Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Hejia Village Farmer’s Harvest Yield
Upon hearing his eldest daughter’s words, a deep frown marred Zhou Wenzhi’s face and he let out a deep sigh.
"I will talk to them," he muttered.
He knew Chen Huayun better, and also his eldest daughter. If Chen Huayun only bothered her family once or twice, she wouldn’t have told him.
It was also impossible for Chen Huayun to do it only once or twice considering he hadn’t returned for so long. He thought that with his absence, his wife and others at home would learn to behave and restrain their behavior.
Unfortunately, his expectation was always crushed. Even if he had lowered his expectations, they still disappointed him greatly.
The other family members didn’t disturb Zhou Wenzhi and let him sort his thoughts. After dinner, Zhou Shuran came from the kitchen while bringing a teapot.
Zhou Wenzhi took a sip and let out a huge sigh. He looked at his youngest daughter, and his eyes flashed with hesitation.
***
Another two weeks passed, and they began to receive more news about the harvest yield of other farmers within the same village.
Each of them had a moved expression on their faces. Some emotional ones even cried. After struggling with the increasingly smaller harvest each year, there was finally a hope.
They were worried their place would gradually turn to other counties where famine had ravaged and people had nothing to eat; all the harvest was full of failure.
"One hundred and twenty jin per mu! My fields only harvested less than eighty jin per mu last time!"
"Old Zhang, how about your harvest?"
"I see almost double the increase! One hundred and twenty three jin per mu!"
"How is your harvest better than mine? Don’t we use the same rice seeds from Merchant Yang’s shop? Tell me your secret!"
Amidst the conversation between these excited farmers who had gained significant increase in their harvest yield, there were a few regretful ones.
They pulled a neighbor who had a good harvest and began to interrogate him.
"Old Wang, what did you do for your field? Tell me the tips! I want to have the same harvest yield as yours too."
Old Wang readily replied. "I only changed the rice seeds! Other than that, I took care of it the way I did to my previous crops."
"Really? Is it also from Merchant Yang’s store?"
He nodded, and kindly explained. "Merchant Yang’s store has high-quality rice seeds! You can already tell from the sprouts. Most of the seeds sprouted and lived until maturity."
"Although the rice seeds are expensive, they are all absolutely worth it. You gained more than what you paid for the rice seeds!"
"Now, Merchant Yang has added more expensive rice seeds, and it’s guaranteed we will have a higher harvest yield than our current one."
After they heard Old Wang’s words, some of them immediately excused themselves and headed to the village market.
Old Wang waved at them. "Go, go. Let’s hope you still obtained some seeds. Last time, the rice seeds were all sold out."
Others became anxious over Old Wang’s words. They stopped their intention of asking him more questions and also excused themselves. Old Wang wiped his sweat and let out a sigh, but his eyes were bright.
The Xiao family members who passed by him greeted him and then returned home.
Most of the land in their fields had been planted with mung beans and soybeans. They required less water, so the Xiao family members had been visiting the fields less.
Zhou Wenzhi also had helped them acquire fifteen mu of land near their fields in the county, so they also finally prepared to plant paddy rice there, planting them in the same batch as the other twenty-five mu of land.
During the harvest time for the paddy rice at the county, it was also harvest time for the other fifteen mu at the Hejia Village field. Shun Zi and his men once again offered to help them with the harvest.
"Mrs. Zhou, you are still going to sell your paddy rice harvest in the county to us, right?" Shun Zi asked.
Zhou Anran agreed. "We will bring some paddy rice seeds home."
Upon hearing that, Shun Zi became a little anxious. "Are you going to sell a smaller amount for this batch, Mrs. Zhou?"
"It’s not like that. You misunderstood, Old Shun. We planted the same type of paddy rice at my father’s fields too. There will be too much to be brought home at once."
Shun Zi’s eyes lit up. "That sounds like it will be a great harvest, Mrs. Zhou. We can help to transport the paddy rice by bringing our own ox carts too."
He became more determined to open a store at the county’s market. Perhaps, he should start looking for a suitable place right now.
Other than preparation for harvesting the paddy rice, the Xiao family had been quite peaceful except for one thing.
Sun Daniu’s presence.
He tried a different approach, and Zhou Anran absolutely loathed it.
Ever since the Xiao family members became less busy, Xiao Yuyan often brought Xiao Qingya to play with other kids her age.
They would chase Xiao Xue around, and the System once again experienced the difficult life of taking care of children.
However, compared to other kids, Xiao Qingya’s pronunciation had become much more fluent, and she could speak more complete and longer sentences.
Sun Daniu often brought his youngest son to linger around too, determined to get close to Zhou Anran’s kids. They really couldn’t get rid of him.
Whenever the Xiao family members went to the fields, he also would walk alongside them, trying to strike a conversation. In the end, Xiao Jingran stepped in, making him busy enough that he couldn’t find time to bother them.
He put itching powder with the effect that would last him a few days.
On the other hand, Chen Huayun and Liu Hua were relatively peaceful. The Xiao family hadn’t seen them in days. It seemed Zhou Wenzhi’s talk with them worked somehow.
[Little Master, can you help us?] The Ling siblings suddenly appeared beside Xiao Qingya when she was about to pick mulberries from the tree.
