The grain seeds have sprouted.

And Li Xuhai didn't let us down either.

These past few days, he and his fellow clansmen have gone to the fields again to plow them. This time, plowing was much easier than when they were clearing land.

Firstly, they cleared the land before the New Year, and the land was thoroughly tilled.

Secondly, there was a heavy snowfall at the end of the year, and the melting snow moistened the soil. In addition, Li Xuhai also diverted water for irrigation.

The soil became very soft, and after he led the people to plow it again, the changes in the fields were even more pleasing.

Following Pan Jinhua's instructions, Li Xuhai piled up the mud in one corner of the one-acre plot higher so that the water wouldn't reach it.

Once everything in the field was ready, the hanging cloth bags were finally lowered. Some of the tender sprouts of the grain seeds pierced through the bags and stretched out, yearning for a new world.

The sprouted grain seeds were poured into a wooden bucket and carefully spread on the field by the Li family. Finally, they were covered with dry straw.

The dry straw was borrowed from villagers by the Li family. It's only because the Li family helped the villagers make a lot of money that no one would lend out dry straw.

In this poor place, even this thing is considered property.

Even so, after this year's rice harvest, they will have to dry the rice stalks and return them.

That's a bit of a tangent.

The Li family spent nearly half a month busy with breeding, plowing, and spreading the seeds.

Some villagers were curious about what the Li family was doing, seeing them busy in the fields so early in the morning. Later they learned that they were sowing grain seeds.

Zhao Qi was terrified when he heard this, and immediately ran to Li's house with several villagers to persuade him.

When Li Xuming saw them coming, he was still confused. His mother and Li Xuhai had always been in charge of the farming. They did whatever the two of them said.

After all, his mother had been growing flowers for so many years, and Xu Hai also had experience in farming. The other families were all novices; they had collected rent before, but had no experience in farming.

Seeing the villagers of Shuxia Village so agitated, Li Xuming panicked for a moment.

"How can you plant grain like this...?"

"That's what I mean, how come the whole thing was planted?"

"Uh, we've planted them all."

"This won't do, this won't do! It's not time yet. If the seeds don't sprout by then, it'll all be wasted."

"Huh?"

It won't sprout?

"Uncles and elders, please stop, please stop." Li Xuming raised his hands and pressed them down.

With so many people talking, he got confused.

"Uncles, have you misunderstood something? My grain seeds have all sprouted."

"What misunderstanding? There's no misunderstanding at all."

"What?!" Zhao Qi took a step forward and grabbed Li Xuming by the collar, his eyes wide with fury, startling Li Xuming. What had he said wrong?

"Your grain seeds have sprouted? Did I hear that right?"

The scene fell silent for a moment, then suddenly became even more chaotic.

Has it really sprouted?

"How could it possibly sprout?"

"Are you kidding us?"

"If you don't know how to plant it, just ask us. Everyone learns gradually. Just ask us whatever you want, there's no need to hide anything from us anymore."

"Sigh, this grain seed is probably going to go to waste. We need to hurry up and buy some more, otherwise it will be a disaster if it delays the spring planting."

Many villagers were frustrated and disappointed. The grain seeds sprouted? They didn't believe it; they were definitely trying to cover it up.

The grain seeds should be sown in the fields after the first spring rain, allowing them to sprout slowly. Now, before the time is right, the Li family has sown the seeds, and as you can imagine, few will sprout, requiring replanting later.

Li Xuming felt helpless because no one believed him, and he knew nothing about farming.

"Uncles and elders, I'm not lying. I really don't know anything about farming; my mother and a cousin are in charge of the fields. But we all participated in sowing the seeds, and we sowed seeds that had already sprouted—that's absolutely true!"

Li Xuming's words were resounding, but the villagers still didn't believe him, though they ultimately said nothing.

"Now that it's sprouted, could we take a look at the grain seeds?"

Zhao Qi is still capable. Since you said it has sprouted, can we take a look?

Whether it's true or false, you'll know at a glance. If it really is true, Zhao Qi's heart burned with excitement at the thought.

With a helpless expression, Li Xuming led everyone into the field.

He's figured it out now. The villagers meant that it was impossible to plant anything right now and that they had to wait a while longer, but his family had not only already planted, but the seeds they planted had already sprouted.

Although he didn't know how his mother and Li Xuhai had managed it, he pretended to be even more helpless on the surface, but inside he was overjoyed.

An indescribable feeling of comfort swept through his entire body. If he were in modern times, he would probably know that he was about to be slapped in the face, and how could he not feel good about being slapped in the face?

A group of seven or eight people headed in a grand procession towards the Li family's land.

Since the seeds were planted, Li Xuhai has been guarding the field every day, afraid of missing even the slightest change in the seeds.

When I suddenly saw Brother Ming leading a group of people over, I thought something had happened.

"Brother Ming, what are you doing?"

Li Xuhai pointed to the villagers behind him, who were coming in a menacing manner.

"Brother Hai, these uncles want to see our grain seeds. Could you lift a corner and show them to them?"

Li Xuhai looked troubled. Should he look or not?

“It’s alright. These uncles are just worried that we don’t know how to farm and will ruin the seeds. Let us show them so they can feel at ease.”

Li Xuming noticed Li Xuhai's doubts, but he didn't think it was a big deal. After all, the other party had come with good intentions, so it wouldn't hurt to take a look.

When Li Xuhai saw him say that, he quickly waved his hand.

“Our crops are growing very well. I’m here watching over them every day. How could I not know?”

He turned to look at Zhao Qi and the others again. The matter of grain seeds was of great importance, but his aunt said that they should expand their influence and the more people who knew about it, the better, so that no one would take credit for it. In a flash, Li Xuhai felt that he had found the key. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity?

He gave a simple, honest smile: "Come, come, uncles, please don't touch it. I'll uncover it for you, and you can just watch from the edge of the field."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xuhai turned around and went down into the field. His feet sank deep into the mud, showing how carefully he had tended the land, which was still wasteland last year.

Li Xuhai carefully lifted the straw beside him, revealing the rice seeds underneath.

As soon as the dry yellow straw was lifted, tender green shoots emerged. The millet grains stretched out their tender buds, their slender roots digging into the mud. The green shoots struggled upwards, trying to break through the straw above them to see the sunlight, starlight, sunrise, and sunset.

Wow~

The crowd gasped in amazement.

"It really sprouted! I'm not kidding!"

"How did you do that?"

The villagers were extremely excited; the sooner the sprouts appeared, the sooner they could harvest. What farmer wouldn't be excited?