Chapter 99: Le Yi: The Truly Arrogant and Stupid Noble

The unharvested farmland was guarded day and night, so when changes occurred, they were discovered immediately.

The mature rice stalks grew taller again, new rice grains grew on the sparse rice ears, and the originally shriveled rice quickly swelled up and became round and full. In just a few breaths, the rice ears that were as sparse and broken as an old man's teeth grew into a dense bunch, like golden gems falling heavily on the rice, bending the tall rice stalks.

The startled birds circled and chirped, as if surprised by the changes before them.

Outside Shitou Village, Shi Laosan, who was guarding the rice fields, was awakened by the bird's cry. He also let out a scream and crawled into the rice field as if waking from a dream. He stretched out his hand to gesture at the rice that was almost as tall as a man, then picked a plump golden rice grain from the rice ear and put it into his mouth. The unhusked rice had a rough texture, but as long as he used his teeth to break the shell covering the surface, he could taste the fragrant rice inside. It was crispy and mixed with the freshness of the plants. Only a dozen grains could fill his mouth.

The yield has more than doubled. The two acres of rice fields left at home are equivalent to the more than ten acres harvested before!

"Hurry, hurry up and notify our family and ask them to come over!" Shi Lao San shouted so loudly that his voice was split. "Hurry up!" He kicked his son on the butt and kept urging him to run faster.

"Call the whole family over!"

"And your second uncle's house! Go quickly!"

This rice is eye-catching, but he can't let anyone steal it. He has to guard it.

'Sixth brother, you are my elder brother from now on!' Shi Laosan's mind was in a mess. He was grateful to Shi Laoliu for giving him confidence. Otherwise, he would have harvested the grain early like the others and would not have had the blessing he has today.

The boy from Shi Laosan's family rushed into the village like a fly, shouting all the way and waving people frantically. Most families in their village have left one or two acres of land. At this time, there are many boys like him running into the village. You don't need to look too much to guess what the scene in the village will be like.

Hurry up, faster!

Otherwise, all the sickles stored in the village will be borrowed!

"Grandfather! Uncle! Hurry! Grab your weapons! Our dad is guarding over there! If you're late, you won't be able to catch up!"

Farmers only have two meals a day, and it is meal time now. The women are busy in the stove, and the men are doing physical work at home, carrying water, chopping firewood, repairing fences, and hammering and repairing the roof. They stop immediately when they hear the boy's cry.

“Is there really more food in the fields?!”

"Yes, it's definitely too much! Look at the grass in this yard. Just now it was just small weeds that reached my heels, but now it's almost grown to my thighs. Oh, if it keeps going like this, there will be enough grass to feed the sheep and pigs."

Hurry up, Old Man Shi just took his sons to the village chief to get sickles, and then he saw a large group of people coming towards him. They looked hurried and obviously came to rent sickles to harvest rice.

…

"It's a pity there's no scale here, otherwise I'd have to weigh this acre right here and there!"

Old Man Shi rubbed the soreness from bending over for a long time to harvest, and asked the children in the family to pick up all the rice ears that fell on the ground.

In the past, we could only pick up a small basket of fallen ears of corn, but this time, an acre of land was filled with a large bag, which was so heavy that the short grandson could not even drag it. He could only shout for adults to come and help carry it.

Generally speaking, there were not many people who left grain on the land, but if there was just one such household in a few villages, this miraculous scene could not be concealed. The whole village gathered outside the rice fields laden with rice ears, their eyes almost red with jealousy.

If there weren't a clerk watching over them personally, and if the other party wasn't a large group of people, I'm afraid they really wouldn't be able to resist stealing and robbing.

Such plump rice, if we save it as seeds for next year, how much grain will we harvest?

As long as you plant two acres of land, you will not only have food for the whole family, but also have enough grain to pay taxes. With the rest, you can find some hemp and kudzu. You can plant whatever is valuable. Whether you sell it or keep it for yourself to make clothes, it will be great.

"I originally kept a few acres of land, but someone said that the Xiang family also took the land, so I harvested those acres!" Some people regretted it so much that they beat their chests and stamped their feet, slapping their thighs and crying.

"Me too, I've already been pregnant for four days! If I just stay a few more days, I'll be pregnant!"

"Xiang misled me!"

An almost shrill cry erupted nearby, and several men and women hurried over and threw themselves on the edge of the field, wailing loudly. They all felt as if their parents had died, and the sky had fallen and the earth had collapsed, causing those who had been shouting in regret to stop.

"My rice!"

"It's all your fault! It was you who said that several wealthy families in the city were buying grain at high prices and asked our family to harvest it early so that we could sell it! It's all your fault!" The white-haired old father beat his youngest son whom he loved the most. With hateful eyes and raised hands, he didn't seem to be treating his own son, but more like an enemy.

"His family just finished harvesting rice yesterday." Someone next to him whispered something.

"Yesterday?! Oh my god, it's only one day away!"

In comparison, the ones I had collected for several days didn't seem that bad. When I touched my chest, the regret that made me feel heartbroken had faded a lot.

Sure enough, happiness comes from comparison.

If someone were worse off than me, life wouldn’t be so hard.

…

In the city, Xiang’s residence.

Le Yi and Cheng Ran were helped up by Xiang family servants. The green plants in front of them grew wildly as if they were being urged to grow. In a short while, they occupied most of the yard. The precious flowers and plants that were originally just decorations on both sides of the road grew into wild flowers and weeds with bared fangs and claws before their eyes.

Although I haven't seen the situation on the earth with my own eyes, just by looking at the scene in front of me, I can imagine what kind of wonderful and terrible changes will happen.

The grain they bought at a high price...

The farmers who were deceived by them and harvested their crops early...

Le Yi shuddered. He couldn't imagine how much regret the person who lost the opportunity to get rich would have, and how much hatred this regret would turn into.

He looked back at Xiang Liang, the wise and intelligent man he had once thought of. Apart from being shocked and worried, he did not seem to be panicking at all. It seemed that he had not figured out his impending fate.

Le Yi withdrew his gaze, head drooping dejectedly. He then turned his head to look at Cheng Ran, his longtime friend and foe. From this angle, he couldn't see his face clearly, but from the bulging veins on his fingers holding the tea bowl, the white knuckles from exertion, he could tell... he was panicking.

"Mr. Xiang, we two have urgent matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave first." Le Yi stood up and dragged Cheng Ran up, then casually bowed and left, not even bothering to respond to the other party's return gesture.

This seemingly smart but actually stupid person can't even see the current situation clearly. Oh, or maybe they just look down on the untouchables.

Arrogant nobleman.

Wait to die!

The two left in a hurry, and as soon as they got home, they quickly packed up their belongings and left overnight with their families under the pretext of an autumn outing.

Bah, what running away? They just went out to avoid the limelight for a while.

I was happy to let my eyes wander around my beautiful mansion, and then reluctantly turned my gaze away. Alas, when I come back in a while, I might not see it anymore, so I didn't want to take another look.

Compared with the determination to cut off one's own arm and the willingness to act decisively, although Cheng Ran understood the situation, he was reluctant to give up such a huge family business. He reluctantly opened the warehouse to transport food to the secret base, gathered manpower and servants, and closed the walls of each gate. He took his family and hid in a farm on the outskirts of the city.

Then he heard that Xiang Liang beat to death and threw out the tenant who came to seek justice.

Cheng Ran: Ah?

If we don't appease him now, we will only add fuel to the fire.

…

Xiang's supervisor, holding a whip, led his men around the settlements, with the grain carts piled high behind him filled with golden rice.

The day for harvesting grain set by his family had arrived, and the supervisor was collecting the new grain from each household. A huge bucket was placed in the most conspicuous place on the grain cart. It was the measuring instrument used for harvesting grain.

They are all one dou of grain, but the difference between one dou and another is huge.

Big bucket goes in, small bucket takes out.

This is just a trivial trick used by the wealthy and nobles.

This was a common scene for the tenants, but for some reason, looking at the rice buckets piled with pointed grains, they found it so glaring and unbearable.

"Manager, please be kind and stop trying to stand out. The harvest is early this year, but the fields haven't produced much. Please leave us a little more food. My whole family has worked for the Xiang family for several lifetimes. Just this once, just this once, I beg you." The old tenant fell to the supervisor's feet and begged again and again.

He was kicked over, and the rough whip fell on his head and face, leaving blood marks.

"Bah! Shameless thing!"

The supervisor's fierce gaze swept across the faces of the group of people dragging sacks of grain. He spat, "Anyone else trying to steal or underpay their grain? Stand up!"

He tapped his feet, pacing back and forth. "The master gave you land to farm and food to eat, yet some people are so ungrateful that they even harbor resentment, blaming the master for not giving them a chance to make a fortune. Huh? Tell me, is this reasonable?"

"Ah? Is that reasonable?"

Some people lowered their heads in shame, reflected on their words and actions, and blamed themselves for blaming the host.

If they had not become tenants of the Xiang family, they would have become refugees without land or houses, and would have died and rotted in some unknown corner.

But more people are dissatisfied. They only need to wait a few more days to increase their yield several times, and have high-quality seeds that can feed their whole family by planting only a few acres next year. But now, it's all gone!

Everyone was angry but dared not say anything. They could only watch the supervisor leave with the food that had just been brought into the house a few days ago.

Due to the huge gap in military power, all the dissatisfaction and resentment of the tenants were suppressed, and the settlement returned to its former tranquility.

Until a few bags of food were delivered from Stone Village.

After discussing with his brothers, Shi Lao San felt that they were able to hold on until now thanks to Shi Lao Liu, who sold himself to Xiang family and sent back messages to persuade them several times. Otherwise, they would have followed the crowd and would not have the good life they have today.

"Send some food to Lao Liu. The Xiang family is collecting grain these days, and each time they collect grain, they always keep the amount just enough to keep people from starving. We had no other options before, but now at least we can let our nephew have a full meal."

So there was the scene of people from Shitou Village carrying food over.

It is really rare for outsiders to send food in.

After delivering the grain, the men, women, young and old who have entered the slack season like to join in the fun when they have nothing to do. This is exactly what happened when Shi Lao San was deliberately making a face.

The big, round, orange rice grains are revealed from the opened sack. Just grab a handful and you will be filled with fragrance.

"This bag only requires a small piece of land, just a fraction of an acre." He could increase the volume of his voice to convey the pride in his words to everyone's ears.

A fraction of an acre of land?!

So much grain is just a fraction of one acre of land?

The imagined scene made them jealous.

Since I can't blame myself, I can only find an outlet to vent.

Emotions were instantly ignited.

The anger that had been suppressed flared up again.

Xiang has misled me!

That should have been my food!