Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 55 One Thing After Another

The ox cart trundled into Luo Family Village, with a gaggle of children chasing behind it down the main street, pushing and pulling each other, giggling softly as they debated whose house to visit.

Once within the village, Feng Xi halted the ox cart and summoned a child over, asking, "Where can I find your village head? If you answer correctly, these sweets will be yours."

"I know where the village head’s house is. I’ll take you there." A skinny little boy clothed in patched garments raised his hand and replied to Feng Xi.

"All right, then these sweets are yours to enjoy." Feng Xi gave a thumbs up just like Feng Xuxu would. Yet again, his sister had outsmarted him coming up with this idea.

Through interaction with the children, Feng Xuxu learned that the village head of Luo Family Village was Luo Jiabao. He was about forty-seven years old and lived on the eastern side of the village.

Walking through the village, Feng Xuxu noticed not a single house was a large, tiled building; all were long-neglected old homes. The child she’d been chatting with was actually ten years old, though she would have guessed him only five, an indication of the village’s extreme poverty.

Once they reached the village head’s gate, Feng Xi approached the decayed wooden door and knocked gently. After a brief moment, a woman’s voice called out, "Who is it, who’s there?"

With a creak, the wooden door slowly opened, revealing a woman dressed in clean, yet patch-covered clothes, who inspected the newcomers—two young people dressed in silk—before asking softly, "Who might you be?"

"Ma’am, we come from Feng Family Village. We apologise for the intrusion but we’ve come to see the village head. May I ask if he is home?" Feng Xuxu stepped forward, placing several jin of pork and two jars of fine wine in the old lady’s hands.

"Oh my, miss, that won’t do at all. You must take these back. My husband’s home, please come with me." The old lady refused the basket from Feng Xuxu, confirming the couple as honest and upright people.

"Who are you?" Luo Xiong, anxious after seeing his mother go out for a while, followed and asked upon seeing Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu.

"Luo Xiong, they’re from Feng Family Village looking for your father," the old lady pointed out to Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu.

"Oh, then come inside." Luo Xiong stepped aside to let Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu enter.

"Father, someone’s here looking for you, from Feng Family Village," Luo Xiong reported to Luo Jiabao, who was sitting in the Taishi Chair, as he topped up his father’s bowl with water.

Village Head Luo waved a hand and asked Feng Xi, sitting below him, "You are from Feng Family Village, what business do you have with Luo here?"

Seeing the kindly expression on Village Head Luo’s face, Feng Xi began, "Uncle Luo, it’s like this. We have more than a thousand mu of land, and we will start sowing tomorrow. We’re wondering if anyone from Luo Family Village would like to help with the work. We’ll pay twenty-five wen per person and include lunch."

Village Head Luo’s eyes widened with surprise but quickly concealed his emotion, "Why are you not hiring from Feng Family Village, but instead coming to our Luo Family Village?"

Feng Xi nodded and explained the circumstances to Village Head Luo, who after listening, fell into silent contemplation for a long while. Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu didn’t rush him, quietly sipping boiled water on the side.

"Fine, but how can I trust you?" Luo Jiabao asked cautiously.

"I can pay the wages in advance." Trading questions and answers, it took half an hour to come to an agreement, after which Feng Xi stood to bid farewell to Village Head Luo.

"Wait a moment, lad, take your things with you. We farmers don’t stand on ceremony," Village Head Luo hindered Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu from leaving.

"Uncle Luo, these are for supplementing the children’s health; adults might hold out, but the kids still need nourishment."

Feng Xi said what was in the heart of Chief Luo. "Okay, then I’ll have the cheek to keep them."

By the time Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu left Luo village, the sun was already setting. After they got home, the pair had a simple meal and then washed up and went to bed, readying themselves for the new day ahead.

The next day dawned clear and bright. Early in the morning, people began streaming towards the fertile land at the base of Nameless Mountain. Each person carried tools, looking ready to get down to work.

The strapping men of the Feng Family village, having heard that many had come to Feng Xi and Feng Xuxu’s land—six or seventy people—hastened to take a look. They were astonished to find a crowd black as a pressure of seventy people or more.

At Feng Xi’s command, the field became bustling with activity as Feng Xuxu occasionally instructed on how to plant the chili seedlings.

By the end of the morning, some people had mastered the technique, and the afternoon’s work went quicker. By the evening, when work ceased, a wide expanse of green chili seedlings had been planted in the ground.

Feng Xuxu did some quick calculations and estimated that around one hundred and fifty mu had been planted that day. At this rate, the job would likely be done in about five days.

The night was quiet and still, with the moon perched upon the tree branches, two sneaky shadows bypassed the villagers’ homes and headed straight for the fields.

It was not yet fully light when Feng Xuxu’s door was knocked upon.

"Feng Xuxu, come out, you need to come out quickly," uneven shouts came from outside the courtyard gate.

After getting up, Feng Xuxu saw Feng Xi in the courtyard too, then joined her eldest brother to open the door. "Feng Xuxu, look, all these fish seedlings are dead, and the rice seedlings in the field are starting to yellow. They’re about to die. Tell us, what should we do?" Feng Da’s wife, carrying a basket of fish seedlings, dropped them at Feng Xuxu’s feet, scattering dead seedlings all over the ground.

"Yeah, ours are all dead too, just like elder sister-in-law’s," Feng Fang’s wife, Lady Feng Zhao, added, rolling her eyes alongside.

"Not just your homes, ours as well; what are we supposed to do now?" Lady Feng Li, wife of Feng Gang, also wore a face of deep concern.

"Sisters-in-law, it’s the same in our house. Tell me, how are we to live on?" Feng Guang’s wife, Lady Feng Wu, just plopped down onto the ground, slapping her thigh, and burst into tears.

"Yeah, grandniece, what’s going on? It was all fine yesterday. How did it become like this overnight?" Feng Da, observing Feng Xuxu crouched down looking at the fish, was also at a loss.

"Sigh, if we had known this would happen, we wouldn’t have listened to dad no matter what," Feng Li said, sighing and complaining on the side.

After Feng Li had finished speaking, everyone started a noisy discussion. If only they had known, they would have done things differently...

Feng Xuxu looked at the fish seedlings which appeared to have suffered from poisoning. What kind of poison it was exactly, she was not clear on herself; they needed someone skilled in medicine to determine that. She stood up and shouted at the people, "I said from the start that planting the new variety of rice was voluntary. No one forced you to plant it. Now that a problem has arisen, instead of seeking out the cause, you all just know how to complain. Can complaining solve the current issue?" Feng Xuxu yelled at the people inside the courtyard, frustrated.

"Hey, I’m telling you, Feng Xuxu, what kind of way is that to talk? If it weren’t for your dabbling in this new rice, would we have followed along and planted it?"