Nestled against a continuous range of mountains, more than half of the village’s fields were terraced plots carved out along the slopes of cliffs, scattered sparsely and disconnected from one another.
The Shen family’s fields were exceptionally well-located. Half of their land sat on flat, open ground right by the main road. Because of this, when the old Grandfather Shen left his hometown, he firmly refused to sell these plots. Instead, he kept them, signed formal contracts, and entrusted the farming to two local families with whom he was on good terms.
For reasons unknown, however, those two large patches of flat, open land were now being farmed by Shen Hu, the village chief’s eldest son.
Song Xia and Sister-in-law Xing’er headed straight for these two prime plots, which had been Song Xia’s destination all along.
From a distance, several men wearing undershirts could be seen in the fields, deeply and shallowly digging the soil under the blazing sun, while a few women wearing straw hats followed closely behind them, picking out gravel and weed roots. With the adults busy laboring in the fields, the children were not idle either; small bodies carried large baskets as they wobbled over to deliver water to their parents and grandparents.
The moment Song Xia approached, someone immediately noticed the two women. A few people paused their work to stare at Song Xia with curiosity, while a busybody—perhaps intentionally—shouted loudly at her:
“Hey! Are you the one from the Shen family who came back from the city yesterday?”
“Mountain Xing’er! What are you up to? Who is this young lady with you?”
“Well, look at that! She’s here to check out her family’s land!”
Faced with the onlookers’ jeers, Song Xia simply smiled and remained silent.
Sister-in-law Xing’er, however, was not one to let such people off easily. She immediately snapped right back at them:
“Who she is with you is none of your business! Want to watch the show? Go watch it at your own house! You’re all supposed to be working, yet you still have the energy to bellow! I’d say you haven’t been working hard enough!”
“Hey! Li Mountain Xing’er, I think you’ve gone blind!” yelled a thin, short man with a heavily sunburned face. “Why are you defending this young lady so fiercely? Are the two of you family now? I didn’t know your mother gave birth to a sister for you!”
“Bah! Third Brother Shen, I think you’ve lost your mind!” Sister-in-law Xing’er had a bold and fiery personality, and the villagers treated the exchange like a joke, creating a lively and noisy scene across the farmland.
Song Xia didn’t take it to heart. She noticed a dark-skinned, sturdily built man standing at the head of a particularly well-cultivated plot of land. He simply stood there watching her quietly, a trace of a disdainful sneer hanging on his face. When he saw that Song Xia had noticed him, he gave a mocking raise of his eyebrows, violently drove his hoe deep into the soil to unearth deeply buried dirt and weed roots, and then looked over defiantly.
The moment Song Xia saw this man, she knew instantly that he was Shen Hu, the person currently farming her family’s land.
The voices of the surrounding villagers gradually quieted down. People murmured in low voices to their neighbors while casting sidelong glances at the two of them.
Everyone was genuinely curious about what the young lady of the Shen family would say.
Sister-in-law Xing’er quietly tugged at the corner of Song Xia’s garment from behind, signaling that this was indeed Shen Hu.
“Brother Shen Hu, still busy?” Song Xia asked with a pleasant smile, as if she hadn’t noticed his provocative gaze, greeting him cheerfully.
“What? Is the young lady from the Shen family planning to take the land back right now?” Shen Hu mocked, unsurprised that she knew his name.
“Oh, look at you. Since you’re the one farming this land right now, how could I possibly snatch it away?” Song Xia maintained her soft-spoken tone.
“Hmph,” Shen Hu grunted coldly.
“However,” Song Xia continued, shifting her tone, “this is, after all, my ancestral property. I suppose I still need to come take a look and get an idea of things.”
“You!” Shen Hu was furious!
Shen Hu had never imagined that the two pampered young masters and misses who had just arrived from the Shen family would actually dare to take these plots back. What could two pampered people possibly know about farming? In his mind, this land had long since become his own. He had already felt somewhat displeased when he saw Song Xia come to check the fields, but he certainly hadn’t expected this young lady to use their “ancestral property” to pressure him. Shen Hu’s anger flared instantly.
“Fine officials of the Shen family, are you trying to cross a river and burn the bridge behind you?” Shen Hu dropped his hoe, put his hands on his hips, and glared at Song Xia.
The surrounding people began to whisper among themselves.
Some muttered that the Shen family was ungrateful—this family had taken good care of the land and farmed it for over a decade, yet they wanted it back the moment they asked.
Others whispered that Shen Hu simply didn’t want to return the land. This was top-tier farmland; the harvest it produced every year was much greater than ordinary plots, and Shen Hu’s family had never once suffered a loss.
Hearing the murmurs around her, Song Xia sighed and said to Shen Hu, “Brother Shen Hu, you’ve misunderstood my intentions. Come on up, and let’s talk this over slowly.”
At the end of the day, Song Xia had no desire to get into such conflicts. Since ancient times, countless clan and village fights had broken out over land and irrigation issues, leaving an untold number of dead and injured in their wake.
When she came, she hadn’t expected Shen Hu to be working in the fields. Originally, she had only planned to come with Sister-in-law Xing’er to see how big the two plots were so she could make further plans.
Now that she had run straight into him, Song Xia could only try to persuade him with kind words first, waiting until his emotions stabilized before negotiating properly.
Unwilling to let the surrounding crowd watch him make a spectacle of himself, Shen Hu glared at the busybodies, then tossed his hoe to his son—a young boy of about ten years old who was working alongside him in the fields.
“Remember to take the things home!”
With that, he casually wiped the mud off his hands onto his trousers, stepped out of the fields, and stood face-to-face with Song Xia.
Because of long-term malnutrition, Song Xia’s body was thin and small. Standing next to the tall and sturdy Shen Hu, she looked even more diminutive, her presence dwarfed by several heads.
Sister-in-law Xing’er protectively pulled Song Xia behind her, just in case Shen Hu lost his mind—Xiaxia’s small frame wouldn’t be able to take a blow.
Seeing Sister-in-law Xing’er’s action, Shen Hu sneered and asked Song Xia, “Well, how do you want to talk?”
Song Xia felt her ears ringing from the volume of his voice. What a man!
“This edge of the field isn’t the place for a conversation. But since you’ve been farming these two plots, you must know them inside and out. Would you mind showing me around?” Song Xia asked sincerely.
Shen Hu was speechless. This girl really had some nerve!
However, the size of the land was no secret in the village; anyone you asked would know. Unsure what trick she was trying to pull, Shen Hu decided to agree anyway. He was an upright man; his family had farmed this land for over ten years. While the rent might have occasionally fallen a little short, they handed it over to the Shen family every single year, and he had nurtured the land until it was exceptionally fertile. Now, out of nowhere, a couple of young masters or misses show up demanding the land back—he simply could not tolerate it!
With a dark face, Shen Hu led Song Xia from the head of the field to the tail end, answering some of Song Xia’s questions in a cold tone as they walked.
Song Xia took the opportunity to get a complete understanding of the size and layout of the entire property.
This land was truly wonderful, and truly vast!
The plots were wide and flat, and the soil had been well-tended by Shen Hu’s family. It looked as though they had truly treated it like their own land.
Grandfather Shen had back then bought and collected plots to piece together a large, neat, and flat tract of land in this mountainous village filled with terraced fields.
Yet, after inspecting the land, Song Xia realized she had been a bit naive.
With a piece of land this large, she alone would have absolutely no way to farm it all.
The experimental plot she had been assigned in her past life was only about an acre in size. In this life, she had still underestimated how much land wealthy landlords could accumulate under the feudal land system in ancient times—and this didn’t even include those terraced fields!
Seeing Song Xia gesturing and measuring with her hands, Shen Hu sneered, “What? Has the young lady already started planning how to farm it?”
While quickly pondering in her mind, Song Xia smiled and said, “What are you talking about, Brother Shen Hu? Is there anything we can’t discuss properly?”
“If Brother Shen Hu doesn’t mind, shall we go to the village chief’s house to talk this over?”
Song Xia’s suggestion hit right at what Shen Hu wanted. Seeing his expression soften slightly, Sister-in-law Xing’er chimed in to help, knowing that although the village chief was Shen Hu’s father, the chief was not a muddle-headed person.
“That’s right! We’re all fellow villagers and neighbors. Xiaxia has to live in the village from now on, and you’re bound to run into each other often. Is there anything that can’t be discussed? Going to the village chief is just the right thing to do. The village chief is a good man!”
Hearing Sister-in-law Xing’er praise his father, Shen Hu felt a sense of pride. Believing that his father couldn’t possibly fail to favor him, he gave a wave of his large hand and led the two women toward the village chief’s house.
In the village, only the chief’s household, which was slightly better off, ate three meals a day; the rest of the villagers still maintained the habit of eating two meals.
Thus, as soon as the three of them arrived at the entrance of the chief’s house, they caught the fragrant aroma of food drifting out.
Song Xia felt a bit embarrassed about dropping by at mealtime, but Shen Hu didn’t care. He was hungry anyway, and going to his old man’s place meant he could cadge a bowl of food.
Seeing his eldest son arrive, the village chief’s wife hurriedly invited them inside. Shen Hu unceremoniously went straight into the room to dish up some food, while the chief sat in the courtyard, looking at the three of them and finding the petite woman in the middle entirely unfamiliar.
“Ahem, you’re the one who arrived at the Shen family yesterday?” The village chief narrowed his eyes as he looked at Song Xia.
The chief looked to be around forty or fifty years old, with an ordinary build. Even as the village chief, he had the appearance of someone who toiled in the fields year-round, looking no different from any ordinary villager—even the patches on his clothes were only slightly fewer. Perhaps from frequent frowning, a few deep forehead wrinkles were etched into his brow even when expressionless, making him look rigid and stern.
“Yes, my name is Song Xia. You can just call me Little Song,” Song Xia said generously, allowing him to size her up. She continued, “It was too late after finishing unpacking yesterday, so I didn’t have time to pay a formal visit to the village chief. I’m here today to discuss a matter with you.” She added, “We had prepared some gifts at home, but because I came too hastily, I didn’t manage to bring them along. Later on, my husband and I will come together to formally pay our respects.”
The village chief had never heard anyone introduce themselves quite like this. Usually, the wives of ordinary families would identify themselves by their husband’s household name; yet this young lady generously introduced herself by her own name right off the bat and openly stated she was here on business, which caught the chief’s attention.
“What sort of business could you possibly have that requires discussing with an old man like me?” After seeing Shen Hu and Song Xia arrive together, the chief already had a rough idea of what was going on, but he still feigned ignorance.
“It’s about the farmland that the Shen family rented out,” Song Xia said straightforwardly.
“Oh,” the village chief said slowly. “Then let’s go inside and talk.”
The village chief stood up. As he passed Shen Hu, who was standing and shoveling food into his mouth, he gave him a kick. Useless! Letting someone come right to your doorstep to complain!
Shen Hu cast a aggrieved look back at the chief.
Pretending not to notice their little interaction, Song Xia turned to Sister-in-law Xing’er, who looked rather uneasy, and said sincerely, “Sister-in-law Xing’er, thank you for coming with me. But since this is a private matter, I shouldn’t trouble you any further. Just wait for me in the courtyard for a little while.”
Sister-in-law Xing’er felt a wave of relief. Although she had spoken quite boldly back at home, once she actually arrived at the village chief’s house, she felt a trace of regret—her family didn’t have the Shen family’s background! Which villager dared cross the village chief?
So when Song Xia proactively suggested that she wait in the courtyard, Sister-in-law Xing’er felt relieved. She told Song Xia, “Go on inside and talk, I’ll wait right here in the yard!”
Pausing for a moment out of lingering concern, she added, “Make sure you leave that room door open, roll up the curtain, and sit near the entrance. Don’t worry, from this distance, people definitely won’t be able to hear your conversation.”
Song Xia couldn’t help but smile. Despite Sister-in-law Xing’er’s bold and casual exterior, she hadn’t expected her to be so considerate. “Understood.”
Following Sister-in-law Xing’er’s advice, Song Xia sat near the doorway with the curtain pulled back. The village chief merely lifted his eyelids to glance at her without stopping her, and asked directly,
“So, you want to take the land back?”