Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Farming in the County
"It’s not that Father wants to develop the fields in the county only...." Zhou Shuran began. She swallowed when she saw Zhou Anran was already looking at her.
Their father never forbade her from telling her elder sister, so it was fine if she told her, right?
Zhou Shuran fiddled with her fingers nervously, accidentally pulling Zhou Anran’s hand which was clutching onto hers too.
"Actually, Father now no longer owns the fields. Elder Brother took all the land deeds and sold it to someone else..." After she said that, she glanced at her older sister’s expression.
Zhou Anran’s face darkened. It was no wonder that their father had been acting rather strangely lately.
"It was Mother who helped him to take the land deeds from Father’s room." Zhou Shuran bit her lip and lowered her head, no longer daring to look at her elder sister’s enraged face anymore.
With her younger sister around, Zhou Anran could only rub her chest to calm herself down and silently cursed her brother inside her heart.
She also praised their father’s patience. It was a miracle he didn’t kick Zhou Shiming out and disown him. After all, the house Zhou Shiming had built was mostly from Zhou Wenzhi’s money.
It was also no wonder that Zhou Wenzhi had chosen to hide his family’s old house’s existence. With the pair of mother and son around, they would definitely try to get their claws on it.
"Father punished him and Mother by taking care of the fields... but they sold the fields instead." Zhou Anran took a deep breath.
Zhou Shuran stayed silent, letting her elder sister sort out her emotions first. She didn’t dare to tell her sister that Zhou Shiming and Chen Huayun also nearly got their hands on the house deeds.
"Elder Sister, don’t be angry." She rubbed against Zhou Anran’s hand. "Now, Elder Brother and Mother are aware that Father is furious with them..."
Zhou Wenzhi had been giving them silent treatment, to the point that Chen Huayun was unused to it. He pretended that the mother and son didn’t exist, always ignoring them whenever they were around.
He didn’t even want to eat on the same table as them.
Even someone like Zhou Wenzhi was at his wit’s end; he truly didn’t know what to do with his wife and son anymore. The yamen incident last time obviously didn’t make them behave long enough.
"Stay at our house if you want." Zhou Anran took her sister’s hand and squeezed it. She was truly worried these two would do something to Zhou Shuran.
Zhou Shuran nodded obediently. The atmosphere at home was also truly suffocating.
Chen Huayun had been lashing out at everyone, whether it was her or Liu Hua. She often grabbed Zhou Shuran’s hand and demanded that she talk to Zhou Wenzhi so that he would stop ignoring them.
That ferocious and forceful look on her mother’s face truly terrified Zhou Shuran.
On top of that, Zhou Shiming also had been hinting the same thing as Chen Huayun too, masking it as a casual remark, yet it left an uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
"We are family and should support each other. If I am successful in the future, I won’t forget about you all."
"Shuran, Father still talk to you, right? Can you deliver our words to him?"
Each of his words left her not knowing how to respond, and they all felt as if he was cornering and forcing her.
The two sisters went inside the grain room after that, picking some high-quality seeds for planting rice.
Xiao Qingya had put the spring water into the oxen’s drinking vat, and they could already see the result within days. In a week, the originally thin ox had become much more robust, eating the grass and leaves the Xiao brothers had found for them.
Today, they could finally go to the county using their own ox cart.
The twins were helping their mother pack the sheaves of rice seeds, putting them into the cart.
Looking at the small ox cart in front of him, Zhou Wenzhi suddenly spoke. "We can make another ox cart. It will help to transport goods around."
The space on the cart wasn’t enough to bring all the rice seeds they needed to plant the total of sixty mu of land. They had to go back and forth two times.
"We will listen to you, Father." Zhou Anran nodded.
Zhou Wenzhi had paid for the two oxen last time, so Zhou Anran just regarded it as borrowing temporarily. However, when she wanted to pay back the money, he actually refused it and insisted she didn’t need to return the money.
"Why? You don’t take me as your father anymore?" Zhou Wenzhi had said these words back then.
"Father..." Zhou Anran widened her eyes, at a loss. "How can you say that?"
"Then, save that money. We are still family, there is no need to draw such distinctions. Shuran and I also always go to your house and join in using the ox cart." Zhou Wenzhi waved his hand.
Zhou Anran didn’t bring up the matter anymore.
It was still morning when the family boarded the ox cart and headed to the county.
Upon arriving at the Zhou family’s old house, the twins and Zhou Anran took the nursery trays from the warehouse and began to fill it with soil.
On the other hand, Zhou Wenzhi and Xiao Fenghao went back to Hejia Village to fetch the remaining rice seeds. Xiao Jingran had something to do at the county and didn’t join his family.
By the time the pair of grandfather and grandson arrived at the old house, the sky had started to turn dark again.
Xiao Qingya looked at the oxen worriedly. They had been working so hard all day.
[Host, give them a few more drops of the spring water to drink.]
The little one did as the System suggested. She took two small wooden buckets, filled it with water halfway, and carried them one by one to the oxen with her little arms.
[System, why did you choose a cat instead of an ox? If you were an ox, you can help my family instead!] Xiao Qingya asked the System with sparkling eyes.
The cat’s eyes widened. Is this really its host? She definitely wanted to make it toil as hard as an ox! Working like a slave all day!
The System turned its head away.
No way! it wasn’t included in its job description, so it absolutely refused to answer its host.
After the oxen drank Xiao Qingya’s diluted spring water, they allowed the little one to touch their head, looking absolutely docile. It was also the effect of the spring water.
Animals loved it, so they became more obedient to Xiao Qingya.
The first time the Xiao family saw Xiao Qingya’s little figure approaching the huge oxen, their hearts were already in their throats. Fortunately, nothing happened.
Not only did the animals become much more docile, they also somewhat gained more intelligence.
The oxen knew they couldn’t put too much strength when the little one played around with them or they might hurt her.
"Little one, what are you doing there?"
However, the livestock keeper hired by Zhou Wenzhi was aghast when he saw the scene.
