“How could a cow like you possibly understand how terrifying human nature can be?” Jiang Nuan sighed softly, reaching out to rub the cow’s head. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In human society, you must follow human rules.”

Moo!

Huang Xiaoliu was not convinced.

“Behave yourself, or I’ll send you back to the palace for the second time,” Jiang Nuan said with a smirk. “Do you know what a second time is? It means being castrated again, completely eradicated.”

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaoliu suddenly clenched his buttocks, then glanced at Jiang Nuan in horror before turning and running away.

“Mother,” Xie said, resting her chin on her hand, “you seem to have frightened it.”

“I’m not trying to scare it,” Jiang Nuan said. “If it dares to send people into the palace again, I really wouldn’t mind letting it experience it all over again.”

How many families can bear the hatred of having no descendants?

The old man's words about expressing gratitude were just empty words; he was essentially just putting his own family on the spot.

Xiao Liu thinks he's doing good deeds, but no one else appreciates it.

Okay, fine.

Ms. Xie was somewhat surprised.

I don't understand why my mother-in-law is so serious.

To be honest, she thought what Xiao Liu did was very gratifying.

"Let's not talk about that. We've rested enough, let's get back to work."

As expected, the Huang family harvested their grain very quickly, taking only seven days from harvesting, drying, threshing, and storing.

The yield was very low, even worse than Jiang Nuan had predicted, averaging only 280 jin per mu.

Of the 50 mu, 28 mu were rented out. After deducting the rent and taxes paid to the tenants, only 6,000 jin remained.

It's pitifully low.

He received envy from a group of tenants, who congratulated the master on filling the granary.

So much land, stretching as far as the eye can see, yet it yields so little grain. For a moment, Jiang Nuan felt a chill run through her heart.

No wonder some people say that even landlords don't have surplus grain; the yield is simply too low.

Even the most easily satisfied Huang Lao Er was frowning and complaining, "The grain harvest is far too little."

"If only we hadn't rented out the land," Grandma Jiang said with heartache, "We've wasted so much grain."

"Six thousand catties of grain," Huang Xiaosan calculated in his mind, "that's enough for our family of fifty people to last for a little over two months."

“Not only that,” Jiang Nuan shook her head, “the housekeeper and the others eat brown rice and mixed grains, so they consume much less.”

“In short,” Huang Xiaosan shrugged, “it’s still not enough to eat.”

"In a few days, there will be grain for sale. I can buy some more to supplement my income. Things will be much better once the rice can be harvested."

They fertilized the soil and raised fish. Although the seeds weren't ones they had optimized themselves, they were good seedlings that Qi Yong had specially found, so they couldn't be too bad.

No one responded to this.

Although they let Jiang Nuan do whatever she wanted, they didn't have much hope and just wanted to teach her a lesson so she would stop.

Jiang Nuan was dissatisfied with the yield, but some people were all smiles.

During harvest season, food is always the central topic.

Huang Sige's family has eight mu of dry land for growing wheat, but they have seven laborers, all of whom are skilled workers. They bring the grain to the fields early in the morning.

"Master," Sister-in-law Huang exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise as she looked at the grain piled high in the granary, "this year's harvest is much greater than in previous years!"

“I’ve done the estimation,” Brother Huang said with a smile, “and the yield is 350 jin per mu, which is much more than in previous years.”

His family's land was all top-quality farmland, and his family took good care of it, so their income was already better than other families in the village. But at most, it was only 310, which is far less than it is now.

“350,” Sister-in-law Huang thought to herself, “that’s four or five hundred more jin than last year.”

Being able to eat dozens more meals of white flour steamed buns is not bad, really not bad.

“Oh, right,” she suddenly thought of something, “after Huang Mu’s family left, will the clan chief and his family harvest all the crops from their fields?”

"Of course, there's no need to even think about it."

As he spoke, Brother Huang lowered his head; even now, he still felt resentful.

"Pah!" Huang Si Sao spat lightly, "Those people from the second branch of the family have no shame. They take so much grain from the Huang Mu family for nothing, and they don't even feel guilty!"

"They're family after all, so we outsiders shouldn't interfere."

“What family? They’re always eyeing each other’s meager assets. They’re not even as good as us outsiders,” he said, clicking his tongue lightly. “There are only four of them working on those dozen or so acres of land. Just wait and see, a rainstorm might ruin all their plans.”

"Not four, more like two and a half," Uncle Huang corrected. "The clan chief's wife can only work half a day because she has to cook. As for Huang Shan, he's been missing every day. I don't know where he's gone. I heard from others that he's helping a family in Dingjia Village, but I don't know if it's true."

"Helping the people from Dingjia Village work?" Sister-in-law Huang's eyes widened. "Is he crazy? Doesn't he know our two villages are mortal enemies?"

"We don't know if it's true or not yet, so don't tell anyone," Brother Huang said, his brows furrowed. "If it's true, the village won't tolerate him."

With so many lives lost, the feud between Huangjiakou and Dingjiacun has long been irreconcilable, not even by the clan chief, let alone his son.

"If it's true, he's really despicable."

"Um."

Just like what Brother Huang said, the main people in the Huang family who can do the work are Old Man Huang and Huang Shi.

However, Old Man Huang is getting old and is not as agile as before. Huang Shi can't handle it alone. So far, he has only harvested ten acres of land, and there are still six acres left.

When Sister-in-law Huang, who came to deliver the meal, saw her husband panting heavily from exhaustion, she felt extremely sorry for him. "Husband, take a rest first, don't overwork yourself."

"The weather is unpredictable," Huang Shi said with a worried look. "It might rain in the next couple of days."

Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Huang dared not offer any further advice.

People can recover from being tired with some rest, but crops damaged by rain are completely ruined.

What's for dinner today?

At this moment, Old Man Huang looked exhausted, and his back began to hunch over; he was no longer the prosperous and leisurely man he used to be.

"Steamed buns, salted duck eggs," Sister Huang said, opening her basket. "I also cooked a pot of mung bean porridge to cool you down."

Old Huang said no more, picked up his steamed bun and ate it in silence.

Huang Shi was worried about his son. "Where's Dashan? Why isn't he helping to bring food?"

"He's never home," said Sister-in-law Huang angrily. "I don't know where he's off to."

“Why don’t you restrain him?” Huang Shi’s face turned green upon hearing this. “The whole family is so tired that they can’t even straighten their backs, but he’s enjoying a leisurely life, doing nothing and just waiting to be fed every day.”

"What can you do when your injury hasn't healed yet?" Sister-in-law Huang gave Huang Shi a reproachful look. "You shouldn't have hit him so hard in the first place."

"There's no bone broken, can't you even deliver food?" Huang Shi said, becoming more and more dissatisfied. "You're always the fastest to run out of time to play."

Hearing this, Sister-in-law Huang fell silent.

She wasn't entirely at ease, but since he was her only son and hadn't done anything seriously wrong, she subconsciously indulged and spoiled him.

"Don't let him go out again," Huang Shi said coldly. "If he can't work, he should stay at home. What's he doing running around?"

I'll try my best to persuade them.

Sister-in-law Huang sighed.

She has said it many times, but her son won't listen. What can she do?