Chapter 18
18.
The next morning, Guan Yue dug up even more tuberous rhizomes in her backyard.
It seems the original owner planted quite a few. How could he have forgotten to dig them up? Surely he wasn't suffering from dementia.
Guan Yue was completely baffled, so she took the whole plant and showed it to the old village chief.
"This is sweet potato." The old village chief recognized it at a glance.
"Fried potato?" Guan Yue pondered for a moment, unsure if she had heard of this in her previous life. She humbly asked, "Is this fried potato edible?"
Rui Xi glanced at her, "That's possible."
"but?"
"But since I've planted this stuff, why not plant something else? Even if I leave the land barren, it's better than planting these sweet potatoes!"
Guan Yue was dumbfounded and couldn't help but ask, "Then why are there so many planted in the backyard?"
Rui Xi knew she had amnesia, but hearing her ask such a silly question, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
Guan Yue scratched her head. Rui Xi looked at her and sat down with a hint of annoyance, saying, "Actually, you weren't the only one who planted sweet potatoes back then."
"Oh?" Guan Yue asked curiously.
“About two years ago, a peddler came to our village and said that he had a new food that was selling like hotcakes in a big town to the south. It was sweet potato. Now he brought the seedlings to our village and sold them to us cheaply. When we grow them, we can sell them for a high price.”
“At that time, no one knew about this thing. Some people believed her, and some people did not.”
Guan Yue stroked her chin. "Looks like 'I' believe it."
“That’s right,” Rui Xi sneered, “You wanted to buy more, but unfortunately you didn’t have many copper coins, so you didn’t suffer a great loss.”
"Uh..." It's best to remain silent at this point. After all, no matter what, that's who Guan Yue was in other people's eyes before. She can't just agree and say that she's stupid, or that the poor have their own kind of luck.
Rui Xi continued, "Those who bought it later regretted it because they couldn't sell it at all. But what could they do if they regretted it? Where could they find that unscrupulous merchant? So they all shoveled up all the sweet potatoes and fed them to the pigs and chickens."
Rui Xi still looked angry when she talked about it, and Guan Yue wondered if she had also bought sweet potato sprouts.
But Rui Xi's emotions only lingered for a moment before she quickly withdrew them. She looked at Guan Yue calmly and said, "Why are you still growing these sweet potatoes?"
"There's no seed," Guan Yue laughed awkwardly, "I guess they forgot to pull it out."
Although Guan Yue didn't know why the original owner was still planting it, she guessed that she was too lazy to care for it. With her overgrown yard, she probably had forgotten what kind of sweet potato she was growing.
Rui Xi was speechless, then turned her head and said, "In short, this thing is useless. Nobody wants it. Even pigs wouldn't eat it."
Guan Yue nodded without speaking, but secretly wondered if it might be useful. She was penniless now, and even if she didn't want this potato, it was still her greatest asset. Wouldn't it be a pity to lose it?
Putting the matter of the sweet potatoes aside, Guan Yue continued her daily rice harvesting work. Because of her diligence and hard work, she was busy in the fields all day except for a short rest at midday. The seemingly endless rice fields were finally harvested.
Two days later, Guan Yue and Rui Xi harvested the millet, dried it on a flat surface, then used a stone mill to remove the husks, and finally collected it all. It took them six days in total.
After this experience, Guan Yue realized that harvesting rice was the easiest job, and by the end she was so tired she could barely stand up straight.
“Young man, you still need more experience,” Rui Xi commented. “However, you did quite well on your own.”
Rui Xi dragged a bag of rice out of her house, patted the bag and said, "It should weigh about forty kilograms. Consider it your wages."
Eighty jin! Guan Yue remembered that they packed more than a dozen bags of rice, which seemed like a lot, but they still needed to pay some tax. Moreover, Rui Xi's family had five members. She didn't expect them to give her so much directly.
Guan Yue hesitated for a moment, "So many..."
Rui Xi replied, "You don't want it?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Guan Yue, a poor woman who couldn't even afford to eat, saw the rice as if it were gold. She hugged it tightly to her chest, but still couldn't help but ask, "Are you really giving me this much? Village Chief, your family..."
Rui Xi waved her hand and said, "I'll give you as much as I want. I only gave you more because you did a decent job. If you had tried to cheat or slack off, I would have kicked you out long ago."
Guan Yue chuckled and said, "I told you I could do it, and I will never let you down."
"You guys?" Rui Xi murmured the word, not asking anything, but seeing that Guan Yue was already immersed in joy and couldn't extricate herself, she clapped her hands again.
Guan Yue looked up and saw Rui Xi asking, "Guan Yue, do you want to have your own land?"
Guan Yue's eyes widened instantly. "Could it be that, Village Chief, you're going to give...give your land to me?"
What kind of daydream is this? Is she still dreaming?
"This isn't quite right," Guan Yue muttered to herself, still seemingly lost in thought.
The village chief interrupted her rambling, "Of course not."
“Oh… I knew it,” Guan Yue nodded, “Looks like I wasn’t dreaming.”
“But there are lands that others don’t farm that they can rent to you,” Rui Xi added.
"Rent it to me?" Guan Yue frowned. "But I don't have any money."
“Of course I know that,” Rui Xi said without any surprise. “Some people in our village have already moved to other places. This land is just sitting empty anyway. I can vouch for you in my name, and the rent for this year can be paid later.”
"Village...Village Chief, in your name?" Doesn't that mean you're acting as her guarantor? If she runs away, Rui Xi will also be held responsible. Guan Yue couldn't imagine that Rui Xi would do such a thing for her.
Rui Xi said calmly, "These days you've been working at my house, and I've seen that you've really turned over a new leaf. I trust you, that's why I'm willing to vouch for you. I wouldn't even glance at anyone else. Rent this land and grow something properly. That'll be a proper way of life. If you manage your life well from now on, that will be a way of repaying me."
"Village Chief..." Guan Yue was truly moved. The rice bag in her hand didn't feel heavy anymore; it was this profound sentiment that was truly weighty.
“It’s quite a coincidence,” Rui Xi said casually, “The owner of this land happens to be the same person who rented the house to Xiao Cheng. One of you took her house, and the other took her land. It’s fate.”
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Guan Yue carried the rice bag home. Because the 80-pound bag was too heavy, the village chief told her to fill about 20 pounds herself first and then make several trips back and forth to carry it home. At this moment, she was filled with joy and urgently needed to share it with someone. She wondered if Cheng Lingjun was home. He should be back soon.
It should be time for Cheng Lingjun to pick up Li Guang and take him home. She should go home first and wait, then come out to check again when it's almost time.
Guan Yue was walking along when she realized she was almost home, but then she stopped.
She saw several uninvited guests standing in front of her house.
The three people stood in a triangular formation, one in front and two behind. The person in front had his arms crossed and looked unfriendly, while the two behind him were talking about something. The more they talked, the worse the person in front looked.
Just as Guan Yue had walked a certain distance, the person standing on the outermost edge seemed to sense her presence, turning his head towards her and shouting, "She's back!"
Guan Yue was still wondering if the person's face looked familiar, but couldn't remember who it was, when she saw the woman standing in the middle turn around. As soon as she turned around, Guan Yue remembered.
They are sworn sisters!
And her two henchmen!
The memory of the conversation with these people when I was almost fainting also flooded into my brain at the same time. It was "her" - the original owner's good sister!
Guan Yue stopped and looked at the three of them warily.
Jinlan stood imposingly at the door, looking her up and down as if she didn't recognize her. Her eyes were fixed on the rice bag in Guan Yue's arms, and she said in a deep voice, "What are you holding?"
Guan Yue frowned. "What it is is none of your business. Please step aside and let me in."
"Hey! What kind of tone is that!" Humph Li Lao Er shouted. She was the first person to see Guan Yue. She had a long, pointed face and a thin, elongated body, looking like a monkey. Her voice was also high-pitched, and Guan Yue felt a ringing in her ears when she shouted.
On the other side, Zhang Laosan, who was rather short and stout, was more obsequious. Standing behind Jinlan, she said in a low voice, "Jinlan, look at her. She's forgotten about us after just a few days. I told you she betrayed us long ago. She's a faithless woman!"
Is this how you use the word "betrayal"? Guan Yue secretly rolled her eyes. She ignored the two lackeys and looked at Jin Lan, saying, "What do you want?"
Jinlan frowned and said, "I heard you went to work for Ruixi? Is this what Ruixi gave you?"
Guan Yue hugged the bag of rice in her hands tightly and said, "So what if it is?"
Li Lao Er exclaimed, "What do you mean, 'how about'? We were just about to ask you, why did you go and work as someone else's helper? Did you forget about your three sisters once you got some benefits?"
"That's right!" Zhang Laosan chimed in, "We always invite you to all the good things, but we never expected you to be such an ingrate! Ungrateful!"
And so ungrateful! Guan Yue simply couldn't stand this pretentious guy. She simply said, "This is my own property earned through my own labor, and it has nothing to do with you."
The three of them almost formed a circle around Guan Yue. Her house was relatively remote, and few people would pass by her house, so the three of them seemed even more unscrupulous, with a faint but overwhelming aura.
When Cheng Lingjun returned, this was the scene that greeted her.
His footsteps sounded particularly clear in the tense atmosphere, and Guan Yue subconsciously thought to herself that something was wrong.
“Father…” Li Guang couldn’t help but grab Cheng Lingjun’s trouser leg, wishing he could embed himself into his father’s body.
Jin Lan's eyebrows twitched slightly. Before she could speak, Guan Yue had already stepped in front of Cheng Lingjun and his son. At this moment, Guan Yue had changed from her previous indifference and impatience. Her eyes were filled with fierce arrogance, as if she had become an enraged lioness.
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