A few days later, the county officials came to Dashi Village again, accompanied by a series of horse-drawn carriages, each carrying large water buckets.

The large buckets were filled with fish fry.

This time, besides village chief Zhao Yongkang waiting at the village entrance, most of the villagers were also waiting there, all eagerly anticipating the arrival of the villagers.

On the day the rice-fish farming method was finalized, Zhao Yongkang gathered the villagers together. Those who had initially opposed it agreed when they heard that there would be tax reductions, free fish fry, and that not all rice paddies needed to be used for fish farming.

Furthermore, because of the rice-fish farming method, the fields have a certain demand for water. During the time it takes for the fish fry to hatch, waterwheels are already in use, and the village is crisscrossed with irrigation canals of all sizes.

In this way, we will no longer be afraid of drought, even though the weather this year looks like it's been favorable.

The crowd crowded around the carriage until it reached the center of the village. Zhao Yongkang found a high spot, stood on it, and shouted, "Everyone, don't push. Come one family at a time, starting with the nearest field. Everyone go to your field and wait there first."

“Village chief, my field is the closest one, I’ll go with you.”

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“Village chief, my field is at the very back, and it won’t be there for a while. I’m in a hurry, so I’ll go with you.”

The villagers all agreed. Xu Genshu followed behind Zhao Yongkang with the record book. The book clearly recorded which field each family owned and how much tax was reduced. Now, all they had to do was release the fish fry according to the records.

From afar, the paddy fields looked bustling with activity. After all, it was a major event for the village, and Old Man Xu even put aside his house-building project for a day, letting everyone focus on this matter first.

He himself was extremely busy, because his family had taken the lead, and those behind him had to help out. He kept checking on this field and that field, and hadn't had a break for quite some time.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, I've come to deliver water!" Fu Man'er went home to get her water bag and shouted as she saw Old Man Xu.

"Oh dear, Uncle, I'm so sorry, I didn't even prepare some water for you." The man who called Old Xu away scratched his head. He was too careless, only caring about his own fields and forgetting that people hadn't stopped moving.

Old Xu waved his hand dismissively, "What are you talking about? This rice is a big deal for our village. What does it matter whether we drink water or not?"

Anyway, his sweet little girl will send it to him, so he's not too worried.

"Uncle, you rest for a while, I'll go open the ditch." The man said and walked forward, just as Fu Man'er ran over.

She took the water bag off her body. "Grandma said it's always kept in the well to keep cool." It was so cool, and she was running so fast, the water bag still felt cool to the touch.

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Old Xu drank more than half of the water in one gulp, and under the scorching sun, his old face became even darker.

But when he saw the fields of rice in front of him, he felt at ease.

"Man'er, do you think we'll have a bumper harvest this year?" He asked this question unconsciously. The land around here is barren, and even a good harvest is difficult, let alone a bumper one.

"Yes, I will." Fu Man'er imitated her grandfather, putting her little hands behind her back, slightly raising her chin, and looking around with her big eyes. For some reason, she really liked the place where she lived now. She always felt that this place was like a heavenly pool, making her feel very comfortable.

Hearing his granddaughter's resolute answer, Old Man Xu felt a surge of hope. This year was different from previous years; Man'er's methods were excellent, and the crops grown would surely yield a good harvest.

"Grandma Zhou said that once the rice is ripe, she'll cook it for us with the new rice. And Aunt Wu said that if her corn produces big ears, she'll cook corn for me every day."

"And there's Grandpa Qi. He said he wanted me to go to the field with him when he was digging potatoes. He would light a fire in the field and roast the freshly dug potatoes in the fire. They smelled wonderful."

During the autumn harvest, grain is precious; even a single grain of wheat that falls to the ground will be picked up. If things were really as Fu Man'er described, the villagers would surely have had a bumper harvest back then.

"Alright, then we won't need to save any food for you at home. You can just eat and drink outside." Old Xu teased her, knowing that if there was no food, this girl would be furious.

To everyone's surprise, Fu Man'er nodded after only a moment's thought, "Okay, then I'll try them one by one." After all, they had already agreed to her request.

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"You little glutton, you actually took it seriously." Old Xu was amused by her. If it were true, he would be overjoyed, which would mean that everyone's life was getting better.

However, freeloading is not encouraged.

"Come on, let's go take a look ahead." Just then, someone called out to Old Man Xu from ahead, and he led Fu Man'er forward.

Fu Man'er was still saying, "Grandpa, don't you believe me? We will have a good harvest, a great harvest, a very big harvest."

The grandfather and granddaughter walked away one after the other. Just then, two people came out from behind them. "Sir, this little girl is really interesting." The speaker was Song Zhi, Song Kangcheng's attendant.

Song Kangcheng watched Fu Man'er's small figure, wondering what Old Man Xu had said to her. Her steps became much more cheerful, and she hopped and skipped, a bit like a little rabbit running out of the mountains.

"If what she says is true, that would be wonderful." It would be a good thing for the people and for him as well.

Song Zhi had been by his side since childhood and knew his master's thoughts. "They say that what children say is the most accurate. Don't worry, adults. Now that the soil is fertile and fish are being raised, the people will definitely have a bumper harvest this year."

Song Kangcheng neither confirmed nor denied what he said. He wanted a good outcome, but he did not believe in the efficacy of children's words. If things were to really get better, more practical things would have to be done.

"Let's go and check out the other villages." Today, except for Dashi Village, all the other villages are distributing fish fry. Dashi Village has Xu Genshu, Old Man Xu, and Zhao Yongkang, so there are no problems. We just don't know how it is in the other villages.

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The situation in other villages is indeed not as good as in Dashi Village. Take Qingshan Village, which Xie Ming is in charge of, for example. Before he came, Xu Genshu had told him about Qingshan Village.

Because it was Ma Hong's maternal home, he knew a little about the village. The village had a small population, less than half that of Da Shi Village, and the land was even more barren than that of Da Shi Village. Moreover, very few young and middle-aged people lived there.

At first, Xie Ming thought there couldn't be many, but when the carriage arrived at the village entrance, he only saw old people, with a few young men and children mixed in.

They had seen many young people when they came to inspect with Lord Song before, but today they only saw elderly people, women, and children.

Ma Youli, the village chief of Qingshan Village, seemed to sense his confusion and explained, "Sir, I'm really sorry, but two children have gone missing in our village. All the young people have gone out to look for them, and they haven't returned yet. If there's any work that needs to be done, just let me know, and I'll arrange it."

"The baby's gone?" Xie Ming exclaimed in surprise. "Have you reported it to the authorities?"

Ma Youli shook his head, looking as if he had something difficult to say. "No need to report it to the authorities. These kids are just being naughty. They probably ran up the mountain to play. They went up the mountain to look for them. No need to report it to the authorities."

Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Xie Ming did not press him further. He called the officers behind him and drove the carriage towards the paddy fields.

Not many families in Qingshan Village are willing to raise fish in rice paddies. The first to agree are the village chief's family and Ma Hong's maternal family, the Ma Butcher.

Because of the Xu family's braised food business, they had also made some money. Knowing that their in-laws were doing the same thing and that it had been quite successful, he boldly agreed.

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Before Xu Genshu set off, he told him to ask Butcher Ma for help when he got to Qingshan Village. Although Ma was not the village chief, he was a righteous and enthusiastic person and had a good reputation in the village over the years.

With his help, there shouldn't be any problems with the fish fry today.

Xie Ming wasn't the type to show off; he understood the principle that even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake, so he asked the village chief to help invite Butcher Ma over.

The carriage had stopped by the paddy field. Xie Ming had never grown crops before, but he had seen quite a few during his patrol that day. The rice in Qingshan Village was indeed not growing well.

Upon closer inspection, you can see that there are quite a few insect holes on the rice leaves, and the water in the field is rather shallow, just a thin layer.

"Sir, sir." A man in his fifties squeezed through the crowd, his head constantly darting towards the buckets on the carriage. "When are we going to receive these fish fry? I've brought the buckets over; do you think they're enough?"

Xie Ming looked at his bucket, puzzled. The fish fry were being released directly into the paddy field, weren't they?