Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Situation at the Fields

Physician Bai had bought a house near the village market, so he and his medicine boys stayed there.

On the other hand, Mo Chen knew that Xiao Qingya didn’t want to be separated from her family. She was far too young. As such, he didn’t bring her away.

Zhou Anran was originally worried about Mo Chen’s identity, but Physician Bai convinced her that he was a responsible and upright person. His words lessened her worries since she also trusted Physician Bai.

Mo Chen didn’t follow them to Hejia village. After he gave some instruction and books to Xiao Qingya, he left to settle his other matters.

A look of relief visibly crossed the Ling siblings’ eyes. They were even almost in tears.

Xiao Qingya also patted her chest, feeling a little fortunate she didn’t have to experience Mo Chen’s strict way of teaching so soon. The way he taught the Ling siblings made her little heart shudder in fear.

The next morning after they arrived home, the Xiao family went to check their fields.

Xiao Jingran was already aware of what their youngest sister had done to the rice plants, like putting something called pesticide that could drive away all pests, then there was also the fertilizer.

However, it didn’t mean that the plants would be susceptible to lack of water.

As soon as the family arrived there, they were taken aback.

"Father!" Zhou Anran yelled loudly upon spotting Zhou Wenzhi’s figure. In another spot, they also saw Zhou Shuran. "Shu’er!"

The two waved at them and then walked over, carrying an empty wooden bucket each.

"You all have come back? Good, good!" Zhou Wenzhi smiled, and once his eyes landed on Xiao Jingran, he nodded at him. "Jing’er has grown so tall now, even taller than me!"

"Grandfather." Xiao Jingran had a gentle smile on his face. "It’s all thanks to my master. He took great care of me."

Zhou Wenzhi lifted his eyebrows. "Oh, Physician Bai also returned with you?"

"Elder Sister!" Zhou Shuran finally reached them, panting slightly due to heat. She fanned herself. Soon, her eyes also lit up when she saw Xiao Jingran.

She asked carefully. "Jing’er, how are you feeling now?"

Xiao Jingran answered Zhou Wenzhi’s question first. "Yes, my master is currently at his house right now."

Physician Bai and Zhou Wenzhi could be considered as old friends. When they meet, they often spend some time together just to catch up on things.

Then, Xiao Jingran turned to Zhou Shuran. "Thank you for your concern, Little Aunt. Mother and my master’s utmost care helped me to recover quickly."

The family gathered to chat with each other for a while. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Father, it has been such a trouble for you and Shu’er to take care of our fields," Zhou Anran muttered. She was already in search of ways to repay them in her mind right now.

"With your own fields and ours, you must have extended double energy for them."

Zhou Wenzhi shook his head. "Shiming and his wife are taking care of the fields, so it’s easy. We can focus on yours."

When she heard that, Zhou Anran caught something from her father’s words. Even Zhou Shuran’s joyful face faded a lot, and she lowered her head.

But... since her father currently didn’t want to tell her, she wouldn’t insist on it.

"You and Shu’er should have lunch in our house later. Don’t refuse." Zhou Anran changed the subject, already taking her younger sister’s hands.

She was extremely relieved. Thanks to her father and sister, the rice plants didn’t die.

They all watered the rice plants. With so many people doing the job, the time needed to finish it was thus shortened.

Before noon, they all finished watering the fields and were on their way to the Xiao family’s house. The women immediately went to the kitchen.

The Xiao brothers accompanied their grandfather in the living room. Soon, Physician Bai also came to visit.

It didn’t take long for them to finish cooking in the kitchen. They all had lunch together.

Zhou Wenzhi asked his daughter. "Ran’er, the grain heads in your rice should mature soon. How many days will it take?"

Almost two weeks had passed, and in another three days, the rice plants should be ready for harvest. Zhou Anran answered truthfully. "In three days, we should be able to harvest them."

He nodded. "I will come to help you."

Originally, he wanted to say something else, but upon realizing that Physician Bai was there, he held back.

Fortunately, Physician Bai only stayed for a while before he left. He only visited briefly to give his disciple a book.

"Do you have something in your mind, Father?" Zhou Anran asked.

Zhou Wenzhi pursed his lips, not expecting his eldest daughter to notice that. He cleared his throat and finally revealed his thoughts in a frank tone. "Ran’er, your crop’s quality... how come the crops have become so good?"

The grain heads were more full. He could see that even the rice stalks were struggling to support the weight, signalling that the rice plants had little to no empty husk at all.

From a small distance, one would notice the densely-packed grain heads, as if they weren’t affected by pests or birds at all.

Xiao Qingya stared at her mother, curious on how she would answer. She wouldn’t believe that her mother wouldn’t notice the better harvest quality for this time around.

In a calm tone, Zhou Anran replied. "Maybe the heavens took pity on our family and gave us a better harvest."

Knowing that the words weren’t convincing enough, she added, "Father, actually we don’t know what we have done to make the paddy rice become like this. We still followed the same routine."

Everything on their fields were very similar to the main family’s fields, including the numerous scarecrows.

The main family had slightly better harvest compared to the neighbouring fields, but compared to the Xiao family’s current condition, there was still a stark difference.

Having known her for so many years, Zhou Wenzhi knew that his daughter might be hiding something, but since she was unwilling, he wouldn’t force her.

He was actually relieved that her family’s fields yielded such good quality crops. At the same time, he was a little worried. People might soon notice it. What if they harassed his eldest daughter’s family?

"We sold our paddy rice to Old Shun." Zhou Anran finally admitted. "Don’t worry about it, Father. Old Shun will help us explain too."

He would use the Xiao family’s fields to promote his rice seeds. If people got curious where Zhou Anran had gotten the rice seeds from, she could use his shop as a shield.

Zhou Wenzhi heaved a sigh of relief. It was good that she had thought about it so thoroughly.

"Good, good. I can rest assured since you have countermeasures already." Zhou Wenzhi nodded in approval.

She smiled and offered, "Father, Old Shun sold our paddy rice as seeds and the quality is quite good. Do you want to bring some back for your fields?"

Unexpectedly, Zhou Wenzhi refused. "It’s fine. It will still take a while before the paddy rice in our fields can be harvested."

On the day of harvest, a lot of people came. Even Shun Zi rushed over after he received the news.

Once he weighed the paddy rice in his scale, everyone was shocked.