Chapter 541: A Little Action

Yu Lin returned from Taiyi when half a month had already passed in the Human World.

The season changed silently, autumn breezes rose, carrying the distinctive humid scent of the Jianghan Plain.

In the fields, the rice sown in spring had turned yellow, the heavy panicles bowed the stalks, waiting for people to harvest.

Chu Di is a typical Jianghan Plain, dominated by paddies, and the farming method remains the ancient "fire tilling, water hoe" — setting fire to weeds, flooding, then transplanting seedlings.

The Records of the Grand Historian says the Chu people "eat rice porridge with fish soup," meaning they eat rice grain with fish broth.

They also eat some miscellaneous grains and wild vegetables.

The villagers of Qu Ren Li began to bustle.

Li Shi also prepared to go out.

She makes a living by Wash‑ing clothes for others and weaving hemp cloth to exchange for meager food and money.

But in spring, she gritted her teeth and cleared a plot of wasteland, planting some rice.

It wasn't her own land, but a corner plot no one in the village wanted, and the harvest was taken as it came.

Today, she picked up her tools and slung a basket on her back, ready to go to the field to harvest.

Just as she reached the doorway—

A figure appeared before her.

It was the witch priest who lived at the village head.

The gentleman said to practice witchcraft.

He wore a garment of exquisite fabric that had never been stained by mud, stood in the morning light, gave her a slight smile, and bowed, saying:

"Greetings, madam."

Li Shi was startled for a moment.

She was used to seeing only the rough men and villagers, their skin tanned dark, their speech coarse—how could there be someone like this?

When Yu Lin glanced at her, his smiling face met her wheat‑colored cheeks, weathered by years of labor under the sun, and a faint flush appeared.

She lowered her head, her voice as tiny as a mosquito's hum:

"Servant… I am not yet married, I cannot be called madam."

"You are being modest."

Li Shi's looks could not be called stunning.

Just a delicate face, bearing a simple, uncarved beauty.

Yu Lin, of course, knew she was unmarried.

Wasn't this just a way to start a conversation?

He feigned surprise: "Is that so? Oh dear, I misspoke, I should be punished, should be punished."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and lightly tapped his own mouth twice, looking comical.

Li Shi couldn't hold back, letting out a soft laugh.

Yu Lin looked at her and laughed as well.

Then his gaze fell on the sickle and basket in her hands.

"Are you going to harvest the rice?"

Li Shi nodded.

"To show my apology," Yu Lin said, "how about I help you?"

Li Shi was startled, then waved her hands repeatedly, her face flushing again.

"This… how can this be?" she hurriedly asked:

"You are an honored guest, how could you do such coarse work? You…"

"Eh," Yu Lin cut her off, "no need to say more. Come with me."

He raised his hand, gently seized her sleeve, and pulled her forward in big strides.

Li Shi at first tried to struggle a few times, thinking it was unseemly, too abrupt, this… but Yu Lin moved quickly; she staggered a few steps, then realized she didn't really want to break free.

As they walked, she stopped struggling.

She only lowered her head, letting him lead.

The flush on her face never faded.

She didn't know what she was thinking.

All of this fell into the eyes of the Gods watching the drama from the heavens.

Above the clouds, another figure had appeared at an unknown time.

Di Jun.

He had arrived here at some point, standing shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Donghuang Taiyi, overlooking the tiny village below.

"Taiyi," Di Jun turned his head toward Donghuang Taiyi, a hint of smile at his mouth:

"From this, your so‑called father must be..................."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was already clear.

Donghuang Taiyi gave a mysterious smile.

"Not that simple, Lao Jun, though he has descended to the Human World now and temporarily lost his memory, is not to be manipulated at will."

"He has long since made his plans..................."

He paused.

"Just watch, then."

"Indeed, I'm just watching the play anyway." Di Jun raised an eyebrow, his gaze returning to the lower world.

Landing on Li Shi.

At this moment, she was being Ra-ed by Yu Lin, walking along that dirt road in the village, heading towards the fields.

As she passed a plum tree——

The flush on her face suddenly faded somewhat.

The hand not being Ra-ed, instinctively lifted up, lightly pressing on her own belly.

Her gaze fell on Yu Lin ahead, then quickly shifted to the rice fields by the roadside that were about to be harvested.

In her heart, a thought quietly arose:

With my status, my looks, him treating me like this……

He probably has an ulterior motive; could it be the plum I ate that time……

I don't know whether it's good or bad……

Li Shi's change, Yu Lin naturally sensed it.

The hand pressed on her belly, the suddenly drooping brows and eyes, the face that had lost its flush.

All were speaking of her inner wariness and doubt.

But Yu Lin wasn't in a hurry either.

There are still several decades of time, after all.

At worst, it's just a failure.

He's thick-skinned; if he's called, he's called, nothing to fear.

Besides, who said I have to be with Li Shi? A foster father is still a father!

He Ra-ed Li Shi, continuing forward.

Not long after, they arrived at the field she had reclaimed.

Yu Lin stopped, glanced at it, and his brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

To be honest—it's terrible.

The rice stalks were sparse, few and far between, while the weeds grew taller than the rice.

But it's a corner plot, inherently barren.

That she, a woman alone, could manage to reclaim this wasteland is already remarkable.

He said no more.

He rolled up his sleeves and began to work.

Reaping.

Threshing.

Bundling.

His movements were clean and swift, extremely fast.

Li Shi stood dazed on the field ridge, watching that figure shuttle back and forth in the rice paddies, watching her meager rice stalks be harvested in a flash.

Then——he still hadn't stopped.

Yu Lin set down his tools, picked up his farming implements, and began to turn the soil.

Not using Witchcraft.

Purely manual technique.

But that speed……is really fast.

It made Li Shi gape, unable to close her mouth for a long while.

When Yu Lin finally stopped his farming tools and straightened his back, that originally barren corner plot had been completely turned over by him.

Not only had he turned it once, he'd expanded it to two mu, the soil loose and furrows neat, better than the fields the village's old farmers had tended for years.

Yu Lin brushed the dirt from his hands and walked toward her.

Li Shi stared blankly as he approached, only snapping back to awareness when he stood before her.

"This……this……"

She was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say; finally she could only stammer:

"Th……thank you, honored guest, for your kindness; this servant……this servant will go buy a pheasant later to properly entertain the honored guest."

Yu Lin waved his hand.

"No need." He said, "Saying it is to make amends; that is making amends."

"I still have some things to do, so I won't disturb you further."

He looked at her and gave a slight smile.

"If you have business, feel free to come to my place to find me. Farewell."

Having said that, he turned and strode away.

After a few steps, he was already far off.

Li Shi opened her mouth, wanting to call him back, but the words rose to her lips and she swallowed them again.

She watched that receding figure, watched him walk over the field ridge, past the village gate, into the Wooden House, until he vanished completely from sight.

The tactic of feigning capture to let loose revived the thoughts she had suppressed.

"He's really not bad……"

She murmured, her voice so low only she could hear.

After speaking, she lowered her head, gazing at the loosened, turned earth; the flush on her face, unbeknownst when, had crept back up.

Such a sight made Donghuang Taiyi in the heavens feel his heart skip a beat.

He silently thought, "Not good!"

"Lao Jun, make your move! If you don't act on him, he'll act on you!"