Chapter 107: The Harvest Season
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Looking at Xin’er’s beautiful face and gentle smile, Shopkeeper Lu felt she was too good for the young man.
She sighed in her heart and decided not to dwell on it. They must be happy during the holidays, and even if her daughter got married and moved to the county town, she could visit her often.
While the Qiao family celebrated the Moon Goddess Festival with great enthusiasm, the Yuan, Qiao, and Tian families didn’t celebrate at all.
Qiao Mai was like a thorn in their hearts. No matter what they did, they couldn’t help but think of her.
The better she lived, the more painful it was for them.
The Tian family had considered reconciling with Qiao Mai, but they knew deep down that it was just a dream.
After all, she had lost her child, and the enmity ran too deep to be resolved.
Besides, she was already married now. Reconciliation was even more unlikely.
Seeing her thriving business and not being able to benefit from it, they felt increasingly uncomfortable, like ants on a hot pan.
The Qiao family was even more affected. Their daughter was doing so well, yet they didn’t make any preparations for the holidays. How could they be in a good mood?
On this day, Qiao Shicheng made a big fuss.
On the other hand, the Yuan family was thinking about their next steps. They realized that their efforts might not be enough.
So, taking advantage of the holiday, Madam Yuan Xu prepared a feast and called her four sons to discuss matters.
The sons thought their parents would ask for more money from them, but to their surprise, Old Yuan was calm.
“Now that our youngest son is doing so well, shouldn’t you help each other as brothers? It was our fault, and we’ve troubled him many times. But you are brothers, so shouldn’t you help each other?”
The eldest son gave Old Yuan a cold look and replied, “Dad, our youngest brother is still living off others, so how can he help us? Besides, we’ve already split our assets and all live our lives. We don’t owe each other anything. When he struggled in the past, we didn’t help him either.”
“Blood is thicker than water. In the future, if he encounters any problems, won’t you be the ones he turns to?”
All four brothers fell silent. They wanted to help, but considering their youngest brother’s cold-heartedness and current status, reaching out to him would only bring disgrace upon themselves.
The old Yuan couple continued to persuade them, “You don’t have to force him to change his mind immediately. Show goodwill gradually, see how he responds, and take it step by step.”
“Dad, Mom, we’ve already split our assets, so please stop thinking about our youngest brother.”
“We won’t push him. We merely hope he can change his mind and return to the Yuan family’s genealogy. We still have hopes for him to carry on our family name.
“He loved studying, and you had enough money but didn’t support his education. If you had known he had that potential, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point.”
“Yes, yes, we regret it. We hope to make amends for our mistakes.”
No matter what these three families think or do, on August 18th, Old Mister Wang and his wife returned to the Qiao family. Wang Zihan did not accompany them.
Madam Wang was worried about him and kept him at home. This led to a big argument between Wang Zihan and his mother, but Wang Jiaru quickly resolved the situation.
After the holiday, Qiao Mai focused on managing her space.
She had expanded her land to over two hundred acres, but her space had not yet leveled up. She wasn’t in a hurry.
This time, she didn’t feel bad about harvesting the medicinal herbs. She harvested all the herbs from over two hundred acres of land, leaving only the rubber trees as they hadn’t grown enough for tapping yet.
She couldn’t process the herbs in large quantities, so she bundled them and sold them online at prices lower than the platform rates.
Qiao Mai continued cultivating twenty acres of herbs, which meant her land would soon increase from four hundred acres to nearly a thousand acres.
Each time she replanted, her land would double in size.
The fruits and vegetables she had harvested piled up like mountains. She sold them online and also at her eatery.
Since opening her online store, she had already made nine hundred thousand taels of silver. She had seven thousand taels of gold, but now, she had ninety-seven thousand taels.
She purchased ninety-seven pieces of spirit stones from customer service and raised her cultivation to the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment
Realm.
The third to fourth level cost fifteen spirit stones; the fourth to fifth level cost thirty-six spirit stones. To reach the sixth level, she used the rest of her spirit stones, almost failing to make the breakthrough if it weren’t for the additional ten percent of spiritual energy from her space.
Cultivation was truly costly, but she was now enjoying the benefits of advancing in cultivation.
Her increased spiritual energy also boosted her internal strength. She could now travel from Tianshui Town to the county at full speed in half an hour.
She could now hold her own in a fight against ordinary martial artists.
In the evenings, when she had nothing to do, she would jump effortlessly onto the roofs of houses, reaching heights of five to six meters.
Seeing the results, Qiao Mai was delighted. The money she spent on cultivation was worth it!
She needed strength badly, so she slept only four to five hours a day, spending the rest of her time cultivating and strengthening her foundation.
On September 8th, the Feng family came to visit. They brought the whole family but not the concubines or illegitimate children.
Upon seeing the grandeur of the new mansion, the Feng family’s expressions changed rapidly. They all put on happy faces and warmly greeted Shopkeeper Lu.
Qiao Mai didn’t appear and stayed in the kitchen with her chef to prepare the meal. She let Shopkeeper Lu take the main seat to assert her authority and let the Feng family know she had a say in this household.
During the meal, the Feng family intentionally mentioned Qiao Mai and the teacher she hired.
This made the shrewd Shopkeeper Lu realize their true purpose. The visit to the new house was just an excuse. They were here for Qiao Yinshi, hoping he would join Old Mister Wang’s classes.
They probably knew Old Mister Wang’s identity and thought that by joining his class, Qiao Yinshi would gain a powerful backer and a good teacher.
So, she found an excuse to change the topic temporarily, but judging by the Feng family’s attitude, they would probably bring up the matter again later. Shopkeeper Lu had only temporarily dispelled their thoughts.
Time passed quickly, and the farmers were all smiles by early October. The weather had been favorable, with plenty of rain, making it a season of abundant harvests.
People in the village were busy with the harvest, and the three tenant farmers of the Qiao family were overjoyed. The corn yield was higher than wheat, with up to a thousand catties per acre. The Qiao family only took sixty percent, leaving the remaining forty percent to the tenants.
These tenants were trustworthy and had already delivered their share of corn to the Qiao family after harvesting.
They handed over 1,600 catties of corn for each acre while the remaining belonged to them. With twenty acres of land each, they had 8,000 catties of grain in total, enough for them to have a good year.
As for the Qiao family, they only had 500 catties of corn per acre after deducting their share, which amounted to 2,500 catties.
It may seem like a lot, but the Qiao family would finish it soon because they had many small animals to feed.
They had never sold this grain before. The quails, chickens, ducks, and geese ate cornmeal mixed with vegetables, and even the deer, horses, and cows occasionally had some.
In addition, the family occasionally made porridge and baked cakes, so even with several tens of thousands of catties, it wasn’t considered a large quantity.
Thanks to her diligence, Qiao Mai’s space had already upgraded to level three, and she now had more than two thousand acres of land.
The rubber trees had been harvested, and durable white fabric had been purchased. The only thing left was to process the latex and evenly coat it. Once the latex dried and solidified, they could start constructing the warm sheds.
The family joined forces to harvest the five acres of corn in the backyard.
In the courtyard, all the neatly tied corn cobs were drying under the eaves, presenting a dazzling and pleasing sight..
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