Chapter 049

Chapter 049

Today is the twenty-seventh of March. Including Qi Yao's fifteen mu, the Xiao family has only twenty-one mu left to plant. If they work hard for one more day, they can finish tomorrow.

With rest in sight, even the women who had been busy for several days felt a lighter mood.

As they were chatting quietly, someone called from outside the central courtyard gate: "Is Thousandhousehold Xiao up yet? It's me, Sun Xinghai."

Tong Sui, who was adding firewood at the hearth, paused and instinctively looked east. The sun had not fully risen, and Grandfather was still in his room. Why would the village head come so early?

"Up already, coming right away!"

Grandfather responded from inside. Without waiting for further instructions, Tong Sui hurried to open the door for Sun Xinghai.

Upon opening it, she saw that all three members of the Sun family were there, bringing two mule carts. Each cart carried four open-mouthed bags; one cart was filled with red peanuts, and the other with mixed grains.

While she inspected the mule carts, Sun Xinghai and his sons peered inside. Among them, Sun Dian's gaze seemed different, likely searching for Liu Chu.

Tong Sui said to Sun Xinghai, "Grandfather has been exhausted from spring plowing these past few days and overslept this morning. Please wait a moment."

Sun Xinghai, whose mouth was covered with blisters, nodded in understanding: "Your family has a lot of land. Others have almost finished planting."

Tong Sui quickly glanced at his blisters, finding it amusing but also realizing that being the village head wasn't an easy job.

Soon, the Xiao family's three generations of men arrived.

Sun Dian chuckled, "This looks like we're here to cause trouble."

Sun Xinghai glared fiercely at his son and then bowed to Xiao Mu, "I must be frank with you, sir. We didn't come to cause trouble, but what I'm about to say might not be pleasant to hear. I've run out of options. Yesterday, I allocated houses to the one hundred fifty new residents. Today, I need to show them their plots of land. The county magistrate provided very little seed grain, so he asked the village heads to collect grain from the wealthy families in the villages. So..."

Xiao Mu understood and looked at the mule carts, "Did you collect all this early this morning?"

Sun Xinghai's face was full of bitterness, "Most of this is from my own stockpile. You're the first household. If our two families donate first, others will follow. Otherwise, they'll all drag their feet and watch. We can wait, but the newcomers can't. Delaying spring plowing will cause chaos again."

Who wants to deal with such a mess? But the county magistrate assigned the task, and he had to take it on.

The old villagers of Lingshui Village want a peaceful life and must work together to ensure the newcomers at least plant their fields and don't starve in the short term.

Xiao Mu was prepared and cooperated, "Since moving to the village with my family, we've received much help. Donating some grain now is our duty. However, the past few years have been chaotic, and we have many mouths to feed, so we can only contribute a limited amount. Please don't mind."

Sun Xinghai shook his head repeatedly, "You're already being very generous. At other households, I'll have to do a lot more talking."

Xiao Mu instructed Xiao Shouyi to bring the grandsons to move the supplies and pointed to the study, "Shall we sit inside?"

Sun Xinghai declined, "No need to trouble you. We need to hurry to the next household."

Xiao Mu did not insist.

Shortly after, Xiao Shouyi and his nephews brought seven bags out from Grandfather's room: three bags of corn seeds, one bag of peanut seeds, and three bags of mixed grains.

Xiao Mu explained, "We have a lot of land, so we prepared extra seeds. These are the leftovers, all good quality. Four hundred catties should cover twenty mu. We need to plant twenty-one mu ourselves, so you can distribute the rest."

Sun Xinghai's eyes welled up, and he deeply bowed to Grandfather, "On behalf of the new residents, thank you!"

Xiao Mu helped him up and whispered, "First, prioritize those who are truly destitute. Those with money can buy seeds."

Sun Xinghai squinted his eyes, "Rest assured, sir. I know how to judge. No one will get freebies at this critical moment."

Having received the seed grain, the Sun family hurried to the next wealthy household.

Sun Dian glanced at the grain the Xiao family contributed and guessed, "Willing to give so much, the Xiao family probably has as much stored grain as ours."

The Sun family also had over a hundred mu of land.

Sun Xinghai replied, "I'm the village head and must solve this problem. The Xiao family's generosity is true benevolence. We didn't give everything, so we can't expect them to be fools."

Even the most benevolent must prioritize their family's well-being.

Sun Dian shrugged, "I was just guessing."

—

Sun Xinghai feared the new residents might riot when distributing the grain, so he came to borrow people from the Xiao family. Xiao Yan wanted to go, but Grandfather sent Xiao Ye and Xiao She.

Helping with security was easier than planting, and they might even get a good meal at the Sun family's. Such a good assignment should rotate among the grandsons.

Tong Sui continued to accompany Xiao Yuchan to watch the spectacle.

Today, only the remaining refugees staying in Lingshui Village lined up by the pond, and not everyone from each family came, making it less chaotic.

Yesterday, when Sun Xinghai registered the new residents, he had a good grasp of each family's situation, including their physical condition.

Now, standing on the grinding stone, he explained the rules for distributing the grain and seeds. For example, each household would receive enough seeds for one mu and ten days' worth of food. The rest would be distributed based on poverty levels, encouraging those with extra money to buy seeds from wealthy families, which would be cheaper than in town.

Tools were easier to handle. Most of the old villagers had finished planting, and their tools were idle. Sun Xinghai had already borrowed a batch, which the new residents could take when collecting their grain but must return intact afterward. Violators would be expelled from Lingshui Village.

Some new residents showed dissatisfaction, feeling that they had risked their lives to keep their wealth and shouldn't receive less than those too poor or incapable of protecting their assets.

Watching villagers also felt uneasy, especially the poor ones. They had borrowed seeds themselves, so why weren't they getting free distribution? Why could the new refugees get it for free?

Seeing Sun Dian and the Xiao brothers nearby, remembering the fate of the troublemakers yesterday, they swallowed their discontent.

Thus, the distribution proceeded orderly.

Suddenly, Xiao Yuchan patted Tong Sui's arm.

Tong Sui followed her gaze and saw the Pan family of four, except for the elderly woman.

Pan Yong and his sons wore old coarse clothes, while Wang and her daughters changed into semi-new clothes. Wang skillfully chatted with the old villagers, blending in like locals.

Tong Sui heard Wang introduce her daughter: "This is my daughter, her name is Yuerou."

Pan Yuerou smiled faintly, her face fair and her eyes like autumn water, making her a rare beauty that drew the attention of many unmarried young men.

Xiao Yuchan hummed and muttered to Tong Sui, "Look at how Wang acts; she can't wait to marry her daughter off to someone in our village."

Tong Sui didn’t respond.

It was understandable for the Pan family to have such intentions. By marrying into an old family in the village, they would be more easily accepted and could count on their in-laws for support when needed.

The new villagers who had received the seeds hurried home, both to hide the items and to start planting.

Gradually, the Pan family of four also reached the area near the large grinding stone.

Wang smiled kindly at Tong Sui and her sister-in-law, "It's you two. This is my daughter Yuerou. She’s new here and doesn’t know anyone yet. If you don’t mind, let her spend more time with you and do some sewing together."

One doesn’t hit a smiling face, so Xiao Yuchan nodded perfunctorily.

Pan Yuerou noticed that one of the sisters-in-law seemed a bit proud while the other was quiet. She smiled and then shifted her gaze to the few young men standing by the mule cart.

From her mother's conversation with the villagers, Pan Yuerou learned that Sun Dian was a widower, Sun Wei was already married, and the fourth and fifth masters of the Xiao family were still single.

Pan Yuerou secretly observed Xiao Ye, feeling that whether it was his physique, appearance, martial arts skills, or the situation in the Xiao family, Xiao Ye was the most suitable match for her.

But there was no rush for this matter.

Pan Yuerou quickly withdrew her gaze, so quickly that no one noticed her particular interest in Xiao Ye.

—

The distribution of food went smoothly, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. Xiao Ye and Xiao She prepared to head to the fields to work.

Sun Xinghai called out to the brothers, "Since you still need to go to the fields, I won’t entertain you for lunch. Later, I’ll ask Sun Wei to catch a couple of fish for you to take home as a dish."

Xiao She grinned; he loved fish.

Xiao Ye didn’t hide his happiness either, thanking them openly and then turning to Tong Sui, "Second Sister-in-Law, you go with Wei Brother to get the fish. We’ll head to the fields now."

Tong Sui agreed and thanked Sun Xinghai.

Sun Xinghai waved his hand and asked Sun Wei to take them fishing.

The pond was large. The big fish from previous years had been caught by bandits, but fortunately, many small fry had survived and had grown over time.

Sun Wei brought a fishing net from home and took his nephew Dalang onto a small boat. After circling around, they returned to the shore and pulled up the net, revealing many palm-sized fish, with only four larger ones.

Sun Wei placed the two largest fish into a wooden bucket and threw the rest back into the water.

Xiao Yuchan happily took the bucket, her face beaming, "Thank you, Wei Brother."

Xiao Yuchan was the prettiest girl in Lingshui Village, matched only by the three sisters-in-law the Xiao family had married. Beautiful girls were liked by everyone, and with a powerful family backing her, the young men in the village treated her well.

Sun Wei smiled and instructed, "Go back via the main road, don’t take the alleys."

The sisters-in-law nodded and walked side by side.

Seven-year-old Dalang stared at their backs and looked up at his uncle, "When I grow up, I want to marry a pretty wife like them."

Sun Wei gave him a light tap on the head, "Dream on. Pretty women prefer to marry capable men—either educated or skilled in martial arts, at least one must be outstanding."

Dalang: "My father is good at martial arts too. Why didn’t Mianmian’s mother marry him?"

Sun Wei: "He’s not as educated as Mianmian’s father."

And perhaps not as handsome either, though as an uncle, he had to give his nephew hope.

Dalang blinked and suddenly laughed, "Then I’ll follow Third Master Xiao’s example and pick up a prime minister’s daughter as my wife."

Sun Wei: "…"

Count on that happening, and you might as well hope for a pie to fall from the sky!