Finally, before Qian Youdong returned from another shift, all the grain was processed.

Looking at the rows of "walls" that were fully formed and almost completely dried, everyone felt as if they were dreaming. So much grain had been made by them.

In addition to the 70,000 to 80,000 jin of grain they had previously harvested, Chen Fu and his group also secretly brought back a considerable amount from other villages.

If a disaster were to strike, how many people could be saved? It would be enough to feed the entire county.

When it came to the other villages, they only did a token amount of work; those clods of earth were piled up on the mountain along with those from the other villages.

On the surface, the grain stored by the Chen family was not much, about the same as that of the other villages, and was not particularly eye-catching.

As long as they keep a low profile, the Chen family won't become easy prey for others.

After tidying up the warehouse, the group went to the main house of the landlord's mansion.

As soon as Xie Ming sat down, an elderly man with many wrinkles bowed to him.

He thought that if it weren't for his young age and fear of bringing bad luck upon himself, the old man might have knelt down before him.

"Chieftain!"

Xie Ming held his arm to stop the old man from bending over again.

“Xie Ming, you deserve it. Farmers know that crops depend on the weather, but they also understand that good harvests can come in years, and so can bad ones. This year’s bumper crop might mean a poor harvest next year. If you can leave a way for the villagers to make a living, I’d be willing to bow to you, even kneel down three times or kowtow nine times.”

Chief Chen was essentially stating that the Chen clan had indeed contributed a great deal of grain, but he was willing to leave some for the people of Xiangyang Village if Xie Ming asked.

"Chieftain, you handle this matter. It's not important to me. If the grain here proves to be of great use in the future, you and the chieftains only need to manage the people's food supply."

Xie Ming's meaning was clear: he wouldn't interfere with how the Chen family handled the grain, but no one should go out and spread rumors.

He was not afraid of trouble, but he also disliked it. He chose the Chen clan not only because they were united and obedient, but also because they could take a huge hit on the Qian family.

"Don't worry about that. Everyone here is a promising member of the next generation of the Chen family. They will all become pillars of society in the future. The Chen family members are people of their word and will never be ungrateful."

Chief Chen didn't care about Xie Ming's tone at all; he knew very well how apprehensive outsiders were in the countryside.

“I believe what the chieftain says. This is the key to the granary. From today onwards, this place has nothing to do with me, and no fools will come here. As for the things in the granary, you'd better stack them up properly.”

Upon receiving the key, Clan Chief Chen immediately understood that Xie Ming had already resolved all the follow-up issues, and for a long time to come, this area would be under their jurisdiction.

As long as the clansmen don't do anything reckless, this place is perfectly safe.

But if problems really arise, they will have to bear the consequences themselves. Xie Ming has already extricated himself from the situation, both publicly and privately.

They had no evidence against him, and the clan chief even suspected that there might be something incriminating about their clan members.

This was Xie Ming's backup plan, and also his final warning.

Chief Chen was convinced and became more cautious in his dealings with Xie Ming. Although young, Xie Ming was kind-hearted but not blindly so, and he had both a preemptive and a backup plan.

He was truly impressed by Xie Ming's abilities. He was neither jealous nor afraid of Xie Ming's methods, but rather delighted that his clansmen had the opportunity to come into contact with such a person.

After this incident, he also instructed several promising young men in the clan to get to know Xie Ming better, to observe and learn from him, and that perhaps even learning a trick or two would be enough to benefit them for life and bring good to the clan.

With this one move, Xie Ming had completely won over the Chen clan. Now that everything was settled, he just needed to wait for Qian Youdong to return from the steel mill in town.