Under the blazing midday sun, the summer heat poured down upon the earth without any shelter.
On a vast, flat stretch of land in the village, neat rows of rice plants stood closely together, swaying gently in the breeze.
The rice plants had produced many tillers with heavy ears of grain, and experienced farmers could tell at a glance that this would be another bountiful year.
In the shade of trees by the fields, over a dozen farmers were resting and eating their midday meal. A dark-skinned farmer carefully scraped the last grains of rice from the bottom of his bowl and sighed:
“Thin porridge just doesn’t fill you up – one trip to the piss ditch and it’s gone. Only solid rice can truly satisfy the stomach.”
Someone nearby chimed in: “Of course the landlord’s free solid rice tastes good. Hehe, just for this rice, I’d work extra hard even in the summer heat.”
The resting farmers burst into laughter. The dark-skinned farmer glanced at the grain-filled rice ears and expressed concern:
“That may be so, but this insecticide the landlord brought is strange. They say it can kill insects and eliminate some kind of germs, but I’m afraid it might kill the rice seedlings too.”
“And these fertilizers – I’ve never heard of them before. When we spread them in the fields, I just can’t feel at ease.”
Hearing this, the other farmers began to sigh as well. One thin farmer spoke up mysteriously:
“You don’t know this, but these things were all made by the landlord himself. They say it’s some kind of secret recipe that can increase yields.”
After a moment of silence, someone muttered quietly:
“Secret recipe my foot. More like he hasn’t woken up from his daydream.”
Before he could finish, he was hit by the person next to him. They were all tenants who depended on the landlord for their livelihood – how dare they offend him carelessly?
Yet a shadow had fallen over everyone’s hearts. With just over half a month until harvest, if the rice were damaged by this insecticide and fertilizer, this year would be difficult.
Ah, out of Landlord Xu’s hundreds of acres, he had to choose their few dozen acres to spray and fertilize.
What terrible luck.
Thinking this, the solid rice they had just eaten felt like heavy stones in their stomachs, weighing them down.
After finishing work, the farmers headed home together. The dark-skinned farmer’s surname was Zhou, and since he was the eldest in his family, everyone called him Zhou Da.
As soon as Zhou Da entered the village, someone came to tell him to go to Landlord Xu’s place. Crossing the threshold, Zhou Da drew in his feet and stood carefully, not daring to raise his head as he greeted Landlord Xu.
At the head of the room.
Landlord Xu grunted in acknowledgment, slowly took a sip of tea, and was in no hurry to speak.
Beside him, Xu Yue sat on a chair swinging her pale lotus-root-like legs, thinking that her family resembled the bullying landlords from operas.
The thought made her burst out laughing. Landlord Xu looked up and asked what was wrong, but Xu Yue brushed him off with a few words.
This interruption made Landlord Xu lose interest in putting on airs. Setting down his teacup, he said:
“Zhou Da, if I remember correctly, your family rents five acres of land?”
“Yes, yes, five acres, landlord. I’ve always honestly paid the rent every year, never cheated on the amount.”
Zhou Da looked up anxiously to defend himself, and in that moment caught sight of the jade-like, adorable child beside the landlord – like a person molded from winter snow that might melt with a single breath.
This must be the landlord’s favorite grandson, right?
His wife was the most skilled silk weaver in the surrounding villages. In recent years, all the fine silk she wove had been bought by the Xu family – he heard it was for making clothes for the second young master.
Thinking of this, Zhou Da felt an inexplicable sense of closeness toward the child and managed to squeeze out a smile.
Xu Yue didn’t understand why, but she returned a sweet smile nonetheless—one must be polite, after all.
“Yes, I’m aware of all this. You’re an honest man who doesn’t play tricks. Besides tending the rented fields, you’ve taken good care of your own five mu of land…”
With an authoritative demeanor, Landlord Xu affirmed Zhou Da’s character and praised his management skills—
He had managed to save up for a loom!
Mentioning this proud achievement made Zhou Da straighten his perpetually bent back slightly. While farmland was valuable but hard to trade, looms were significant assets and production tools for households in Jiangnan.
Seizing this opportunity, Landlord Xu began imparting some knowledge to Xu Yue.
For instance, a loom cost twenty-five taels of silver—a substantial sum. An ordinary farming family would consider it a good year if they could save one tael annually.
But there was good reason for the loom’s high price.
With a loom, women could weave silk whenever they had spare time, and the finished silk could be sold for silver.
Without a loom, one would have to rent from others, often during busy farming seasons or at night when lighting was poor, making it highly inconvenient.
Additionally, rental fees would be required.
Xu Yue roughly understood now: Zhou Da’s ability to save for a loom indeed marked him as both capable and diligent.
Such individuals usually held respect in the village, so Landlord Xu’s decision to entrust matters to Zhou Da was indeed the most appropriate.
“I provided insecticide and fertilizer to be spread in the fields. The tenant farmers in the village haven’t been saying kind things about it, have they?”
After a pause, Landlord Xu narrowed his eyes and spoke deliberately.
Zhou Da trembled, then gritted his teeth:
“That’s right, Landlord.” He wore a pleading expression, raising his fingers:
“This involves a full eighty mu of prime paddy fields, almost ready for harvest. I know you’re a capable man, different from us mud-legged folk, but… but farmland is different.”
“So, some of you secretly dumped the medicine and poured it out!”
Landlord Xu slammed the table abruptly and shouted sternly.
Zhou Da pressed his lips shut, shaking his head desperately but remaining silent—exuding an air of “scold us all you want, but we’ll still do what we must.”
The ignorant villagers couldn’t comprehend scientifically prepared insecticide solutions or various homemade potassium and phosphate fertilizers.
These were products developed by agricultural experts through years of deep experimentation, designed to increase yield per mu in ancient times.
Pressed for time, Xu Yue had only listed a few suitable and easily preparable options.
She had planned to demonstrate results in one season—significantly higher yields would convince the villagers to follow her arrangements in the next planting season.
But… the first step had failed due to the tenants’ passive resistance and covert disobedience.
There was frustration, but it was also a lesson: real people weren’t NPCs; they had their own thoughts and calculations.
Snapping back to attention, Xu Yue watched carefully as Landlord Xu handled Zhou Da—first intimidating him, then speaking gently, before finally revealing his true intent.
He tasked Zhou Da with managing all tenant farmers on the eighty mu of land, supervising them to diligently apply the insecticide and fertilizer.
In exchange, if the yield truly increased, Zhou Da would receive two mu of land.
And it was paddy fields!
Zhou Da’s dark face flushed red, his lips trembling so much he nearly collapsed from joy.
“…If this year’s rice crop is truly ruined, I won’t treat you poorly. You won’t need to pay next year’s rent. How about that?”
Landlord Xu took a sip of tea, speaking with complete confidence.
As expected, Zhou Da completely reversed his earlier non-violent non-cooperation attitude, nodding like pounding garlic.
After the man stumbled away with unsteady steps, Landlord Xu looked thoughtfully at Xu Yue and ruffled her twin buns with his large hand:
“Well, do you understand why Grandpa did it this way?”