"Grandma, the autumn harvest is in a couple of days. I'll find you some helpers."

There are always some people in the town who do odd jobs. During the autumn harvest, there is a shortage of workers, so the wages will increase a bit, but it won't cost much.

Grandma Shen nodded and said, "No need, I'll hire someone myself. I'll just invite people from the village. I know a few people in the village."

Lu Lin thought about it and realized it made sense. When it comes to hiring people to do the work, it's best to ask villagers first. If you can't find anyone, then ask people from other villages. Asking people from other villages directly would be a bit disrespectful to the villagers.

Previously, Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi hired people from other villages to build their house in the countryside, which was only done because the village head said there were no other villagers available.

The matter between Shen Chi and Chen Xiaolai has been settled, and Granny Shen no longer treats Lu Lin as an outsider.

Grandma Shen thought to herself that she hadn't been living in the countryside much lately, so once the grain was harvested and the taxes were paid, she would just bring it here.

Grandma Shen has recently figured out that Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin are supposed to be working for a big boss behind the scenes, but this big boss has never shown his face.

Wan Li's indenture was also signed to Chen Xiaomi. What big boss would give so much power? Granny Chen secretly suspected that the shop belonged to Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi, but she didn't dare to say it. If the shop really belonged to Chen Xiaomi, the old lady of the Chen family would probably jump up and down if she found out.

Grandma Shen thought to herself: If the shop really belongs to Chen Xiaomi, then that's incredible. Before, the villagers only knew that Chen Xiaomi earned two taels of silver a month, and they were already scrambling to marry their children off to Chen Xiaocai. If they knew that Chen Xiaomi was the owner, then even if Chen Xiaocai and her grandson were already engaged, there would still be people coming to propose marriage. There would be old men in the town, and a bunch of young girls offering themselves up.

Grandma Shen kept this guess to herself, secretly worried for her grandson.

With the autumn harvest season fast approaching, Granny Chen couldn't sit still any longer and went to the countryside to check on the land.

Lu Lin didn't have many people with him, so he had Qin Lang accompany him. Qin Lang assured him that there would be no problem.

Qin Ming's injuries have healed, and he's now eager to do chores for Lu Lin.

Lu Lin then had Qin Ming do some errands, and sometimes asked him to keep an eye on Chen Xiaomai.

Qin Lang has become increasingly mature lately; he is a mountain dweller.

Although he is a little young, he already has quite an imposing presence and has been going with the caravan to deliver goods to Liuzhen recently.

It's not even the middle of August yet, but the crops in the fields are already growing quite well. However, most farmers think they can grow a little longer, so they haven't started harvesting yet.

Grandma Shen went for a walk in the fields and decided to get started as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen problems.

Having made up her mind, Granny Shen directly found someone in the village, promising him thirty coins a day to help her.

Many villagers lack land, but there are still quite a few families with surplus labor.

"Grandma Chen, can your crops still grow a little longer?"

Grandma Shen nodded and said, "It can grow any longer, but if it gets caught in a heavy rain, it will turn completely yellow."

"Yes, it should grow even better if it grows any longer. However, if it encounters a rainstorm, the loss will be huge. It's better to cash in now."

Grandma Chen smiled. She also wanted to wait a little longer, but if it took two more days, the villagers would be busy with the autumn harvest, and it would be even harder to find people and borrow tools.

The people that Granny Shen hired were quite honest and kind, and everyone worked very hard.

The people who were invited all felt that Granny Shen had changed. The Shen family used to be poor, and the old lady would take care of the farm work with her grandson. It was nothing like this, where she would casually hire several people to do the work.

This kind of land already has low profit margins, and with taxes to pay and people to hire, the money that can be earned is even less.

Many people in the village know that many of the dolls in this shop were made by Granny Shen. The villagers guessed that Granny Shen had made a lot of money, so she didn't care about the cost of hiring someone. Some people even thought that Granny Shen was not worried about her grandson's future after marrying Chen Xiaolai to Chen Chi, and was benefiting from the future son-in-law.

"Grandma Chen, where did Chenchi go?"

After working in the fields for a while, Granny Shen came back to prepare lunch. Several women who had come to work with the men volunteered to help.

Granny Chen smiled and said, "They've gone out to do business."

The women looked at each other, somewhat surprised. "Trading? Chenchi is so small, and they've already gone out to trade."

Grandma Shen smiled and said, "He's just fooling around."

The journey from Linzhen to Liuzhen was quite long. Grandma Shen had once accompanied a delivery team to visit Liuzhen and had seen the shops there. Although small, they had everything one could need, and the two boys seemed to be doing very well. After visiting once, Grandma Shen felt reassured.

“How can you call it nonsense? Chen Chi is a big shot now. Grandma, you’ll be enjoying a life of luxury from now on.”

Grandma Shen smiled and said, "At your age, you're still enjoying life."

"It's precisely because I'm so old that I should be enjoying my retirement!"

“Grandma Chen, you now have five acres of land, and you live in town, so it’s not easy to manage!” a woman said.

Grandma Shen nodded and said, "Yes, that's why I'm thinking of renting out some of my land."

Grandma Shen has been somewhat worried lately. She's always in town, and if any malicious people secretly pull up her rice seedlings, she won't even know.

If you want the crops to grow well, you have to pay attention to weeding, fertilizing and watering at all times, which is something that can't be done in town.

It was Lu Lin's idea to rent out the land. Granny Shen was also a little reluctant, but with so few people in the family, she had no choice but to accept it.

When the women heard Granny Chen say she wanted to rent land, they were all quite excited. The women who came all had some land at home, and they hoped to rent any available land.

After Grandma Shen finished harvesting the grain, she transported it all to the town.

Lu Lin was somewhat surprised by Granny Shen's actions. However, when he tried to give Granny Shen the money for the grain, she refused. Only after much persuasion did she accept half of it.

This old lady really made a lot of money; she hired so many people. She's quite wealthy and powerful.

"How much does Granny Shen actually earn? She hasn't harvested much from the fields, and she must be spending a lot of money hiring people every day."

"I heard that Granny Shen plans to rent out all her land."

"Tenant land!"

As soon as Zhang Jin got home, he saw several villagers crowding into his house.

"Father, why are there so many people here?" Zhang Jin asked.

Zhang Cheng glanced at Zhang Jin and said, "Grandma Shen said she's too old to farm anymore and wants to rent out all her land. She'd like me to be her witness."

Zhang Jin nodded and said, "I see. How does Granny Chen plan to rent this land?"

"She wanted 40% of the grain, and the rent payment was left to the tenants."

Zhang Cheng nodded and said, "Forty percent isn't much." Many large landowners demanded fifty percent of the grain, so after paying rent, they didn't have much left.

"Has Granny Shen rented out all the land?" Zhang Jin asked.

Zhang Cheng nodded and said, "Yes, all five mu of land have been rented out."

Inside the courtyard.

"Grandma Shen is too kind." The old woman had brought over all the grain she had worked so hard to grow, and Lu Lin felt a little embarrassed.

"It's good that Grandma Chen transported the grain to town. We're not in the countryside most of the year, and if the grain is left there, it might get stolen." Chen Xiaomi was quite open-minded. Now that everyone is family, there's no need to be too formal.

Lu Lin thought about it and agreed. Country folk might not have many bad intentions, but when they're hungry, they're capable of anything. If the grain is left unattended in the countryside, it's quite possible it could be stolen.

"This year's harvest seems to be quite good," Chen Xiaomi said.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, thankfully." Fortunately, we didn't encounter a year of great famine. In history, during years of great famine, there were many cases of refugees wandering around and robbing and looting.

The autumn harvest at Granny Shen's place went very smoothly, but it was a bit different at the Lu family's place. During the autumn harvest season in the village, even the women had to go to the fields. However, Lin Xiuer and Li Fangyue were both pregnant and rarely did any housework, so it was naturally difficult for them to go to the fields.

Lu Chengyu was a scholar, and his family dared not trouble him with farming. The only able-bodied men in the family who could work in the fields were Lu Ming and Lu An.

The old man roughly knew what kind of people his two sons were, so he went to the village to find people to do the work, promising each person twenty-five coins.

Twenty-five coins would be quite generous on ordinary days, but many families were short of manpower during the autumn harvest. However, during the few days of the harvest, it was neither low nor high.

Although they managed to hire someone, people privately discussed that Granny Shen had previously offered thirty coins to hire someone to harvest the crops, while Old Master Lu had only offered twenty-five coins, which seemed rather stingy.

Lu An lost his job, which caused Wang's private savings to dwindle, making her increasingly wary of even that small amount of money.

As soon as the autumn harvest began, Wang started cursing and complaining about the few helpers she had hired. She repeatedly complained that they worked too slowly and demanded that their pay be deducted. Even when the sun was setting, she wouldn't let them leave, insisting that they stay a little longer.

Wang was a woman with a sharp tongue. When Lu Lin's parents were alive, she would often curse and swear at them.

If Lu Lin's parents argued back, Wang would become even more frantic with her curses. Over time, Lu Lin's parents just let Wang curse them. During this period, Lu Ming and Lu An had a lot of arguments. Wang loved both of her sons very much and didn't want to add fuel to the fire. Now that they had hired help for the autumn harvest, Wang vented her pent-up anger on the helpers she had hired. She would complain that one of them was lazy or that the other was ruining the grain, which had all fallen into the ground.

Wang had gotten used to scolding her son and didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

The villagers were paid to work, so they could only endure Wang's scolding. However, behind the scenes, Wang's sharp and mean-spirited rumors spread.

Some people compared Wang Shi to Granny Shen, and the result of the comparison was that Wang Shi was far inferior.