Chapter 52

Chapter 52

People from the neighboring county showed up again.

This time, they'd gotten Xu Xiaoshan to play go-between.

Back when Shen Jing had that leg problem, Xu Xiaoshan was the first to pitch in however he could.

Later, when he was finding work for the Shen family, he'd also looked out for them.

The two families had stayed in touch, and Xu Xiaoshan showed up with the visitors, looking a little sheepish.

But this was someone he really couldn't afford to cross—the boss of the brokerage he worked for was an old friend of the big shot behind the restaurant.

The restaurant had gone out of their way to send their shopkeeper to talk business, showing real sincerity.

Xu Xiaoshan figured they'd gone through all that trouble to track him down and ask him to lead the way, and he wasn't all that surprised.

With vegetables like the Shen family grew, if it were him, he'd do the same thing.

In that basket of veggies the Shen family gave him when they bought the donkey, there were ten tomatoes.

Xu Xiaoshan could swear these were the best tomatoes he'd ever had in his life.

They were soft, sweet-and-sour, and super juicy. After one, he couldn't stop—he wolfed down six before his belly was too full to go on.

The scary part was, even then, he still wanted more.

The other veggies, once cooked, tasted just as amazing.

After his kids got a taste once, they thought about them every single day. Even now, they'd sit by the door every day waiting for him to come home, hoping to see if he was carrying a veggie basket.

Every time they didn't see one, the disappointment in their little eyes was heartbreaking.

But the Shen family's produce wasn't being sold to individual customers for now, and Xu Xiaoshan didn't want to burn bridges with them over it.

So no matter how much he craved them, he never went to the Shen family to ask for a special buy. When he really wanted them, he'd shell out a bit more to eat at a restaurant.

Now, a quarter of the restaurants in the county used the Shen family's veggies.

The rest wanted to but hadn't gotten on the list yet.

With eight acres of land, there was no way they could supply every restaurant and tavern in the whole county.

Qingyun Town, being right there and getting the first pick, plus Shopkeeper Xu's early introduction, had just about all its restaurants using the Shen family's veggies.

A few places that were shady in how they ran things had been turned down by the Shen family.

When the Shen family heard the visitor was a shopkeeper from a neighboring county's restaurant, they all got a bit nervous.

They had a bad history with restaurant shopkeepers showing up in person.

Sure, they'd gotten compensation later, but they'd rather have earned steady, safe money from the start.

Since the guy came to talk business and Xu Xiaoshan brought him, the Shen family treated them well.

The shopkeeper was sincere. The neighboring county was farther than any town in their own, and he even offered to pay for the boat transport if they delivered the veggies, all just to lock in a deal with the Shen family.

To seal the deal, the shopkeeper even sweetened the pot.

"I'll order your veggies at double the current price. We genuinely want this deal, so please give it some real thought."

The Shen family's veggies were already priced fifty percent above market—really pricey. Now the other side was willing to double that again. Shen Song couldn't help wondering what price the dishes would have to sell at to make a profit.

Shen Song had never eaten at a restaurant and didn't know their prices, so he couldn't work it out.

The other side had shown their sincerity and waited for the Shen family to answer.

Shen Chong spoke up, starting with an apology. "Shopkeeper Liu, I'm really sorry. I get how you feel. I can see you're sincere about this deal, but the veggies from our fields are already promised to the restaurants we've signed contracts with. We really can't spare any for yours."

He didn't shut the door all the way, leaving a small opening to save face for the other side. "Shopkeeper Liu, maybe you could wait until we expand our fields next time. When we do, we'll be sure to let your restaurant know."

Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said, "Young Master Shen, you might not know this, but business in the county seat isn't easy. Especially since our Kelai Restaurant has the Chen Family Restaurant right across the street. They compete with us every single day.

Whenever we put out a new dish, the Chen Family Restaurant has it on their menu the very next day. They've gone after all our kitchen staff and waiters—some left, some stayed."

With that, Shopkeeper Liu sighed and said apologetically, "Look at me, rambling on about all that again. These days, the Chen Family Restaurant has been driving me crazy, so I can't help complaining wherever I go. I even ended up telling you all today. Please don't laugh at me for being useless."

The Shen family smiled awkwardly and said of course not, no way. Shen Chong knew full well that Shopkeeper Liu was deliberately bringing up the Chen Family Restaurant in front of them.

He was hinting that they had a common enemy, that they were on the same side.

At this point, the mood was a bit tense.

The Shen family really hadn't lied to Shopkeeper Liu—they couldn't spare any veggies from their fields.

Shen Chong wanted to refuse again, but before he could say anything, Shen Dashu, who never spoke up on stuff like this, suddenly said, "Let us talk this over first."

Shopkeeper Liu readily agreed and went with Xu Xiaoshan to the carriage parked outside the fenced yard.

Now it was just the Shen family left in the room.

Zhou Gu couldn't hold it in and spoke up first, "That Shopkeeper Liu's last words sounded a bit off to me. Isn't he not just trying to order veggies but trying to drag us into fighting the Chen Family Restaurant with him?"

Xu Hongmei thought for a moment and said, "It does seem that way. But in the end, our beef with the Chen Family Restaurant ended after they paid up, right? I haven't seen them cause us any trouble since."

Shen Jue laughed and added, "Not only have they not caused us trouble—they've been quiet as the grave. They haven't shown their face at all."

Shen Lin chimed in, "Yeah, exactly."

After shooting the breeze for a bit, Shen Chong asked Shen Dashu, "Father, what did you want to talk about?"

"I was thinking we should buy more uncultivated land," Shen Dashu said.

Except for Shen Song and Chi Jiu, everyone else in the Shen family stared at Shen Dashu in surprise, not getting why he suddenly wanted to buy more land.

Shen Chong frowned a little and asked softly, "Didn't we say we'd play it safe? The family's income is already pretty good now. Isn't it fine to just keep going like this? Why does Father want to buy more land and expand the business?"

The Shen family was now clearing nearly two taels of silver a day. After taxes, they could put away over forty taels a month.

Forty-plus taels—in the past, the whole family working hard for over ten years might not have saved that much. Now they could save that in a single month. Even after covering food, clothes, and daily expenses, they could put away over five hundred taels a year.

What a huge amount of money!

Having this much money in the family was already more than satisfying, and they didn't want to make any changes lightly.

Shen Dashu looked at Shen Chong. The old man's slightly cloudy eyes held a determined glint as he said, "Father wants to pay for your schooling."

When the family heard Shen Dashu say that, they all stared at Shen Chong, dumbfounded.

Shen Chong was stunned, frozen in place.

"Father, why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"

"I'm the one who sent you to the Li family school back then, and I saw how seriously you took your studies there. These days, Li Geng always brings you books to read, and the way you flip through them is just like you did as a kid."

Shen Dashu rarely talked this much, but he genuinely wanted to support his fifth son's education.

Education was a big deal.

It took the whole family, even the whole clan, to support.

Now the Shens understood why he wanted to expand the vegetable business.

Liu Chunxia smacked Shen Dashu, scolding him for not talking it over with her first.

Shen Dashu's back stung from the slap, and he winced, then asked the family what they thought.

Shen Song immediately spoke up: "Fifth Brother, if you want to study, go for it. I can make the new wasteland grow great veggies and sell them for plenty of money. Just focus on your studies, don't worry about anything."

On this planet, people didn't live long, and in such limited time, he didn't want his fifth brother to give up something he loved just because of money.

Shen Chong's eyes welled up a little, but he said nothing.

Shen Zhun's voice was steady and firm, and he said only a few words: "Xiao Wu, your second brother's got the strength. Go study."

Shen Jing also added: "Big Brother's leg is healing well. At most another year, and he'll be back working the fields too. If you want to, go for it. Leave the farm work to Big Brother."

"Fifth Brother, studying is a good thing. I heard that if you pass the county exam and become a scholar, our land could be tax-free—imagine how much money that'd save! And if you become a provincial graduate, even the head tax gets waived. Fifth Brother, hurry up and go study, earn a title, and get our family tax exemptions." Shen Jue rattled off a bunch of benefits of studying and earning a title—and those were just the ones he knew; there were plenty more he didn't.

But no matter what, something so many people wanted couldn't be bad.

Shen Lin nodded seriously, "Exactly."

"Fifth Brother, Second Brother may not say much, but he and I feel the same way. You're the smartest in our family, and the way you talk and carry yourself is so scholarly. You were born for this. It'd be a waste not to study. The family isn't as strapped as before—if you really want to study, go for it."

Zhou Gu had always thought Shen Chong was different from your typical farmer.

In the past, with the family so poor, you didn't even dare to think about such a difference.

Now that things were looking up, if Fifth Brother could earn some title—nothing fancy, even just a scholar would do—

Then the family would have an extra layer of protection!

Xu Hongmei and Liu Chunxia also chimed in, saying the same thing: as long as Shen Chong was willing, they'd support his studies.

Shen Chong, who'd been keeping his head down, felt his shoulders tremble a little. Li Maizi quietly reached out, his calloused hand covering Shen Chong's, and Shen Chong turned his hand over to hold it.

Li Maizi gathered his courage and said softly, "Fifth Brother, the kids and I are all willing to support you."

A warm tear fell on the back of his hand and quickly went cold.

Shen Chong raised a hand to wipe his eyes.

The Shens fell silent, waiting for his answer.

Shen Chong stood up and knelt deeply before his family. His voice was hoarse, his eyes red. "I won't let the family's support go to waste. I'll earn a title and repay you all."

After more than ten years, he could finally study again.

The Shens told Manager Liu they could agree to supply vegetables, but they really needed a few more months—they had to buy land and expand the business.

Manager Liu tried every argument but couldn't get the Shens to spare any vegetables from other sources. In the end, the Shens nearly thought Manager Liu would get angry, like the Chen family had, and do them harm.

But instead, Manager Liu smiled and pulled out a contract, saying he wanted to sign it first.

"No matter what I offered to tempt you, your family didn't budge an inch. Working with people like you puts my mind at ease."

The Shens breathed a sigh of relief, checked the contract, and signed it.

Next came buying more land.

This time, the Shens planned to buy twenty mu of wasteland.

Still in the same area as the vegetable plots, all in one stretch.

Shen Chong and Shen Song went to the government office, where Liu Xiaoping saw them as usual.

The Shens brought Liu Xiaoping a basket of melons and vegetables.

Liu Xiaoping beamed at the basket.

Seeing that the Shens wanted to buy twenty mu of wasteland at the foot of the mountain, he whispered, "If you've got the money, buy as much as you can."

Shen Chong noticed Liu Xiaoping's gaze flick toward another room—the office of another clerk who handled land deeds.

He lowered his eyes, thinking, and quickly understood what he meant.

By now, the Shens' vegetables were so well-known that hardly anyone in Yunxi County hadn't heard of them.

Because Xiao Ba knew Lord Xie, and even the Chen family from the prefectural city had suffered a loss at their hands without success—a lesson to others, so to speak.

Since then, no matter how many people were tempted, they had to hold back.

Unless they were more powerful than the Chen family, they didn't even have the right to try.

Unable to get their hands on the vegetables, they would naturally turn their attention to the land.

Those people suspected the land itself was special and wanted to test it.

Shen Chong thanked Liu Xiaoping for the reminder, thought it over, and added another ten mu of wasteland. That was all the silver the family could spare—any more was impossible.

The Shens newly purchased thirty mu of wasteland, which, added to the original eight mu, gave them thirty-eight mu of vegetable plots.

With the freshly issued land deed in hand, Shen Chong returned with the village head and the li chief, while Shen Song still had to go to the Xie residence for his calligraphy lessons.

You An was already waiting at the back gate. "Young master, we're going to the study today."

Shen Song said okay and followed You An.

The study door was closed today. You An said to Shen Song, "Young master, just go straight in."

He pushed the door open, and Shen Song stepped over the threshold into the study. You An closed the door behind him and waited in the courtyard.

Inside the study, Xie Zhiyu wore a robe of water-red brocade, its surface smooth and lustrous, with auspicious cranes and golden clouds above hidden twining floral patterns. He wore a gold-inlaid hairpin adorned with turquoise, a jade pendant at his waist, rings on his fingers, and a gold bracelet on his wrist.

Every inch of him was exquisite, and as sunlight streamed through the window, he seemed to glow all over.

Shen Song approached, his eyes never leaving Xie Zhiyu. "Xie Zhiyu, how many characters are we learning today?"

Xie Zhiyu put down his book. "Three words."

Shen Song stood beside Xie Zhiyu, watching him write.

[In the mountains there are trees, and the trees have branches.]

"Xie Zhiyu, that's seven words."

"The word 'you' is repeated, and you've already learned 'shan' and 'mu'. You can count, but you can't read?"

Shen Song looked more carefully and realized it was true. He let out a sheepish laugh. "I didn't look close enough."

Xie Zhiyu grunted in acknowledgment and said nothing more.

Shen Song waited for a while, but Xie Zhiyu remained silent.

He pointed at the words on the paper, looked up at Xie Zhiyu, and reminded him, "I don't know all of them yet. Why aren't you reading them to me?"

Xie Zhiyu's Adam's apple bobbed, and he had the air of a strict teacher. "Don't look at me. Look at the words."

"Okay." Shen Song obediently looked at the words.

Xie Zhiyu lowered his gaze, his eyes fixed on Shen Song's profile. His voice was low, and his ears turned red. "In the mountains there are trees, and the trees have branches."

Shen Song repeated after him. "In the mountains there are trees, and the trees have branches."

"What does that mean, Xie Zhiyu? There are trees in the mountains, and the trees have branches?" Shen Song then rejected his own interpretation, recalling what Xie Zhiyu had taught him before about the meaning of the word "mu." "No, 'mu' means tree too. This sentence means: in the mountains there are trees, and the trees have branches!"

"Am I right?" He turned his head, eyes bright, and saw Xie Zhiyu quickly look away, his ears red to the tips.

"Yeah, that's what it means," Xie Zhiyu said.

Shen Song stared at Xie Zhiyu's ears and asked curiously, "Is your ear bothering you? Why's it so red?"

Xie Zhiyu frowned, turned back, and said gruffly, "Don't look at me. Look at the words."

Shen Song had no choice but to turn and stare at the words for a while, then started practicing.

After writing several sheets of paper, Shen Song had learned all the words.

After eating, Shen Song went home.

He went to the vegetable fields to see how things were going.

Some of the Shen family were busy in the fields, while others had gone with Liu Xiaoping, the village head, and the elders to measure out the boundaries of the Shen family's new land.

As Shen Song passed Zhao Feiyi's herb field, he saw the crops were growing well.

Zhao Feiyi, cooling off in the grass shed and reading a medical book, saw Shen Song and smiled, waving him over.

Shen Song ran over. "You've really taken good care of this place."

Zhao Feiyi smiled. "It's because the land here is good. I took care of it just as carefully before, but it never grew this well."

He was here almost every day. He knew about the Shen family building the Land God shrine at the foot of the mountain. There was only one path, and everyone passed by here, so it was hard not to know.

The shrine, which came up to a person's shin, was built in just one day.

Before dawn the next day, people were already coming to offer incense.

Zhao Feiyi sent his apprentice to find out the full story behind the Land God. He was growing crops on the Shen family's land, and compared to before, it was hard not to believe it.

So every day, he'd also go to the shrine and place a stick of incense into the burner in front of it.

Shen Song smiled. Seeing the book in Zhao Feiyi's hand, he said cheerfully, "I can recognize quite a few words now. Before long, I should be able to read books on my own."

Zhao Feiyi smiled warmly. "How many words do you know?"

Shen Song thought for a moment. "Too many to count. Today I learned three more. I pick up words quickly, so it shouldn't be long before I can read."

"I'll show you the three words I learned today—actually, it's a whole sentence. After writing it a few times, I've got it all memorized."

Shen Song couldn't wait to show off. At home, besides his fifth brother and Xiao Jiu, no one else could read. He'd shown them before, but today he was showing someone outside the family, and he was thrilled.

He used a small twig to write carefully, stroke by stroke, and read each word aloud as he wrote. "Shan, you, mu, xi, mu, you, zhi."

"See? Did I write it well?" Shen Song looked forward to praise.

Zhao Feiyi looked at the scrawled words on the ground and honestly couldn't say they were good. But he couldn't bear to discourage Shen Song either, so he smiled and said, "Not bad. Did you only learn this one line from the poem?"

"Poem?" Shen Song hadn't expected to have learned a poem. He stared at the words on the ground, then looked at Zhao Feiyi, and asked excitedly, "What's the whole thing?"

Zhao Feiyi recited the whole thing for Shen Song.

After hearing it, Shen Song's head was spinning.

He couldn't understand any of it.

He was about to ask what the poem meant so he could understand it, but before he could speak, he heard his eldest sister-in-law calling from the field ridge, "Xiao Ba! Come home quick! More people have come to order vegetables!"

"Coming!"

Shen Song said goodbye to Zhao Feiyi, ran to the field ridge, and headed home with his eldest sister-in-law.

Manager Liu's movements didn't go unnoticed by the other restaurants in the county. He came yesterday, and today people from other restaurants showed up.

Except for the Chen family's place.

The Shen family had already made it clear they wouldn't sell their vegetables to the Chen family anymore.

The Shen family had suddenly bought thirty mu of wasteland, so their business was bound to expand.

For the restaurants that came, contracts were signed with all who could sign.

The Shen family gained several dozen taels in deposits.

Each family paid without hesitation, afraid the Shen family would turn them down.

Once the wasteland boundaries were marked, Shen Song went early in the morning to use his Land Blessing Art.

Strangely enough, this time he was able to infuse energy into all thirty mu of land at once.

In the past, it would've taken several days.

Shen Song tested his mental energy and found it was the same as before.

He thought it over and over, and suddenly thought of a special kind of energy fluctuation—faith power.

Running to the Land God shrine, Shen Song calmed his mind and sensed the energy fluctuations. There really was some there!

He looked at the earth temple, then at his own hands.

So he could draw on the faith power in the earth temple, convert it into energy, and infuse it into the soil?

Shen Song smiled happily.

Although he couldn't use this energy himself, he could put it into the soil—the people gave their faith, and he gave back to the people. This was wonderful!

Shen Song suddenly wondered if there really were gods.

The planet he lived on in his previous life, though highly advanced and possessing what now seemed like mystical superpowers, must also have had civilizations far more advanced than theirs.

Perhaps the gods were there, or perhaps they weren't.

Shen Song shook off these fanciful thoughts. It was time to start his day.

Chi Jiu delivered Shen Song to the Xie residence. Today, not only did he bring vegetables for Xie Zhiyu, but also a *dan* (a unit of grain) of white rice.

The old Shen couple had grown it themselves and had just finished husking it. They told Shen Song to deliver one *dan* to the Xie residence today and another to Qi Yuanjing's place.

A servant from the Xie residence came out to carry the rice inside, while Chi Jiu took the remaining *dan* to the Qi residence.

The servants brought the rice and vegetables to the kitchen, and Shen Song followed You An to the study as usual.

Xie Zhiyu was dressed in red again today, though a shade lighter than bright red and deeper than yesterday's water-red hue. Still magnificently noble and dazzling to the eye.

Shen Song trotted over to Xie Zhiyu's side and tilted his head up to smile at him. "Hehe, Xie Zhiyu, you'll never guess how awesome I am."

Xie Zhiyu asked, "How awesome?"

Shen Song raised a delicate eyebrow, brimming with confidence. "I know that what you taught me yesterday was one line from a poem, and I've already memorized the next line."

Seeing Xie Zhiyu spacing out, he quickly poked him. "Snap out of it—listen to me recite the poem."

The moment Xie Zhiyu looked at him, Shen Song recited in a clear, earnest voice: "The mountain has trees, the trees have branches; my heart delights in you, but you don't know!"

After finishing, Shen Song immediately asked, "I got it right, didn't I?"

Xie Zhiyu lowered his gaze to Shen Song, his eyes dark and deep, his voice low and husky. "Do you know what that means?"

"Yeah." Shen Song nodded.

Xie Zhiyu tilted his head slightly. "What's it mean?"

"The mountain has trees, the trees have branches. A person's heart is glad, but the other person doesn't know."

That was Shen Song's interpretation, which he'd pondered all night, following the way the previous line was explained and deriving the meaning of the next line from the surface words.

He couldn't understand the poem, so he hadn't remembered the earlier lines. The last line resembled the previous one, so he'd managed to remember it.

This was the first poem he'd ever learned, and Shen Song wanted Xie Zhiyu to explain the earlier lines so he could understand and memorize them.

After hearing Shen Song's explanation of the poem's meaning, Xie Zhiyu looked up helplessly and shut his eyes.

What had he been expecting?

After receiving the rice, Qi Yuanjing rode straight over to the Xie residence.

He'd hoped to see Shen Song, but he'd just missed him.

These past few days, Qi Yuanjing had been busy making medicine and hadn't been to the Xie residence much. Remembering that Xie Zhiyu had taken a liking to Shen Song, he went to find him.

In the study, Xie Zhiyu was sorting through the scrap paper Shen Song had been practicing on.

Shen Song's handwriting was especially large, so you could see at a glance what was written on each sheet.

Qi Yuanjing pressed down on one sheet, his eyes widening. "Oh my god, in just a few days you two have gotten to the point where he's writing you love poems?"

Xie Zhiyu told Qi Yuanjing coldly to let go.

"Fine, fine, why are you so harsh? Isn't he writing you love poems? Why do you still look unhappy?"

Xie Zhiyu gave a cold laugh and told Qi Yuanjing what Shen Song thought it meant.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Qi Yuanjing couldn't stop cracking up.

Xie Zhiyu's face got colder and colder.

Qi Yuanjing could barely suppress his laughter. "That's the Shen Song I know. Ah, with Song Geer's brain, if you don't spell it out for him, he'll never figure it out on his own. You should stop with these hints."

"These count as hints?"

Qi Yuanjing said, "He can't read, so he has no idea what the poem actually means. You can recite it a thousand times, write it a thousand times, but if Song Geer doesn't get it, he just doesn't get it."

Xie Zhiyu said nothing, staring down as if lost in thought.

Qi Yuanjing sat down, his smile fading and his tone turning serious. "I haven't been here these past few days—partly because I've been busy, and partly because I wanted you to think things over properly. So, how do you really feel about Shen Song?"

Xie Zhiyu asked him, "What do you mean?"

"When a man takes an interest in a boy, there are a few possibilities. One is just admiring from afar, one is just playing around, and one is marrying him as a spouse." Qi Yuanjing glanced at the ugly handwriting on the paper and said, "You don't seem like the first type. So is it the second or the third?"

Xie Zhiyu frowned, unable to say the second or the third.

He just gravitated toward him instinctively.

Qi Yuanjing sighed and said, "If it's the second, then Song Geer at least won't be in danger. If it's the third, Xie Ba, you need to clean up that mess in the capital. He genuinely saved my life, and he saved yours too. Don't actually hurt him."

Xie Zhiyu closed his eyes, holding back his emotions. "I know."

When Shen Song got home, he found that someone had come to visit.

She had a red mole between her brows and was a somewhat older boy.

Dressed in garish colors, she kept smiling at him, speaking loudly and rapidly.

Shen Song's mother pulled him over, smiling, and introduced the woman across from him. "Xiao Ba, this is a matchmaker."