Lin Yonghe was the first to get angry: "Do you not know the situation in our village? Is this something we can afford to deal with? If you want our village to do well, you're the one who should be trying harder!"
An Xiao nodded directly: "You're right. From now on, leave the management to me."
He silently assumed the unintelligible word meant "trying hard."
Lin Yonghe's eyes widened, looking like someone who had never seen such a shameless person before.
Lin Zhuoyuan, who had always been obedient to An Xiao's arrangements, immediately said, "No."
An Xiao: "?"
He glared at Lin Zhuoyuan. "Why? Even if you don't believe in my—you should at least listen to what I have to say first."
Here he should have been more tactful: "Believe in my abilities, listen to my suggestions."
But who could blame him for not having learned that yet.
Lin Zhuoyuan: "You talk. He works."
He gestured for Lin Yonghe to step forward.
An Xiao blinked. What did that mean? He gives the orders, and Lin Yonghe runs errands for him?
Lin Yonghe was taken aback and hurriedly said: "…Lord, you can't just let him mess around with you."
Mess around?
An Xiao snorted: "How do you know I'm messing around?"
Lin Yonghe said angrily: "The Mountain Lord finally found a partner after all this trouble, you can't just—"
"Lin Yonghe," Lin Zhuoyuan's voice carried a chill. "Watch your words."
Lin Yonghe stiffened and quickly lowered his head: "Yes."
An Xiao's eyes lit up instantly.
So Lin Zhuoyuan's reputation as the Mountain Lord wasn't just for show.
Then he could freely borrow his authority to bully others!!
Lin Yonghe noticed this too and his head ached: "Mountain Lord, An Xiao is only 19. Even if he's been out in the world for two years, he's still just a kid."
An Xiao blinked.
He was only 19 now? Then he'd gotten extra years for free—
Wait, 19 was still a big kid, how could he—
His gaze swept over the potholed dirt roads and mud-brick walls around him, and he fell silent.
By extension, he could guess that the medical standards here weren't great.
…Once he became fluent in the language, he'd take good care of the original body's family.
The thought had just formed when the heavy, powerless feeling from being sick these past few days seemed to lighten considerably—
Lin Zhuoyuan suddenly wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into his embrace.
An Xiao: "?"
Lin Zhuoyuan patted his head, then released him.
An Xiao, who felt like a large plush toy being hugged and pushed around: "??"
He rubbed his nose that had been bumped and frowned. "What are you doing?"
Lin Zhuoyuan's expression was indifferent: "Nothing."
An Xiao: "…"
How strange.
He shot the other man a glare, then turned to look at Lin Yonghe, only to find the man also frowning at him.
He teased, "No matter how much you stare at me, I'm still going to manage the village's affairs."
Lin Yonghe: "…"
He glanced at Lin Zhuoyuan, frowned, and sighed. "The villagers really can't take much more upheaval."
An Xiao: "You've been in charge for quite a few years now, and people's lives haven't improved much. Let me give it a try—maybe things can change. Stop dawdling, take us to the fields for a walk."
After wandering around the village for a while, he didn't see many able-bodied men—they were either working in the fields or hunting.
Since Lin Yonghe had said earlier that the fields were mostly managed by men, it must be the former.
Lin Yonghe: "…"
He glanced at Lin Zhuoyuan, who remained silent and followed An Xiao's lead, and couldn't help shooting him a look of disappointment at his lack of backbone.
Lin Zhuoyuan, carrying a large bamboo basket packed full, didn't even acknowledge him, keeping his full attention fixed on An Xiao.
Lin Yonghe: "…"
He muttered irritably, "An old house catching fire really is **."
An Xiao didn't catch it and turned his head to look at him. "What are you muttering about? Why aren't you leading the way? Your Mountain Lord has been standing there for ages."
He was playing the fox borrowing the tiger's might with great skill.
Lin Zhuoyuan even abetted the act, giving him a cold look. "My An Xiao is still not feeling well."
The implication was clear—hurry up.
Lin Yonghe: "…"
With a pained expression, he led the couple through the village and out to the fields near the river valley.
Although they had taken a long detour through the village, only a little over an hour had passed, and the able-bodied men and young women of the village were still busy working in the fields.
Carrying water to irrigate, weeding, and catching pests.
From a distance, they could hear the villagers calling out to each other and chatting—busy and lively.
But An Xiao turned back to glare at Lin Yonghe. "How many years have you been managing this village?"
Lin Yonghe, constrained by the cold stare sweeping over from behind him, answered angrily, "Twenty-four years! I was managing it before you were even born!"
An Xiao pointed at the small river only a dozen or so meters from the farmland and asked, "With such a big river right here, why do people have to work so hard carrying water?"
Lin Yonghe: "If we don't carry water, are we supposed to expect the river to jump into the fields by itself? Other villages are even farther from water sources, and they all do the same!"
An Xiao: "…"
He asked sincerely, "How many villages have you visited?"
Lin Yonghe raised his chin proudly. "I've been to seven villages! I learned a lot out there before coming back!"
An Xiao remarked, "Seems like those villages weren't all that impressive."
Lin Yonghe: "…"
An Xiao asked in all seriousness, "Then how did *sha Village manage to produce good fabric and learn to fire bricks with such backward farming methods?"
Lin Yonghe: "…"
Lin Zhuoyuan spoke up. "I know about the fabric—because the Mountain Lord of *sha Village is ***, ** at weaving… but I'm not too clear on the brick-firing."
Lin Yonghe quickly added, "They probably learned it from other villages too. You can't get an answer out of them no matter how you ask."
An Xiao: "…"
Setting aside the brick-firing for now—what was ***?
Three characters. It couldn't be a spider spirit, could it?
Tsk, the language barrier was really troublesome.
Still, at least he'd learned a new word—** weaving. It probably meant "skilled at" weaving, right?
He continued, "What about our village then? Did the previous Mountain Lords, or the one before that, have any specialties?"
Lin Zhuoyuan actually answered. "Yes. They were skilled at *beasts—safe for going into the mountains and traveling."
Beasts of what? Hunting beasts?
An Xiao: "…Does that even count as a specialty?"
Lin Yonghe refused to back down. "How is that not a specialty? Our village has the best and most complete herbal medicine, and our people get to eat meat regularly. Isn't that good? The people of *sha Village often have to trade Muddle-fruit and fabric with us for it."
An Xiao: "…Oh."
So he'd gotten it wrong.
*beasts probably meant defending against and driving away wild animals, right?
He thought for a moment, then said, "We'll deal with that later. For now, we need to get the people out of the fields… released."
Lin Yonghe wasn't too happy about it. "What do you mean 'released'? Our Mountain Lord has never locked anyone up."
An Xiao: "When did I say Brother Zhuoyuan locked anyone up? Don't nitpick my words. I'm only a few years old—it's perfectly normal for me to make mistakes in speech. Cut me some slack."
Lin Yonghe: "…"
Noticing that Lin Zhuoyuan was also looking at him with some surprise, An Xiao snapped back to reality and pulled him aside, speaking in a hushed voice: "I've just been restricted by the speaking thing these past few days—this is just how I am… You're not going to look down on me, are you?"
As the last sentence left his mouth, a hint of unease unconsciously crept onto his face.
Lin Zhuoyuan's dark eyes brightened slightly as he ruffled his hair: "No, you're very **."
An Xiao, eager to learn, asked: "What does ** mean?"
Lin Zhuoyuan tilted his head, organizing his words: "Like a four or five-year-old child, running and jumping, chattering away, **."
"Chattering away"—an onomatopoeic phrase, no need to grasp its deeper meaning.
An Xiao: "…"
He had worried for nothing.
Turning around, he met Lin Yonghe's face a few meters away, which looked like he was staring at a mortal enemy. An Xiao was speechless again.
He didn't speak, and the other two didn't either. The three of them ambled along until they reached the outermost ridge of the fields.
People spotted them from afar, and by the time they drew near, everyone working in the surrounding plots had stopped and was bowing in their direction.
"Mountain Lord, Uncle Yonghe."
"Mountain Lord, Brother Lin."
"Mountain Lord, seeing you **, we can rest easy."
…
Greetings rose one after another, each one exceptionally reverent toward Lin Zhuoyuan—reverent to the point of… fear.
A few of the more timid ones were even trembling slightly.
But their greetings to Lin Yonghe were natural, and their gazes only avoided Lin Zhuoyuan.
An Xiao frowned slightly.
"Mountain Lord, Brother Lin… An boy, well, you should live well."
An Xiao was startled and followed the voice to see the only uncle who had greeted him.
The uncle had a dark, sweat-covered face. Though he was shrinking his neck nervously, he still made an effort to offer An Xiao a smile.
An Xiao quickly returned the smile: "I will, thank you."
He didn't use a title, to avoid making a mistake.
The uncle let out an "ah" and wanted to say more, but after stealing a glance at Lin Zhuoyuan, he quickly lowered his head again.
An Xiao instinctively turned to look at Lin Zhuoyuan, only to find that he was also looking at him.
He paused for a moment, said nothing, and turned to continue walking forward.
With that uncle taking the lead, the villagers behind gradually began greeting him too. Some even gave him updates about "his" family—like how his mother and An Yang had brought An Yu to work in the fields as well.
Following the villagers' pointing, An Xiao looked toward the field ridges far from the riverbank and fell silent.
Recalling the few faces he had seen, combined with the villagers' scattered remarks, he had already guessed the situation of the An family: one mother, one younger brother, one younger sister.
Just as Lin Yonghe had said—if there were any man in the family, they wouldn't bear to let the women and children work in the fields.
He looked at Lin Zhuoyuan and asked: "Can I go back and help?"
Lin Zhuoyuan: "I'll help you."
An Xiao blinked.
Right—although Lin Zhuoyuan was the Mountain Lord, he took such good care of him and had such a good temper, so of course he would help.
He let out a relieved breath and broke into a smile: "No rush. Let me arrange some… work for you two first."
Lin Zhuoyuan nodded.
Lin Yonghe frowned.
An Xiao made a circuit around a few plots by the river, then led them across a large stretch of fields toward the area closest to the mountain's foot.
Before they even reached the edge, a loud shout rang out—
"Big brother!"
The voice was crisp—a child's voice.
An Xiao turned his head and saw the familiar braided woman who was nervously bowing to Lin Zhuoyuan, and the little girl who was excitedly waving but was pressed down into a bow by the woman.
This should be "his" mother and younger sister. An Yang had probably gone to fetch water—he wasn't in sight.
He smiled and called out toward them, "Got things to do, I'll find you all later."
"Hey~" The girl looked just over ten, very thin, but quite lively.
An Xiao relaxed a bit, turned and continued leading the man through the fields toward the foot of the mountain, looking around as he walked, occasionally crouching down to squeeze a handful of mud.
Lin Zhuoyuan said nothing, just stared at him.
Lin Yonghe, however, spoke up to remind him: "There's no more farmland past here."
An Xiao brushed the dirt off his hands, pointed at the distant river, then pointed at his feet: "If we had the villagers dig irrigation channels together, from the river all the way to here, how long would it take?"
Lin Yonghe was surprised: "You want to let the water flow through the fields, so we don't have to carry water by hand?"
An Xiao raised an eyebrow: "So you do understand? Then why haven't you done it?"
Lin Yonghe: "…During the high-water season, the river floods this whole area. No need for us to dig channels."
An Xiao: "…It's not like we're planting things during the high-water season either."
Lin Yonghe still frowned, throwing out the next question: "If you channel the water into the fields, the ** from upstream will come in with the current, and all the crops in the fields will be ruined. How do we guard against that?"
…There were creatures too?
They destroy crops? Herbivores? Root-eaters?
An Xiao had no idea such things existed. He glanced at the still-calm Lin Zhuoyuan, then said cautiously: "How do you guard against them now? Whatever you do now, can't you do the same after digging the channels?"
Lin Yonghe: "Right now we use the ** the Mountain Lord gave us, planted along the riverbank, to keep them away. If we dig channels, the water flow will wash away the scent, and we won't be able to hold them back."
An Xiao: "…"
Something of Lin Zhuoyuan's?
He asked, "Can't you get more?"
Lin Yonghe was furious: "That's **! You think you can just get more whenever you want?"
An Xiao pressed his lips together and looked at Lin Zhuoyuan.
What exactly is it? His eyes asked the question.
Lin Zhuoyuan seemed a bit troubled too. He thought for a moment before saying: "We'd have to wait about twenty more years."
An Xiao: "…Why wait? Can't you do it now? Put in some effort."
Twenty years—half the villagers would be dead from poverty by then.
Lin Yonghe's eyes went wide, then he pinched the bridge of his nose—it seemed he was already too angry to speak.
Even Lin Zhuoyuan was unusually silent for a few seconds before saying: "I can't."
An Xiao: "…"
Even Lin Zhuoyuan said he couldn't?
…Did he say something wrong?
He glanced at Lin Zhuoyuan, hesitated for a long moment, then cautiously asked again: "Can I take a look at the ** by the river?"
Let him see it first—maybe he could think of a way to make a substitute.
Lin Zhuoyuan: "Alright."
He led him toward the river.
Lin Yonghe followed, sulking: "Mountain Lord, you spoil him too much."
An Xiao couldn't understand the words but could guess what they meant, and secretly curled his lips.
How other people got along was none of his business, right?
This uncle, if he were in the modern era, would definitely be one of those stubborn parents who tries to break up young couples!!
A moment later, the three crossed the fields again and returned to the riverbank.
An Xiao was still looking around when Lin Zhuoyuan bent down, reached into the grass, and pulled out a thin, pitch-black piece shaped like a plate, then handed it to him.
An Xiao was puzzled: "What is this?"
Lin Zhuoyuan: "**."