Chapter 4: Great Fox Immortal

Gu Xixi saw Zhang Shen hem and haw, urging, "What's the matter? Speak up."

Zhang Shen then said with a strange expression, "Everyone, let those two down and ask what's going on."

"Gu Lao San is hemming and hawing, saying he doesn't remember anything."

"That Liu, however, seems to have lost his mind, suddenly dragging in our Chen Fang, saying it's a fox spirit, walks without sound, leaves no shadow!"

"You say this matter—could it really be little Chen Gan's doing? A fox spirit… isn't that too mystical?"

Zhang Shen hadn't finished speaking when Gu Xixi sprang up from the bedside and darted out the door like a gust of wind.

Zhang Shen stared, wide-eyed, "What now?"

Gu Xixi ran straight to the sand pile in the courtyard, and after seeing it clearly, she let out a heavy sigh of relief.

The sand pile still maintained the state she had arranged it in yesterday, with no signs of having been disturbed by an outside force.

Zhang Shen caught up and found Xixi smiling all over, looking in good spirits.

Gu Xixi asked, "Liu Shi spouted such nonsense—how did the others react?"

Zhang Shen thought a moment and replied honestly, "Anyway, Gu Lao San didn't say anything, so everyone thought Liu Shi was just overly frightened; I see, probably no one believes her words, suspecting our family."

Gu Xixi laughed and said, "Auntie, rest assured—Chen Fang is someone sent by the official office, not something I picked up in the wild; how could he be a fox spirit?"

Even if he were a fox, he'd be a good fox that guards the home.

Looking again into the sand pile, there was joy—dots of tender green coated with morning dew, crystal clear and translucent.

Zhang Shen exclaimed in surprise, "How can thirty-odd wild yam roots produce so many sprouts?"

Three days ago, Gu Xixi discovered several patches of wild yam in the mountains.

She dug them all up and carried them back, cutting them into sections while avoiding the sprouting points.

Then she soaked them in her self-made sprout-promoting water and buried them in the sand.

At the time, Zhang Shen didn't understand Xixi's actions, thinking she was just a child playing around out of boredom.

She even secretly felt sorry for wasting those yams that weren't eaten.

But only now did she realize that Xixi had done all that in order to raise seedlings.

Zhang Shen wiped her eyes with relief, thinking the child had finally grown up and knew how to manage the family business.

However, this method of raising seedlings was something even she had never heard of—how did Xixi come up with it?

Gu Xixi crouched to check the seedlings, satisfied, "Just wait another day or two and we can transplant."

This sort of hill yam will mature when the autumn cool sets in.

As medicinal material it can be sold to the city's pharmacies for cash; as food, it can also be kept at home to fill the belly.

Having lived off the mountains for over half a year, we'll finally have income—Zhang Shen's spirits are high: "All right, I'll go hoe the field later!"

"Not in a hurry." Gu Xixi grabbed Zhang Shen's arm, "I asked you to find people—how did it go?"

Zhang Shen said, "I went to a few households to sound them out, but they weren't keen, saying you, you… sigh."

Gu Xixi wasn't surprised, "They say I'm a prodigal daughter, and if they follow me they definitely won't get paid."

"They say I'm just a slip of a girl who can't uphold the family gate, what right do I have to command a bunch of elders?"

"There might be even worse things they could say."

Zhang Shen looked at Xixi with pity, "A bunch of idle looses with loose lips—don't take it to heart."

Gu Xixi smiled, "All that's in the past."

"Auntie, please put out the word again—just say I want to hire people to plant millet."

"The hiring method is different from before—each person takes responsibility for a plot, counted by the mu."

"After the autumn harvest, the wages will come from the grain produced on each mu—150 jin per mu as payment, more work, more pay."

Zhang Shen exclaimed, "One mu gets 150 jin? Aren't we losing big!"

"And if someone shows up for work but doesn't put in effort, still getting the same pay—what do we do then!"

"These days, the rate for long-term laborers is that for a season's work each person gets at most a hundred cash or a hundred jin of grain, plus usual room and board."

"Gu Xixi's family has thirty-two mu of land; Gu Pipi previously hired seven workers."

"Given the local millet yield, even the best land produces at most around three hundred jin, and ordinary fields yield even less."

"Gu Xixi's arrangement thus amounts to using half the harvest as wages."

"Looking across the entire Great Undertaking Dynasty, you simply can't find a fool willing to take on this deal!"

"Don't rush, Auntie," Gu Xixi said, "I still have demands."

She said all that in this way.

Zhang Shen nervously counted on her fingers, reciting clause by clause, "First a trial work, a probation period; those whose performance is unsatisfactory will not be hired."

Gu Xixi nodded, saying, "I also need to go out for a trip; I'll leave this to you."

Zhang Shen's heart was still flustered, "Xixi, have you really thought this through?"

"Once these conditions are put out, a crowd will immediately come knocking; if you regret it later, it'll be too late!"

Gu Xixi said, "The farming season waits for no one—I just want them to come as soon as possible."

"In the north winter comes early; now we can only plant fast-growing crops, and the next ten days are this year's last chance."

She smiled at Zhang Shen, eyes bright and confident, "Auntie, please trust me this time."

"Scientists never rely on words to prove themselves."

"Increasing millet yield per mu from three hundred jin to six hundred jin—if she said that now, people would only see her as a bragging lunatic, right?"

"The door of the west room opened."

Mu Nan Zhao walked toward Gu Xixi, his long hair neatly tied up, looking fresh and handsome.

Gu Xixi took the initiative to speak, "Good morning."

Mu Nan Zhao replied coolly, "Hmm."

Gu Xixi is in a good mood now; she doesn't care about his attitude.

She saw Zhang Shen wasn't around, smiling she asked, "Did thieves break in last night?"

Mu Nan Zhao gave no clear answer.

Catching thieves is a trivial matter; in the past there was no need for him to concern himself with it.

Last night he had to do it himself; bringing it up again won't earn him any respect.

Gu Xixi solemnly clasped her hands and said, "Thank you, otherwise my yam seedlings would have been destroyed by them."

Mu Nan Zhao glanced at her, then unexpectedly turned the tables, hands behind his back, walking out.

"Isn't it that you wanted to go pick? Then why aren't you leaving?"

Gu Xixi startled, hurriedly caught up, asking, "How did you know?"

She and Zhang Shen never talked about this.

Mu Nan Zhao said, "Just look at the attitude of your third uncle and aunt; you've often been taken advantage of by them in the past."

He paused, then said, "But you're not so stupid now."

Gu Xixi gritted her teeth and sneered, "You don't need to worry about that."

"Later, if I get into a fight with someone, you'd better stay far away."

At Gu Lao San's house, the courtyard was silent.

Gu Qingye went out to work in the fields with her older brother, leaving only Gu Lao San and Liu Shi at home.

The two had spent the night exposed to the mountain wind, aching all over, and were now asleep in the house.

Suddenly there was a loud bang as the door was knocked, shaking the mountains.

Immediately after came a girl's clear voice: "Third uncle, third aunt! The door isn't locked!! I let myself in!!!

Liu Shi shuddered, hurriedly shoved Gu Lao San, "Wake up, old man, it's Gu Xixi!"

Gu Lao San turned over and yawned, "Don't bother with her; she's just checking if anyone's home, she'll leave soon."

Liu Shi panicked, "She's definitely come about last night's incident!"

"I say her family's Chen Fang is a fox spirit turned human; if it weren't for him backing her up, that dead girl wouldn't dare come to our door!"