he quickly drew a few lines on the table and handed it to Cody, who was sitting and listening to them. "Cody, can you make a batch of these stairs between today and tomorrow morning?"

"Also, you need to have Iron Hammer build me a few large woks for frying tea leaves in the next few days. They should be something like this: our original woks are really not suitable for frying tea leaves!"