Chapter 185

He Jinglan was already laughing hysterically inside, but she still had to keep an innocent expression on her face.

"What barbarian? People have names—when did your speech become so vulgar?"

Jealousy! Jealousy! Eat it with all your might!

Best to finish a whole vat of old Chen vinegar, so sour you lose all reason!

He Jinglan glanced at Mu Nan Zhao's expression, continuing to fan the flames, "Actually, speaking fairly, what's wrong with Boss An? He's good-looking, has a great figure and demeanor, and he's wealthy and capable."

"Most importantly, Boss An's family are also big landowners engaged in farming, and he himself runs fruit tree nurseries; his daily chats with Xixi would surely never run out of topics."

"Besides, my Xixi just wants to farm well and live a peaceful, prosperous life—these, Boss An can provide."

"Enough!" Mu Nan Zhao coldly cut off He Jinglan.

"Are you a matchmaker? I don't have time to listen to you list his good points!"

He Jinglan blinked, "Then what do you want to hear?"

She suddenly startled, raising a hand to cover her mouth, "You wouldn't... be blaming me for not getting Xixi together with you as soon as possible, would you?"

A suspicious red rose on Mu Nan Zhao's ears, but he quickly suppressed it with a covert circulation of his qi.

"You're overthinking it; I'm just here to tell you that the situation is unstable now—don't go looking for trouble for no reason, lest you cause chaos."

Having said that, Mu Nan Zhao flicked his sleeves and left.

Despite receiving the warning, He Jinglan wasn't angry; instead, she gave a strange smile at Mu Nan Zhao's retreating back.

No matter how fiercely it was said, he never outright denied it……

As He Jinglan walked toward the front courtyard, she thought gleefully, that cold-faced minister Mu Nan Zhao, who never cared about others' lives, if you saw him chasing after his wife with tears and snot, wouldn't that be more entertaining than all the theater troupes in the capital combined?

If I could witness it with my own eyes, this life would be worth it!

Gu Xixi woke from her nap, hastily drank a cup of tea, and was about to go out.

The tea that An Qinghe and Zhang Shen brewed together was not bad—at least it wasn't scorched, and it retained its fragrance.

As Gu Xixi rose, she looked at the already-standing He Jinglan and An Qinghe, "I'm just going to walk around our wheat field and come back; there's nothing interesting to see today, so don't follow me."

The two still wanted to object.

Gu Xixi directly assigned them: "Jing Lan, you stay home and watch Shitou do his homework; if our family ever produces a degree holder, you'll have a share of the credit."

"Brother An, you haven't been recently observing our village's pomegranate trees, recording data all along? Keep doing it—it has a future."

Thus, Gu Xixi successfully shook off the two clingers and headed alone toward the wheat field.

By early summer, the wheat had already headed out; looking out, the wheat heads were dense and large, a pleasing sight.

But as Gu Xixi passed the first plot, walking far, she actually didn't see any of our hired workers.

By rights, today should be the regular weeding—how come nobody's around right now?

Gu Xixi believed the workers wouldn't slack off; thinking something might have happened, she quickened her pace to go look.

After walking a while, she heard noisy voices coming from deep in the wheat field.

"Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Gu Xixi is really cunning, teaching you guys to screw me over! She put the bucket of fertilizer at the field's edge on purpose, just so I'd take it to water the field, all to harm me!"

From the voice, it was undoubtedly Gu Erye.

A young hired worker retorted, "Take it to water the field? You old man, you're clearly stealing it."

"Every time when we're eating or going to the outhouse, you don't even ask, just grab the bucket and run!"

"A thief accusing the person who lost something of wrongdoing—what a strange thing, it really opens our eyes!"

Gu Erye flew into a rage from shame, "Who are you calling a thief? If you've got the guts, report me to the officials and have them arrest me!"

"I've been watering for a month or so, but look at the wheat heads now! Why are Gu Xixi's wheat heads more numerous and larger? Mine are shriveled and small, not even as good as last year when I used my own fermented manure!"

"Isn't this evidence obvious enough? That bucket must have been deliberately tampered with by you guys—Gu Xixi's secret grain-growing formula isn't in it!"

"I've been really screwed over by you guys this time; I still want to go to court and cry injustice—Gu Xixi even schemed against her own family's Second Uncle, she owes me an explanation!"

Gu Xixi sighed, walked into the wheat field, "Second Uncle, what explanation do you want?"

I thought this trip would just be a casual stroll, but I didn't expect to be unable to return for a while.

Upon suddenly hearing Gu Xixi's voice, Gu Erye jumped in fright, his bluster temporarily lessening a bit.

Gu Xixi lowered her gaze and saw a patch of wheat trampled flat on the ground; her expression instantly turned cold.

"Old Chen, are these all Gu Erye's doing?"

Chen Dafu stepped forward, "I saw it with my own eyes."

The other workers also said, "We just heard the noise and rushed over, seeing this old thing like a mad dog trampling and kicking, even pulling up wheat heads by hand,"

"If I hadn't stopped him, who knows how much more he would have trampled!"

Gu Xixi said, "This plot is the one Old Chen contracted; record how many wheat stalks there are, and after the summer harvest, I'll personally compensate Old Chen for his share of the loss."

The workers' faces showed emotion; the landlord truly acts with integrity!

Chen Dafu gratefully said, "Actually it's not much; the landlord needn't specially compensate me."

Gu Xixi said, "No matter how much, it's the fruit of your sweat and labor—how could we just let it go?"

"If we don't compensate..."

Gu Xixi looked at Gu Erye, her eyes sharp, "Tomorrow, wouldn't anyone dare come to my house to raise a fuss and throw a tantrum?"

Gu Erye shrank back a little, his bluster dropping another notch.

He forced himself to keep his elder's dignity, saying, "Xixi girl, you can't turn the tables on me."

"Look at what my wheat has become—using your fertilizer, the yield is down at least twenty percent compared to previous years!"

"I may have knocked down a few of your wheat stalks, but that can't possibly offset my family's loss—you still have to compensate me!"

Gu Xixi laughed out loud, "Compensation? Gu Erye really knows how to dream."

Gu Erye's face turned ashen, "You framed me—aren't you afraid I'll sue you in court?"

Well then, Gu Xixi said with a relaxed smile, "Go ahead and report it now."

But seeing you're old, I kindly remind you that the fertilizer I prepared has no problem at all.

Besides these, I also have various other methods to be used together, and they must be applied at different times accordingly, in order to make the wheat grow tall and strong.

You only stole a bit of leftover fertilizer water and used it during the critical period of wheat heading; it will only have the opposite effect, causing the wheat to suffer malnutrition.

The hired workers were all listening, entranced.

This is the reason the master arranged their work step by step; each step cannot be done early or delayed.

Indeed, farming is also a field of study.

Even those who listen to the master's commands and farm dare not say they have fully mastered it.

Chen Dafu looked at Gu Erye and said sarcastically, "In that case, it's entirely self-inflicted."

They bowed their hands to Gu Xixi and said, "Master, do you think we should also report to the officials?"

After all, you went to great trouble to prepare that fertilizer; the cost, time, and expense are indeed considerable.

Why not charge him with theft?